gnggng

Nanook....I have since added a day to Jackson since I can use Hilton points there and get a discount with the AXON award for 4 days. I figure this will give us an extra day at Yellowstone and drive into Jackson by dinner time. Great tip about the Sams Clubs for gas...and I don't mean from eating the samples they give out .

peersteve...thanks for the tips for the return trip. We do plan to venture onto old RTE 66 for part of the time.

b1513, We have amended our plans a bit and are now going from Breckenridge down through Leadville, through Aspen and spending a night in Glenwood Springs. We will then head down through Redstone and Delta to overnight in Montrose before heading down 550 to Durango. So, our new itinerary goes something like this.

We have amended our plans a bit and are now going from Breckenridge down through Leadville, through Aspen and spending a night in Glenwood Springs. We will then head down through Redstone and Delta to overnight in Montrose before heading down 550 to Durango. So, our new itinerary goes something like this.

1.Louisville Ky to Racine for a family visit.

2.Rochester MN (overnight)

3.Sioux Falls SD (overnight)

4.Rapid City SD (overnight) with a detour through Badlands.

5.Keystone or Hill City (overnight) with sightseeing of Custer State Pk and surrounding areas.

6.Keystone or Hill City (overnight)Black Hills area and a stop at Devils Tower.

7.Buffalo WY (overnight)

8. Cody WY (overnight) round trip on beartooth to Red Lodge back through Chief Joseph.

9.Cody WY (overnight)

Travel to Yellowstone through east entrance.

10.Old Faithful Snow Lodge (overnight)

11.Old Faithful Snow Lodge (overnight)

12.West Yellowstone hotel. (overnight)

13.West Yellowstone hotel. (overnight)

14.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons

15.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons

16.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons

17.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons

18.Rawlins WY (overnight)

19.Ft Collins Hotel CO (overnight) with some touring of RMNP

20.Estes Park CO hotel (overnight)RMNP

21.Estes Park CO hotel (overnight)RMNP

22.Breckenridge CO (overnight)

Travel through Leadville to Aspen and up to Glenwood Springs,

22.Glenwood Springs CO (overnight)

Travel down through Redstone and Delta to overnight in Montrose, touring BGotG.

23.Montrose (overnight)

24.Down 550 to Durango hotel (overnight)

25.Durango (overnight) with visit to Mesa Verde

26.Alamosa CO(overnight) with visit to Great Sand Dunes St Pk

27Taos NM (overnight)

28.Santa Fe NM (overnight) Any ideas on Hilton properties? Buffalo Thunder or Hilton downtown? Thinking of splitting it between the two.

29.Santa Fe NM (overnight)

30.Santa Fe NM (overnight)

31.Santa Fe NM (overnight)

32.Amarillo Tx some touring Rte 66

33.Oklahoma City OK (overnight) some touring Rte 66

34.Springfield MO (overnight)

35.Ofallon Il (overnight)

36.Back to square one in Louisville Ky
Big thanks to all of you for guidance in making this amended itinerary. I appreciate all the suggestions.

b1513

The Hilton downtown is a great hotel. It's a two minute walk to the plaza. There are threads on that property in the Hilton forum. I think I recall someone posting on Buffalo Thunder too.

This will be a great trip.

Bobette

gnggng

Thanks for the feedback on the Hilton in Santa Fe. I googled for reviews, but it's good to get the flyertalk review.

John Galt

--Looks like you'll be passing through Grand Junction. There are several wineries and some mico-distilleries there that are worth a trip.

--When you go through Amarillo,. check out Stanley Marsh 3's "Cadillac Desert." It's off the Interstate IIRC but worth a look.

--I'd highly recommend the "Roadside Geology of ___" series. I have the Halka Chronic Colorado one. It's organized based on highways, and they describe what you're seeing.

--Looks like you'll be traveling I-70. There are several mining museums (Idaho Springs has one) that are worth a trip, and you can also detour HWY 103 to Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in the US. There's a parking area and it's about 1/2 mile on an easy trail to the top.

--Have you considered the Durango-Silverton narrow guage railway/ AWESOME views.

--I might snag a say from Santa Fe to do that - the missus and I spent 1 1/2 days there, didn't think we missed much.

gnggng

I have been reviewing our plans for this road trip coming up the end of August and have a question about our stop in Oklahoma City.

We will be staying at the Skirvin and would welcome restaurant suggestions, preferably walking distance, maybe a mile or two limit.

We are both amateur photographers and would love to get some shots of the new Skydance bridge. Is this area a safe walk from the hotel?

Any other suggestions for interesting photography and sightseeing would be great.

Thanks to all.

peersteve

Hi..... if you are staying at the Hilton Skirvin in downtown OKC, you're within 15 mins walking distance of restaurants in the "Automobile Alley" area of North Broadway Ave, just north of the Skirvin (Red Steakhouse is a favorite special occasion place)......or the many restaurants in the "Bricktown" entertainment area, just across the tracks from the Skirvin.....restaurants such as Nonna's, The Mantle and Mickey Mantle's have good reputations, but there are many casual places along the Bricktown Canal if you'd like to sit along the water (think of a junior version of San Antonio's Riverwalk).

For more info and maps and restaurant listings for downtown, Bricktown and Auto Alley, please see:

http://www.downtownokc.com ....look at "Downtown in Detail" then "Downtown Districts"


The exciting SkyDance bridge is lit-up at night.....but is in a desolate area of torn-down buildings and empty blocks as part of the I-40 re-positioning project. I'm not sure that the bridge is open for anyone to walk across because of all the construction in the area (the final plan is that the bridge will connect two parks sometime this century). See this google map link from an OKC press release for an aerial view of the bridge area.(On map, you may have to move up to find I-40, then move left until you see "Skydancer Bridge" wording across the highway.)


http://maps.google.com/maps?q=SW+10+...ma,+73109&z=17

So, you'll likely need/want a car to get good photos of the bridge from a variety of viewpoints and distances.

.......more photo ops from friends:
The National Memorial (for the Fed Bldg bombing) is open outdoors 24hrs, so you can get nice sunrise/sunset shots with reflecting pond in foreground.....the chairs representing each victim (small chairs for the kids) are lit dramatically from inside at night......easy walk from Skirvin hotel

The downtown Myriad Garden Park has scenic ponds and trees and a Botanic Garden inside a big glass tube-shaped building......inside the glass tube are skywalks which give you interesting perspectives on the plants.......also an easy walk from Skirvin hotel


Enjoy! Let me know what other info would be useful........

Susan Miles Zimlich

gnggng

Yes, we did go and I have a trip report posted on fodors. If I am allowed I will post the link to it here. If not allowed then feel free to delete.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...6700-miles.cfm