Road Trip

It is a late post, but a difficult one.  How to put four weeks of cross country driving into words and pictures for the entertainment of others is a daunting task.  Nonetheless, this past summer I got to spend 30 days on the road, just me and my husband.

1. Crater Lake, OR - It is what it sounds.  It is a volcano with a lake at the top.  We camped at the National Park and slept like lambs.


















2. Coastal Red Wood, CA - We stayed the night here as well, and was by far my one of the
highlights of the trip. We met some nice people,
and got to run around
in the woods
like kids.

From here we drove through Sonoma and wine country.  We stopped by the petrified forrest, which was a little underwhelming.









3. Lake Tahoe, UT - We stayed the night here too.
We had a great fire and played Skip-Bo way into the night.














We had a break- in into our cooler (filled with water only).  The local critters got their shits and giggles making noises and freaking me out in the middle of night.  Moreover, I did not want to leave our site to pee.

4. Salt Lake City, UT - While to drive was lovely and the city itself was nice.  We did stay at a hotel
at this stop, as we were intending to visit my bestie's house the next day in Colorado Springs, and wanted to not smell like 'the road" and must.

 Salt flats, Jon really wanted to just drive off the road and give them hell. Alas, no.

5. Colorado Springs, CO - We cheated and stayed at a hotel here too.  We got in the area late, and decided to meet my friend early in the AM - We also saw a double rainbow, so I took a pic and bought a lottery ticket

6. Somewhere outside Salina, KA - We drove most of the night. From Springs to Michigan, we wanted to make the best time.  We slept at a Loves Truck Stop and hit the road early, and made it to Michigan by midnight the next day.

how many bugs?



        ... and we grabbed pizza in St. Louis

7. Michigan (2 weeks) We mainly made the drive for my sister's wedding.  It was important that we be there mainly because I was the officiant.

...and of course the reception, where my family and I closed down the hall and moved the party to my sisters for a huge fire and four wheel flipping with my ex-bro-in-law. It was a blast!

While in Michigan = We saw friends, family and went to Cedar Point.  Additionally, we both Jon and I got sick.  Jon unfortunately had to work for a week while we were their.  We did have to skip some of

our plans (like the Renaissance Festival), however, we powered through.

8. Homeward Bound - On our way home, we stopped in Chicago and ate at a local diner

We also stayed at a hotel that evening, I was still running a fever and needed the bed and shower.  The next day I woke up refreshed and drove the next two days

Corn Palace - Boring

                                                  Bad Lands











                                                 

           Mount Rushmore
                                                                                 

Devil's Tower...

...and a pasture full of friends

               







9. Next stop was Yellowstone, where we camped again.  With all the beautiful scenery we saw, this moment overshadowed the moment

10. After another night in the back of Black Betty we spent the day driving through the park.  In addition, we stopped by to see Old Faithful.

11. Somewhere is Montana - This was the best night of our trip.  This was a lovely, secluded, free National Park.  We were right on a river bank, and we had enough light when we arrived to explore and play in the flora.  It was amazing and a great cherry for our treat of a summer holiday.

The stars were A-mazing, I am grateful I got to see it in my lifetime.

Some of my favorites

for obvious reasons

I highly recommend a good road trip once a lifetime.  It is unsetting to think that all this wonder and landscapes are all so close.