1st Cross Country Trip..thoughts?

Custer is great for several days. We tend to only stay maybe 3 nights in any given park, then move on to see more. As another "eastern" traveler, our rule of thumb for trips out west (been cross country 9 times now...) is we scurry (read: long days) until we cross the Mighty Mississippi, then back it down to see things that are not easily reached on shorter trips. You'll discover your own beat that you will travel to! Yellowstone is good for 4 or 5 nights. It's a BIG park - can take 1/2 a day to travel across it. Around Salt Lake City - you can visit the Olympic village near Park City. We just had a really nice visit to Promontory Point where the "Last Spike" of the Transcontinental Railroad was driven - about an hour or 2 north of Salt Lake. We tend NOT to create a firm itinerary when travelling (except for a park like Yellowstone where reservations are pretty mandatory), prefering to mosey along, stopping where we want to. Take the kids whitewater rafting down the Snake River in Jackson Hole. Wander south to Zion NP. LOTS to see and do "out west"! Have fun! ST