The May 2025 Transcontinental Road Trip
Roughly 4200km in nine total days from Burlington to Seattle, with four friends and four baseball games seen in that duration!
Part 1 - Who I Saw & What I Did
So, after I finished my final work in Rehab Engineering on Thursday - 1 May, I ran errands, and then went back to my temporary home (for the bulk of the last year) - the Doubletree in Burlington - packed much of my stuff into Claudia the Chariot (my car), went to sleep, woke up on 2 May (Friday), finished the rest of my packing, and drove from Burlington to Toronto to stay with my friends Ryan and Rebecca, as well as see the first of my four baseball games in a (new to me) MLB stadium - Rogers Centre on 3 May (Saturday)!
When at the game, the Star-Spangled Banner was played, and people were polite. After, O Canada was played, the outpouring of love & national pride for Canada when O Canada was enough to make you cry…and in fact I did!
On Sunday - 4 May - I casually got myself ready, hung out with Ryan and Rebecca as late as I realistically could, and then drove from Toronto to Ann Arbor, crossing the Ambassador Bridge a second time (the first time being last August when I was heading to Burlington). I got a Reuben at Zingerman’s, and then checked into my hotel for a relaxing evening.
On Monday - 5 May - I woke up, got breakfast, went to Rally House for a couple of gifts for friends of mine who are Michigan alumni, then I went to the local Meijer, bought a bunch of diet Vernor’s for myself and those friends (I don’t know how to describe Vernor’s to anyone who hasn’t had it, except to say it’s way the hell better than any regular ginger ale you can get outside of Michigan), and then drove my way to Chicago! I checked into my hotel, and then saw my second baseball game of this road trip home (and what I have decreed as my first official game at Wrigley Field since I can’t find any proof of the time I supposedly saw a game there as a lad).
On Tuesday - 6 May - I got up, got breakfast, and drove to Milwaukee! Now, of course, this is a relatively short drive (but exiting Chicago was a disaster…because of course it was - I love Chicago, but trying to enter or exit the city sucks harder than a hoover), and my first stop was at the Grohmann Museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, which I have been meaning to see for a while now, since it’s a speciality art museum whose focus is on art that depicts human labour and industry. After spending roughly 90 minutes there, and buying a couple of museum art books (the struggle for me here was if I wanted to buy the two books I was interested in in both English and German, one book in both languages, or both books in one language - I settled on getting both books in English, telling myself that I will get both books in German later). After this, I drove a short way to the downtown Milwaukee Brat House location (recommended to me by a friend who had been a federal court clerk in MKE).
I can’t recommend this place highly enough! The food was fantastic, the service was even better, and I found out whilst there that they run a shuttle service to and from American Family Field for Milwaukee Brewers games!
Now, I didn’t partake of that service, since I had previously booked a room in the Fairfield Inn right near American Family Field, but next time I’m in Milwaukee, I’m staying downtown and partaking of the shuttle! Anyway, drove to the Fairfield Inn, checked in, dropped off my stuff, watched CNN to follow some of the breaking news about the most recent scuffle between India and Pakistan kicking off, and then gimped my way over to the stadium, where I partook of the third baseball game in a new to me stadium - American Family Field!
My experience there was fantastic, the food was also really good, and after, I gimped my way back to my hotel, and then passed out in relatively short order.
On Wednesday (7 May), I ate breakfast, loaded Claudia the Chariot back up, and drove to the Twin Cities! My first stop was to see the Minnesota Capitol (a first time for me).
I then made a brief stop at the University of Minnesota (which was lovely, and I wish to spend more time there in the future), before heading to Target Field to partake in the fourth (and final for this road trip) baseball game!
After this, I went to a Starbucks to get myself an iced tea (and made sure that my Rehab Engineering instructor had received a copy of my final individual report), then drove another 3.5 hours in order to get to my stop for the night, which was Fargo.
On Thursday (8 May), I got up, and drove west some more! The leg from Fargo to Bismarck was utterly un-eventful, and then I got to the North Dakota Capitol.
It was when I was there that I got a text from one of my closest friends from my time at UW (Aaron) that there was a new Pope, and in fact it was our first American pontiff, the cardinal heretofore known as Robert Francis Prevost, OSA, who became Pope Leo XIV. So, yes, I spent time in and around the Capitol complex, but I also was engaging in one of my favourite activities with/amongst my friends - meme dealing! A selection of the best of those memes is to be found in Part 3 of this Substack post.
