Yes we did
We ended up going 17 days. That was 5 less than we could have spent, but ended up being the perfect amount for us for this trip. We didn't do as much camping as we originally planned, but that was ok. I think to do the circuit, and camp, you would need more time. It was difficult to go,go,go, and then stop and relax for a day or three.... lots to unload to camp, etc. Instead we did the hotel thing. I wish I had realized this would work better before we left, as a lot of what I packed was camping related, and we could have had more room/less packing before, etc. But that is the good thing about this kind of trip, you learn.
One thing I learned is i'll probably not drive across the whole country again
But it was well worth the trip once.
Our favorite part was probably Seattle. It's my favorite city and the kids and even husband enjoyed it too. We got to go the market of coarse, the Underground tour, the EMP museum... eat good food.
I think my favorite park was Glacier. I'd like to go back there some day. The pass wasn't fully open and i'd like to drive it from East to West. We only saw the west side. But it was so beautiful, crystal clear and so easy to breath, rushing water from the spring thaw... we did an easy hike and lake boat tour.
We actually spend the most time in the Badlands, and we hiked quite a bit and we did camp there. That was on the way in. That was also the time when they were still having tornados everywhere and when I woke up in the middle of the night the wind was blowing, so I checked the weather and it said possible tornados for interior, which I could see down the road, so I ended up sleeping in the car because I could at least see something
Everything in a tent sounds like a tornado.
Yellowstone was my least fav. Maybe that was because we only spent one day, but we did see all of the highlights, animals, old faithful and other geysers, the canyon, the falls, etc... It was a long day
Even in early June though, it was already crowded, and i'm not a fan of crowds. It also felt more commercial, maybe. Anyway, beautiful, beautiful, but I preferred the other two parks, myself.
Oh, and Devil's Tower, that was awesome. It was husband's favorite I think.
We didn't camp in Glacier or Yellowstone on the way home, because we all caught a cold virus, I thought it was too cold at Glacier and really, everyone was kind of ready to head home. But we got to see and learn a lot.
The kids spent most of driving time hooked to their electronics
... but were always willing to look/stop if we pointed something out. Husband and I saw a lot of different country. I live in a rural part of PA, and routinely drive half an hour to an hour for functions. But since I've been home I've been telling people i'll never say I live in the middle of nowhere again. Not after driving through South Dakota and Wyoming. In South Dakota we were on 90 at least, so easy to count down miles, especially going 85 mph... and regular exits, even if many of them didn't go anyplace big... but Wyoming, on 20, after leaving Yellowstone, we figured we might get a few hours in at least... You could see for miles and miles in all directions, and nothing. Beautiful country, but an occasional house or small town... really the middle of nowhere. We went through one canyon for 25 minutes. And Wyoming was the only place were cell and 3g were off for hours. Thankfully we were stopped for speeding
The only time. I told the police officer that I was feeling a bit isolated and when would we run into a hotel, as it was getting dark. He told me to adjust my coarse, as the way I was going would be three hours!
We saw lots of other things too, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD... Mt Rushmore, rows and rows of the biggest wind farms in several states, a wolf sanctuary, even stopped at Falling Water and Kentuck Knob on the way back through PA.
The biggest issue for me was eating, since I have quite a few intolerance issues, and we often were in the middle of nowhere or unfamiliar with the area. But it all worked out
Anyway. That's the recap unless you have a specific question.
