Itinerary - Day 22

The last day!!! Today, we drive home from Buckeye Lake, OH. The drive will be approximately 530 miles and should take about 9 hours and 45 minutes.

Along the way, we'll be passing through Wheeling, West Virginia, made famous in the Billy Joel song "Billy the Kid", Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Allentown, Pennsylvania, made famous in another Billy Joel song!

This whole experience is going to feel like a season of The Amazing Race. In reality, that's what it's going to be! In the end, we will have driven approximately 6500 miles over a period of approximately 116 hours. That doesn't include scenic drives within the national parks we'll be visiting.

In addition, we will have traveled through 17 states including: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri and West Virginia!!!

We will have visited 10 national parks including Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes! In addition, we will stop at one national recreation area, two national monuments, and a couple of state parks and other monuments.

This should truly be an incredible trip, and hopefully one that we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Now, we just have to hope for good weather and no car problems!!! Let's hope everything goes according to plan!

Let the adventure begin!

Itinerary - Day 21

Another day, another drive ... Today, we'll be driving from Eureka, MO to Buckeye Lake, OH. Along the way, we'll be driving through St. Louis, MO and will stop at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, also known as the Gateway Arch and/or St. Louis Arch.

I'm hoping that we'll have time to ride the tram to the top of the arch, however, since it's a Saturday, this may not be possible. If we can't ride to the top, we'll probably just hang out for a little while and then get going.

Our drive from Eureka, MO to Buckeye Lake, OH will cover approximately 475 miles and should take around 8 hours and 15 minutes, not including any time spent at the arch in St. Louis.

On our way to Buckeye Lake, we'll be passing through Terre Hauta, Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana, Dayton, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio.

There's little to say about Buckeye Lake. It's another spot where I found a KOA campground on our route. We'll spend the night here, and then wake up in the morning for the final drive of our adventure!

Itinerary - Day 20

We'll be spending the day today at Six Flags St. Louis. A Friday in July at an amusement park ... how bad could it be???

We'll spend the day in the park and then return to the campground for the night. In the morning, we continue our journey home.

What else is there to say?

Itinerary - Day 19

We have a long travel day today, in fact, the longest of our trip in terms of miles driven! We'll be driving from Goodland, KS to Eureka, MO. The drive is approximately 640 miles and should take around 10 hours and 30 minutes!!!

Along the way, we'll be driving through Topeka, Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, (the birthplace of Bob Dole), and Kansas City, Kansas & Missouri. It's kind of interesting that a major city like Kansas City is actually split in the middle between two states. There's a road that runs North to South right through the middle of Kansas City named State Line Road!

Eureka is located South-West of St. Louis, MO and is probably most well known as the home of the Six Flags St. Louis, formerly Six Flags over Mid America, amusement park!!!

Our plan for tomorrow is to spend the day at Six Flags. I'm sure it will be packed and I'll probably be miserable, but at this point, Josh will have earned the diversion! I'll just have to make the best of it.

We'll be spending the night in Eureka and will continue our journey home in the morning.

Itinerary - Day 18

Today is a travel day, though we're going to squeeze in one more National Park visit along the way. We'll be driving from Mesa Verde National Park to Goodland, Kansas. I recently discovered that we'll be passing very close to another national park that I had never heard of; Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. It's only about 20 minutes out of the way, so of course we're going to stop!

Today's drive, excluding the side trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park, will cover 525 miles and should take about 9 hours and 15 minutes. We'll be spending the night at a campground in Goodland, Kansas.

There's really nothing much to say or know about Goodland or any other towns we'll be passing along the way today. It's just a waypoint on our trip back home.

Our stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park will be the highlight of our day. This is a little known national park whose main attraction, oddly enough, is giant sand dunes!!!

There's not much to see or do here. We'll pretty much get there, climb up a sand dune or two, and then get going. Oh, by the way, some of these dunes are 650 - 750 feet high, so this will be no trivial task!!!

I told Josh about this stop today, and he's pretty psyched to climb a giant pile of sand. It should definitely be an interesting experience!!!

