The decision has been made. The Universe willing, we’ll be going on a road trip in the US and Canada in the summer of 2011.
I am working on a general plan these days, just to see that the idea is feasible, in terms of driving distances, things to do etc. Our time frame is a flexible three months.
The general plan looks something like this -
- Arriving at LA. Taking a few days to get over the jet lag and then heading out to –
- The Grand Canyon
- Page, Arizona (Lake Powell)
- Zion and Bryce National Parks, Utah
- Option A: Canyonlands and Arches National Parks
- Option B: Monument Valley and Mesa Verde National Park, Utah & Durango, Colorado
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
- Colorado Springs
- Denver
- Mt Rocky National Park
- Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
- Glacier National Park
- Calgary, Canada
- Edmonton
- Jasper National Park
- Banff and nearby Parks to the west of Banff
- Vancouver
- Victoria and Vancouver Island
- Olympic National Park, Washington, US
- Seattle
- Portland, Oregon
- Crater Lake National Park
- Road 101 along the coast
- San Francisco and the Bay Area
- Yosemite National Park
- Road 101 again
- Los Angeles
Whew.
This is a rough sketch, of course. I am working on pinning it down on a map these days (thank you Google Maps!). I have already discovered that the distances are HUGE. I mean, they’re even longer than what you might think, because the roads are winding.
I have no idea how people used to go on road trips before the days of the Internet. I am continuously hooked up to several sites these days, Trip Advisor, Google Maps and a local traveling forum in Hebrew. The National Parks site is also visited frequently, as well as various State Parks sites.
So, now you all know where I disappeared to.
If you have ideas, thoughts, tips or if you think you’d like to meet us along the way – leave me a comment here!
Sounds like fun! How do you have that much vacation time?
We’re lucky in both of us working flexible jobs. My husband will putting a lot of extra time into his job this year (working almost full time, instead of the part time job we had planned on him having), so that we can take 3-4 months off next year.
Space – the Final Frontier. LOL, people used to be the envy of everyone they knew, who could take that sort of vacation. Every place you mentioned is a destination in its own right. Funny, too, how you will go through some serious climate changes – wait til you compare the Olympic Penninsula to Utah, lol.
Awesome! I think it sounds like a classic summer trip, though a VERY long one. You might pear the list down a bit if you want to keep your sanity. It is a lot more fun to spend time exploring a park than just driving around the country (IMHO).
Let me know if you want any suggestions or ideas! I think we’ve camped, hiked and climbed in all of your destinations south of Glacier. Also, it’s Rocky Mountain NP, not Mt Rocky,
and I’m only being annoying because I live right next to it. It’s the best National Park.
Have fun!
You’re making a very good point. The more I look into things to do in the areas where we’ll be visiting, I’m thinking 100 days may not be enough. We may have to give up on parts of the trip – possibly Canada or the Canadian Rockies at least.
Sounds like a really great (and long) trip. I went on a 3000km roadtrip around California (and Las Vegas) last year – in less than two weeks – and liked it so much that I’ll be doing another one this year, but on the East Coast instead.
I’m sure you will have a great time over there. The scenery in California is fantastic. Well, even in Nevada, but more because of all the dessert that I’m not used to.
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I bet you weren’t driving around with two kids in the back of the car lol