In comparison to the last week of jam packed days filled with lots of fun activities in addition to endless hours of driving, our day today was certainly not the most thrilling. Last night, we booked a hotel in Chicago for tonight so that we were forced to drive the 570 miles from Sioux Falls into Chicago. We decided the best route was to take Interstate 90 all the way to Milwaukee, stop there for a bit and then head south to Chicago.
We got up and had breakfast at our Sleep Inn and were on the road by 9:30 AM. Alex drove 380 miles from Sioux Falls all the way through Minnesota to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin (the water park capital of the world). During the drive through Minnesota, we stopped in Austin, Minnesota for lunch. Although Austin is known as “SPAM Town USA” (it’s where SPAM is manufactured), we ended up at Subway instead.
After getting gas at Wisconsin Dells, I took over to drive through the rest of Wisconsin to Milwaukee, where we stopped at the Lake Front Brewery for a tour. After a great hour and a half tasting beer (Alex drank most of the beer – I was designated driver) and going on a tour of the brewery, we got back on the road and headed to Chicago.
We also picked up free Lakefront Brewery pint glasses at the end of the tour, increasing our souvenir cup stash in the car to two. We forgot to mention two days back that our Best Western in Hot Springs, SD had a special deal with a store on Main St to give away free mugs. Alex and I headed over to town and ended up with two very dirty Lewis and Clark mugs with no mention of South Dakata. They looked like they had been sitting on the shelf forever, but we had a great conversation with the storekeeper and of course took the mugs anyway. Between those and the pint glasses, our souvenir collection is growing steadily.
We arrived in Chicago by about 9:30 PM, where we parked the car and headed to Lou Malnatis for some famous Chicago deep dish pizza. We split a delicious salad and each got our own individual pizzas, and I tried the 312 beer on tap, which was quite impressive.
From there we did a bit of wandering, walking down the Magnificent Mile for a great view of the skyline and Chicago river. And now we are back in the hotel for a solid nights sleep before we spend all day tomorrow exploring the city. I cannot wait – I’ve always wanted to be in Chicago and it’s so exciting that I’m finally here! Although today’s insane amount of driving was exhausting, we made it without too much of a problem, and splitting the driving time was perfect.
With that, I’m going to get some sleep. Goodnight!
I am shocked that I have to type this, but as I sit down to write this entry, Alex and I are still in South Dakota. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to be exact, which is at the complete opposite end of the state as Hot Springs, but still. Two nights in South Dakota? I never thought I’d say that before.
Today began pretty strangely – Alex and I had a relatively late start to our morning and managed to miss the breakfast buffet our hotel, which was disappointing. We checked out and went to Lynn’s Dakotamart to grab bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, which was quite the experience, to say the least. I cannot even begin to describe the stereotypes that we saw – it was quite the scene. There were men in Levi jeans, plaid shirts and cowboy hats buying chewing tobacco and an obese woman with two children, a boy and a girl, who were dressed identically despite the fact that they were probably 5 years apart in age.
We decided to take the ‘scenic’ route from Hot Springs up to Mt. Rushmore, at the suggestion of the receptionist at our hotel. We knew we were only 30 miles from the monument, but what we didn’t realize when she said scenic route was that the road was an incredibly windy, one lane highway that zig zagged through a South Dakota state park and featured hairpin turns, one lane bridges and blind tunnels. Needless to say, a drive that should have taken half an hour ended up taking almost two hours. Although the scenery was definitely beautiful, what Alex describes as “Bambi land”, with gorgeous snow-covered forests surrounding the highway, the drive killed our mood and our morning, especially time wise.
We finally made it to Mt. Rushmore around 1:30 PM, where we were forced to pay a $10 parking fee despite our national park pass (boo!).
At the risk of sounding like a terrible person, I was slightly underwhelmed after my first glimpse of Mt. Rushmore. It was much smaller and less impressive than I’d initially thought, and I was exhausted and slightly crabby from our bizarre drive that morning. Alex wasn’t feeling too hot himself, and the two of us were not exactly happy campers as we made our way from the car towards the monument. Regardless, we perused the exhibit about the history and the creation of the carvings, and I have to say that the more I read, the more impressed I became. It’s pretty incredible to know that sculptor Gutzon Borglum dedicated 14 years of his life to the creation of the monument and that over 400 men risked their lives on a daily basis to slowly chip away at the granite mountain.