Once we get to our campground, it will be set up camp quickly, make dinner and relax. Tomorrow's drive is the single longest drive, in terms of mileage, of our trip, so we'll need to be ready for it!

Itinerary - Day 17

Today will be spent sight-seeing in Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde is the site of numerous cliff dwellings that were at one time home to the Pueblo Indians.

There are several different tours of the cliff dwellings that can be taken, however, due to large crowds, it's possible that we may be limited to only one tour. We'll have to see how it goes.

Balcony House

The most well known dwellings in the park are known as the Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Hopefully we'll get to see them both.

Cliff Palace

The rest of the day will probably be spent relaxing and just hanging out, as tomorrow is the start of our journey home. We'll be on the road for the next two days, followed by a day at an amusement park, and then two more days on the road.

Itinerary - Day 16

Today is a combined travel/sight-seeing day that will take us from Lake Mead, Arizona to Mesa Verde National Park in South-Western Colorado. The drive itself is approximately 510 miles and should take about 9 hours to complete, however, this does not include sight-seeing time.

Our first stop, will be at Hoover Dam for a brief sightseeing tour. Tours of the dam don't open until 9:00 am, so I plan to get there well before that so that we can hopefully be on the first tour. I'm assuming that we'll spend at most 2 hours here, and be back on the road by 11:00 am.

From Hoover Dam, we will continue East on our way to Mesa Verde National Park. At one point, we'll be about 60 miles away from Grand Canyon National Park, however, we're going to save that one for another trip! When we reach Flagstaff, Arizona, we'll turn Northeast on our way to Colorado.

This route will take us past the Four Corners Monument, a Navajo Nation park marking the only location in the United States where four states meet: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. We plan to make a brief stop at the monument for a photo opportunity.

From there, we will continue on our journey to Mesa Verde National Park. Given the fact that we won't be getting on the road until close to 11:00 am, I'm expecting to arrive around 7:00 or 8:00 pm, after the long drive.

We're going to need to get things set up quickly so that we can get dinner made, and have a little time to spend relaxing before we go to sleep. Tomorrow will be spent touring Mesa Verde National Park.

Itinerary - Day 15

Today, we begin our journey back East. We'll be leaving Kings Canyon National Park and driving to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

We still have some more stops to make and things to see, but tonight, we'll be sleeping East of our prior night's location for the first time since we left home. Well, actually, that's not exactly true. Technically, Kings Canyon was East of our campground while we were at Yosemite, but we're not going to count that!

The drive today is about 465 miles and should take about 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete. I've included a little side trip down the Las Vegas strip for fun, which added a little extra time.

Unfortunately, we don't have a campground reservation for this evening, so we're going to have to hope that there are sites available when we get there. If not, we're going to have to improvise, possibly spending the night in a hotel, if necessary.

Along the way, we'll be passing through the cities of Visalia, Bakersfield and Barstow in California, and as I mentioned above, Las Vegas, Nevada!

Hopefully we won't have too much trouble finding a place to camp, or stay. Tomorrow's going to be a long day and we're going to need to get some rest!

Itinerary - Day 14

Today we drive from Yosemite National Park to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. The drive from our campground to the Kings Canyon Park entrance is about 130 miles long and should take approximately 2 and a half hours.

General Sherman Tree

When we arrive at the park, the plan is to take the scenic drives through the park and do some hiking to see the giant sequoia trees.

Assuming we get out early enough in the morning, we should have plenty of time to do everything that we want in these parks. The parks are actually very large, however, most of the park is made up of back country without any developed roads or hiking trails. We'll be sticking to the developed areas only.

Overall, this should be a pretty "easy" day, with some reasonably short drives and some relatively easy and short hikes. This should allow us to spend a fairly relaxed evening camping in the park in preparation for our drive tomorrow to Lake Mead, Arizona.

Itinerary - Day 11 - Day 13

These three days will be spent in and around Yosemite National Park. Due to the fact that we were not able to get a campground in the park itself, each day will require about an hour of driving each morning and afternoon to get to and from the park.

