Road Trip: 16 Days, 7,000 Miles, 21 States, 4 National Parks

T

TRaGiK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Messages
914
Location
Central NC
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
So the wife and I have been talking about and somewhat planning this trip for a few years now. When the in laws said they were going to Yellowstone National Park and invited us to go with them (and they paid for the hotel at Yellowstone), we decided to knock out a bunch of states and make a big loop. In laws ended up bailing on the trip, which made this (knocking out states) even easier for us to do.

Below is the highlights from the trip. If you want to see all the pics, you can see them on Facebook. Message me and I'll send you a link to my account.

Part of the route took us about 10 miles from Sturgis. We wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, and you could see it from our hotel. What we didn't realize is the Sturgis bike rally was the same week. What a PITA. We got to the hotel, and couldn't drive anywhere that night after due to motorcycle traffic. We ended up waking up at 5am to get ahead of traffic. Went to My Rushmore and we were the only ones there. Watched the sun rise, took pics of the dead presidents, and moved on.

20220808_072853.jpg20220808_052244.jpg

Onward to Yellowstone. Got to see Moose, Buffalo, and Elk.
20220809_111434.jpg20220809_142558.jpg20220809_140209.jpg20220809_152700.jpg20220810_081626.jpg20220810_081637.jpg20220810_083613.jpg20220810_083344.jpg20220810_095249_010.jpg20220810_120845.jpg20220810_120852.jpg20220810_152004.jpg20220811_113917.jpg20220811_114043.jpg20220811_121739.jpg20220811_124315.jpg20220811_124328.jpg20220811_124934.jpg




More in the next post...
 
We visited the "Matt's Off-road Recovery" (from YouTube) shop. Their shop is a lot smaller than I imagined. Got to see their rigs and meet Ed.

Went to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Twenty miles into the road, the rain came down so hard I expected to see Noah. Road flooded out and we had to turn around before we got to the petrified Forest, but painted desert was beautiful.

Cruised the Vegas Strip since our route took us near it and got a pic of the Pawn Stars shop. Pics of the Grand Canyon and Lake Meade below as well, along with some Route 66 stuff.


20220813_104638.jpg20220813_105217.jpg20220813_105115.jpg20220813_105243.jpg20220813_105301.jpg20220813_131621.jpg20220813_135248.jpg
20220813_153836.jpg20220813_184556.jpg20220814_090822.jpg20220814_091023.jpg20220814_091039.jpg20220814_145519.jpg20220814_150132.jpg20220814_164758.jpg20220814_170429.jpg20220815_103208.jpg20220815_103952.jpg
 
Last edited:
Stopped by the skating rink used in Stranger Things for a pic.

Went to Cadillac Ranch and the lesser known Slug Bug Ranch.

Got some pics on Rt 66.

The mountain and active hotel below were used in the Cars movie.

And you can't drive through Texas without eating at The Big Texan. The steak here was decent considering it's a tourist trap...but with reasonable prices.

20220815_171547.jpg20220816_100535.jpg20220816_102119.jpg20220816_102045.jpg20220816_112644.jpg20220816_113023.jpg20220816_113858.jpg20220816_141944.jpg20220816_164308.jpg20220816_164425.jpg20220816_151033.jpg
 
Last edited:
One of the most enjoyable trips I ever took was a week long horse back trip into the northwest side of Yellowstone. We went the 1st week of July, the 1st week back country camping was open that year. Spent 7 awesome days fishing and riding around with only my wife, 3 outfitters and 4 other guests. Elk and moose in an area where they still shy away from humans.. coyotes, wolves, grizzly with cubs...16" cutthroat trout on every cast...amazing.
 
The Rocky Mountains sure are beautiful. If my folks would have ever taken me on vacation there when I was a kid, I'd have moved to that part of the country 20 years ago.

Utah in particular, I love.

The beauty in Yellowstone is unreal. It's like you're on a different planet. I think we could have spend 2 weeks there, and not have seen everything.
 
TRaGiK said:
The Rocky Mountains sure are beautiful. If my folks would have ever taken me on vacation there when I was a kid, I'd have moved to that part of the country 20 years ago.

Utah in particular, I love.

The beauty in Yellowstone is unreal. It's like you're on a different planet. I think we could have spend 2 weeks there, and not have seen everything.
Click to expand...

it definitely takes multiple trips, this year will be our 5th to the park
 
Great pics, Im sure it was a great time. Ive been out that way a few times, beautiful stuff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom