2010 Western States Vacation

Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing about the vacation my wife, two daughters and I took this summer. Our trip spanned two weeks, 5500 miles, and twelve states (though some of those states we only passed through en route). Highlights of the trip were two days in Yellowstone National Park, a day spent in the Black Hills which included a visit to Mount Rushmore, a day hiking in Northern California near Donner Pass, and a day at Grand Canyon National Park.

2010 Western States Vacation Posts

• Part 1: 1st Stop: Fort Larned, KS
• Part 2: Our Tour of the Black Hills of South Dakota
• Part 3: Drive from Black Hills to Yellowstone
• Part 4: Arrival at Yellowstone
• Part 5: Yellowstone, Day 2
• Part 6: Final Day in Yellowstone
• Part 7: Don't ever stay at the Comfort Inn in Carlin,
             NV!
• Part 8: California. Finally!
• Part 9: Our hike (and more) in California
• Part 10: Bearizona!
• Part 11: Grand Canyon!
• Part 12: It had to end

We left Cabot, AR about 5:30 AM on June 19 with plans to make it Ft. Larned, KS. We planned to camp there and drive the next day to Rapid City, SD where we would get a motel room. The next day we intended to drive to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and camp, hike, then camp again. Our plan was to then drive the next day to the City of Rocks National Park in Idaho where we would again camp, hike, and camp. Our itinerary then called for us to drive to Reno, NV where we would stay in a motel and hike the next day near Donner Pass. That afternoon, we planned to drive to Southern California, outside of LA, where we would spend two nights in a motel and visit with family in the area. We then planned to drive to Grand Canyon National Park where we would camp and hike before heading back to Arkansas.

All in all, the plan was a little too ambitious and we adapted it to have more time sight-seeing in between all the driving. But, we enjoyed the trip so much we plan to do something similar (although with far less driving) every year from now on. God truly blessed us with a beautiful country. We photographed so much of it that I wanted to share the experience.

Though these first several posts will detail parts of this trip through the American West, my family and I live in Arkansas. Our state is blessed with a multitude of state and National Parks that my wife and I plan to explore in the future. So between our summer trips to other states, I'll post some of our Arkansas exploits as well.

It is my hope that others will be encouraged or enabled to enjoy God's natural beauty through reading this blog. This two week vacation cost less than $2500 (not counting reusable gear and equipment for hiking and camping). So part of the reason I want to share our experience is to let people know that exciting vacations are available in this beautiful country of ours at a reasonable price.

This was the first vacation of this type I've ever been able to take with my wife and daughters, and it was fantastic. My daughters are 16 and 17, so my wife and I knew we'd better take them this year or we may never get another chance for the four of us to travel together. Because of this, we may have been a little too ambitious in planning this trip. We spent a lot of time driving that could have been used to see more of God's beauty in these United States. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.