Julie's Journal : Epic Road Trip!

This year, my husband and I wanted to take some time and see the Rocky Mountains.  I had never been much further west than Fort Worth and neither of us had been very far north.  So after he was finished with Summer School and when Summer Reading was winding down at the library, we took off in his truck to see the sights.  Over the next 12 days we went to 10 states and 5 national parks and traveled 4,456 miles!

We saw mountains and rivers and wildlife, along with buttes and farmland and waterfalls.  We went through canyons and drove above the tree line.  We mostly avoided the cities and tried to avoid crowds, although that proved impossible at Yellowstone!

Grand Teton National Park

We were able to hand feed Chipmunks and Ground Squirrels at St. Elmo, CO.

We saw hot springs and Old Faithful at Yellowstone.  Old Faithful was extremely crowded, so my pictures aren't very good.

We saw moose, elk, beaver, geese, otter, black bears, bison, mule deer, and lots of other wildlife.  We were on a quest to find a grizzly bear, but we weren't successful.

After Yellowstone, we cut across Montana and the Dakotas and stopped at Mt. Rushmore.  We weren't sure how much would be there, but if you ever get a chance to go, we recommend it.  There is a viewing platform and a museum that is very well done.  The day we visited Mt. Rushmore was the only day that it rained on us, or we might have done the walking trail as well.

From there, we headed south towards home.  Our last tourist stop was at The Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Oklahoma.  I've followed The Pioneer Woman's blog for years, so it was a fun stop for me.  

We were exhausted when we got home, but the trip went by in a hurry.  It's hard to believe that after all the time we spent planning, it's already over.  We added to our memories and expanded our horizons, though, which is what travel is all about!

Our route - marked out by my mother as we traveled.