Completed 9,001 miles through the western United States and Canada (dad and two young kids)
I'm posting this for anyone who may have questions about things to see and do, where to stay, and money-saving tips along a car-only road trip route through the Western US. It's impossible to see it all, but we did see a lot!
End of May 2018 to mid-July 2018
.
Click here for an image of the full road trip map
.
- 53 days
- 9,001 miles
- Hotel and motel hopping (no RV)... average stay was probably about $120 a night after tax.
- 2018 Honda Pilot
- Dad and two kids, ages 5 and 7
- Mom was along for much of the ride, too (but she flew in and out of some cities)
Route:
- Austin, TX
- Midland, TX
- Roswell, NM
- Ruidoso, NM
- Route 66: Santa Fe, NM-to-Flagstaff, AZ-to-Kingman, AZ
- Las Vegas, NV
- Barstow, CA
- Mammoth Lakes, CA
- Yosemite National Park, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Fairfield, CA (Jelly Belly Factory)
- Napa, CA
- Calistoga, CA
- Bodega Bay, CA
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Avenue of the Giants, CA
- Redwoods National Park, CA
- Crescent City, CA
- Portand, OR
- Seattle, WA
- Vancouver, BC
- Victoria, BC
- Lilloeet, BC
- Kelowna, BC
- Spokane, WA
- Coeur D'Alene, ID
- Missoula, MT
- Bozeman, MT
- Yellowstone National Park, WY
- Grand Teton National Park, WY
- Jackson, WY
- Bear Lake, UT
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Arches National Park, UT
- Moab UT,
- Monument Valley, UT
- Flagstaff, AZ
- Phoenix, AZ
- Tucson, AZ
- Saguaro National Park, AZ
- Tombstone, AZ
- Las Cruces, AZ
- White Sands National Monument, NM
- El Paso, TX
- McDonald Observatory, Fort Davis, TX (2nd largest telescope in the world)
- Alpine, TX
- Del Rio, TX
- Fredericksburg, TX
- Austin, TX
Keys to success:
- Overnight bags at each hotel instead of taking in all luggage
- $200 Kodi cooler from H-E-B saved me lots of money in the long run and allowed me to keep food cold for several days
- Dropping off laundry at wash-n-fold instead of spending time on laundry (was less than $100 the entire trip)
- Doing both sightseeing activities and kid-friendly activities
- Not spending too long at each national park... at 5 and 7, we found neither the energy nor the interest for very long hikes.
- Adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist. Just knowing that my car was actively avoiding crashes as I drove for nearly two months straight gave me some real piece of mind. I won't road trip without these features anymore!
Why we didn't use an RV:
- My kids love hotels... every new hotel is a new adventure. Even just fighting over who gets to use the room key is an adventure.
- We prefer to travel light and take only what is absolutely required. We only had about a week of clothes for each person.
- Food tourism. If I have an RV, I'll be telling the family we should cook ourselves to save money... that's just my personality. Since we didn't have that option, we had to seek out food each place we went, which was part of the fun. It didn't always work out, but it was exciting.
0 Response to "Completed 9,001 miles through the western United States and Canada (dad and two young kids)"
Post a Comment