cblaisd

When you have your computer, I'd really appreciate your taking a look

Did that last year. But second night's hotel is same-day cancellable, so if the weather is awful, we can go to Plan B and head south to Northern NM instead.

djp98374

Probably won't be till tonight. I tried to pull the maps but it seemed unable to do them. It pulls rifle but not the end point or route.

djp98374

I can see the routes...

the first one.....this is the one i mentioned in another post....

Rifle to Grand junction down to Montrose is flat valley. The road to Gunnison is also flat. The road from Gunnison to Montrose is mostly in a valley...very manageable.

The second route through Lake City is going to be very difficult if the weather isnt cooperative. Its the same type of road you would get going 550 to Durango. You have an 11,000+ ft pass on colorado HWY 149...this pass grade is rather steep for paved roads. This route adds about an hr to your drive from the previous path.

If you really want to do this part....wait and see what the weather was for that day and the previous day and check CO DOT road site:

http://www.cotrip.org/roadConditions.htm

that day you would have option A and B for your travels.

an alternate side trip you could do is from Gunnison...drive up to Crested Butte.

Why do you want to stay in Rifle? Is there other options in Grand Junction area or Delta?

the Rifle-Grand junction-Montrose part is pretty flat with off on the edge mountains but really not all that scenic....if you can get rid of this part when its dark wouldnt be missed.

A cool place to try and see in daylight would be just before Glenwood Springs along I-70 where it goes through Glenwood Canyon.

cblaisd

Sounds good. Thank you.

Cheap points redemption at Holiday Inn Express; there is also the same rate redemption at the HIX a few miles west in Parachute, but it gets slightly worse reviews. No 10K redemption in Grand Junction.

cblaisd

For those that know the routing in Colorado, how do you interpret the forecast for this week? Anything really worrisome?

djp98374

If you are looking at traveling mid week and be there over the weekend it looks like it will be pretty dry.

On the West side of the devide in Alamosa and Gunnison area expect it to be cold where highs are around 32 and lows in the +/- single digits.

On the east side of the divide in colo springs and dnver and looks like it will be in the mid 50s to possibly in the low 60s on Sunday.

Vail is looking to be roughly the same as other places west of the divide.

It appears across colorado today through early Wednesday there is a system coming through that will prodice snow before it clears up and dries up for the weekend.

cblaisd

The trip went wonderfully. The only snow was the first hour out of Pueblo to Canon City. It was pretty bad, but the snow line stopped in Canon City. Threaded the weather needle since the day after passing through Leadville/Vail they got six inches of snow. A truly stunning drive from Gunnison to Sagauche on the state highway. Wonderful views and maybe 6 cars the whole time.

By the way, the Holiday Inn Express in Silt is a lovely property in the middle of nowhere. Got upgraded to a huge third floor balcony mini-suite overlooking the Colorado River.

The Glue

Continuing on this thread...

This August we are driving from St. Louis to Seattle by car and WN home.

The wife, two tween girls and I in a Dodge Caravan.

The current itinerary is below, looking for tweaks, side trips, can't misses and avoids. The schedule is fairly rigid, and all of the hotels are booked.

Thanks in advance.

Wednesday
St. Louis to Sioux Falls as fast as possible; knock around SF for a bit, dinner in Mitchell/Corn Palace, and a motel further down the road.

Thursday
I get dropped off at the Minuteman Missile Site to stand in line for the 8:30 tour, if there's a line when I get there, we pass. The girls go to the Sod house in the interim.
Do the Badlands loop, followed by the obligatory Wall Drug stop, then onto Rushmore (have elected to skip Custer SP).
Spend some time in Hill City and/or Deadwood (which is superior?) Make the Devil's tower before sundown, and spend the night in the Buffalo/Sheridan region.

Friday
Little Bighorn, Pompey's Tower, Drive through Billings (anything there?), gas and food in Cody (is the Buffalo Bill thing worth $60?) and enter Yellowstone

Friday - Monday Three nights in Yellowstone at three hotels, the Roosevelt Cookout is the only "planned" thing.

Monday
Once out of the Park, up to Missouri Headwaters SP, then Grant Kohrs NHS, through Helena, Great Falls, and stop short of the Glacier for rest.

Tuesday
Drive through the Glacier Park, and then onto Coeur d'Alene for the night. This is the most "unplanned" day of the trip. Must get to CDA in enough time to do laundry. Planning a quick stop at the Jesuit Mission Church on the way into town.

Wednesday
Drive to suburban Seattle in enough time to return the car by 3:30pm, so I have about 2 hours for a side trip.

Yes, the trip is aggressive, but we think we can handle it.

Thanks again.

djp98374

Mr Griswald....

My suggested changes....

Your trip is aggressive. Why only a week? why cant you do this for say 10 days? Why are you picking Seattle as the final stop?

WED STL-SX Falls---9 hr drive.
THU SXF-Sheridan--8 hr dr + 1 hr time change
FRI Sheridan-Yellowstone 4 hr drive depend on route...you could drive through Billings onto 212 into Yellowstone or drive through cody. Not sure where you plan on staying.
SAT...yellowstone
SUN.... Yellowstone

I highly suggest you drive down and spend a night in Jackson and do Grand Teton. If you do Grand Teton you need to do it in the AM because its better for picks.

With such a short trip to Yellowstone i suggest focusing in on Lamar Valley and the are of Old Fathfull and Mammouth hot Springs area.

MON am in park....drive to Glacier. Lodging at East glacier is difficult to get. St Marys has some cheap places to stay. The East side of the park has more entry points to explore.

