We have been excited to take a long trip out west for a few years, and we had planned to do it in my parents’ RV. However, the RV had an issue and wasn’t fixed in time to take it. When we realized that was a possibility, I booked a Plan B with Airbnbs and hotels that had free cancellation so that we were prepared for both options. I may link the RV parks at the bottom as well, although we didn’t stay in any of them so I can’t say if they were good or not.
I’ll give itinerary and input, along with changes/suggestions, and companies and activities and links.
Disclaimer that I always include on my trip posts:
A trip like this is not at all for everyone, and we were taking this trip with my parents who are older, so we avoided some of the more active things we may have done if it was just our nuclear family. Those are things to remember, as well as two other important considerations.
I am a fan of what I call a “survey trip”. If I told some people that we hit this many national parks and state parks and states in 17 days, they would be almost offended. Yellowstone in 3 days??? That’s a disgrace, they might say. However, I love to “sample” places on trips so that I know where I would like to return to and spend more time. From our Fall Break 2020 trip, I know that I would enjoy a longer trip to Yosemite and maybe an additional trip to Zion. From the summer trip, I know that I would like to return to the Tetons and Yellowstone at other times of year than summer.
We don’t typically do downtime when we travel. We don’t nap, we don’t sit in a hotel room, we don’t sleep in, we don’t go to bed early (although on our trips west, we do typically stay on Cleveland time, so our sleep schedule is a little changed), we don’t lounge at restaurants, we don’t sit around. We go and we see and we do. A Davis trip (or a school trip run by Athena Davis, haha!) requires travel stamina. I’m the person who, if I have a long layover, will plan an activity in the city of the layover so as to see more. If this isn’t your way to travel, I do not AT ALL recommend this itinerary. It was constant going and doing and seeing and it was tiring even for people like us who are used to this sort of travel.
I’ll do the quick and dirty itinerary below, then go into more detail by day for those who want to read that.
Basic Itinerary:
Day 1: Drive from Cleveland to the ferry, then Cave-in-Rock state park, short hike, Shawnee National Forest, Garden of the Gods short hike, overnight in Fairfield, Illinois, at an Airbnb
Day 2: Drive to St. Louis, stop to see the Arch, then drive on to Omaha, Nebraska, overnight there in a hotel
Day 3: Drive to Sioux Falls, SD, walk the falls, drive to Mitchell, SD, see the Corn Palace and look around, drive to Chamberlain, SD, see the Dignity Statue, drive to Badlands National Park. Hiked, drove the scenic drive, overnight at Frontier Cabins and Motel Resort in a cabin and a tipi
Day 4: Drive to Wall Drug, see it, then across to see Wind Cave NP, the Crazy Horse Statue and Mt Rushmore, overnight at a hotel in Hill City, SD (shop downtown)
Day 5: Up early to go to Custer State Park, scenic drives, overnight at a hotel in Custer (shop downtown)
Day 6: Drive to Montana, stop and see Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument, scenic drive, overnight at a hotel in Billings, Montana
Day 7: Enter through Yellowstone’s North Entrance (Roosevelt Arch), drive and sightsee, then out the NE Entrance, drive Chief Joseph Highway to Cody, WY. Overnight there in a cabin.
Day 8: Entered Yellowstone’s East Entrance, drove the middle/bottom of the loop, came back out the East Entrance, overnight again in Cody in cabin.
Day 9: Stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam, Entered Yellowstone’s East Entrance, drove through Yellowstone and exited the West Entrance, overnight in a hotel in Island Park
Day 10: Drove down through Idaho, across to the Tetons, drove part of the loop, shopped in Jackson, overnight in an Airbnb in Idaho Falls
Day 11: Back into Grand Teton NP, hiked and drove loop, overnight again in Idaho Falls
Day 12: Drove into Grand Teton to float the snake river, then out the east side of the Tetons through to Casper, WY, overnight in a hotel
Day 13: Drove to Spearfish, SD, drove Spearfish Canyon, shopped and such in Deadwood, SD, overnight in a hotel
Day 14: Drove to Theodore Roosevelt NP, toured North and South Units, overnight in a hotel in Dickinson, ND
Day 15: Drove to Rochester, MN, baseball game, overnight in a hotel in Rochester
Day 16: Drove down through Wisconsin to Iowa, stopped at American Gothic House, to Hannibal (sightsee), overnight in Metropolis at a hotel
Day 17: Quickly sightsee, home to Cleveland
National Parks Information:
American the Beautiful National Parks Pass ($80) is ESSENTIAL. Plus, it’s good for a year so any future trips will mean it pays itself off over and over. Learn from my previous mistake on our last fall break trip, though, and for your very first pass, buy it AT THE FIRST PARK instead of ordering it in advance. It expires in the month that you bought it (the following year), so you get more use out of it if you purchase it last minute.
