It’s been pretty quiet over here at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood lately. That’s because we’ve just completed a 38-day road trip with over 150 stops in 20 different states crossing 4 different U.S. time zones and traveling a total of 10,334 miles (all in a minivan). And somehow I thought I was going to continue writing and posting my thoughts over the past 6 weeks! Honestly, I was barely keeping ahead of our itinerary! Whew!
When planning trips in the past, I’ve used Mapquest along with suggestions from readers on our Facebook page along with a little bit from Roadtrippers. This time, I still used suggestions from readers on our Facebook page but then relied heavily on Roadtrippers (a free app and/or website) to fill in the gaps. Because there’s a 60-waypoint limit on the Roadtrippers app, I had to split up our trip into three segments, all of which you can access via the Roadtrippers website by clicking on the images below.
Roadtrippers – Pacific Northwest Trip Leg 1
Roadtrippers – Pacific Northwest Trip Leg 2
Roadtrippers – Pacific Northwest Trip Leg 3
One of the things I love about Roadtrippers is that you can find Points of Interest, Attractions, and Parks and Recreation Areas along your route (along with food and accommodations). You can also plan your itinerary details because it gives approximate distance and time between waypoints, which is way cool!
Seeing how I haven’t written about last year’s trip through the American Southwest (which we completed over one year ago), I imagine it will take quite a while for me to write up the details of this trip. However, I wanted to take the time to write up the itinerary because, while we were on this trip, I lost my blogging notebook that held the itinerary details for last year’s 50-states trip. (Thankfully, we have located where we left it and are awaiting its arrival in the mail!) Losing my notebook was a rather traumatic learning experience for me because it not only held my notes for the reading plans I hope to post this month, but it also held journal entries of precious family memories and many other notes I had jotted down, educational and otherwise.
So… before my journal notes from this trip suffer a similar fate, I wanted to post our itinerary for our Pacific Northwest Trip. If you are planning a trip to one or some of these states and have additional questions about anything I’ve mentioned here, please shoot me an email! I love visiting with others about our travels.
Day
Stops
What we might have done differently
1
Nashville, TN. Depart.
Metropolis, IL. Superman Statue and Superman Museum.
Collinsville, IL. World’s Largest Catsup Bottle.
Collinsville, IL. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
St. Louis, MO. Gateway Arch.
St. Louis MO. Site of Dred Scott Decision.
We arrived at Gateway Arch too late to go inside. Due to all the construction (and because it’s close enough to be a weekend trip for us), we decided we will go back to St. Louis to see those areas that were shut down and actually go up inside the arch at that time.
2
Independence, MO. National Frontier Trails Museum.
Kansas City, MO. Arabia Steamboat Museum.
Kansas City, MO. National WWI Museum.
We decided to go to the National Frontier Trails Museum before embarking on our journey out west. We would have liked to go on a wagon ride through town, but someone reserved the spot ahead of us.
3
Topeka, KS. Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site.
Topeka, KS. State Capitol Dome Tour (free and amazing!).
Wamego, KS. Oz Museum and a walk down the Yellow Brick Road leading to the city park. Great playground and free train rides around park on certain days.
Oregon Trail Park – Scott Springs
Marysville, KS. Pony Express Barn Museum, 1-room schoolhouse, sod house, rope ferry
4
Beatrice, NE. Homestead National Monument of America.
Omaha, NE. Spirit of Nebraska Wilderness and Pioneer Courage Park.
Council Bluffs, IA. Union Pacific Railroad Museum.
Council Bluffs, IA. Squirrel Cage Jail.
Onawa, IA. Lewis & Clark State Park with keelboat replica.
5
Walnut Grove, MN. Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and picnic on the banks of Plum Creek (site of Ingalls dugout).
Mitchell, SD. Corn Palace.
Would have loved to stop at the Ingalls Homestead in De Smet, SD. There’s much more to do in De Smet in comparison to Walnut Grove, but Walnut Grove is special to us due to the Little House on the Prairie television series.
6
Philip, SD. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.
Interior, SD. Badlands National Park.
Keystone, SD. Mount Rushmore.
Custer, SD. Crazy Horse National Memorial.
We decided to bypass Wall Drug Store due to timing of other aspects of our trip, but it is a highly rated stop in South Dakota.
7
Custer, SD. The Needles.
Custer, SD. Custer State Park.
Hot Springs, SD. Wind Cave National Park.