We plan to do several hikes in different parts of the park, including Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point and Tuolumne Meadows.

Yosemite Valley

Tuolumne Meadows

Glacier Point

Since we have three full days here, we should be able to see and do everything we want at a fairly leisurely pace. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do some bicycling and other activities as well.

At the suggestion of an old friend, on the day that we visit Tuolumne Meadows, we may include a side trip to mining ghost town of Bodie, CA. It sounds like a pretty cool place to visit and something that Josh might really enjoy.

Bodie, California

Our evenings should be spent relaxing, playing some board games and reading. 

At the end of these three days, we'll have essentially reached the halfway point in our journey, both in terms of time and distance from home. Out next stop will be Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California. After that, we start heading back East, to begin our journey back home, but more on that in the days ahead!

Itinerary - Day 10

Today is the big day. By big, I mean the drive. We leave Zion National Park this morning to travel to Yosemite National Park. It's a 574 mile drive, that is expected to take approximately 10 hours and 30 minutes to complete. For most of the trip, we'll be driving through the middle of the Nevada desert.

Along the way, we'll be passing through or near several towns of interest.

The first, is Virgin, Utah. The interesting thing about Virgin, Utah, according to Wikipedia, is that in May 2000, a law was passed requiring every homeowner to keep and maintain a firearm. I'll tell Josh to keep is head down as we drive through!!!

Welcome Americans!

Next, is La Verkin, Utah. According to Wikipedia, in 2001, the City Council of La Verkin passed an ordinance declaring La Verkin  a "United Nations-free zone".

At this point, I'm thinking that I probably shouldn't look into any more of these towns ... I'm starting to get a little scared!

About an hour after we leave Zion National Park, we should reach the city of Cedar City, Utah, where we will leave the interstate and head due West towards the Nevada border, which will be about another hour away.

No Fun Town!

After crossing into Nevada, the first town of interest that we will pass through is Panaca, Nevada. The interesting thing about Panaca is that it was originally founded as a Mormon colony and is the only "dry" community in Nevada, and the only community other than Boulder City, Nevada that prohibits gambling. No drinking and no gambling ... we won't be staying long!!!

The town of Caliente, Nevada will be our next major town, and a gasoline fill-up spot!!! The Union Pacific Railroad passes through Caliente, and the town's Hot Springs Hotel was the site of several forced marriages of under-age girls to members of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints Church (FLDS), which was run by former FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs.

The next town of interest will be a ghost town by the name of Crystal Springs, Nevada. At this point, we will turn onto Nevada Highway 375, also known as the "Extra-Terrestrial Highway".

The highway passes very close to the U.S. government's famed "Area 51", and UFO sightings are common here. I'll tell Josh to keep his eyes open!!!

Shortly after passing Area 51, the road continues into the small town of Rachel, Nevada!!! The town is well known for two things. The first is The Little A'Le'Inn, a small alien themed motel, restaurant, bar and gift shop. The second, was a giant KFC company logo, made of tiles placed on the desert floor, which the company claimed was the first logo visible from space. The logo was created in 2006 and was later removed in 2007, however, it is still visible on images from Google Earth and Google Maps!

Giant KFC Logo in Rachel, Nevada

After passing through Rachel, the road continues to the ghost town of Warm Springs, Nevada, the Western end of the Extra-Terrestrial Highway, and the approximate mid-point of today's drive.

The road continues through the Nevada desert for quite some time, passing through the unremarkable town of Tonopah, Nevada and several more ghost towns before crossing the California state line.

The distance from the town of Rachel to the state line is approximately  183 miles, or about 2 and a half hours of driving, at 75 mph.

The first significant town we'll encounter in California is the town of Benton. It's not much, but there will be gas stations and other services which we'll be ready for! Benton is known for its hot springs, but I don't imagine we'll have time for a dip.

The next town we'll come to will be Lee Vining. Shortly after passing through Lee Vining, we will come to the East entrance to Yosemite National Park. Only about another hour and a half to go until we reach our campground!

