21 States, over 20 parks/monuments and 10,054 miles in 18 days!

Last June SpitFire and I took off on a marathon road trip to see most of the north west and western states. This was a drive a look trip with no real planned agenda other than a genera route and a few specific places to see. Each day we would be on the road about sunrise and go until about 3 hours before sunset (or when we were ready to stop) then would start calling a couple hours ahead to find a place to stay. We stopped and looked at whatever we wanted to see. Less than 5% of the entire trip was interstate highway.....stayed off the beaten path and took over 5,000 pics! Here are but a few!

The map....each circled number is a day and the circled orange "X" is where we stopped for the night.



The first couple days were wet so not as many pics....



Notice the size of the light posts....

Heck of a run. I've been down most of the routes you took, just not all at once. Looks like a good time.

Is that Kalispell that yall stayed at in Montana? If so, where did yall stay?

Really getting PIZZED! Can only post about 20% of what I try.....how is the easiest way to resize pics?

I give up until I figure this out......time to get drunk!

What you did post is pretty impressive. Heck of a road trip

Less than a third of the first six days.... Highly frustrated....

I'll have to look back in my journal....sorry...too pizzed right now!

PM me if you happen to figure it out

There is some beautiful country up there, we did a similar trip, 4 weeks in 1977. Up through the plains states, into Canada to Banff and then back down through the Rockies into New Mexico and home. We tent camped and spent 6 nights in motels.

Awesome shots One day I hope to make a trip like that.

Now that’s a great road trip and pictures, thanks for sharing

Well played!

Sounds and looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks for sharing some fantastic photos. Y’all covered some ground, crazy average of over 550 miles a day and still saw saw beautiful sites.

Maybe later today I’ll be able to post more pictures....not even close to the good stuff....

That's an awesome trip! I have two trips planned out that together might equal that one, but I'm not quite energetic enough to do them both at once.

Looks like a great trip Jes!

That looks like an incredible trip .So of all the places you visited,are there any in particular you would like to visit again?

I spent a couple days getting pics off of three phones and two camera cards....over 5k pics! Then sifted thru them to pick out the better ones.

That's all that I can post because they are under 4 megs. I have about four times that many over 4 megs that I can post. (I had hoped to post about a third of them)......maybe I'll figure it out....

It was a great trip!

Sequoia, the cascades, and the badlands......

It really was......

And you wondered why she set the yard on fire when you brought her home???

Great pics.

We hunted the Badlands, our guide was a Chief Master Sergeant from Ellsworth AFB. He had been stationed there for 12 years and knew the Badlands like his backyard. One of the few out of state hunts that I wish I could do again.

Found a few more I could post.....

Wish I had the time and money to go on a trip like that. I've been to many of those places, but I don't think Momma has been up north. Just basically coast to coast on I-10/US90.

Wonderful pictures, thanks.

You could make one heck of a callender with those pics. Awesome!

Pretty nice trip and great photos. I did one similar to that 45 plus years ago after getting out of the service . five weeks on the road, 8,000 miles but didn't average near the MPG the you did. Of course gas was only about $ .45 per gallon aback then.

Awesome shots. Those pump jacks at sunset are beautiful

Thanks....sorry I didn't have a chance to call earlier. Maybe this week you can help me figure it out.

I too made a similar trip back in 1988 when I got out of the service....on a Honda 650 Custom CX.....

This trip retraced some of those paths.....but mostly was to show my wife a part of the country she had not seen.

I am in the office Monday through Wednesday so anytime. I think I know what you are running into but just give me a shout.

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing

Great pictures, I want to go to some of those places and go back to some of the others. I hope to one day see Crazy Horse completed but don't know if that will ever happen.

We have done that but thru Utah, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico, loved it

Very cool! I like the scenic path.

I'm impressed you averaged 20 MPG in a Suburban. Those things have come a long way since I last drove one.

We did a SW USA trip a few years ago with the kids thru NM, AZ, NV, CA, UT, and CO..... which is why this trip went around that area.....I really want to ga back to Brice and Zion.....

Also did a trip up to Niagra Falls then down the east coast to northern Florida....also with the boys.....I was able to pick up Montana and Wyoming this trip, the only lower 48 states I had not been to.

I hate highways and crowds......

I was really surprised how well it did....it was the perfect vehicle for the trip....lots of room to carry stuff SpitFire picked up along the way....

My hat is off to you, sir! Those are some impressive pics! One of these days I hope to be taking a road trip myself.

EPIC!

This place was AMAZING! Lecia is standing at the base of the tree.....

You will love Zion, and don't forget about Arches,Canyon land and Great Escantle (sp) these are really cool national parks! We leave on 6-1 for Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

That's gonna be a great trip.....we went to Zion about six years ago.....I'm ready to go back....beautiful....

Can't wait to see your pics....

Now that's one hell of a road trip

Great pics! Thanks for sharing

Great pics and looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing!

Folks want to travel the world but I believe a man can spend a lifetime exploring this great nation.

Yup...and not see but a scratch of it....we're planning our next trip right now....can't wait....

Great pics

Great looking trip and the pics are awesome You need to do a coffee table album of all the pics from the trip with a short text about each location.

That would have been a good trip, great pics.

That would be a blast!! I wouldn't get very far though because I would be stopping to fish in every puddle I found. LOL

Hell of a trip!!! Awesome! Thanks for sharing.