Stay up to date using the NPS websites! This is especially important in the time of Covid (many visitor centers are closed still and some areas of park are close). This is how I knew that part of the Yellowstone loop was closed and that we would need reservations for the cave tours at Wind Cave.
There is an app that I have heard so much about called the Gypsy App. I got it before this trip and I am so glad I did. It was seriously the greatest addition to the trip to hear him explaining things, offering extra details, and giving advice about where to stop and where it wasn’t totally worth it. You can buy it by the park or buy bundles (which I recommend if you’re going or are going to be going more than one place).
Travel Details and Notes:
The National Parks pass is per car. My parents already had a lifetime senior pass (can’t wait till I can get one!), so we needed an additional one for our car. State parks aren’t included in that, and some state parks (like Custer) do charge admission. Use Gas Buddy to find cheaper gas along the way.
We use hydroflasks and fill them at each stop in the mornings, which covers water. We also had coolers and snacks in our cars. More on that later.
In packing, I SWEAR BY packing cubes. We normally use a set of cubes per person, but this trip we did it differently and it was so smart for this type of trip. We did a cube per day, so each cube held a day’s outfit for 6 people. I bought hospital bracelets to label and put around the cube handles. Then we had a large utility tote (not suitcase) that held each 1/3 of the cubes. We also had a tote with sweatshirts and jackets and bathing suits and towels and one with hiking boots and extra shoes and hiking supplies.
We avoided nighttime driving as often as possible due to wildlife on the roads.
Staying on Cleveland time had a lot of benefit to us, especially with stopping early. We were able to get started earlier without it feeling so crazy early.
Preparation:
I always put a TON of time into research for trips (and I enjoy it). I look at all sorts of websites and blogs and read trip advisor reviews like they are the Holy Graille. I also am a member of fb groups for national parks, road trips, and specific parks. Those help a lot. The more info you can find from people who are similar to you (in activity level, physical condition, age, etc), the better off you are.
In my research and our previous trip, I knew some specifics that I would need and one was hiking sticks. We used those on our previous fall break trip and we used them again on this one. We have relatively cheap ones from amazon and they have served us well. We also always take extra shoes, lest some get muddy or wet and you need to switch them out.
We always travel with lots of Walmart bags for trash in the car, wet stuff, dirty shoes, etc..
Time. Everything is relative. Some things will take longer than you anticipated and some will happen a lot faster. Leave yourself some wiggle room and be ready to drop back and punt when needed, whether that is to end the day sooner than expected or squeeze one more thing in. Time on this trip worked very well.
I knew that phone service would be an issue in a lot of places so I had screenshot driving directions, reservations, etc.. This ended up being absolutely necessary. We also took a paper atlas in case we needed it.
Money:
We always do meals in the car. We tend to eat one meal out each day and eat the other two from our bag. This was a little harder on this trip since Kraig’s diet is so much more limited than it was last Fall Break, but we made it work. This saves us time as well as money, and in Covid times, it’s been very useful since a lot of places aren’t open, close early, and aren’t fully staffed.
For us when traveling with our nuclear family, Airbnbs are the cheapest way to stay instead of paying for two hotel rooms. It also offers the chance to refrigerate, prepare food if needed, wash clothes (which we only did once o this trip), etc.. The key to Airbnbs is REVIEWS and FEES. I can almost recite the reviews for every Airbnb we have stayed in because I read them so often. Get familiar with reading into what is NOT said, as many reviewers are too nice to point out negative things (although some will). Use the reviews for info about the area too, thaey are wonderful. For fees, don’t just go on the initial price it shows. Click “reserve” so that you can see the actual amount. Many of the places I looked at for this trip, due to Covid, had a cleaning fee that was equal the cost of the rental! For this trip, we were blessed to have my parents along, which meant that hotel rooms were more practical and usually cheaper since 4 people could stay in each room (we put two kids with my parents at each stop).
