One of the challenges of a long road trip is all of the varying road conditions and how it trashes the car.  I’m not one of those guys who obsesses over every water spot, but I do get to a point where I need to find a car wash!

For some reason, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri seem to have way more bugs than anywhere else we’ve been.  After 2 or 3 days of highway speeds, the front of the car looks like the site of an insect massacre.

We spent a lot more time on gravel and dirt roads on this trip, especially in eastern Washington but also in Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.  In the Palouse region of Washington, a few of the roads had dirt so fine that was like powder, and it got everywhere.  Not to mention the smoke and soot in Oregon!  It took its toll on the car, for sure.

Fortunately or unfortunately the drive home from Tennessee was almost all in the rain, so it did help a bit with the dust.  But a couple of hours in the driveway to clean out the inside plus a trip to the car wash was an absolute necessity.  It’s all good now, at least until the next trip down a dirt road!