Exiting from the North Dakota capitol complex, I took a turn and made an improper merge, leading to getting pulled over for the first time on that trip, I pulled into the petrol station I was planning on refuelling at anyway, got my warning, then refuelled and got on my way. The drive was pretty uneventful from there to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where I went to the South Station and partook of some of the goodness…including President Roosevelt’s cabin!
I got back on the road, continued west until I crossed into Montana, got pulled over for a second time that day (going over 90mph in an 80mph area), got a warning from a second law enforcement officer, then continued until stopping in Billings for the night.
On Friday, 9 May, I met up with a friend from my time at UW who was from Billings (Kelli) who happened to be home visiting her family. We got coffee, caught up, and then I drove from Billings to Bozeman to Ennis, to meet up with another UW friend, Luke (and was spending the night with him and his wife). Much goodness catching up, on Saturday morning (10 May), we got a late breakfast, and I eventually got on the road, first stopping in Helena, first to refuel, then to see the Montana Capitol again.
After that, got on the road, drove until Spokane, stayed the night at the Davenport Grand (which was really nice), had dinner, then passed out.
On Sunday, 11 May, I got up, had breakfast, got on the road, had one stop in George to refuel, and then drove home in time that I could do a mother’s day brunch with my mum back home in the suburbs of Seattle, and with that, my fourth transcontinental road trip was over.
Part 2 - The Road Trip Data Details
So - given my most recent cross-country drive in early/mid May, with Claudia the Chariot, plus with my Atlantic Provinces road trip in late April, here is the current state of things for my various road tripping goals.
Things achieved as far as my major travel goals:
1) Canadian Provinces & Provincial Capitols that I (and Claudia) have seen (dark blue), and driven in with a vehicle other than Claudia (lime-green) - first list is: Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and all the territories to be seen to make all 13, the second list is: Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut,
2) States I have driven in (lime-green) - only need Hawaii and Nebraska to see all 50 + DC,
3) States Claudia has driven in (dark blue) - only need Nebraska, Alaska, and Hawaii to see all 50 + DC,
4) State Capitol Complexes seen (grey-blue) - only need Nebraska, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii, to see all 50 + DC.
5) MLB Teams Seen at Home - 15 of 30 total, with 14 of 30 having been seen in their current stadia when I formally began my chase a few years back (the Athletics I saw last year when they were still playing in the Oakland Coliseum, so I don’t need to see them again, but I do need to get down to San Francisco again to see the Giants play in Oracle Park, since the last time I saw them play at home, it was in Candlestick Park when I was still a lad). Along with having seen the Mariners play in Safeco Field/T-Mobile Park, the Cardinals play in new Busch Stadium, the Yankees play in new Yankee Stadium, and the Mets play in Citi Field, I have also seen the Mets play in Shea Stadium, the Yankees play in old Yankee Stadium (The House that Ruth Built), the Cardinals play in old Busch Stadium (back when I was in secondary school), and the Kingdome (many sporting events of my youth witnessed there), so those are in retrospect part of my chase as well, or at least as part of my lifetime love of baseball.
For some details of the road trip itself:
My total travel on this road trip home:
1) Burlington → Toronto (2 May) → Ann Arbor (4 May) → Chicago (5 May) → Milwaukee (6 May): ~1,600 km
2) Milwaukee → St. Paul → Fargo (7 May) → Billings (via Bismarck, TRNP) (8 May): ~900 km
3) Billings → Ennis (9 May): ~300 km
4) Ennis → Helena → Spokane (via Missoula, Lookout Pass): ~670 km
5) Spokane → Seattle suburbs (via George): ~460 km
6) Local/in-town movements, errands, detours (est.): ~300 km
7) Total Distance: 1600 + 900 + 300 + 670 + 460 + 300 = ~4230km
Seeing these results has motivated some other trip planning - including a road trip from Seattle to Alaska!
At this point, for most of you, I expect this is where you’ll want to exit, but if you’re interested in reading my thoughts about the election of Pope Leo XIV (or some of the sports-oriented memes I have now as a result of it), you can continue reading below.
Part 3 - All Things Pope Leo XIV
First, for anyone interested in my “hot” take on the election of Pope Leo, I will share with you my immediate reaction, as recorded by my Facebook status of that time.
Speaking as someone who holds a baccalaureate degree in mathematics, someone who has ties to Chicago (both in my family’s history as well as my own), whose Chicago baseball team is the White Sox, as well as someone who was raised primarily Roman Catholic - the election of the maths degree holding, Chicago born and bred, White Sox loving pope was utterly fantastic!