In the Black Hills, there are two caves run by the National Park Service: Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park. We’ve been to many caves as a family, so, in comparison to others, Wind Cave was not a top pick. Had we known that it would later keep us from getting to explore the caves at Craters of the Moon in Idaho (due to the White Nose Syndrome of bats), we would have skipped the cave tour. Side note: The Needles is a neat place to hike/climb, but be sure your family stays together (no one hikes ahead!). It’s extremely difficult to find each other, and there are several drop-offs every which way.
8
Casper, WY. Met Dianna of Grapevine Bible Studies.
Evansville, WY. Climb across and/or around Independence Rock, good view of Devil’s Gate. Farther down the road headed west: Split Rock.
Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway.
Thermopolis, WY. Hot Springs State Park.
Before going to Casper, we should have gone to Guernsey, WY to see the Oregon Trail Ruts (even though we saw some around Independence Rock). We arrived in Casper on a Monday, the only day the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center was closed. We were hoping to go there because we were headed along the Oregon Trail.
9
Thermopolis, WY. Wyoming Dinosaur Center.
Shell, WY. Red Gulch Dinsosaur Track Site.
Yellowstone National Park. Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.
Gardiner, MT (historic North Entrance to Yellowstone). Roosevelt Arch.
For the price, Wyoming Dinosaur Center is not recommended unless you are able to go on a dig. We were not able to go to the dig site because of the rainy weather. Red Gulch Dinosaur Track Site is an interesting (free) place in the boonies where you can collect and keep any invertebrate fossils you find lying on the ground.
We passed through Cody hoping to visit Old Trail Town, but it was still closed for the season.
We highly recommend the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway! Beautiful!
10
Yellowstone National Park. 45th Parallel.
Yellowstone National Park. Mammoth Hot Springs.
Yellowstone National Park. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Yellowstone National Park. Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River.
Yellowstone National Park. Sulphur Cauldron, Dragon’s Mouth, etc. at Mud Volcano.
Yellowstone National Park. Artists Paintpots.
Yellowstone National Park. Upper Geyser Basin. Old Faithful.
Somehow we missed the Morning Glory Pool close to Old Faithful Inn! Don’t miss it like we did!
11
Yellowstone National Park. Lower Geyser Basin. Silex Spring. Fountain Paintpots.
Yellowstone National Park. Midway Geyser Basin. Grand Prismatic Spring.
Yellowstone National Park. Another stop at Upper Geyser Basin to see Old Faithful erupt again and Castle Geyser.
12
Exiting Yellowstone National Park. Playing in the snow at the Continental Divide.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
Teton Glacier
Jackson, WY. Antler Arch.
Swan Valley, ID. Rainey Creek Country Store for a World Famous Square Ice Cream Cone.
Idaho Falls, ID. Snake River Greenbelt.
13
Blackfoot, ID. Idaho Potato Museum.
Arco, ID. Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Twin Falls, ID. Perrine Bridge (at Twin Falls Visitor Center), view of Evil Knievel jump site
Twin Falls, ID. Waterfall on way to Centennial Waterfront Park (walk behind)
Twin Falls, ID. Shoshone Falls State Park.
Twin Falls, ID. Twin Falls.
We would have loved to explore the caves at Craters of the Moon, but we were not allowed to do so because we had gone into another cave on this trip.
14
Truckee, CA. Camp at Donner Memorial State Park (in 30 degree weather in rain)
On our way to Donner State Park, we wish we had stopped by the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, NV.
15
Drive around Lake Tahoe.
South Lake Tahoe, CA. Emerald Bay State Park.
Visit Geoff and Marcia Brim of Brimwood Press.
16
Coloma, CA. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park (aka, Sutter’s Mill).
Yosemite Valley, CA. Yosemite National Park.
17
Kings Canyon & Sequoyah National Park, California.
18
San Fransisco, CA. Fort Point National Historic Site and Golden Gate Bridge.
Drive up Hwy 1 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Point Reyes Station, CA. Point Reyes National Seashore.
Stinson Beach.
19
Bodega, CA. Potter Schoolhouse (from Hitchcock’s The Birds).
Continue Pacific Coast hwy.
Point Arena, CA. Point Arena Lighthouse Museum.
Manchester, CA. Manchester Beach State Park. (Lots and lots of dunes to climb to get to the beach!)
We would not have driven the entire way up the Pacific Coast highway so that we would have more time along the Oregon coast (which is a much easier road to drive than California’s coast highway).
20
Redwoods…
Garberville, CA. One-Log House.
Piercy, CA. Grandfather Tree.
Phillipsville, CA. The Living Chimney Tree.