From Mt. Rushmore we drove 60 miles north-east to Badlands National Park. We decided to drive the main, 60 mile road that meanders through the park, which was definitely the best decision. The drive was beautiful, and we stopped at a bunch of the viewpoints along the way. We were incredibly impressed by the park – the extensive rolling grasslands and the gorgeous, jutting rocks were breath-taking. The road was great in the sense that we were driving through the Badlands themselves, as opposed to the roads in Canyonlands, where we were driving to see specific things and then turning around and driving back down the exact same road. What was fascinating about Badlands was that at some points, you could look out of the car and see grass fields for miles and have no idea that just beyond them were these incredible rock structures and formations, completely hidden from view.
Unfortunately, my nice camera battery died on us during our drive through Badlands, so we switched to using my little point and shoot instead. The pictures are definitely not as great, and for some reason don’t capture the beauty of the park. Trust us though, it was awesome. In an attempt to be creative, Alex and I also shot some video of the park to show you guys.
We finally headed out of Badlands and back on Interstate 90 by about 7 PM. We had planned to get off the highway and stop for a decent dinner since we hadn’t really eaten a decent meal since yesterday morning in Denver, but of course we managed to forget that we were in South Dakota, and sans a few sketchy steakhouses and a bunch of random gas stations, there were no decent sit down restaurants. We ended up at a McDonald’s in a town called Chamberlain, where I had a kid’s meal and introduced Alex to the wonders of fast food, including the dollar menu Apple Pies, which he was quite impressed by. The drive through South Dakota was almost exactly as I had pictured it would be – rolling green hills and a very straight, two lane highway. The colors of the sky and clouds during the sunset were incredible, and I wish I hadn’t been driving at those points so I could have captured it on film.
Alex and I have consistently talked over the last few days about how many different national parks and landscapes we’ve seen in such a short amount of time. One minute we’re driving through gorgeous desert scenery in Arizona and red rocks in Utah, the next we’re battling crazy snow in the Rockies and Wyoming. Today, we drove through snow-covered forests, and then just a few hours later we were taking pictures in front of grassy plains. It’s pretty incredible, how different the landscapes in the United States are. I never realized how beautiful some of the country truly was, I think I’ve always been so caught up in mocking the small towns and red states for not being the big cities on the east or west coast. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to drive through all of these places to really see the country – it’s already been an eye-opening experience and we’re only on day 5.
After our glamorous McDonald’s dinner it was back onto the highway and straight to Sioux Falls. We hit the exciting milestone of 2000 miles on the odometer on the car. And yes, we know, it’s completely insane that we’ve already driven that much in just 5 days. After two hours of driving in the pitch black we made it to a Sleep Inn just off of Interstate 90, and decided to call it a night. Although we had hoped to have driven a bit further today, the late start to our morning and the hour we lost entering Central Time (there was even a sign on the highway!) meant that we didn’t get as far as we’d hoped. Tomorrow will be dedicated entirely to driving the 570 miles to Chicago, which I am so excited to finally get to see!
Alex and I are currently sitting in a Best Western hotel in the tiny town of Hot Springs, South Dakota. The town is about 30 miles south of Mt. Rushmore, our next destination, and although we had meant to drive to Rapid City tonight, the drive from Denver was incredibly long and exhausting so we decided to pull off the highway early instead.
Since we had two such long, full days, we decided we needed some extra sleep and set our alarms for 10 AM this morning. The Holiday Inn we stayed at was about 10 miles outside of Denver in Lakewood, Colorado. We checked out of the hotel at 11 and drove a few miles down the road to the Red Rocks Amphitheater, which is a gorgeous outdoor arena similar to the Greek Theatre or Hollywood Bowl in LA. Built as a public works project that was a part of the New Deal, the amphitheater is nestled in a gorgeous set of red rocks that jut out of the Colorado landscape. The arena was covered in a beautiful layer of snow, and we wandered around a bit and read some of the history before getting back in the car and driving into downtown Denver.
