Vacation: In July and August of 2021, we took a road trip to Yellowstone National Park (and beyond). We traveled through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Nebraska, and Iowa.
We drove 4,750 miles (in our brand new Telluride) in 13 days (12 nights). We averaged 22.0 mpg and regular gas was approximately $3.40/gallon. More on this below.
Start Here: Click on the Category or Event in the left-hand frame to view the corresponding photos. Note that the photos of Yellowstone (both days) have been split into several pages each.
Here are some helpful hints:
If you are short on time, Click here to view thumbnails of all 1500 photos on a single page.
Scroll down to view videos from the road trip.
Summary: The Major Attraction of this road trip was Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park, and arguably still the most impressive.
The Grand Tetons were less spectacular than anticipated, but we think this is almost entirely due to the wildfire smoke that obscured our view. More on this below.
Lava Hot Springs is a cute little community with a lot to do, including shopping, whitewater rafting (on the river that goes through town), an Olympic-sized swimming pool (with high-dives and water slides), and natural hot springs.
Driving up the Utah Mountains to Guardsmans Pass Overlook (over 9,700 feet above sea level) was very scary but also very fun. On the other side we found Heber City (in Heber Valley), and now my wife wants to move there.
Besides Yellowstone, the most beautiful destination on this trip (in my opinion) was the Flaming Gorge area (in northeastern Utah).
Yellowstone: Yellowstone is a required visit that demands multiple full days for even modest appreciation. We devoted two full days, but could have easily spent three or four days exploring this vast park's many different regions.
Along Grand Loop Road are several distinct regions. The most famous is probably Old Faithful (in the southwest) and the nearby geyser basins, containing Grand Prismatic Spring and hundreds of distinct features unlike anything else on earth.
In the northwest corner of the park is the visually-stunning Mammoth Hot Springs. In the north and northeast is the Northern Range and Lamar Valley, a great place to view buffalo and other wildlife.
On the east side of the park is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, a massive canyon, river, and waterfalls that can be observed and admired from several designated viewpoints and trails.
And in the southeast corner of the park is Yellowstone Lake, the largest high-elevation freshwater lake in North America.
Over 1/3 of the photos (and about 40% of the video) in this gallery are from Yellowstone. Yet as pretty as the photos and videos look, they don't come anywhere close to doing the park justice.
Favorites: My favorite parts of the vacation were Yellowstone (obviously) and everything in-and-around Flaming Gorge (in Utah and Wyoming).
Rosanne's favorite parts were the Rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop. Basically anything to do with horses.
The boys also loved the Rodeo the most, with honorable mentions going out to Whitewater Rafting and Lava Hot Springs.
Other Notes: Unlike our first two road trips, Elliot did not sustain any freak injuries this time. However, Ephraim managed to puncture his legs on an escalator in Salt Lake City...
For the first time ever, we spotted every single U.S. license plate (including Washington DC) at least once. We actually saw three Hawaii plates (!!!) on vehicles driving or parked. Proof is in the photo gallery.
In Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah, regular gas is only 85 octane, and mid-grade is 87 octane. Further, fuel prices in these regions were up to 45% higher than in the Midwest (for the same octane).
Due to the wildfires out west (and in Canada), several locations were very hazy, unfortunately. This includes Wyoming (Grant Tetons), Idaho (Craters of the Moon), and Nebraska (Scotts Bluff).
Interstingly, the only place on the entire trip where we had to wear a face mask was inside the visitor center at Golden Spike National Historical Park.
Things to look for on your next road trip out west include: the elusive Construction Buffalo, Caution Cone Springs, Picnic Table Crossings, Shoportunities, and Helicoptours (helicopter tours).
More notes can be found in the photo gallery (inline with the photos).
Cool Rocks: Each day, the boys were tasked with documenting the previous day in a journal. I got the distinct feeling that for this, they will resent me for the rest of their lives...
Elliot (16 Pages) - In Elliot's defense, day 12 was just driving, almost exclusively. Yet Nebraska still beats the hell out of New Jersey!
Ephraim (27 Pages) - Ephraim's writing skills are obviously much better compared to 2019, but he still included many illustrations for your viewing pleasure.
Daily Videos: Watch home
videos from our road trip by clicking on these YouTube links:
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July 22 | Wisconsin State Capitol Photos |
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July 29 | The Salt Lake Tabernacle
Organ City Creek Center Mall |
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July 23 | Badlands National Park |
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July 30 | Whitewater Rafting in the
Green River Flaming Gorge: Dam and Scenic Views Green River, Wyoming |
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July 24 | Grand Tetons: Jackson Lake
Dam Grand Tetons: Swimming in String Lake |
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July 31 | Pilot Butte Wild Horse
Scenic Loop Scenic Drive on US-191 (eat of Flaming Gorge) |
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July 25 | Yellowstone National Park (Day 1) |
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August 1 | Rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days (Championship Sunday) | ||||||
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July 26 | Yellowstone National Park (Day 2) |
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August 2 | Driving through Nebraska | ||||||
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July 27 | Craters of the Moon Pocatello, Idaho Lava Hot Springs |
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August 3 | Inside Iowa 80, the World's Largest Truck Stop | ||||||
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July 28 | Golden Spike National
Historical Park Bonneville Salt Flats The Great Salt Lake |
Total Running Time: 2 hours, 16 minutes [Playlist]
Destinations Not Documented: River Rafting on the Portneuf River in Lava Hot
Springs, Idaho (due to not being able to take any electronics on the raft). But
it sure was fun!
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