Wednesday, July 27 - Amsterdam, New York, to Perrysburg, Ohio
We started west around 11:30, and made good progress almost until our lunch stop at Chick-fil-A in Cicero. A pavement painting project had some lanes closed and cost us probably a half hour. We made stops for gas in Pembroke and a snack in Dunkirk before getting out of New York. The main event for the day was a stop in Erie, Pennsylvania [2 Pictures], to see (most of) an Erie Seawolves game (Class AA Eastern League) [15 Pictures]. This marked my 100th baseball park (58th minor league added on to my 42 major league parks). The weather was a little questionable, but it ended up being a very pleasant evening at the game. By a little after 8:30, we got back on our way westbound. No troubles across Ohio, and while at a gas stop in Perrysburg, it became Thursday. [13 Roads Pictures]
Thursday, July 28 - Perrysburg, Ohio, to Papillion, Nebraska
Back on the Ohio Turnpike just after midnight. We reached Indiana around 1 AM, entered the central time zone some time around 2:30 EDT, becoming 1:30 CDT. We switched drivers once in Indiana, entered Illinois at 2:30 AM, switched once in Illinois, entered Iowa at 5:00 AM, then stopped for gas and snacks at Iowa 80 [Picture] about 20 minutes later. Across Iowa from there, it was just a few quick stops, once for a bottle of orange juice and once to switch drivers at the rest area with the wind turbine blade on display [Picture]. We got into Papillion a little after 10:30, just over 24 hours after leaving home. Not bad with a baseball game in the middle. The rest of the day was an enjoyable and restful one visiting in Papillion and meeting Rocky [Picture]. [10 Pictures from the Roads]
Friday, July 29 - Omaha, Nebraska, area
The day's events centred around visiting [Picture], and included a shoe shopping and lunch outing to Fleet Feet [2 Pictures] and Raising Cane's, and some pickleball [11 Pictures], all in the Omaha area.
Saturday, July 30 - Omaha, Nebraska, area
My morning consisted of a drive to the Omaha waterfront, where I walked across the Missouri on the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge into Iowa and back, then up along the river to Carter Lake, Iowa, and back. [17 Pictures] Then I drove through Carter Lake, for 3 crossings into Iowa and back in about an hour: one by foot over the river, one by foot on dry land, and then the same one by car on dry land. The afternoon was around the house, and after dinner we went to play some mini golf. [8 Pictures] [4 Roads Pictures]
Sunday, July 31 - Papillion, Nebraska, to Cheyenne, Wyoming
We took our time in the morning, and were packed up and on our way a little after 10:30. After a gas stop in Papillion, we headed west, mainly on I-80 to Grand Island. While there, we picked up some lunch at a Runza and made a stop at L.E. Ray Park, where we had our great eclipse viewing in 2017 [2 Pictures][3 People Pictures]. West out of Grand Island, we took the much more relaxing and interesting US 30 instead of I-80 for about 200 miles, saw some crop dusters in action [2 Pictures], and made a gas stop in North Platte. We returned to I-80 among some thunderstorms with pretty good lightning displays at Big Springs. The weather then cleared, we stopped at a rest area near Sidney [3 Pictures], and had a good ride into Cheyenne. We had a quick dinner at Qdoba then checked into the first hotel of the trip. [109 Pictures from the Roads]
Monday, August 1 - Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Sandy, Utah
We left the Comfort Inn and Suites in Cheyenne a little after 9 [Picture]. We started with a ride up through Cheyenne's downtown and around the Frontier Days site (which just ended a day earlier, so there was still some activity) [7 Pictures], pulled into the parking lot of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center [3 Pictures], then headed west. We made a quick stop at the Tree Rock in the median of I-80 [5 Pictures][2 People Pictures], climbed to about 8600 feet, then descended into Laramie for a gas stop. We also picked up some sandwiches, and ate them 45 minutes up the road at the Wagon Hound rest area [5 Pictures][People Picture]. West of there, passed the Sinclair refinery [2 Pictures], we crossed the Continental Divide at the Great Divide Basin. We made a side trip from Green River down Wyoming 530 for several miles to a scenic overlook for the Flaming Gorge [4 Pictures]. Later, we stopped for rest rooms and snacks at Little America [3 Pictures][Picture] for gas in Evanston, and entered Utah. We drove into Park City, walked around a bit, and got some dinner [5 Pictures][4 People Pictures]. Then back onto I-80 and into Salt Lake City and to Sandy for the night. [53 Pictures from the Roads]
