wisconsin is easy, just to duluth and then you already have one state behind you. minnesota also goes by quickly, you're fresh and rested still with the sun shining down from behind you. north dakota is hardly worth mentioning. it's a straight shot through starting with milepost 351 in fargo and counting down rapidly at freeway speed to the badlands on the far edge of the state. then the badlands. fascinating and puzzling and a welcome break from the monotony of the previous hours. montana is where the drive starts to dull. at least the speed limit is high and the traffic is low. after navigating several snow squalls we pull into bozeman at nine thirty and meet andre for dinner. making good time so far but we're both glad to pass out at andre's house at eleven. five am and we head back on the road to make it to coeur d'alene in time to meet bruce who will take gregg on the last section of his drive up to the methow. we both hope for a rosy sunrise to illuminate the mountains we drive through, but the sky disappoints and the morning remains cloudy. the mountains, however, do not disappoint and gregg touches the rumble strip briefly for the first time in our drive while being distracted by the rugged landscape we drive through. somewhere in idaho i inadvertantly jump when the first bug splats on the windshield. and as quickly as that we've left winter in montana and have driven into spring. i abandon gregg at a holiday gas station, leave the freeway, and head south to walla walla. once off the freeway i lose the driving pressure to be home. the road rolls and sways with the soft countours of the hills like it's been pressed into the landscape and i sit back and enjoy the flow of the road. colfax. dusty. dodge. starbuck. dayton. waitsburg. dixie. as i draw nearer to walla walla i realize that i've never been as glad to be approaching walla walla as i am now. i don't have to look to the left to see biscuit ridge road as i drive by; i know it's there, leading to my favorite hill on tracy road as well as inumerable dirt roads lacing the accessible countryside. then i'm in walla walla. cammie, charlie, rj, mia, nathan, tom, whitney, lindsay, greg. it's good to see old friends. the three hours to wentatchee fly by, i know i'm almost home. and then i am, and my parents and sis are still up to greet me and do more talking than i'm interested in this late in the evening, forty hours after leaving wisconsin, four days after leaving maine. and it's good to be here.