PLANNING FOR A CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP

Part I of the trip: see the United States National Parks.

It might be no surprise to you that planning a month long cross-country trip is no joke. You’ll be quick to find that drawing a seemingly small line across Utah equates to about 8 hours of driving.

We started with a huge list of places where we wanted to go. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite; just type “National Parks” into Pinterest and every beautifully pictured landscape practically wound up on our list.

It was a fast realization that it was simply impractical to visit every single National Park in the country in only 5 short weeks.

After countless revisions, google map searches and advice from friends and family, here’s our final US Grand Tour hit list:

1. Chicago
2. Boulder
3. The Rockies
4. Arches*
5. Bryce Canyon
6. Zion*
7. Yosemite*
8. San Francisco*
9. Redwoods
10. Portland & surrounding area*
11. Bend
12. Boise
13. Grand Teton*
14. Yellowstone*
15. Mount Rushmore
16. Badlands
17. Connecticut for our dog, Hailey (our sweet pup staying with her grandparents)

Note: * indicates an area we’ll be staying in for more than a quick stop. I know, not much. No one said traveling the country in 5 weeks was easy.