Tuesday, August 2 - Salt Lake City, Utah, area
Our first of two full days in the Salt Lake City area included a visit to the East High School building (High School Musical) [14 People Pictures], a quick driving tour of downtown SLC, and a visit to Great Salt Lake State Park [10 Pictures][6 People Pictures, 2 Movies]. Grilled pizzas later were excellent. [2 Pictures from the Roads]
Wednesday, August 3 - Salt Lake City, Utah, area
A good chunk of the day was spent at Snowbird [4 Pictures]. We started with a ride up the new blue tram [10 Pictures][3 People Pictures], walked around the Hidden Peak area [14 Pictures][4 People Pictures], down into Mineral Basin, though the tunnel [23 Pictures][13 People Pictures] and down the Peruvian chair [12 Pictures][People Picture]. We then decided to stick around for some of the other summer activities [43 People Pictures, 7 Movies] before heading out [4 Pictures]. In the evening we went with Sue and Cory to the Salt Lake Bees game [10 Pictures].
Thursday, August 4 - Sandy, Utah, to Idaho Falls, Idaho
We got on our way from Sandy by 10, with the first stop planned for the Golden Spike National Historical Park. We made a stop for gas and some lunch food in Brighton City. We set up to eat lunch in a small turnout at the junction of Utah 13 and Utah 102 [People Picture]. Shortly after that, we noticed that we were going very close to the Rocket Garden display at a Northrup Grumman rocket test facility, so we checked that out [8 Pictures][2 People Pictures]. Then it was on to the Golden Spike National Historical Park. We arrived just in time for a ranger presentation of the replicas of the two locomotives that met at the site in 1869. We checked out the rest of the visitor center, then did the east auto tour of a couple more sites. [38 Pictures][4 People Pictures] We made our way back to the interstates at Tremonton, and took I-15 north into Idaho. There was a downpour just south of Pocatello, but that didn't really slow us down. We took a short loop through Pocatello then it was on up to Idaho Falls to check into the Sleep Inn. We went back out first for dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill and Pub on the Snake River. It was a little slow but good. Next we checked out the falls, which are along a long hydroelectric dam in the middle of the city [10 Pictures][People Picture]. Finally, a stop at Walmart and back to the hotel. [54 Pictures from the Roads]
Friday, August 5 - Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
We took a little time at the hotel in the morning to catch up on laundry and were on our way around 10. Our first stops were in Rexburg, first at Walmart for some groceries and other supplies for our time in Yellowstone, then at a good little pizza place called Righteous Slice for lunch. Then on through a little light rain to West Yellowstone, Montana. We filled up there and grabbed some McDonald's fries as our last food of that kind for a few days [5 Pictures][1 People Picture]. We entered Yellowstone National Park at 2:00 [3 Pictures][1 People Picture]. Our first stop was at an overlook on the Madison River along the west entrance road [3 Pictures][4 People Pictures]. Our first wildlife sighting was a little further up the road where we saw some elk across the river [4 Pictures]. Just past Madison, we stopped at a picnic area along the Gibbon River, and walked down along the water for a bit [11 Pictures][1 People Picture]. Not much further up was Gibbon Falls [8 Pictures][1 People Picture]. Our first thermal features other than some springs along the side of the road was at Artists' Paintpots, which requires about a mile and a half of walking including a loop up a pretty steep hill. Well worth the time and effort. [35 Pictures, 2 Videos] In the Canyon area, there was a big bull elk just off the road that attracted a lot of attention [6 Pictures], then a few bison sightings, including one walking right along the road backing up traffic significantly [18 Pictures][1 People Picture]. Our last stop was at the Mud Volcano area, always a favorite [14 Pictures]. We got to Lake Lodge around 6 to check into our cabin, move in, grab some dinner at the lodge, then back up to unpack and call it a night [3 Pictures]. [16 Pictures from the Roads]