We grabbed a late breakfast at Snooze, an adorable breakfast place in the Historic Baseball District of Denver, right near Coors Field. Alex got a delicious pineapple upside down pancake along with eggs and hash browns, and I had the Snooze Spuds Deluxe – hash browns covered in cheese & veggies. The waitress was a total sweetheart, and when she found out that we were in Denver as part of our national road trip, she brought us a complimentary dessert pancake as a special treat.
From Snooze we walked over into the downtown area of Denver and took the free shuttle down the 16th Street Mall. After getting off the shuttle Alex and I split up – he walked back to the car so we could re-park it in a better place, and I stayed in the area to wander around and take some pictures. I had wanted to go to the Denver Mint, but I managed to miss the last tour since we didn’t actually get into downtown until after 2 PM. Instead I wandered over to the Denver Museum of Art, the Public Library and the State Capitol Building, where I met up with Alex again. We checked out the inside of the building and saw the State senate in session, passing a health care bill of some sort. From there we walked down to the Brown Palace hotel, where business men and women were having high tea. We wanted to visit the Equitable building since we’d read about it online, and were surprised when the two people we asked hadn’t heard of it. Eventually we got directions from the concierge at the Brown Palace and walked the 3 blocks to the building. The ceiling inside consists of 6 million hand laid 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch tiles, and the Tiffany stained glass windows throughout the lobby are worth more than the building itself. The building (built in the 1890s) was once the most luxurious business center in the west, it is a bit odd to learn that it is now fully converted to Condos.
Although it was in the low 40′s and pretty overcast throughout the day, it wasn’t too miserable or cold as we were wandering the city. We were fortunate enough that it only snowed overnight last night, but as it got later it was getting colder and more dreary out. We decided to head back to the car and leave Denver in an attempt to drive as far north to South Dakota as we could.
Since it was already 4:30, the roads out of Denver were a bit congested, but once we made it past the traffic it was relatively smooth sailing. We headed out of overcast Colorado and into cloudy blue skies in Wyoming, where we drove along Interstate 25 for around 3 hours. The landscape was beautiful, changing from snow covered fields to rolling grassy hills and then back to snow covered plains. The sky was a beautiful mix of clouds, and as Alex drove I definitely got a bit camera happy with the gorgeous scenery. The further north we got, the lower the temperature dropped and it stayed in the mid to low 30′s throughout the drive.
In order to get from Wyoming into the eastern park of South Dakota where Mt. Rushmore is, we needed to turn off of the main highway and onto smaller, one lane highways. The further north we drove, the more overcast the sky got, and by the time we turned into South Dakota it had begun to snow. The combination of the dark, one lane highway and heavy amounts of fog and snow was a bit overwhelming and scary at times, and the majority of the end of the drive was spent in total concentration. We couldn’t capture any pictures since it was so dark, but at times it was snowing so hard that we couldn’t see the road. Although we had wanted to make it all the way to Rapid City, we had already been driving for 5 hours and were getting a bit overwhelmed by the weather, so we decided to use the GPS to look up hotels near the highway and call it a night. We found a Best Western with decent rates to spend the night at, and here we are now.
Our plan for tomorrow is to check out Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands National Park, and then drive as far east towards Chicago as we can. The forecast says rain and snow all day tomorrow, but hopefully the weather will cooperate a bit for us.
And with that I’m going to go wash my face, brush my teeth & call it a night!
Today was one of those days that felt like it stretched for an eternity – my mind cannot seem to grasp that everything we just did happened in the last 14 hours. My body, on the other hand, is ready for bed and my eyes are having trouble staying open as I sit and type.
A map of all the driving we did on Day 3!