Certainly, the meme production was absolutely glorious!
The next day (9 May), when in Billings, I drafted an email reply that I sent to a mentor of mine (who is a serving Dominican priest with a doctorate in philosophy as well as his pre-religious tertiary education in the physical sciences & engineering) [Note: on 8 May, after hearing the news, I sent my mentor a brief email with thoughts similar to those captured in my Facebook post with respect to (WRT) the election of Pope Leo, he responded that evening]
The contents of that second email were about my thoughts WRT Pope Leo XIV now that I had a day’s worth of travel to mull it over.
Padre - a day in, here are some more refined thoughts:
1) With his BSc in maths from Villanova - he's on Team STEM - so, yay for that!
2) Given he's from Chicago and a life-long White Sox fan - I'm here for the memes on this one, so many good ones! I'll have to send you some. I jokingly said to a Catholic friend of mine last night that are we going to start seeing Malort as part of the ritual of penance now?! Not sure even with the years you spent at Notre Dame if you've tried Malort, but given Pope Leo's Chicago-ness, I know for certain HE has.
3) Given his background as a canon lawyer - I expect Pope Leo to parse his words in public statements in a way that Pope Francis, blessed be his memory, did not. I get that Pope Francis was trying to live his pastoral values, and there's a lot to be said for that. But I think, as a result, some percentage of people thought he was making statements ex cathedra - especially on LGBTQ issues - when he was just trying to be a good person and ministering to the people.
4) The fact that Pope Leo is an Augustinian friar - I expect a degree of humility from him that you would not catch coming from any Jesuit. On that note, I've come to wonder, if I had tried discerning for the Augustinians instead of the Jesuits after I got out of the service, would I have stayed on that path instead of my bucking it in the way that I did? It's an interesting historical counterfactual for me to ponder. I mean, I still could have worked the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius as an Augustinian. This leads to the bigger point that I expect less of an imperial (in demeanour) papacy from Pope Leo than we saw from Pope Francis. The pitch about Jesuits is that they are the intellectual commandos for Christ (that's not how they say it, but that's how I've always interpreted it, which is what attracted me to them in the first place, but definitely a double-edged sword there). I think that breeds a certain...sanctimoniousness from the members of the Society of Jesus.
5) I think Villanova people are going to be bloody insufferable for the next bit. It's a proud moment for their alumni, but it's going to be rough for the rest of us.
6) If this means, however, that Pope Leo can make the Big East of old re-occur, that would be great also.
7) I do think, given Pope Leo is a native-born American as well as Pope, it means that I think the USCCB is going to have a lot harder time dismissing Pope Leo, whether or not he is speaking ex cathedra, given the shared ties. Plus, it's going to be a whole lot harder for the MAGA crowd Catholics to dismiss him either - although some of the social media outputs from that crowd have been disturbing. I've seen articles in The Economist - https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/08/what-it-means-to-have-an-american-on-the-throne-of-st-peter - and the Irish Times - Pope Leo’s social conscience won’t go down well with JD Vance and Maga America – The Irish Times - that lend weight to what I think, which is they will fritz out and burst into flames like a Vietnamese monk back in the 1960s, but let's see on that.
8) I will certainly be interested in what this means, both for the Church globally, as well as for in America specifically. I think it'll draw some folks back for sure. The specifics will be TBD, but at the same time, given the excitement I felt yesterday when I found out...never mind the Chicago-oriented memery that has come out...it'll be interesting to see. Pope Leo also has a fair amount of social media history as well, so that has been interesting to see where he, as a man and as a "nobody" priest/bishop has stood on issues.
9) I also think this is relatively good news as far as continued transparency and accountability for the priest-paedophilia issue - given his record as Prior General of the Augustinians is as good as can be expected. I imagine the SNAP folks might get a bit bent out of joint saying "he's not good enough", but at the same time, I'll take tried to do the right thing and wasn't perfect over actively tried to cover it up every time.
When it comes to the Catholic Church, I have a lot of thoughts, and I may choose to discuss those in future Substack posts, but I’ll stop for the here and now on this topic.
Besides the Pope Leo XIV memes, I can’t help but share a related Pope Francis related one that is also relevant (because, and this can’t be said enough when it comes to the University of Oregon - #ZuckTheFeros)
And on that note, that’s a full lid! Happy Tuesday, everyone!