The major expenses on this trip were gas and lodging. Gas shot up in price right before we left, but I don’t tend to be a person who freaks out about gas prices much since THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT THEM. You can’t just decide not to drive a car, so it is what it is. Lodging was also pretty high, primarily because we booked relatively last minute for this part of the country, which we had to do since we needed to replace our original plan.
Other than the state park and the one excursion (floating the Snake), the visits were all free after the national parks pass. In spending money on only one meal a day, that also saved a lot on dining costs.
We did travel at the most expensive season, I think, in the summer. This same trip would have been a little cheaper in October and also not as crowded. However, we don’t have 17 days available any time of year other than summer, so it had to be.
This is a perfect trip for a large family or an extended family because there aren’t any added “per person” types of costs. The trip wasn’t cheap, but it was memories I won’t ever forget.
Quick Links to Excursions, Airbnbs, Hotels, etc:
Metropolis Hotel
Detailed Itinerary with Links
Day 1: Cave in Rock and Shawnee National Forest
We left home around 8 AM and headed north. I had considered a couple of routes, and ended up deciding that the kids would love taking the ferry across the Ohio River, so we did that to get to the state park. We stopped at Cave-in-Rock State Park and did a short hike down to the cave (park in the last parking lot for a shorter hike).
We then headed to Shawnee National Forest where we hoped to see Garden of the Gods and possibly a couple of other stops. However, it started to rain, so we had to park and wait it out in the Outpost (great ice cream) before we drove on to Garden of the Gods. We did the short hike loop to see all of the overlooks. After that, we drove on to our overnight in Fairfield, Illinois, at an Airbnb. We drove through awful rain and finally arrived in Fairfield.
This was one of our very favorite Airbnbs. It was a historic homes and we really enjoyed our time there. We got Pizza Hutt in town and brought it back to eat at the house.
Day 2: St Louis Arch NP, driving
We left pretty early to get on our way to St. Louis. We arrived in St. Louis and parked downtown. I knew that it was unlikely we could ride the car up since we had not made reservations due to not being sure what time we would get there, but we could at least walk around the park. We parked in a hotel public parking lot and walked a couple of blocks. We then walked around the Gateway Arch park, got funnel cakes down at the river, and made our way back to the car. It isn’t something I would go out of my way to see, but the Arch up close was actually a little cooler than I expected. Plus, when you’re checking off all of the parks, this is a necessary stop.
We then had a long drive ahead to Omaha, Nebraska. We made it to that town in time to grab some Arby’s and overnight there in a hotel, the New Victorian Inn and Suites in Omaha. The hotel was ok.
Day 3: Sioux Falls, Corn Palace, Dignity Statue, Badlands
We left pretty early and drove to Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD. We had a nice leg stretch break that we spent walking the falls and then going up on the observation deck, which is a nice little view. Pretty quickly after we stopped, we needed to head on. We drove to Mitchell, SD, see the Corn Palace and look around. This wasn’t a stop I was certain we would take, but I ended up being glad we did because the kids and my dad thought the place was pretty cool.
From there, we grabbed some fast food and then drove on to Chamberlain, SD, see the Dignity Statue. This one is a little hard to get to from that direction because it’s actually in a rest area. You can map to it, and it was one of my all-time favorite sites on the whole trip. Absolutely positively stunning and beautiful! It doesn’t have to be a long stop, just long enough to walk over to it and take pics, use the restroom in the nice welcome center, picnic tables if you want to make it a food stop.
The next stop from there was on to one of our major National Park destinations, Badlands National Park. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, which was perfect for temperatures. We hiked the Windows Trail and the Notch Trail (the kids went all the way to the top, up the ladder, which I did not do but they loved). It was a great hike and scenery. We then drove the scenic drive where we saw quite a bit of wildlife. We stopped at a great place to watch the sunset, then finished our short drive to our overnight at Frontier Cabins and Motel Resort in a cabin and a tipi.
About that place… They didn’t have cabins big enough for the 7 of us, so I booked a cabin and a tipi. Therefore, Roman and I ended up in the tipi. Now we have stayed in a legitimate tipi in the Navajo Nation last year during fall break. It was VERY simple, but a cool experience. THIS… was not. There was no electricity and the TOP OF IT WAS OPEN. If it had rained, it would have rained in. No beds, just two camp cots. The bottom of the tipi was what was the worst part— it was open about 6 inches from the walls to the ground. So any animal, any snake, any person, anything, could have gotten in. It was miserable and I would never stay there again, cheap or not. The CABIN, however, was VERY nice for the rest of them. Small but super nice and clean.