Saturday, August 6 - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Our first full day at Yellowstone was primarily dedicated to the north loop. We left the Lake Lodge Cabins around 9:30 (after a stop at the lodge to take advantage of a little network connectivity), and headed north toward Canyon. We didn't have stops planned, but the bison changed that just north of the Mud Volcano area. A herd of bison there lengthened that part of the day, but it was well worth it [7 Pictures]. We had a chance to have a nice conversation with a volunteer ranger about the bison and other things. We also had a good look at a bull elk in the same area where we saw one on Friday [4 Pictures]. Things sped up a bit after we passed Canyon and cut across to Norris. North of there, we encountered one of many bison using the road for their own transport [9 Pictures]. We stopped at Roaring Mountain, which was more active than in some previous visits. You could hear the fumaroles when no cars were going by and people were not talking loudly like they seem to want to do all the time in Yellowstone [7 Pictures]. Next was the Obsidian Cliffs and a short walk there [6 Pictures]. Approaching Mammoth we pulled out on a short one-lane loop through the Silver Gate area [6 Pictures], then parked to check out a few more elk just before the village. Before going up to see the hot springs, we went into town for a visit to the general store. Since the restaurant options in Mammoth remained closed following the June flooding, we got a little food from the store combined with some things from the snack bin and cooler and had lunch in a chilly wind in Mammoth. After that, we parked right in front of the Liberty Cap and started our walk in a cool drizzle. The walk was great and we saw plenty, but unfortunately the rain had intensified and we got pretty wet before skipping some parts of the walk to get back to the car. We drove back up the hill for the upper terrace drive. It was rainy and foggy and pretty cold, so we only got out once, to see New Blue Spring. Other hot springs were still plenty impressive from the car [41 Pictures][3 People Pictures]. We continued around the loop east out of Mammoth. One quick stop was to see Undine Falls along the Lava Creek at the Gardner River [3 Pictures], followed by a large herd of bison in the distance, another one who crossed the road right in front of us [20 Pictures], then a quick stop at the Petrified Tree [3 Pictures]. We saw the chuck wagon dinner wagons at the Roosevelt Corrals (they're not back open after the flooding) right at the still-closed northeast entrance road [3 Pictures]. We continued and took the short walk to see Tower Fall, still in the rain [4 Pictures][People Picture]. Continuing south, we went by Mount Washburn and over Dunraven Pass [5 Pictures]. We stopped at Canyon Village to look for an early dinner, as it was already after 4 and we didn't have that much for lunch. We decided to pass on the Soda Fountain (was busy, menu was limited, and prices were high) and the snack bar in the Canyon Lodge (even more limited menu) and instead waited for the dinner-only places to open up at 5. This gave us time to look around the Canyon Visitor Center, and to take advantage of the cell service to check in with some things back home. A big crowd formed at the doors of the restaurants before they opened, so we had to wait in line a bit for what ended up being a pretty tasty and reasonably-priced dinner. We followed that with ice cream, also at Canyon Lodge. Thunder was in the distance and rain was about to pick up again when we got to the car after dinner. After one more bison sighting for the day in Hayden Valley [6 Pictures], we returned to our cabin in a 49-degree rain, before 7. The rain soon stopped, and we took the opportunity to drive down by Yellowstone Lake, parking in front of the Yellowstone Lake Hotel for a bit [13 Pictures][3 People Pictures], then driving over to Fishing Bridge, walking actoss the Yellowstone River and back just before dark [2 Pictures]. We were back in the cabin for the night by about 8:45. A great first full day in the park.