Once we arrive, we'll get things set up, make dinner and then relax after a long day in the car.

Tomorrow, we begin our tour of Yosemite National Park and the surrounding area.

Itinerary - Day 9

Today will be spent touring Zion National Park. It would probably be nice to have more than one day here, but one is all we've got, so we'll have to make the best of it.

Private vehicles are not allowed on the road that travels through the canyon, so we'll probably spend the day using the free shuttle bus system, traveling from stop to stop, and hiking along the way.

There are a lot of hikes we can take, so we'll have to choose carefully, to make sure that we have enough time to see the most impressive parts of the park.

Tomorrow will be spent entirely in the car, as we travel from Zion National Park to Yosemite National Park.

This is going to be a VERY long drive, so we're going to need to leave early in the morning. After dinner, hopefully we'll relax for a while, maybe play a game or two, and then call it a night.

Hopefully Josh will still want to continue at this point. These last few days will have included a lot of hiking and driving, and I'm sure we're going to be very tired!

Itinerary - Day 8

This day will be filled mostly with sightseeing and hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park. We'll have to wake up pretty early and get our camp packed up, and then we'll probably drive the park road to its end.

The scenic drive is estimated to take between 3 and 4 hours to complete the round trip, depending upon how much time is spent at the various scenic overlooks.

After the drive, I'm planning to do a number of hikes in the park that drop below the rim of the canyon and provide closer views of some of the parks more famous features.

I'm not sure how much time we're going to have, as we'll need to leave some time in the afternoon to drive to our next destination, Zion National Park. As I said in a previous post, I'm really wishing that I had built in an extra day to spend between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. When I originally planned the trip out, I wasn't expecting to stop at Capitol Reef National Park on day 7, which would have given us some afternoon time in Bryce Canyon instead. Since there's nothing I can do about it now, there's no point dwelling on it!

The drive from Bryce Canyon National Park to Zion National Park is about 85 miles long, and should take just under 2 hours to drive.

There's nothing terribly interesting along the way, so we should be able to make pretty good time, get to our campground, set everything up and have dinner.

These last two days are going to have been quite busy, so I'm sure we'll be ready for some nice rest and relaxation.

Tomorrow will be spent touring Zion National Park and getting ready for our "big drive" on day 10, which will take us from Zion National Park to Yosemite National Park. This will be the longest drive, in terms of time in the car, of our trip, but more on that in a future post.

Itinerary - Day 7

Today's agenda has us traveling from Arches National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park. Along the way, we're going to spend some time in Capitol Reef National Park. Depending upon road conditions, a potential road closure due to construction, and the amount of time we spend in Capitol Reef National Park, the drive will be approximately 300 miles and will take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.

Our visit to Capitol Reef National Park will consist primarily of a drive along the park's 10 mile long Scenic Drive. The road is currently under construction, and there's a possibility that it may not be open when we're there. If that turns out to be the case, our visit will be very brief.

If the road is open, however, we may take a 2 mile hike from the end of Scenic Drive into Capitol Gorge. Afterwards, we will simply backtrack our path along Scenic Drive to the park entrance and continue on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Capitol Reef National Park

After leaving Capitol Reef National Park, we will pass Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I'm hoping that we'll have a chance to make a quick stop here for a couple of pictures, including the requisite photo of Josh in front of a national park, or in this case, national monument sign, but it will depend on the time.

Following Grand Staircase-Escalante, we'll finish our drive into Bryce Canyon National Park.

Depending upon the time, and how tired we are after setting up our camp and making dinner, we may take an evening drive through the park to see some of its features at sunset, though my guess is that we'll probably be too tired to do so.

Tomorrow will be spent touring and hiking Bryce Canyon National Park and then driving to Zion National Park. The drive to Zion National Park should take less than 2 hours, so we should have enough time to see and do everything we want in Bryce Canyon, and then leave for Zion.

I probably should have built in an extra day to spread between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, but it's too late to change our plans now.