Day 4: Wall Drug, Wind Cave NP, Crazy Horse Statue, Mt Rushmore
Since we didn’t get to see Wall Drug the day before and they say that EVERYONE has to see Wall Drug at least once, we made that stop in the AM. It was… a one of a kind place that you only need to see once. :) We then headed across to see Wind Cave NP. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to go down in the cave (due to not having reservations), but we DID think we would get to see more. However, the place was absolutely SWAMPED with people, no parking, roads shut down for construction, absolutely ridiculous. We did NOT enjoy that park.
We also made a decision regarding the Crazy Horse Statue, and that was to just see it from the highway and not pay the $50 to get closer. Our final stop that day was Mt Rushmore. I honestly did not expect to be very impressed by it, but I was. Really cool stop. It is $10 to park there, but it’s refunded if you are a senior or military. They do a lighting ceremony at night for veterans, but we were worried about rain so we didn’t stay for that.
Our next overnight was at a hotel in Hill City, SD. It is more of a mom-and-pop kind of hotel, the Spring Creek Inn, but they were so kind and accommodating about allowing an extra person in a rollaway bed. The kids did NOT like that stop (we were all in the same large room with mini-kitchen and bathroom and it IS dated, but it didn’t bother me). We stopped to check in, then headed to Hill City downtown to shop and eat AND to see the largest Smokey the Bear statue in the world. It was seriously cool.
Day 5: Custer State Park, Needles Hwy, Iron Mtn Rd
We got up early to go to Custer State Park. I had heard that it was every bit as amazing as a national park, and I had heard right. We first did the wildlife loop since it was early and we were hoping to see some. We did see some buffalo and such, but the best part was the begging burros. You should see them pretty easily, there is a large parking lot and many people were gathered. We loved getting to play with them and pet them a little bit. After making the rest of the loop, we left the park to do the Needles Hwy and Iron Mountain Rd drives. Make sure to go in the right direction (no clue which way that is) to be able to go through the tunnel and come out with Mt. Rushmore framed there. So cool!
Our overnight that night was at a hotel in Custer, the Days Inn by Wyndham Custer. I do NOT recommend this one at all. However, the whole town was booked up and so there weren’t a lot of options. Custer has a great little downtown area (very walkable) and we enjoyed shopping and eating there.
Day 6: Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument, driving
I took a long time deciding which route we should take to get to Yellowstone. I was very interested in seeing the Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument, so that is the way I decided we should go. Yet again, it was the best choice. The battlefield itself was such a sobering and hallowed experience. We listened to a park ranger talk in the beginning and it was powerful. I knew he must have been a history teacher, and it turns out he was a college professor of history. We did the walk from the visitors center to the memorial, then did the driving loop. Not only was it historic and meaningful, it was also beautiful. If we had had more time and/or it had been a little cooler, we would have walked down into the fields to see more. From there, we went on to the Ledgestone Hotel in Billings, Montana. This was by far one of the nicest places we stayed. We also found a Walmart there and were able to stock up on more groceries.
Day 7: Yellowstone North Section
It was a short and gorgeous drive the next day to get to Yellowstone’s North Entrance, the Roosevelt Arch. I LOVED getting to take pictures of it and see that entrance. The first thing we did was head to the Mammoth Hot Springs area of the park and the kids walked the terrace. Then we drove through the Lamar Valley (a place I want to spend more time in) and out of Yellowstone via the NE entrance. On the way to Cody, we drove the Chief Joseph Highway. I had heard that it was an absolutely incredible drive. However, I think if I had it to do over, I would skip it. It wasn’t especially pretty and it was very curvy and precarious.
We got into Cody in time to check into the Buffalo Bill Village in Cody, Wyoming, which was a relatively nice cabin for all of us. We ate that night at Granny’s (HIGHLY recommend), shopped, and then went to the nightly Cody rodeo which was SO MUCH FUN for all of us!
There is a little play/shootout in the street, which was cool too. Cody is a nice little town.