Sunday, August 7 - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
For our second full day, we again started with a short visit to the porch of the lodge to connect our devices for a bit, and were on our way by around 9:20. The morning was clear and cool, and the day was really nice with temperatures in the morning staying in the low 60's and the afternoon probably not getting much above 70. Again we headed north toward Canyon. Along the way there, we made a quick stop at Sulphur Caldron [6 Pictures, 1 Movie], saw a bald eagle [2 Pictures] and (of course) a lot of bison [5 Pictures], and took some pictures of the Van Down by the (Yellowstone) River [5 Pictures][5 People Pictures]. In the Canyon area, our first stop was at Artist Point on the south rim [15 Pictures][11 People Pictures]. Next, the Upper Falls viewpoints on the south rim [6 Pictures, 1 Movie] and the Brink of the Upper Falls from the north rim [7 Pictures]. We decided to get some lunch in Canyon Village before moving on to the much more challenging trail to the Brink of the Lower Falls [22 Pictures, 2 Movies][7 People Pictures]. We also made a stop at Inspiration Point [9 Pictures][3 People Pictures] before we left the Canyon area. By early afternoon, we made it over to the Norris Geyser Basin, where we walked all of the trails and saw several geyser eruptions [50 Pictures, 2 Movies][4 People Pictures]. A very successful stop. We decided to go right down to the Old Faithful area next. We started by checking out some food options in the Old Faithful Lodge and Old Faithful Inn [4 Pictures], and ended up at the Geyser Grill in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. When we were finished there, we spent some time at the Visitors Center until time for the next Old Faithful eruption. We went out and got a good spot [2 People Pictures] for the eruption that occurred around 7:30 [2 Pictures, 2 Movies]. With not much daylight left, we went back to the Old Faithful Inn for ice cream in the spectacular lobby. We got back to the cabin a little before 10.
Monday, August 8 - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Our last day in Yellowstone was spent mostly at the geyser basins along the Firehole River. We got a little earlier start, leaving the cabin [4 Pictures] not much after 8:30. As we got to the main road from the Lake Village road, a large elk crossed our path [3 Pictures]. From there, it was around the lower loop through West Thumb, through some construction zones north of there [4 Pictures], past Old Faithful to the Fairy Falls trailhead. The parking was badly overflowing but we got lucky and pulled in just as someone was going out. From there, we took the Fairy Falls trail into the Midway Geyser Basin, and up to the Grand Prismatic Spring overlook. This was close to a mile walk each way but well worth it to see it from a bit above rather than just the ground-level view you get on the Midway Geyser Basin boardwalks [26 Pictures][5 People Pictures]. We went a bit north from there to another overflowing parking lot where we got lucky with something that was not quite a parking space at the Fountain Paint Pots area. We took the full tour there. The paint pots were nice as always, and we got a little show from Spasm and Clepsydra geysers [15 Pictures, 1 Movie][3 People Pictures, 2 Movies]. From there, it was back to the Old Faithful area. Along the way, we passed by (but did not stop at) the Midway Geyser Basin [7 Pictures]. At Old Faithful parked near the Snow Lodge and went right in there to the Geyser Grill for lunch [1 People Picture], just beating the crowd from the Old Faithful eruption that was just finishing up. This area had the best wireless network we found in the park, so we also took advantage of that connectivity for a short time. We stopped into the large general store adjacent but it was packed and we couldn't really even look around. We were about 20 minutes out from the next predicted Old Faithful eruption. This gave plenty of time to walk up Geyser Hill before it began. We stopped and watched Anemone Geyser erupt a couple of times and talked with a person from Utah who knows the park well for a bit. Turns out we had already done just about everything he suggested. It was nice to see Old Faithful from a different vantage point, and to be well away from the large crowd that disperses after a prime time