Notes to Myself

The Trip Recap

Finale (I promise!):

(It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over...)

My purpose for writing about our summer cross country road trip in such detail was to remember and chronicle as much as I could as soon as I could (POACA, you know...). For those of you who have ventured along for the written ride, it was a privilege to have you share this experience with us. I hope you enjoyed it and were at least faintly entertained on the way. Though we drove another 500 miles after we left Fairmont, it was over familiar roads in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, visiting family, so I won't add that to the trip annals. I will, however, spend some time talking to myself for a few more paragraphs, thanking various people and recording some random thoughts about The Trip...

Thank You, God, for being truly gracious to us. Thank You that my husband and I enjoyed each others company on this adventure and still liked each other after spending 6,000 miles together in a car. Thank You for the amazing weather, safe travel and protection from a shootout. We missed the worst of the crowds, got good parking spaces and experienced (mostly) wonderful shuttle bus service. Our hotels were clean comfortable and reasonable, and the food choices on the road were sufficient both for one person who will eat anything and for one person who would like to eat anything, but is functionally gluten-free. Thank You for being an...awe...some...Creator, and that the national parks reflect that ...awe...some...ness... Thank You for the created wonders - the towering red rocks, towering gray rocks, sandstone spires, canyons, rivers, waterfalls, the Pacific Ocean, the snow/glacier covered mountains, assorted wildlife we had never seen before, wildflowers we had never seen before, and trees, trees, trees. And thank You for all those surprise adventures...

Thank you, Stephen Mather and Horace Albright, for deciding the lands that are now national parks were worth preserving as such, and for convincing President Woodrow Wilson that a National Park Service was something worth mandating. Thank you, Dwight D. Eisenhower, for setting the wheels in motion for the interstate highway system that got us to where we were going in a fast, safe and scenic manner. Thank you, rangers and shuttle bus drivers, for sharing your natural and practical knowledge of the various parks with those of us who wander through them. Thank you, all the people we encountered on this trip, for sharing your stories, your friendliness, for the times you took our picture and for the times you asked us to take yours. And thank you, Sam and Amy, for the invitation to your wedding, giving us the perfect incentive and time frame to plan the trip around.

Notes for the next trip:

Pray early, plan early. God and Expedia are your friends...

Check park websites thoroughly when planning trip and print up park maps and individual hiking maps beforehand...

Check shuttle bus availability. Decide if it looks like it will work for a particular park...

Spend the big bucks and stay as close to a park as possible. Big park? – try to spend more than one day there or “...sit by the Merced River and cry...

Get up early, go early, get a parking spot and beat the crowds and heat...

Tuna pouches and applesauce cups make great hiking foods to plan lunch around...

Don't expect/plan to eat within or near the parks - exorbitant fast food prices and long lines. That said, maybe stumble upon an unexpected meal off-hours at a less well-known park restaurant...

Hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and water, water, water...

Plan the hiking early. Have a late afternoon rest plan – museum, nature center, something indoors in case of heat or afternoon storms...

Check the Weather Channel every night for the next day...

Check Google Maps for surprise adventures nearby...

Don't be afraid to take more scenic side roads...

Bring a good camera, extra memory card, extra batteries and charger...

Bring laptop and charger and transfer pictures each night...

Bring road atlas and the book, The Next Exit, for traveling on interstates...

Get a smart phone with a GPS (My husband made me write that...)

A final note...the only disappointment of this trip was the lack of wild animal sightings. There was a moose and her calf we heard about but did not see at the Grand Tetons. We saw no elk in its huge elk refuge. We looked for mountain goats, mountain lions, and big horn sheep in multiple places without seeing any. There were many serious bear warnings in several of the parks but no bears, and we opted out of a chance to see a herd of bison due to time restraints and an unpaved road. We did see antelope and prairie dogs, species new to us, and many western birds and lizards we had never seen before. We did manage to see all those animals we missed, however, stuffed, and in one place, when we stopped at a Cabela's in Owatonna, Minnesota. And, of course, pictures were taken...

 

 

The Trip at a Glance

 

Day	Miles Driven	From	To	Park	Surprise Adventure	Food Shout Outs
1	570	Antioch IL	Lincoln, NE
2	470	Lincoln, NE	Denver, CO		Calvary Chapel (Richie Furay)
3	251	Denver, CO	Grand Junction, CO		Dillon Reservoir Overlook, Glenwood Canyon
4	233	Grand Junction, CO	Richfield, UT	Colorado National Monument		R & R Frontier Village Restaurant, Richfield, UT
5	157	Richfield, UT	Hurricane, UT	Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park
6	50			Zion National Park
7	381	Hurricane, UT	Valle, AZ		Las Vegas, Hoover Dam
8	48			Grand Canyon National Park		Yavapai Lodge, Grand Canyon
9	483	Valle, AZ	Bakersfield, CA
10	355	Bakersfield, CA	Cupertino, CA		Sea Cliff State Park, The Coastal Highway, The Road to La Honda
11	20				The Wedding Sanborn County Park
12	159	Cupertino, CA	Mariposa, CA			The Happy Burger, Mariposa, CA
13	86			Yosemite Valley Yosemite Nation Park		The Happy Burger, Mariposa, CA, Again!
14	313	Mariposa, CA	Fernley, NV
15	479	Fernley, NV	Salt Lake City, UT		Bonneville Salt Flats
16	243	Salt Lake City, UT	Rexburg, ID		Idaho Falls	Neilsen's Frozen Custard, Rexburg, ID
17	195	Rexburg, ID	Dubois, WY	Grand Tetons National Park		Village Cafe, Dubois, WY
18	393	Dubois, WY	Gillette, WY
19	170	Gillette, WY	Rapid City, SD	Devils Tower National Monument Mount Rushmore National Memorial
20	155	Rapid City, SD	Murdo, SD	Badlands National Park		Murdo Drive-In, Murdo, SD
21	322	Murdo, SD	Fairmont, MN		Lewis and Clark Exhibit, Sioux Falls

In God’s wilderness lies the hope of the world―the great fresh unblighted, unredeemed wilderness. - John Muir

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. - John Muir

The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark. – John Muir

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. - Unknown

Finis