Statistics
Days: 30. Left Bay City, MI on Saturday, August 6. Arrived Waurika, OK on Sunday, September 4.
Miles: 5,411.
States: 14. In order: Michigan, Indiana (no stops), Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Campsites: 4. Riverside Campground in Springfield, IL for 2 nights. Game Lodge Campground at Custer State Park, South Dakota for 5 nights. Canyon Campground in Yellowstone, Wyoming for 4 nights. Mather Campground at the Grand Canyon, Arizona for 2 nights.
Our campsite at Yellowstone, surrounded by trees.
Hotels: 10. Red Roof Inn in Bloomington, IL for 1 night. Red Roof Inn in Independence, MO for 2 nights. WHERE in WHERE, NE for 1 night. Super 8 in Chadron, NE for 1 night. Candlewood Suites in Gillette, WY for 1 night. Buffalo Bill Village Cabins in Cody, WY for 1 night. FairBridge Inn and Suites in Idaho Falls, ID for 1 night. Days Inn in Moab, UT for 4 nights. Hampton Inn in WHERE, AZ for 1 night. Super 8 in Grands, NM for 1 night. Super 8 in Tucumcari, NM for 1 night.
Cooking and blogging at a hotel along the way in Wyoming.
Q&A
What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: Custer State Park, for a number of reasons. The weather was temperate and very comfortable, there weren’t any bugs or mosquitos that we had to worry about, and the campground was clean. The drives we took were beautiful: Iron Mountain Highway, The Wildlife Loop, and Needles Highway.
L: For me, it’s a tie between Custer State Park and the Canyonlands. They were both places I really wanted to visit and was excited to see. They both felt very intimate and accessible, and there were times when we felt like we were the only people in each. They had different environments but both unique and the type of thing that we don’t see in Michigan!
Beautiful scenery at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: Car repairs – it was a nasty surprise driving through the Arizona desert and losing power steering. It was a nice surprise that both times we had trouble, we were only ~10 miles outside of a city that was able to fix the car same-day for us.
L: How much money we spent! We had budgeted and knew that the USA would be an expensive part of our trip, but we underestimated how much money we would be spending.
What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: Sleeping in Yellowstone National Park with 30 degree weather at night. We were traveling in the middle of summer and weren’t expecting to have such huge temperature swings. One day, we actually saw snow! It was fine during day, or when we were indoors, but it was not fun trying to sleep in those temperatures.
L: At the Lava Falls in El Malpais, NM, we went for a hike around the fields of lava. It was a great hike up until we heard some thunder in the sky. The rain started soon after, so fierce that it felt like tiny needles hitting my body. We were about a half mile away from the car, with no trees or protection around us. I got nervous and scared and broke down crying, but Jon stayed strong and got us through it. Of course as soon as we got back to the car, it had stopped raining. It wasn’t my best moment, but that’s just one more reason why I’m thankful to have Jon by my side on this trip.
I’m not sure about him, but I was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants to bed, plus my winter hat and gloves, all to try to stay warm!
What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: Our ‘gunslinger’ burritos in the campfires. They tasted good and were fun to make. There was an entire process to make them: split wood, start a fire, assemble ingredients, cook in the fire, and finally, eat. There were a lot of steps and effort put into making them but they always tasted good!
L: Another tie (cop-out, I know!) between tamales and chilaquiles, both made by my mother-in-law in Waurika. Tamales were my #1 request for our visit, which we ate every day. She also made chilaquiles for breakfast twice – they were delicious! After a month of eating either over a fire or in restaurants, it was great to have homecooked meals for a week.
Homemade chilaquiles for breakfast in Oklahoma – they were delicious!
What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: I would bring a better cooler and way to keep things cold. We had to change out the ice in the coolers sometimes every single day to keep food from going bad in the heat.
L: Aside from having more money set aside for this portion, I would probably have added in a couple more “down” days. We spent so much time on the go, between sightseeing and driving, that we didn’t have much time to just sit and relax. It also gets tiring moving somewhere different every night, so it would have been nice to have 2 nights at a hotel to just relax from time to time.
What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: If there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do, make the effort to do it! If there’s something you’ve wanted to do but you don’t end up doing it, you’ll be disappointed. It’s worth it to make the extra effort to do the things you have always dreamed of. At the same time – bring a lot of money!
L: Factor in a lot of extra time for driving. We factored in plenty of time so that we didn’t have to drive too far on any given day. We also allowed time for plenty of stops along the way at things that looked interesting. It gave us a chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs and break up the drives. It was also great to not feel rushed, so we could take our time and be relaxed on the road trip.
Buffalo crossing the road in front of us at Custer State Park.
What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: The Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park. It was fun to see all the animals up close and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
L: Spending so much time with Jon and being with him when he saw the things that he had always dreamed of, like Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone. It was wonderful to be together every day and discover new things together. Seeing his excitement and enthusiasm was nearly more exciting than seeing things for myself. This past month has reaffirmed how much I love spending time with him, whether we are hiking in the Grand Canyon or just riding in the car pointing out every time we see a cow (seriously, every single time!).
This was the one place he really wanted to go in Yellowstone! It was so great to stand there and view it together.
What to read more?
Read about our time in the USA…
- Get your kicks on Route 66
- Learning about Lincoln in Springfield
- The Oregon Trail: not just a game
- History in Independence
- The Presidents of Mount Rushmore
- The Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park
- Bars, brothels, and gambling in Deadwood
- A night at the Cody Nite Rodeo
- A Typical Tuesday while in the USA
- The 100 year anniversary of the National Park System
- Tips for visiting Yellowstone
- Hiking in Canyonlands, Utah
- How we got around the USA: our ride
- Quirky and unique stops along the way
Looks like you really are enjoying the trip of a lifetime, love reading your stories.
Thank you!! We are really having a wonderful time!!