eruption. We then walked much of the rest of the Upper Geyser Basin in the early afternoon sun (but fortunately it was in the mid to upper 70's and not warmer). We saw a good show from Sawmill Geyser. Various others were putting on smaller shows and we passed by many impressive hot springs and thermal water flows. Riverside Geyser was almost due to erupt but it's hard to say when it would so we didn't stick around. We made it to our goal of Morning Glory Pool, and when we started back, caught part of an eruption of Grotto Geyser [75 Pictures, 2 Movies][3 People Pictures, 2 Movies]. After that long walk, we stopped to do a little shopping (for huckleberry items, it turns out) at Hamilton's which was much less crowded and more pleasant than the general store closer to Old Faithful. On the way out, we caught the end of yet another Old Faithful eruption, meaning we were leaving with the crowd that comes to watch Old Faithful and that's it. Traffic really wasn't bad, and we headed south through the construction zones again, to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. This is a nice spot, but much better before seeing the more spectacular features elsewhere in the park [16 Pictures]. We stopped also at nearby Grant Village, bought some souvenirs, checked out the Visitors Center and attempted to find some dinner, but the only place open required reservations far in advance. So we filled the tank, then headed back toward the Lake Lodge. On the way, there was a group of foxes playing along side the road near the lake [3 Pictures]. Back at the Lodge, we grabbed some dinner and ate it out on the porch. As the sun was getting lower, we took a walk to the lakeshore before returning to our cabin for the night [12 Pictures][5 People Pictures]. [10 Pictures on the Roads in the Park]
Tuesday, August 9 - Lake Lodge Cabins, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado
We got packed and on our way pretty early, and were checked out from the Lake Lodge Cabins [10 Pictures] and in the car right around 9. We made a quick windshield cleaning stop in Fishing Bridge [2 Pictures], site of the 1985 U-joint repairs, and at a few points along the shore of Yellowstone Lake along the East Entrance Road [13 Pictures][3 People Pictures]. Once out of Yellowstone, it was a pretty easy ride to Cody, with just one short horse crossing delay [2 Pictures] and one short construction delay. In Cody, we found a good lunch at The Meatery restaurant, plus Boba Tea, and were back on our way at 12:30 [11 Pictures][2 People Pictures]. We stayed with US 14 and after a quick rest stop in Greybull [10 Pictures], climbed up into the Bighorns. The ride up the canyon was spectacular, we passed a small ski area, and saw a moose off to the side around Granite Pass at 9000 feet. We worked our way back down the east side and joined I-90 at Ranchester [27 Pictures][1 People Picture]. We made a stop for gas in Sheridan, then continued down I-90 to I-25, where we stayed most of the rest of the day. Dinner time came in Casper, and we decided for quick, easy, and cheap (Little Caesars). Noticing the much higher gas prices coming up further south, we filled up at the Sinclair in Glenrock [9 Pictures]. The rest of I-25 through Wyoming was good, just a driver swap at Chugwater, but I-25 through Colorado was a mess of construction. We got into our hotel in Denver after 10:30. [54 Pictures from the Roads]
Wednesday, August 10 - Denver, Colorado, area
The morning was spent at the hotel [Picture] catching up on laundry and taking care of a few other things. When we were ready to head out, our first stop was lunch at a Raising Cane's near the airport. We drove from there into the city center to visit the Denver Art Museum [5 People Pictures] and walk part of the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. Next, we drove out along US 6 up to Golden and checked out a bit of Clear Creek, which was busy with people tubing down through town [9 Pictures][2 People Pictures]. It was late afternoon and we weren't prepared with the right gear/clothing to try it out. Once we were done there, we drove US 6 up Clear Creek Canyon and back down US 40 and I-70, then across Denver on Colfax/US 40. We picked up takeout [Picture] from an Illegal Pete's location pretty close to the hotel, and brought it back to eat in the room [Picture]. [6 Pictures from the Roads]
