epic trip out west – summer 2011
Yikes! When we got home from our epic trip last year, I decided to rearrange all my blogs and then we moved. And then I never created a post linking to all my posts about our super amazing trip. Looking back on all these posts, I can’t believe all that we saw, learned and did
Photo Friday : Dusty Roads (Georgetown, TX > Carlsbad, NM)
On Day Four of our “epic trip out west“, we drove 499 miles, but only one of them on interstate highways! Driving the smaller roads from central Texas to southwest New Mexico, we saw dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. Usually the dirt was on the ground, but quite often it would be whipped up
Photo Friday: Roadside America (I-20 ATL > TX)
Just a few days before our “epic trip out west“, I was daydreaming about all the “Great American Sights” we were planning to see – Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite. But that wasn’t enough. What about the “quirkier side” of this crazy country? A very short search (we were running out of time) later, I settled
Photo Friday: Evie
I can’t believe we did it. We lived in Evie, our PopTop EuroVan, for 38 days. She traveled almost 10,000 miles across 22 states. We traveled and camped almost the entire trip, visiting Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and a million other great sights. Evie is taking a little break this week, but we are
Out West Trip: Day 38 (Cadiz, KY to HOME)
Today’s highlights: HOME! I worked in the motel room in the morning while Rob and the girls went to get some breakfast. After we left the motel, we stopped at a Starbucks to get some real coffee. And then drove and drove, getting home around 4pm. Home! Trip Stats: Roadside Attractions: None. (Total: 29) States:
Out West Trip: Day 37 (Onawa, IA to Cadiz, KY)
Today’s highlights: Entering MO through the back door due to the flooding in IA. Buffet lunch in small town MO. Getting closer to home. After a quick (not vey good) breakfast at the Super 8, we headed south on I-29. The flooding was quite visible; sandbags on the highway were holding back the water. We
Out West Trip: Day 36 (Custer State Park, SD to Onawa, IA)
Today’s highlights: Eating pie at Wall Drug. Cob-shaped popcorn balls from the Corn Palace. A short detour to visit MN. After some coffee and chatting with our friends, we packed up the car and headed out. As we headed east, our first stop was at Wall Drug. Chloe asked what was special about Wall Drug
Out West Trip: Day 35 (Custer State Park, SD)
Today’s highlights: Hanging out with friends. Horseback riding. More game playing. We had a nice breakfast in the campground. Since the only open spots for the horseback riding were at 2:30, we decided to change our plans and stay another night camping. We had to pack up to change campgrounds, though. We went to the
Out West Trip: Day 34 (Devil’s Tower, WY to Custer State Park, SD)
Today’s highlights: Standing in the World’s Largest Log Chair. Visiting Mount Rushmore. Driving the Iron Mountain Road. camping with friends at Custer State Park. We woke up slowly and started to pack up. We decided to eat breakfast at the KOA cafe, but it ended up being quite expensive for a very mediocre meal and
Out West Trip: Day 33 (Thermopolis, WY to Devil’s Tower, WY)
Today’s highlights: Swimming in the World’s Largest Swimming Pool. Eating at the Utter Cafe in Buffalo, WY. Watching “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in the shadow of Devil’s Tower. I woke early to attend my conference call, but could not connect, so I went back to sleep for a while. Camille got up early
Out West Trip: Day 32 (Jackson, WY to Thermopolis, WY)
Today’s highlights: Another bison traffic jam. Our final Continental Divide crossing. Ordering food via red telephone from our booth. Swimming in the hot springs in Thermopolis. I woke at 5:30 to try to connect to my conference call, but could get neither a wifi nor a mobile hone signal. Grrr. Up so early, I worked
Out West Trip: Day 31 (Red Lodge, MT to Jackson, WY)
Today’s Highlights: A summer solstice snowball fight. Seeing a bear. Getting stuck in a bison induced traffic jam. Picking up Evie. I got up early for a conference call, then we started getting ready to go. It took a bit longer than hoped, but we were headed out of Red Lodge by 10am. We drove
Out West Trip: Day 30 (Red Lodge, MT)
Today’s Highlights: Catching up. Chloe rafting and jumping off a big cliff. Spotting a faun. I got up pretty early and started on my massive to-do list. Four weeks without reliable internet has been difficult, and I’ve fallen behind in email, blogs, website updates and all the rest. I spent 8 hours straight taking care
Out West Trip: Day 29 (Red Lodge, MT)
Today’s Highlights: Lazy day. A walk into town. Red Lodge Pizza. A bookstore. A candy store. An episode of Doctor Who. Early to bed. Having been so sleep deprived, it is no surprise that we managed to sleep in past 11. Rob went out to get coffee, and the girls played games. We walked into
Out West Trip: Day 28 (Jackson, WY to Red Lodge, MT)
Today’s Highlights: Watching Old Faithful erupt. Seeing bears, bison and elk. Marveling over springs, geysers, terraces and more. Beds with sheets and indoor plumbing. We woke early and packed up. From the Kamping Kabin, we went into town to grab bagels and coffee to go, then made our way to Grand Teton National Park. After
Out West Trip: Day 27 (Jackson, WY)
Today’s Highlights: Limping into town with Evie. Getting a rental car. Using redbox for the first time. Staying in a Kamping Kabin. We woke up early, worked on packing up and started to call car places. The “foreign auto” place was closed for the weekend, but eventually, Rob got ahold of a car repair place.
Out West Trip: Day 26 (Vernal, UT to Jackson, WY)
Today’s Highlights: Getting to Wyoming. Visiting Idaho for a few minutes. Driving in a snowstorm! Evie breaking down in front of our KOA, of all places. We slept in until 7:30 this morning. I tried to get some work done, but, as we’ve come to expect, the wi-fi did not work very well. I managed
Out West Trip: Day 25 (Moab, UT to Vernal, UT)
Today’s Highlights:Campground cat jumping out of a tree next to my computer while I tried to work. Eating delicious sandwiches at BedRock Depot on Brontosaurus Blvd. in Dinosaur, CO. I got up early for a conference call, but could not connect to the wi-fi. I went up to the front of the park to try
Out West Trip: Day 24 (Goblin Valley, UT to Moab, UT)
Today’s Highlights: A nice cafe for brunch. Watching the Green River flow past the JW Powell museum. Climbing around the arches in Arches. Going to a real grocery store. We woke amongst the goblins. Apparently the campground was low on water as the water pressure was low — toilets wouldn’t flush and showers didn’t work.
Out West Trip: Day 23 (Bryce Canyon, UT to Goblin Valley, UT)
Today’s Highlights: A scenic drive though landscape that changed every fifteen minutes from red to white to gray to tan and from sand dunes to green alpine forests. Driving down the riverbed in a gorge. Scrambling amongst the goblins. We slept in a bit today, then got up for a simple breakfast of muffins and
GBK Gwyneth
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