Day 8: Yellowstone Middle Section
We ate at Granny’s again (I know) and got Kraig at the airport. Then we headed back into Yellowstone through the East Entrance. We saw Yellowstone Lake from above, took the Artist Paint Pots walk, and went to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Angela and Kraig did a mini hike while we waited for them. We ended that day in the Hayden Valley, eating a picnic lunch and watching wildlife. We also caught a grizzly on the way out!!!
We came back to Cody through the East Entrance again and it was a white-knuckled drive in the dark. The reflectors were missing from the road and it was nothing I ever want to repeat. We spent a second night in the Buffalo Bill Village.
Day 9: Buffalo Bill Dam and State Park, Yellowstone Southern and Western Section
On the way back into Yellowstone, we stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitors Center. The little history exhibit and the views were so neat there. We also made a quick stop at the Buffalo Bill State Park for a gorgeous picture at the reservoir there. We entered Yellowstone’s East Entrance again and past a waterfall and through the Old Faithful area (stop and see the Old Faithful Inn and eat some ice cream), then exited the West Entrance. With this plan, we were able to enter or exit each of the 5 Yellowstone entrances.
We overnighted in a resort in Island Park, Idaho, called Sawtelle Mountain Resort. It was the NICEST of all the places we stayed. We ended up wishing we had a little longer to be there (and I had considered booking an excursion through them but didn’t). It was very costly, but very nice. I would highly recommend spending a day or two here. It was very close to Yellowstone’s West Entrance but far enough away to be rid of the crowds, plus it had a lot to do in its own right.
Day 10: Grand Teton National Park (and a very unfortunate driving situation)
So on this day we were headed to the Tetons and I knew that there was a scenic route. However… I made a very poor choice. We drove down through Idaho on the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway (and did not even take the road across to see Mesa Falls, which was idiotic) and across to the Tetons. However, said road across to the Tetons was a THIRTY-FOUR MILE GRAVEL DRIVE. And not the fast kind of gravel, either. THEN we come upon a sign that says you shouldn’t go any further unless you have four wheel drive (we were in a mini-van), at which point I had a total breakdown, stopped the car, started crying and dry-heaving, went to my parents’ car, Kraig got in the driver’s seat and STARTED DRIVING, so I had to basically sit in Emma’s lap in the back of my parents’ car and cry into her hair. I wish any part of that was made up but it was not. (It was something Ranch Rd and it was a terrible idea).
We finally made it to the road into the north entrance of the Tetons. We then drove part of the loop, stopping for the walk at Schwabacher Landing and the Moulton Barn area, then headed into Jackson for lunch and shopping. What we found is that Jackson is overrun with humanity in the summer, overpriced, and not our favorite place. We shopped a bit, then had a picnic lunch at the car parked in front of City Hall. Haha! Our overnight that night was in an Airbnb in Idaho Falls, so we headed over Teton Pass to Idaho Falls. Our Airbnb was PERFECT and we got some carryout dinner and enjoyed a relaxing evening watching a movie.
Day 11: Grand Teton NP- Jenny Lake
With some encouraging from us, my parents decided to take a rest and laundry day and stay at the Airbnb (they had a whole trip ahead of them once we left to head home, so conserving energy was a good plan). The 6 of us got up before the sun and headed back over Teton Pass into the park. We drove Moose-Wilson Rd (gravel but not bad) in the hopes of seeing wildlife (we did not see any). Then we stopped at the Chapel of the Transfiguration and WOW what an incredible sight! I hated that it was so icky and cloudy because that was stunning.
Our main plan for the day was to go to Jenny Lake and hike to Hidden Falls. We had a tough time finding a parking spot (even though it was still very early), but we finally did. We took the boat across Jenny Lake and only Emma intended to ride it back, so we bought all one-way tickets except her round-trip ticket. We then made the relatively short hike to Hidden Falls. It was very pretty, but a little underwhelming in my mind. Angela and Kraig then proceeded to do a longer hike to Inspiration Point and into Cascade Canyon while Emma, Kelsey, Roman, and I waited for them. Once they finally returned, the overwhelming feeling for everyone waiting was one of hanger, so three of the four kids chose to ride the boat back across.
It was only a little over a two mile hike around the lake, defined as “easy”, so I knew I could easily make it back to the car walking. (Narrator: She did NOT, actually, “EASILY MAKE IT BACK TO THE CAR WALKING”.) First of all, I had to go to the bathroom. Second of all, it was a longer hike than it said and my Fitbit agreed with me. Thirdly, a freaking thunderstorm started and I was petrified we were going to die on the way back. As a positive, we did see a moose at the Moose Ponds overlook, so that was cool. It started to rain on us (and thunder and lightning) but we did safely make it to the bottom where the rest of our people were waiting for us.