We were up at 8 AM again today to shower and got ready for the day. We headed down to the complimentary breakfast buffet for a quick bite to eat and bought a few Utah postcards at the front desk. After checking out, we made the 30 mile drive to Canyonlands National Park. As we drove up into the park we felt the air get colder and colder, and the sky was relatively overcast and threatening. Regardless, we were excited to be able to use our national park pass when we entered and after checking out the Visitor’s Center we drove south to the Island in the Sky, which is a plateau that overlooks the canyons within the park. Canyonlands is by no means a popular tourist destination, and the combination of the cold, gloomy weather and lack of other people made for an interesting environment. Once we reached the main overlook we were able to catch a part of a rangers talk about the canyons, but the freezing weather and rain that began to fall pushed us back into the car. We caught some beautiful views at the marked stops within the park, but some of the most impressive scenery was on the drive around the park itself. Overall, Alex and I were mostly in awe of the size of Canyonlands, which stretches for more than 520 square miles.
From there we drove back up north to Arches National Park, which is a much more popular tourist destination. We didn’t have a lot of time because we knew we needed to get on the road to Denver, so we just drove down the highway to the Windows Arches and Balanced Rock. At Balanced Rock it began to hail, which was definitely a sign of bad things to come. In fear of my camera getting wet I grabbed the car keys and ran back to shelter, but Alex insisted on running out along the trail in the hail, where he got soaked but had what he describes as an “invigorating moment connecting with Utah”.
Within the four hours we spent exploring the two parks the weather kept changing drastically – one minute it was sunny but so windy we could barely walk, the next it was overcast and raining. At any point, half of the sky was blue and spotted with gorgeous white puffy clouds while the other half looked like it was going to swallow us whole. At one point our car was completely covered in water but after driving just a mile up the road, we were the only wet car in the parking lot.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed with Utah, at least the eastern parts that we saw. The scenery along the roads was absolutely breathtaking, and I’m so glad we got to see such beautiful national parks, even if the weather was slightly strange.
We headed out of Arches and onto I-70 East, and Alex drove us out of Utah and into Grand Junction, Colorado. From there, I took over to drive the 360 miles to Denver, which was when things got interesting. Initially, the drive was relatively calm with beautiful scenery of the Colorado River and the Rocky Mountains. It was raining on and off and as we began the drive up into the Rockies the temperature dropped from the mid 50′s all the way down into the 30′s. At one point, we saw a sign that marked 10,000 foot altitude, and as we drove further into the mountains, the rain turned to sleet and then to snow.
Alex and I were in shock at the weather – it’s May 11th, should it really be snowing?! I guess the reality is that even though both of us are technically on summer vacation, it’s definitely not summer in most of the country. I just wish I’d realized that when I packed – oops!
As the snow began to come down harder, my visibility changed drastically. Although the cars and trucks with Colorado license plates were speeding up and down the steep, winding roads as though the weather was no big deal, I was a bit freaked out. I managed to stay calm and get us up and down the mountain, but it was certainly one of the most stressful driving situations I’ve ever experienced and I am exhausted from the drive. We finally made it to the Holiday Inn by about 9 PM, where we checked in and grabbed a bite to eat at the sports bar downstairs. Alex had a burger and tried the Fat Tire local beer, and I stuck to soup and salad.
Although we were both thrilled to be in the Mile High city, we were completely exhausted from two long days, so we ended up passing out before midnight, and getting some great rest before heading out to explor Denver.
I can’t believe that its only day two of our trip – part of me feels like we’ve already been on the road forever, and another part of me feels like it was yesterday that I was in Boston finishing finals. It’s pretty crazy how time flies. Regardless, we made it through a very long, yet incredibly successful, day two!
My alarm went off bright and early at 8 AM this morning, and I quickly jumped in the shower and got ready for the day. After packing up & checking out of the hotel we returned to Walmart and successfully purchased our audio cable, which I can say after only having used the cable for a day has been well worth the $10 we paid. We found a grocery store and purchased two 59 cent bagels, cream cheese & orange juice for breakfast and were on our way to the Grand Canyon. After about an hour drive, we made it to the South Entrance. Although we had initially decided to just pay the $25 entrance fee, we realized that since we would be visiting a number of national parks on our trip, it would be worth it to pay $80 for a pass that allowed us unlimited access to all of the national parks across the country.
