Jon Konrath

My parents met here, when my dad was stationed nearby in the Air Force. When I was a kid, we made many trips down to visit old friends of theirs. The thing I remember most is the arch, taking the fast elevator up and seeing everything tiny, like the city was a little train set below us.

I haven’t been back much since, other than layovers and a drive across during a cross-country move. I’ll have to stop in sometime and check it out again.

I drove across Utah, north to south, and stayed at an old friend’s place in SLC. The thing I remember most was coming out in the morning and finding a foot of snow burying my rental car. As I headed south, I saw all of these incredible snow-coated mountains in the distance, with fluffy beds of white everywhere, like the background to some kind of epic movie. I drove south until the white slowly faded into red stone and joshua trees. It was very surreal to be in one place scraping a foot of snow off my windshield, and then a few hours later, standing at a gas station in a t-shirt, enjoying the hot weather and beautiful sights.

The first time I ever went to Arizona was driving on I-40 across the state in April, when moving east. By the time I got almost across, it started to snow! The weather got really nasty, black ice and high winds and tons of snow everywhere. I was like “wait a minute, it’s supposed to be hot as hell in Arizona!”

I drove across Montana on a move west in 1995. And if you drive across Montana, you will remember it forever, because it takes forever. But instead of being stuck in flat plains of nothing, you get some of the most interesting hills and mountains you’ll ever find on an interstate. Montana’s a weird place – 100 degree weather shifts in one day, almost no population, and vast open spaces that have been untouched. I wish I could buy some land here and vanish someday. I don’t think I’d ever get bored of it.

I think most New Yorkers slag New Jersey as being a place with a million highways and strip malls, and nothing more. But I actually like what I’ve seen of the state. Whenever I get sick of the city, I rent a car and drive out to NJ to go to the malls, the big stores, and the open space. It’s always a great relief after spending too much time in Manhattan.

I like the cites in Texas. I just don’t like all the damn space between them. I got two tickets within a 24-hour period when driving through there a few years ago. The terrain scrolls by so slowly, you can drive a hundred miles an hour and it looks like you’re sitting still.

Unfortunately, the only time I ever get back is on a layover in DFW or Houston. Maybe I’ll schedule a real trip back to Dallas at some point.

Devil’s Tower is great! I actually saw it in the middle of the night and it really freaked me out.

I’ve only drove across South Dakota on cross-country trips, but it’s an interesting place, especially if you’re into nature. It’s also cool if you’re into large stone monuments.

Heading west on I-90 to Seattle, you spend forever going through Montana, up hills, around curves, with no places to stop. Almost instantly after you cross the Idaho border, everything is downhill, an absolutely fun drive. The cliffs and mountains carved around the road are absolutely beautiful. The panhandle is an incredible place to visit.

That said, I also made the trip east through the southern route, through Boise, and I was pretty unimpressed. Much more flat, a lot of sprawl, and it seemed like a distant suburb of Salt Lake City. It’s very strange how the state has such a dual personality.

I lived in Seattle from 1995-1999. Had an apartment in Pill Hill, on the top floor of 7th+James, a great view of I-5 and a short walk down a tall hill to Pioneer Square. I worked at two different companies at a point when the tech thing was still strong, and had a girlfriend that lived in Kirkland, so I got to know the 520 bridge well.

Seattle was a great place for me during my first few years out of college. I met some great people, ate some great food, and never got bored of driving around all around. I got to go out a few times on boats and see all of the water, and I used to walk to Pike Place all the time. The Speakeasy in Belltown was a favorite hangout, although it burned down after I left.

My big reason for leaving was that things were getting more and more crowded, and I wasn’t sure how things would hold out. After I left, so did Boeing (the headquarters anyway), and all of the tech jobs collapsed as the market did. The Kingdome, which was the view from my apartment deck, got imploded. And I’m sure lots of other stuff got changed. So I’m not sure I would go back to live, but I will probably visit again.

You pretty much have to eat the pierogies. But they always have really incredible soup, which makes it a good winter destination. And for some reason, I love the hallah bread. I will probably eat here more now, since Kiev has gone under.