We spend the remaining time in the Tetons driving a little more of the loop that we had missed, eating lunch along the river, and then heading back to Idaho Falls to meet my mom and dad for a Mexican dinner.
Day 12: Snake River Float and Casper
We got up early the next day to head back to the Tetons for our Snake River Float. I had been most excited about this for our trip and it DID NOT disappoint. I had wanted to do the evening dinner float (more chances to see wildlife) or the sunrise float (same), but neither were available on the date we needed, so a lunch float it was. It was still GORGEOUS and relaxing and a beautiful experience (and we did see a moose and several eagles, so that was awesome). The company was phenomenal and the guide super talented. They had a picnic lunch for us and it was just an all around great experience.
Once our float was over, it was time to head on to Casper. I wish that we had taken more time on that drive because let me tell you, the Togwotee Pass and those meadows were STUNNING! We also thoroughly enjoyed the scenery around Riverton and Lander (which is where our RV stay would have been if we had gone that route).
In Casper, we stayed in the Ramkota Hotel, a really, really nice stop. Mom and dad stayed another day in Casper and found it to be a delightful little town.
Day 13: Devil’s Tower, Spearfish/Deadwood, South Dakota
The first activity of this day was to part ways with Mom and Dad, a really sad time for me. I hated to leave them alone for the couple of days before my sister flew in, both for the sake of loneliness and also worry about their health. I also just hated to see something I had looked forward to for so long come to an end. I cried as we drove away from them in Casper. They stayed a few more days in Cheyenne for Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Then we were on the road home! We did plan some fun stops so that it wasn’t a terribly boring drive, though. This first day, we stopped at Devil’s Tower. We did not go all the way (I thought I would later regret that fact but, so far, I do not), just stopped a distance out to see it. The kids were less than excited by it (one of them said, “Petrified Tree #2!”, a reference to the Petrified Tree in Yellowstone that they did not care one bit for).
We then headed on to Spearfish. There, we stopped for Kraig to see the fishery (I have no idea) and then on to Spearfish Canyon. We did the scenic drive (I think it would have been more appealing to me had it not basically looked exactly like our East TN mountains) and stopped to do the hike to Devil’s Bathtub. It stormed just as we got there, so we waited out the storm, then started the hike. For once, I can tell you that the hike didn’t bother me a bit and we enjoyed playing in the water once we got there. We hiked back out and headed the rest of the way down the scenic drive. I had a couple of other stops I had planned for us to make but A. A storm was threatening and B. People had to go to the bathroom, so we just went on to Deadwood.
The kids LOVED Deadwood. I didn’t expect to care much for it but it was really a cute place. We saw the famous cemetery from a distance, watched a shootout in the street, had some dinner, and did some shopping. It was a nice stop on our way back home.
We stayed at The Lodge at Deadwood so that Kraig could game a little on our way back. He stayed out late and we turned in early. It was a really nice hotel.
Day 14: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We left the next morning headed to what I had eagerly anticipated, the last national park of the trip, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We decided to do the North and South units because they seemed so varied, and although it made for a lot of driving, I’m glad we did.
My main regret about this stop is that I didn’t schedule in the Medora Musical. I have heard it is fantastic, and I would have liked to have seen it.
