Woke up at our customary 7 AM, packed, ate our free hotel breakfast, went back and relaxed until 10:30 AM or so. We didn’t want to get to the airport too early. Packed the car and returned it to the rental place with 15,823 miles on the odometer. We started at 12,701 — a difference of 3,122 miles! That is slightly longer than the trip from Boston to San Francisco which, according to Google maps, is 3,106 miles. We visited seven states (in order of first visit: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah) a pickup of six for Brian and seven for everyone else. We visited twelve National Parks / Monuments / Historic Sites (Scotts Bluff NM, Chimney Rock NM, Wind Cave NP, Mount Rushmore NM, Badlands NP, Minuteman Missile NHS, Devils Tower NM, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Craters of the Moon NM, Dinosaur NM, Rocky Mountain NP). Non-National stops were Carhenge, Mammoth Site, Custer State Park, Deadwood, and Buffalo Bill Historic Center. We stayed in nine hotels over the journey.
Got to the airport and went through security. They do have a beautiful airport in Denver — three separate terminal concourses separated from the check-in / ticketing / baggage claim area, all linked by an underground train. Above this open-air atrium with cool stonework and stuff they had suspended the first private jet to land at Denver International — the same jet that flew around the world in 49 hours.
Ate some McDonald’s (will be glad to take a break from them for a bit!) at the food court, Genetta had some pizza. Hung out at the gate eating Skittles and playing Dragon Quest IX. Hopped on the plane on time and the flight seemed to go very quickly (didn’t hurt that I had DQ9 keeping me busy too). Landed in Raleigh 15 minutes ahead of time and scooped up the luggage while Michelle got the car from daily parking (Chad and Don had parked it there earlier in the day on their way to Myrtle Beach, thanks guys!).
It was hot, even at 9 PM. Addison asked if we could get back on the plane and go back to Denver for another couple of months (though, to be fair, on Friday Denver was about 99F — though we did spend most of Friday at 12,000+ feet and 65F temperatures). Stopped by Torerro’s on the way home for some Mexican before ending our trip. Got home and played with the cats — they seemed happy to see us.
Michelle’s favorite sights:
- Fountain Paint Pots, YNP, Wyoming
- Custer State Park, South Dakota
- Scotts Bluff, Nebraska
Brian’s favorite sights:
- Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP, Wyoming
- Badlands NP, South Dakota
- Grand Teton NP, Wyoming
Addison’s favorite sights:
- Falls of the Yellowstone, YNP, Wyoming
- Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP, Wyoming
- Custer State Park, South Dakota
Genetta’s favorite sights:
- Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP, Wyoming
- Custer State Park, South Dakota
- A Geyser in Lower Geyser Basin, YNP, Wyoming
Below is the actual route we took on this trip:
Route for July, 2010
Note: I just realized that the map doesn’t show our jaunt down to Grand Tetons. We went there too, promise!