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Road Trippin'

carrie1977

carrie1977

Tequila and Taco Tuesday
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
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Last night my husband suggested we take a road trip this summer. What the what?! This took me completely by surprise because 1. I have had this same thought and hadn't brought it up yet because 2. we haven't ever done this sort of thing. Ever. Not even before we had kids. So, he wants to drive to Yellowstone/Jackson Hole.

Here is where I need your help....

1. Have any of you ever driven from California (I'm in the central valley) to Wyoming? If so, did you take a specific route? Do you have route suggestions? Stops along the way that are a must? Would there be different routes we can take there and back to see different places?

2. If you've been to Yellowstone, what are some of the must-see places? I know Yellowstone and Grand Tetons are a given. But, what else? Any restaurants or diners we have to try?

3. Any websites you can suggest for planning this sort of a trip?

Thank you for any advice you are able to give to me. This is all so exciting but I know it's going to stress me out. Haha!
 
I haven't done your trip, mainly because we live on the Right Coast but.... We went to Park City and I said...why not drive?? (from MD) as I'd not seen many of the central states. It WAS an experience but I'd only do it on my own now since I learned that we did not have the same travel styles - he's a get from spot A to spot B type and I'm a 'let's see where this road goes...'. He said my trip might have taken a week more and I agree. So??? We had only been married about 5 or 6 years so it was a learning experience.

We've never done it again!!! LOL ymmv
 
Trip Advisor was nice when planning our vacation to Glacier last summer. Also check out Pinterest...they'll have LOTS of "must sees". I'd like to do Yellowstone/Grand Tetons so I have a Pinterest folder already. :)
 
I'm no help as I've been the other way (Indiana to Wyoming) but have fun planning! Your kids are old enough that it shouldn't be too terrible being stuck with everyone in the car for a long road trip. :)
 
LeeAndra said:
I'm no help as I've been the other way (Indiana to Wyoming) but have fun planning! Your kids are old enough that it shouldn't be too terrible being stuck with everyone in the car for a long road trip. :)
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My kids were 21, 19 and 16 last summer and we drove 17 straight hours in a Ford Fusion. Not fun!! Not comfortable!! Hubby drove the whole way and the rest of us rotated seats every two hours so the same person wasn't always in the middle seat. We will totally rent a van next time we do this!!
 
rchansen said:
My kids were 21, 19 and 16 last summer and we drove 17 straight hours in a Ford Fusion. Not fun!! Not comfortable!! Hubby drove the whole way and the rest of us rotated seats every two hours so the same person wasn't always in the middle seat. We will totally rent a van next time we do this!!
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Oh goodness! That is a tight squeeze!! We have an Explorer so we'll be good to go.
 
No help here as we live in Michigan but WoW have a blast!!
 
We looked into Yellowstone a few years ago and the one thing I remember is -- book early!!! It is really, really busy in the summer and books up way in advance. We didn't end up going but it's still on my bucket list.
 
dawnmarch said:
We looked into Yellowstone a few years ago and the one thing I remember is -- book early!!! It is really, really busy in the summer and books up way in advance. We didn't end up going but it's still on my bucket list.
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Oh, gosh...hopefully we aren't too late!!
 
We stayed at a place right between the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone... pretty "rustic" but got the job done and I don't think we had to book that far in advance! I'll have to see if I can find the name. We came at Yellowstone from the other direction, but here's the link to the travel journal I did for our trip.

EDITED TO ADD... Headwaters at Flagg Ranch! That's where we stayed.
 
I think someone asked about this recently... I'm going to search!

PS - Have a blast, I am no help though... unless your road trip was to the east coast!? :giggle
 
Awesome! When are you guys going? We're leaving Spokane, WA on July 29th & then spending a few days there before we head to south dakota! West Yellowstone is only about 7 hours from us so that's nice!

Do you have a 4th grader? There is a national parks Pass for all 4th graders which your family can use to get into parks for free! :) Also- this pdf had a lot of useful information: http://d1njyp8tsu122i.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/YSJ_TripPlanner2016.pdf
 
Awesome! I still want to do a road trip in the USA, but cruising seems to win over road tripping. Maybe one day. But I can do it vicariously through you. Enjoy and take loads of photos.
 
amien1 said:
Awesome! When are you guys going? We're leaving Spokane, WA on July 29th & then spending a few days there before we head to south dakota! West Yellowstone is only about 7 hours from us so that's nice!

Do you have a 4th grader? There is a national parks Pass for all 4th graders which your family can use to get into parks for free! :) Also- this pdf had a lot of useful information: http://d1njyp8tsu122i.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/YSJ_TripPlanner2016.pdf
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Not quite sure yet...we haven't worked out all of the specifics. We'll probably sit down this weekend and try to nail a date down. We aren't quite as close. It looks like it'll take us about 15 hours or so to get there (depending on how often we stop). We are thinking sometime in July though. My daughter's birthday is the 24th so I'm not sure if we want to be gone for that or not. She might not even care if we are.

We will have an incoming 4th grader this summer so that is great to know! Thanks for sharing that!

I downloaded that pdf, too, so thank you for that as well.

Thanks, Amie!
 
I think just if you want to stay in the park, book early. But there are lots of nearby places to stay, we went a couple years ago and were able to book a spot at KOA campground just outside Jackson Hole a few days before. The park is huge! We were actually only able to spend one day in the park but I still felt like we were able to see and do a lot! Good luck & have fun!
 
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