Miranda, CA. Avenue of Giants.
Myers Flat, CA. Shrine Drive-Thru Tree. (We could not fit through this one, but there are other interesting photo ops, and you can bypass the Drive-Thru Tree).
Klamath, CA. Tour-Thru Tree. (We fit!)
Klamath, CA. Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox Statues (free photo op @ Trees of Mystery)
Klamath, CA. The Trees of Mystery. (This was a highlight for our boys.)
Redwood National Park.
Gold Beach, OR.
21
Gold Beach, OR. (Day to play at beach and rest.)
22
Florence, OR. Sea Lion Caves.
Newport, OR. Meet Scovels at Hatfield Marine Science Center (free admission). Newport, OR. Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site.Played at beach across from Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.
23
Cannon Beach, OR. Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach, OR. Ecola State Park Tide Pools.
Warrenton, OR. Peter Iredale Shipwreck.
Astoria, OR. Fort Clatsop (Lewis & Clark National Historic Site).
Astoria, OR. Oregon Film Museum.
Astoria, OR. The Goonies House Film Location (drive by only).
Portland, OR. Mill Ends Park (World’s smallest city park). It’s in the median of a busy street, but still amusing to drive by.
To see The Goonies House Film Location, you have to look up as you drive down Marine Drive (hwy 30) as you pass the neighborhood. The house is on a private drive with other houses, so you cannot just drive by and see it from the neighborhood streets. And there are tons of “no trespassing signs” because (as were were informed by the folks at the Oregon Film Museum) the owner no longer allows people to park in the driveway and do the “truffle shuffle” at the front gate.
24
Portland, OR. Meet with Wanda Sanseri of Spell to Write and Read.
Troutale, OR. Multnomah Falls and other waterfalls along the scenic highway.
We wanted to go to Silver Falls State Park but chose the more popular iconic falls of Oregon, Multnomah Falls, because it was easier to manage a one-year-old.
25
Toutle, WA. Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mount St Helens.
Ashford, WA. Mount Rainier National Park.
26
Port Angeles, WA. Olympic National Park Visitor Center. Hurricane Ridge (view of Olympic mountain range)
Olympic National Park. Sol Duc Falls
27
Olympic National Park. Hoh Rain Forest.
Olympic National Park. Ruby Beach.
Snoqualmie, WA. Snoqualmie Falls.
Vantage, WA. Wild Horse Monument.
Snoqualmie was a beautiful area with lots more to explore than just the falls.
28
West Glacier, MT. Glacier National Park (West entrace)
The middle section of Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed due to a snow avalanche, so we had to drive into the west entrance for 14 miles and then drive around to the east entrance to see another 14 miles. (We didn’t get to see the Weeping Wall and other beautiful sites in the middle of Glacier.)
29
Glacier National Park. (East & Many Glacier Road)
Great Falls, MT. The Great Falls of the Missouri River (now all dammed): Crooked Falls (at Giant Springs Park), Rainbow Falls (Rainbow Dam), Colter Falls (now submerged under the Rainbow Reservoir), Black Eagle Falls (Black Eagle Dam), and Great Falls (Ryan Dam with a suspension bridge to a small island; free).
The sun was setting, so we didn’t get a chance to walk down the trail to see Crooked Falls, the only one of the five great falls of the Missouri River that was not dammed or submerged.
We forgot to visit the shortest river in the world, Roe River, while we were here in Great Falls. Take some time to explore Giant Springs State Park.
30
Worden, MT. Pompeys Pillar National Monument
Crow Agency, MT. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
31
Medora, ND. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Regent, ND. Enchanted Hwy (Geese in Flight, Deer Crossing with life-sized maze)
New Salem, ND. World’s biggest heifer cow, Salem Sue
Steele, ND. World’s biggest Sandhill crane
Jamestown, ND. Frontier Village (great free site!) & World’s biggest buffalo
We would have timed it so we could have stayed in Medora, maybe even at the Rough Riders Hotel. What an amazing little town!
It would have been a delight for the boys if we had taken the 1-hour diversion to see all of the sculptures along the Enchanted Highway. They loved seeing all the “world’s biggest” sculptures in North Dakota.
32
Park Rapids, MN. Headwaters of the Mississippi River (Itasca State Park)
Cloquet, MN. R.W. Lindholm Service Station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Duluth, MN. Canal Park, Aerial Lift Bridge, and Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center (free!)
