I took a six-day whirlwind tour from Minneapolis to Cannon Beach, Oregon and back. I left MSP on Saturday afternoon and drove to Rapid City using MN 60 and I-90. I had some holes to plug in my I-90 mileage in SD and WY between Rapid City and I-25 as well as within Sheridan. I also clinched I-190 in Rapid and visited the US 87 washout site between Sheridan and Buffalo.
Then I decided if I was planning to take 90 all the way to Washington to knock off three states I hadn't visited yet (WA, OR, ID), I might as well clinch it. So I shotgunned 90 across MT, ID, and WA. Then I decided again to take it a step further and just make it all the way to the ocean. I spent some time in Wallace, the infamous city where it took 35 years to finish I-90.
I left Seattle on I-5. Never again will I complain about Twin Cities traffic after 60 miles of headaches from I-90 to Olympia. I took I-5 to WA 4 at Kelso which I took west along the Columbia River to US 101, then dropped down into Oregon clinching the quizzical ALT US 101 shortcut. The US 101 bridge into Oregon is pretty awesome. I made it to Gearhart on the Oregon coast just in time for the last of the sunset. I stayed overnight in Astoria, came down to Cannon Beach long enough for a few photos, then headed west on US 26 to Portland.
The US 26 freeway is grossly underposted at 55. 26 in general was choked with traffic on the two-lane portion. I made the quick loop around on 405 and 5 to head east out of town on I-84, which was nice in the valley before it climbs out into the desert. I headed west on I-82 briefly and took US 395 north through the palouse to I-90 once again.