We did the north unit first and it was stunning. We didn’t do any long hikes in either unit, just overlooks and scenic drives and short walks. We saw the wild horses, buffalo, and so. many. Prairie dogs!!! We then drove to the south unit and had dinner in Medora before going in. We had just enough time to stop at the visitor center and drive through before stopping at a recommended place to watch the sunset (excellent choice and one of my favorite parts of the entire 17 day trip). {This is also the location of one of our kids driving our car to take another kid to the bathroom and sideswiping the guardrail, messing up my van, and Kraig losing his wallet, but …. We don’t hold it against Theodore Roosevelt NP. ;) }
I wish I had gotten us lodging in Medora but there are very few options and it didn’t work out, so we drove on to Dickinson, ND, to the Hampton Inn and Suites. I had put in that we were a party of 6, and it is called “Inn AND SUITES”, so I assumed that we had beds for… I don’t know… SIX PEOPLE. As Kraig and I were frantically taking the car apart in search of his wallet, the kids called from the room to let us know that there were only 2 queen beds. Yes. This is where the trip felt like it was falling apart. HAHA! They were kind enough to send up a rollaway (if you’re keeping score at home, that equals… FIVE people, still not SIX…), so we made it work. Kraig got up early the next morning to go back to the park and look for his wallet but no dice. {Update: Someone turned it into the visitor center and they mailed it back to him a couple of weeks later, MONEY STILL IN IT! National park visitors are the BEST and so are the rangers!!!} Anyway, Dickinson was an easy drive so if you can’t get lodging in Medora, it’s fine. This hotel wasn't our best. :)
Day 15: Rochester, MN, Baseball Game
Our original plan was to stay around Minneapolis and go to Mall of America. However, a close family friend was staying in Rochester playing in a college summer ball league and they had a home game, so we adjusted our plans to include that. We had a loooooooong drive that day (the longest of the trip) but ended it with a beautiful night watching America’s sport in a pretty ball stadium (and they got that W!).
Our hotel that night was AmericInn by Wyndham Rochester. Not the best, not the worst.
Day 16: Driving, American Gothic House, Hannibal
I purposely routed us a little out of the way so that we could drive the Great River Rd section through Wisconsin (new state!). It was pretty, and I assume it’s gorgeous in the fall. We also went a bit out of the way for a stop for good old mom, and that was to the American Gothic House is Eldon, Iowa. My obsession with that place and that painting goes a long way back and it was cool for me to be able to take the props and recreate the pic with me and Kraig.
Our night stay was supposed to be in Hannibal, Missouri. I wanted to do the Mark Twain stuff and then stay there. However, we got there a little bit after most things were closed (but still walked though the town and down to the riverboat). We were all feeling pretty good about driving further, so we called our hotel in Hannibal and found that we could cancel with no charges. We canceled that sucker and kept on going.
We passed the St Louis Arch at sunset (stunning) stopped just outside St. Louis for some Cracker Barrel dinner, and headed on to Metropolis, Illinois to stay. I can’t remember the name of the hotel we stayed in but you wouldn't want that recommendation anyway. ;) We called a Harrah’s there but even with Kraig’s points and them comping one room, the resort fee made it too much.
Day 17: Home!
We left the hotel and drove to downtown Metropolis for a quick pic with the Superman statue (pretty cool how that town has played off of that name) and headed on!
We stopped in Nashville at my BIL’s house to get Kraig’s vehicle and then it was onward to home! The only rain we had to drive through on the whole trip was day one in Tennessee and KY and IL and day 17 between Nashville and Cleveland!
Reflections/Changes:
Honestly, there isn’t a lot I would change about this trip at all. We knew that it was going to simultaneously be a very fast trip and also a very long trip. We knew that there would be things that went better by taking cars and not the RV (saving some time, covering more ground, etc) and that there would be trade offs to taking the cars and not the RV (lodging cost, convenience). We knew that it would be another “survey” trip, although I think most people with me feel that they saw enough of each place that they don’t need to return. I would like to return to the Tetons, Yellowstone, and maybe the Badlands.
We knew that going in July would be tough as far as weather and also crowds. The weather actually was perfect. As for crowds, I don’t have a basis for comparison so I don’t know.
I do wish we had done String and Taggert Lakes in the Tetons and that we had gone swimming in several places.
Wind Cave felt useless, but at least I can check it off my list.
I’m soooooo glad we made Custer part of the trip. I absolutely loved it.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is incredibly underrated and I loved it.
The Snake River float was awesome and I still wish we had done sunset or sunrise.
Of course I would nix the 34 mile gravel road, and I really wish my phone would warn me of gravel roads.
Staying in Idaho Falls WAS a long way out. That drive was brutal each day, but we just didn’t have a lot of reasonably priced options at the time we booked.
For the most part, our driving distances each day were pretty well planned.
Sooooo glad I added Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument.
Just, all in all, I’m so thankful we have the memories of this trip with my parents. I expect them to be around for many, many more years and to also be healthy enough to travel for many, but the odds of things lining up for all of us except Francisco to be able to do a trip like this together are very slim as the kids grow up and head to college and jobs. I’m just grateful. It was a wonderful 17 days!
(And I drove almost every single mile!!!)