We parked and walked over to the rim trail, which runs along the entire edge of the canyon. I cannot begin to describe the breathtaking beauty that is the Grand Canyon – the pictures truly do not do it justice. The view is almost surreal and I was convinced at some points that it looked almost like a back drop or a painting. We met some interesting people along the way, most of whom we started talking to because Alex insisted we ask them to take our picture, but nonetheless they were fun to talk with for a bit. A group of older women from Ohio thought Alex went to Pennsylvania State University instead of UPenn and excitedly pointed to their Ohio Buckeyes sweatshirts. We decided that with the stereotypes that come with each school, he couldn’t really win either way and it wasn’t worth differentiating. We also met an adorable couple and their two younger daughters who were traveling to Los Angeles from Michigan. The girls were talking about the puppy they wanted to get, and Alex whipped out his key chain with the picture of his dog Buddy on it. One of the daughters thought he had said his dog’s name was “Butty” and asked her mom why he had chosen such an inappropriate name for his dog. It was a pretty great moment.
We walked along the rim for a bit, stopping to take pictures at a bunch of places. We then walked back to the car and drove down Route 64, East Rim Drive, which is a beautiful 55 mile scenic drive that runs along the edge of the canyon. We were able to stop at a few lookout points to see some different views and take some more pictures. At one of the stops, I took a tiny bit of a hike down a trail to just below the rim of the canyon. Alex and I had read last night that only 5% of the visitors to the Grand Canyon actually go below the rim, so I decided I wanted to be in that small percentage. Alex has a fear of heights, so he chose to stay up top as part of the 95% and read all the exciting signs instead.
The sheer beauty and magnitude of the Grand Canyon is almost indescribable. Each stop along the rim provided a different, yet equally breathtaking view of the Canyon. I could have stood and stared for hours, the details and colors are fabulous. We knew we had a lot of driving ahead of us, so we decided to head out of the park and begin our drive north-east into Utah. Just outside of the park we stopped at scenic view where a number of Navajo Indian men and women were selling handmade jewelry and other souvenirs. Alex got himself a beautiful turtle made out of carved wood and painted orange and turquoise. We walked a bit and took some pictures, and then I took over driving. About fifteen minutes into the drive, we saw a mileage marker sign that noted the distance to the Four Corners. For those of you that don’t know, the Four Corners is the place where the borders of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado all meet, so you can be standing in all four states at the same time.
After whipping out Samantha, our trusty GPS, Alex and I decided it would be well worth our while to reroute a bit and visit the Four Corners, since it was something we both definitely wanted to see. Just over 130 miles later, we arrived at the Four Corners to see a giant sign that read “Four Corners Monument CLOSED due to Construction.” Why on earth a state border would be closed for construction is truly beyond me, but Alex and I simply burst out laughing when we saw the sign. We couldn’t believe there had been no indication on the entire drive east toward the monument to indicate that the actual site was closed, and that we’d rerouted just to have a gate and a no trespassing sign keep us from getting to the actual place where the borders touched. We made the best of it by getting out of the car and taking some great pictures with all of the signs. In the end, we were able to be in all four states, just not simultaneously.
It turns out that driving further east was an excellent decision, as the drive up through southeastern Utah was absolutely beautiful. The road was a bit windy, but completely secluded. The colors of the sky as the sun was setting were incredible and definitely worth the extra time spent in the car.
The 450 mile route we drove today
After doing just over 450 miles of driving, we finally reached the Comfort Inn in Moab, Utah by about 10 PM. We checked into the hotel (a great find, and although was a bit pricey was definitely well worth the extra $20 to avoid the sketchy motels we’d read about online) and dropped our suitcases in the room before we drove down the road to find late dinner. We ended up at Pasta Jay’s, an adorable Italian place, where we split an order of garlic bread and a chicken pesto pizza and drank a ton of water – it’s so easy to get dehydrated when you’re traveling like this!
Although it’s really late now (we lost an hour driving further east) we are finally back in our room for the night. Alex is starting the search for a hotel in Denver for tomorrow night, and I have been writing and uploading all of our pictures and starting to do some research for our day tomorrow. Our plan is to wake up early and visit parts of Canyonlands National Park & Arches National Park in the morning before we make the 7 hour, 360 mile, drive to Denver.