Glacier is about 6 hrs drive from Yellowstone.

TUES Glacier to Couer ....You really should do Many Glaciers part. Then you have the going to the sun road over to the other side of the park. drive to CoeurD'Alene is about 4.5 hrs + a time zone change.

the easier plavce to try and do laundry would be when you are in yellowstone since you arent driveing plus its sort of a mid point of your trip. Many places there do have laundry facilities to pay for.


WED drive to Seattle would be about 5 hrs driving. There isnt much for a 2 hr side trip. There isnt much along I-90. There are alternates like take Us 2 but the drive is longer. To the north you have Grand Coulee Dam and then Leavenworth.

If you could add about 4 days or so to this trip it would give you much more flexibility and enjoy your trip more.

the problem is the drive alone from STL to SEA is a 4 day drive. Thus you only have 3-4 days to actually see stuff.


My alterations.....add a day in the black hills and Grand teton instead of trying to do Glacier. From Yellowstone you drive to Seattle.


Are you even spending time exploring Seattle?



An alternate trip option of you pass on Yellowstone and just do Glacier is you could follow the Lews and Clark route. If you do this in Grat Falls there is a museum on the Lewis and Clark exploration. On weekend nights they have various talks done in the summer.

TRRed

My experience is that Yellowstone crowds diminish noticeably through August due to schools re-starting, so depending on when you go, traffic may not be too bad, with the exception of a bear-jam or bison-jam. Thus I would recommend staying at the same location all three nights (my choice would be in the Old Faithful area). I think you might spend less time driving a little further one or two days than moving in and out of a different room every day. Even a loop OF-Hayden-Mammoth-OF should be easily doable in a day with plenty of time to stop, take pics, walk a trail or two, etc. But I suggest that you keep an eye on the YNP website to keep abreast of construction plans.

Also, I think WY used to have good detail about highway construction on its website, so that might be useful to search for also.

Glacier and Yellowstone are both great National Parks, but I think my fellow poster's suggestion about not trying to do both is credible. A number of years ago I looked into doing both on the same trip and concluded there is too much to see/do at both parks. FWIW, I would also advise adding GTNP and deferring Glacier to a different trip.

The Glue

Mr Griswald....
Your trip is aggressive. Why only a week?
I highly suggest you drive down and spend a night in Jackson and do Grand Teton. If you do Grand Teton you need to do it in the AM because its better for picks.
the easier plavce to try and do laundry would be when you are in yellowstone since you arent driveing plus its sort of a mid point of your trip. Many places there do have laundry facilities to pay for.
WED drive to Seattle would be about 5 hrs driving. There isnt much for a 2 hr side trip. There isnt much along I-90. There are alternates like take Us 2 but the drive is longer. To the north you have Grand Coulee Dam and then Leavenworth.

My alterations.....add a day in the black hills and Grand teton instead of trying to do Glacier. From Yellowstone you drive to Seattle.

The Glue

djp98374

Grand Teton and Yellowstone are really easy to do together. Admission costs cover both parks for a week. You could do 2 days in Grand Teton and then 3 days in Yellowstone. The residual driving distance if you are going to do Grand Teton and then do Yellowstone is minimal. From Old faithfull to the northern part Grand Teton is about an hr or so drive .

to get up from Colorado to Grand Teton that is 8 hours drive from Denver/I-70.

I would highly recommend if this is your only trip to Montana you focus on Glacier. Trust me. there is alot to see and explore.

Friday---black hills
Saturday---Sheridan-Great falls
Sunday East glacier area (Tw Medicine, Many glaciers)
Monday going to the sun drive...drive to couer d'Alene
Tuesday Spend a day in Couer d'Alene or explore eastern Washington. Grand Coulee Dam is an option and then go to Leavenworth or drive through North Cascades National Park then south to Seattle.

Eastern Washington has some interesting terrain...its not along I-90. Its either to the north along the Columbia river, or to the south.

Wed---either stay in Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Leavenworth, Winthrop or Concrete (along WA 20)and then drive to Seattle.

If you still want to commit to Yellowstone Next year you could do Colorado then drive up to Glacier and then return through Grat Fallas, ND, SD following the Lewis and Clark trail.

If you are going to do Grand Teton next year seriously consider driving up and explore Eastern half of glacier again...1 day driving up and 2 days exploring.

djp98374

Based on your trip....you really wont have much of a day at rest.

I'd say it wil take about 4 hrs to do Glacier and going to the sun road (not sure where your lodging is for this night). From glacier to Coeur d'Alene is about 5 hrs....thugh you gain an hr with time zone change at ID/MT line.

CMK10

I did a road trip earlier this summer, it wasn't a big one but here are the details:

- Friday, flew to Denver

- Saturday, drove Interstate 25 north all the way to US 18 in Orin, Wyoming then headed easy for a few hours until it met with US 20 in Lusk, WY. Incidentally, we had a very nice little lunch in Lusk. Then we kept going east into South Dakota (my 50th state!). Once in SD we did:

- Wind Caves National Park: Absolutely great, exploring caves and the like, really really fun
- Mount Rushmore: Not as fun, but as I'm a big fan of North by Northwest at least there was that
- Hot Springs, SD: Fun little town which has a great steakhouse called Wooly's Western Grill

- Sunday we drove back to Denver with a stop in Cheyenne on the way back, Cheyenne is always worth a visit. The State Capitol area is nice and there are some decent eats to be found.

Overall it was a great trip and South Dakota was much more beautiful than I was expecting it to be ^