It's early yet of course, but I've been obsessing about my summer trip since the day I bought my ticket to LA. Feel free to add comments and suggestions, as I have few absolutes at this point other than these:
1) I will visit the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
2) I will spend a weekend with friends from Fresno, but not necessarily IN Fresno - this is where Yosemite comes in.
3) I will spend about a week, maybe a week and a half in the company of friends from San Diego, but again not necessarily IN San Diego - this is where the trip to Grand Canyon comes in.
4) I have already booked a car for June 22 - July 13, but if need be I could of course extend this period a few days.
Draft route, including appx driving distance in KM:
Monday June 22: Oslo - Philly - Los Angeles
June 23: LA - Simi Valley (The Reagan Library) - San Simeon (390 km)
June 24: San Simeon (Hearst Castle) - Eureka (766 km)
June 25: Eureka (Redwood forest) - Portland (667 km)
June 26: Portland
June 27: Portland (while in Portland I'll make a quick trip up into Washington state)
June 28: Portland - Baker City (Oregon Trail Museum) - Boise (695 km)
June 29: Boise - Jackson (592 km)
June 30: Driving around in the Grand Tetons National Park
July 1: Driving around in Yellowstone National Park
July 2: Driving around in Yellowstone National Park
July 3: Yellowstone - Ranchester (497 km)
July 4: Ranchester - Little Big Horn - Rapid City (556 km)
July 5: Mount Rushmore
July 6: Rapid City - Cheyenne (507 km)
July 7: Cheyenne (driving around southern WY, prolly visit the Laramie farm that inspired the Flicka books)
July 8: Cheyenne - ?
July 9: ? - Las Vegas (total of 1,374 km over two days)
July 10: Las Vegas - Fresno (650 km)
July 11: Fresno - Yosemite (206 km each way)
July 12: Yosemite - Fresno
July 13: Fresno - Los Angeles to drop off the car (601 km) - Driving with friend to San Diego
July 14 - 16 San Diego
July 17: San Diego - Phoenix - Sedona (756 km)
July 18: Grand Canyon Tour, prolly spending the night in Flagstaff (270 km)
July 19: Flagstaff - San Diego (790 km)
July 20-22: San Diego
Wednesday July 22: San Diego - Philly - Oslo, arriving July 23
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6 comments:
To spend 28 days in a car seeing 28 things would be my idea of hell...now to spend 28 days in the heart of one thing...say Yellowstone, perhaps know it intimantly in a small way, maybe stop and listen to the wind...now that's a vacation...Get away from the cement and car...live alittle.
„OPPGAVE 2a) Morgenen etter møter Alexander og Ingrid (vedlegg) hverandre ved frokosten. Skriv hva som skjer.”
(…) Alexander will mit Ingrid sprächen. Aber jetzt kann er sie nicht finden. Isst sie nicht Frühstück? Wenn er an Ingrid denkt, fühlt er sich auch nicht hungrig. Er versucht die Zeitung zu lesen, aber er kann nicht konsentrieren. Er sehe nur die Titelseite, und die Überschriften „ Achtung, Spitfire!“, aber es bedeuten nicht. Es beuten nicht ohne Ingrid. (…)
Du skylder meg 50 kroner din gnom.
Mein Gott! Hahahahahaaaaaaaa! Du har jaggu fortjent det.
Sounds like an interesting trip! Although I would worry slightly that you are trying to cover a too large area in too little time. Some parts of your route require so much driving that there may be little time to actually see or do anything (although you will of course be driving through some interesting scenery).
Some suggestions that may, or may not, interest you: Since you’re approaching Yellowstone from the south, you probably won’t see much of Montana. But, if you do, I think the Elkhorn ghost town (close to Boulder) is worth a visit. Nice and tranquil place for a picnic. The National Bison Range is also interesting, although it would be slightly out of your way, and you will see lots of bison in Yellowstone anyway (although probably not equally close). When in Yellowstone, whatever you do, don’t miss out on the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.
If you’re into the ”Wild West”, you may consider stopping in Cody, the nearest town east of Yellowstone. They have (staged) gunfights in the street and you can also catch a rodeo (slightly touristy, but fun nonetheless). Further east, you should set aside some time to drive through the Bighorn National Forest (which you probably have already planned, since you’re going to Ranchester). Very beautiful scenery. I think the nicest route is the one that heads straight east from Greybull. You’ll then pass through a tiny town called Shell which, if I remember correctly, according to the sign has a population of 10 (or some equally small number).
On your way to Rapid City, you should definitely take a very small detour to the ”Devil’s Tower” (made famous in Spielberg’s ”Close Encounters of the 3rd degree” movie). Around Rapid City there are a lot of interesting things you could do. Seeing Mount Rushmore won’t take very long, so you should have some time for other activitites. Just driving around in the Black Hills is nice. If you only stop in one town there, it should be historic Deadwood, especially if you’re into ”Wild West” stuff (for instance Wild Bill Hickock was killed there). But there is a lot more to the area: The unfinished but still impressive Crazy Horse Memorial is close to Mount Rushmore. The sculpture is planned to be rougly ten times taller than the heads of the presidents. You also have the Custer State Park and Badlands National Park (and many other different parks) nearby.
Whatever you decide, I’m sure it will be a great trip! I’m looking forward to your blogging from it.
I worry about doing too much in a short time too, but I'm trying to cut costs by only renting and driving for 3 weeks and spend the rest of the time with friends in San Diego. I'm strongly considering an extra week though, or maybe cut southern ID, Jackson and the Tetons and just do Yellowstone. I'm thinking about going through ID farther north, up around Cottonwood, which would take me into MT just south of Missoula. If so, Elkhorn would be feasible.
Cody and the Bighorn Nat Forest are on my itinerary, and I've been thinking about Devils Tower... Close Encounter is a great movie! Deadwood is a must after I saw the series on DVD last year and if I have the time, the Badlands would be cool too.
Damn, I need another four weeks!
I suggest skipping Oslo. That place is no good.
Greetings, drage lun.
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