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Day 24 - Home - Trip Summary




MILES: 7,780

 STATES: 15
  • Missouri
  • Kansas 
  • Colorado 
  • Wyoming 
  • Montana 
  • Idaho
  • Washington 
  • Oregon 
  • California
  • Nevada 
  • Utah
  • Arizona 
  • New Mexico
  • Texas
  • Oklahoma 
TRIP PHASES: 4
  • To the west coast
  • Pacific Coast Highway 
  • National Parks
  • Beach Vacation
FLAT TIRES: 1

ECO SYSTEMS:  20
  • Prairies
  • Foot Hills
  • Mountains
  • Geysers 
  • Sulphur Springs
  • Lakes
  • Continental Divide
  • Rain Forests
  • Ocean
  • Beach - Pacific Ocean 
  • Redwood Forests
  • Vineyards 
  • Almond groves
  • Yosemite El Capitan 
    • OK, not an eco system, but unlike anything else!
  • Sequoia Forest
  • Desert
  • Death Valley (see El Capitan note)
  • Canyons...some of them even grand
  • Gulf of Mexico 
  • Beach - Gulf of Mexico 

NATIONAL PARKS/FORESTS: 15
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Olympic National Park
  • Hoh Rain Forest
  • Redwood National Forest
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Stanislaus National Forest
  • Sierra National Forest 
  • Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
  • Inyo National Forest
  • Death Valley National Park
  • Zion National Park
  • Bryce Canyon National Park
  • Dixie National Forest
  • Grand Canyon National Park
  • Kaibab National Forest  

TIPS FROM THE ROAD
  • When possible travel with someone who has a different cell carrier.  Often we both lost service, but occasionally one had it when the other didn't.  Very helpful!!
  • Head north and then work your way south!  This wasn't our original plan, but so glad we ended up doing the trip this way.
  • The glove box makes an outstanding place to store snacks.  Nothing gets crushed and it's always accessible.
  • Magnetic phone dash mounts are great for keeping track of your phone and seeing your Google maps. Yeah, we aren't getting lost!
  • Buy a travel guide.  We bought one for the Pacific Coast Highway and one for the national parks.   Very helpful. 
  • We stayed at several cheap roadside motels and had some great experiences.   Motel 6 has really upped their game!
  • However, I recommend you travel with an extra door lock!  Makes you feel better when you stay in those sketchy roadside motels.
  • Most days we ate a light breakfast out of the glove box and then had a  late lunch.  One nice meal a day worked for us.
  • Highly recommend a vacation following all road trips.  4 nights at the beach helped us recover from 19 nights on the road!




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