We have survived day one! I am currently sitting on one of two queen size beds in our room at the Courtyard Marriott hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona while Alex and I scour the internet for good hotel deals in Moab, Utah – our next planned stop. But don’t worry, I’ll start from the beginning.
After a delicious Mother’s Day breakfast with my parents at Toast in LA, we met Alex and his parents at the Hertz dealership. There was some confusion over the details of insurance with the manager, but half an hour later we were finally handed the keys to our Toyota Camry. The car is literally brand new, it had 14 miles on the odometer when we got in, and is beautiful inside. I think the only downside is that it’s white, since by the time we get to the East Coast it’ll be coated in dirt and some varying shade of grey or black. I said goodbye to my parents and we drove to Alex’s house, packed up the car with his stuff and were on our way.
Alex & I in front of the car before we depart on our trip!
Alex drove the two hours to Barstow, where we stopped and switched so I could take over. I then drove for about 200 miles to Kingman, Arizona where we switched again and Alex drove the rest of the way to Flagstaff. 470 miles later we made it to our Courtyard Marriott, which Alex snagged on Priceline for a whopping $63 for the night.
We checked in, dropped off our luggage and drove to downtown Flagstaff for dinner. We did some wandering and ended up at Beaver Street Brewery, which was reccomended by my friend Megan. It was the most popular place in town. We split a gourmet turkey sandwich and a southwest chicken pizza. On our walk back to the car we got stopped at the train tracks, where we were forced to watch an incredibly long train make its way through town. The historic Flagstaff Train Depot is definitely the centerpiece of downtown, and the Amtrak Southwest Chief stops there nightly.
It’s much chillier in Flagstaff than I thought it would be – we’re at an elevation of about 7,500 feet and the winds here are pretty strong. The change in scenery we saw on the drive was pretty incredible. One minute we were driving through vast stretches of desert and hills covered in sand and shrubs and the next we were ascending into forests.
At the end of the night, we went to the Walmart accross from our hotel to get gummy bears and Reese’s. We also tried to find an audio cable, but we’ll have to go back tomorrow for that. Now, we are back at the hotel relaxing and booking our hotel for tomorrow night. Following a lot of failed bids on Priceline and the realization that hotels in Moab, Utah are, contrary to my original thought, not so cheap, we finally settled on the Sleep Inn for a heartbreaking $100 a night.
As a combination late 21st birthday and early 22nd birthday present, my parents got me a brand new Olympus E-PLI digital camera. Since I just got it yesterday, I’ve been playing with it a bit. Some of the photos I take come out incredibly well and others… not so much. One of these nights I’ll make the instruction manual my reading, but for now you’ll have to suffer with my mediocre pictures.
With that, I think it’s time to get some sleep – our plan for tomorrow is to be up early, drive to the Grand Canyon and spend some time there before we begin the 6-7 hour drive up into Utah. It’s going to be a long day!
I’ve officially landed in LA. I can’t believe that we’re just four days away from leaving – it seems so surreal. Alex & I have been talking about this trip for months, and it’s really starting to hit that it’s actually happening!
Getting from Mt. Rushmore to Milwaukee is one of our longest drives of the trip
Now that I’m home with absolutely nothing (well, very little) to do, I started google mapping the estimated milage and distance in between some of our destinations. To be honest, I’m starting to feel a bit intimidated. Even though the trip is going to be a blast, knowing that to get from Mt. Rushmore & the Badlands in South Dakota to Milwaukee means driving 800 miles is almost mind boggling. Just getting from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon on Monday is a 230 mile drive, and most of the distances between stops after that are 300 or 400 miles!
Regardless, I don’t want to let myself get too overwhelmed by just staring at the map. Driving is one of my absolute favorite things, and although I’m sure I’ll probably hate it by the end of this trip, I’m definitely itching to get out there and see the country, even if it means sitting behind the wheel for 6 hours at a time.
If any of you have been to the cities on our list & have suggestions as to what to do or places to see please comment and let us know! We’d really appreciate it!
