Please Help Plan My Cross-Country Trip

jasoncw wrote:
Just an update to this thread. It took a bit longer to get it scheduled, but we finally did it. Three weeks to go from MI to CA and back home. It was exhausting by the time we got back, but it worked out great.

Day 1 - MI to East St. Louis, IL
Day 2 - Gateway Arch, then drove to Marshfield, MO (just east of Springfield)
Day 3 - drove to Elk City, OK (just west of OK City)
Day 4 - Stopped at Cadillac Ranch for the kids to spray paint the cars, then stopped in Albuquerque. Went out to dinner and wrapped up the day on the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway.
Day 5 - drove up to Four Corners Monument for a pic, then headed to Monument Valley, UT (right at the AZ/UT border)
Day 6 - drove down to Williams, AZ
Day 7 - took the Grand Canyon Railway up to the south rim and went on a tour
Day 8 - drove to Boulder City, NV and went to the Hoover Dam. We wanted to do the Dam Tour, but it was sold out by the time we arrived.
Day 9 - drove up to Coarsegold, CA and met up with some relatives
Day 10 - visited Yosemite (wow, this park is way too crowded!)
Day 11 - visited Mariposa Grove (Yosemite)
Day 12 - relaxed
Day 13 - drove to Sparks, NV. If I knew there was an annual Model T convention going on, I would have planned an extra day...
Day 14 - drove to Jackpot, NV
Day 15 - drove to West Yellowstone, MT
Day 16 - completed the south loop of Yellowstone (note to self - return to Yellowstone to see more!)
Day 17 - drove to Billings, MT to visit my cousin
Day 18 - drove to Rapid City, SD
Day 19 - visited Mount Rushmore, drove through portions of Black Hills and Custer State Park
Day 20 - drove to Fairmont, MT
Day 21 - took family selfie with the Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN then drove to Rockford, IL
Day 22 - arrived home!

Overall, each trip averaged 7 hours, which wasn't bad at all. My biggest concern was my TV breaking down, since it had 210k miles on it, but the only hiccup I had was the emergency brake sticking a bit. Nothing a little lube couldn't fix. It rained probably a total of 2 hours on the entire trip. It was amazing, and I hope a lifetime of memories for my kids (now 14, 11, 11).

That sounds outstanding. You saw a lot of America in a relatively short amount of time. It also sounds like you made it home before it got so doggone hot out west. (The heat wave caught me by surprise and I had to ride my bike home from work on Friday when it was 118 out!!!)

You might be the first person I know who chose Jackpot Nevada as an overnight destination. My wife's grandmother lived just outside of Twin Falls, Idaho and we would drive her down to Jackpot every time we visited. As a life-long farmer, she was a gambler by nature (and a very good one!).

Where did you stay in Jackpot? Did you visit either of their fine casinos, Cactus Pete's or the Club 93?

I'm glad you had a great trip and no breakdowns. I'm sure your kids will remember this forever.