33
Bayfield, WI. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
Bayfield, WI. Madeline Island Ferry, museum, Big Bay State Park
Washburn, WI. Tezners Dairy Farm (most delicious ice cream sandwiches we’ve ever eaten!)
Ironwood, MI. Hiawatha Statue – World’s Largest Indian.
We would have taken the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore boat tour through the Apostle Islands instead of the Madeline Island Ferry, but the boat tour had only one trip leaving at 10AM (which we missed). At Madeline Island, we might have opted for the free Big Bay Town Park instead of paying to go into Big Bay State Park.
34
Marquette, MI. Lakenenland Sculpture Park (free)
Munising, MI. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Miners Castle, Log Slide)
Munising Falls (Alger Falls, Wagner Falls)
Sault Ste Marie, MI. Soo Locks.
We would have loved to go on a shipwreck boat tour in Marquette, and even a Soo Locks boat tour, but we decided to go on the more iconic trip over to Mackinac Island.
35
Mackinac Island, MI. Ferry to Mackinac Island, horse carriage tour, Fort Mackinac, and lots of fudge
36
Dearborn, MI. Henry Ford Museum
37
Dearborn, MI. Greenfield Village
Piqua, OH. Lockington Locks Historical Area.
We really needed two days to visit all of the fantastic living history experience at Greenfield Village. Our children enjoyed stopping and talking to the re-enactors, so it wasn’t possible for us to make it through all of it in one day (it’s open 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM).
We arrived in Piqua as the sun was setting, but we could have spent hours exploring this curious area with abandoned locks from the Miami and Erie Canal and old buildings and history (such as the Atlas Underwear Factory).
38
Dayton, OH. National Museum of the US Air Force
Dayton, OH. Dayton Aviation Heritage Park (Wright Cycle Co. and Parachute Museum)
Return home.
I was planning to include links to each place in the above table, but I am already about 5 hours into writing this post. (Yikes!)
So… how many times did our children ask, “Are we there yet?”?
Zero.
Can you believe that?!? I guess they figured that there was no sense in asking that particular question. They enjoyed playing all sorts of made-up games along the way, in addition to listening to a ton of audiobooks and audio dramas from Lamplighter Theatre and Greathall Productions along with The Mystery of History Volume 2 and On the Banks of Plum Creek (the boys enjoyed this so much that they requested additional Audio CDs from the Little House series). In the hotel room in the evenings, we read aloud Beneath the Cat’s Claw (an EXCELLENT work of historical fiction set during the time of the French Revolution; stay tuned for a review of Historical Novels for Engaging Thinkers later this summer!) and Rebel on the Path (another engaging novel set during World War II). [The links in this paragraph are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase off of Amazon or Brimwood Press’s website.]
Not only did they not ask that dreaded question we all asked when we were on trips as children (at least I drove my mom batty asking it!), but item #2 on David’s “Ten Favorite Things about this Trip” list is…
Riding in the car.
Say what?!?
By the way, traveling with a toddler who mostly likes to grunt to communicate, and then burst into fits of rage when we mis-translate his grunt, was not on my top ten favorite things about this trip. Nonetheless, the fact that Isaac made it through 10,000 miles of carseat riding is astounding. That we did not lose our cool during those fits is even more astounding. It is just one example of God’s grace covering us throughout the trip.
And… with that, we now have only 11 more states to visit before Stephen, our soon-to-be 13-year-old, graduates from high school! Something that started as a distant hope is now becoming a reality! Although we would not have ever chosen the circumstances that resulted in us planning this gargantuan trip, we are thankful for the opportunity for the unexpected time to take this extended trip as a family.
Have you heard about our 50-States-Before-They-Graduate goal? You can read about it here and then join us for all or part of the journey across the nation! If you’re interested in places we’ve visited, you can find each state (for which I’ve journaled the experience) below, along with link-ups to other bloggers who are also journaling their 50-States-Before-They-Graduate (or their 5-States-Before-They-Graduate) experience.
Our family aims to visit all 50 states together before our boys graduate from high school. If you’d like to offer suggestions for places to visit in the 50 states, we would love your input! The eleven remaining states for us include: North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Alaska, and Hawaii. Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions for your favorite state(s), or virtually visit the other states we’ve visited to offer your recommendations on those pages! We’d love to read about your own family’s adventures… or to simply know about destinations you’ve enjoyed!
Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington DC
West Virginia
Here’s hoping I can get the other 22+ write-ups finished within the next few months! (Twenty-two?!? How on earth did I fall this far behind?!? Another example of how plan does not always equal reality around here!)
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