Thursday, August 11 - Denver, Colorado, to Haysville, Kansas
We got off to a quick start [3 Pictures], on the road around 8:30 MDT after a gas stop near the hotel in Denver [People Picture]. We left I-70 for a while at Limon to take US 40 across some of eastern Colorado and western Kansas. We got to Kansas before 11:30, and into the Central Time Zone a little later. We stopped for lunch at the Dairy King in Oakley [Picture] for burgers and fries and rejoined I-70 there. Next stop was for gas just west of Salina. We took I-135 down through some slow construction zones and got into Wichita around 6, to our hotel in Haysville soon after. After checking in, it was back up to Wichita for a Wind Surge baseball game [20 Pictures][1 People Picture]. [74 Pictures from the Roads]
Friday, August 12 - Haysville, Kansas, to Brentwood, Missouri
We got going from the hotel in Haysville after 9:30. We took I-235 around the west side of Wichita, then Kansas 254 over to I-35. Lunch was at a Chipotle and Panera in Olathe. We crossed into Missouri and continued east toward the St. Louis area. We made one detour on state and county routes to avoid a delay near Concordia [8 Pictures]. The delay continued past where we returned, but still got to the StL area before 6 and met Charles for dinner at Pearl Thai and caught up with him for a while [1 People Picture]. Then down to Brentwood where we'll be staying the weekend. Our hosts were still at a back-to-school picnic a few blocks away, so we met them there for a bit before returning to the house for the night. [21 Pictures from the Roads]
Saturday, August 13 - St. Louis, Missouri, area
We spent the morning eating multiple breakfasts in Brentwood, then headed out to Innsbrook for an afternoon at the lake there [7 Pictures][29 People Pictures, 1 Movie]. Back in Brentwood, we had a nice takeout Italian dinner.
Sunday, August 14 - St. Louis, Missouri, area
We joined our hosts at church and their back-to-school book dropoff, then stopped to pick up a little for brunch/lunch at the Kolache Factory in Brentwood. We all took a few hours to relax (or submit final conference proposals and forms), and most of the group headed to Union Station to try to get on the ropes course. That was booked solid, so it was on to the Science Center instead for a short visit [9 People Pictures]. The whole group reunited at Fitz's for a nice dinner with plenty of soda and floats/shakes. The evening was topped off with handprints (pictures and explanation coming later).
Monday, August 15 - Brentwood, Missouri, to PA/NY Line on I-90
We got on the road from Brentwood around 10, and were quickly in Illinois. For the second time on the trip, we drove across Illinois without any stopping. We got lunch (Chick-fil-A and Moe's) [1 People Picture] and gas in Terre Haute just after crossing into Indiana and the Eastern Time Zone. We hit a little rain in the Columbus area, where we drove by Ohio State, hit a Skyline for dinner [1 People Picture], and topped off the tank at our lowest price on the trip ($3.279/gal). From there it was I-71, I-271, and I-90 through Ohio and into Pennsylvania. We topped off once more just before crossing from Ohio into Pennsylvania (our last chance for midwest instead of northeast gas pricing), fought through some frustrating construction zones, and arrived at the New York border right at midnight. [21 Pictures from the Roads]
Tuesday, August 16 - PA/NY Line on I-90 to Amsterdam, New York
The last 5 hours of the ride was pretty uneventful. Other than a couple of driver swaps, it was a quick 5-hour trip across the state. The second and final swap was in Verona, leading to the side loop up toward Rome instead of the Thruway there. We arrived at home right at 5 AM. 18 hours.
Some Trip Summary Stats
The trip covered 6109.7 miles traveled in the van across 14 states. Our easternmost point was at home in Amsterdam. Our westernmost point was over 112 degrees west in Pocatello, Idaho. Our northernmost point was in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, just a bit south of the Montana border which would be at 45 degrees north. Our southernmost point was in Haysville, Kansas, about 37.5 degrees north. The van averaged 27 MPG overall. Gas prices ranged from $3.279/gal in Ohio to $4.999/gal in Yellowstone. We saw prices over $5 in the Chicago area but avoided having to pay them.