Another road trip thread (Chicago to Seattle)

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Postby delgriffith » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:56 am

Hello I'm going to be driving cross country in July, starting in Maine and eventually ending up in LA. We're pretty set on route and what I'm doing between Maine & Chicago, and we want to do a northerly route from Chicago (along I-90) that'll eventually get us to Seattle. Then we're going to slowly make our way down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA. We're pretty set on the Seattle to LA part too.

What we need are recommendations of things to do or places to stop along the way from Chicago to Seattle. We're trying to stop & camp in multiple national parks, probably leaning towards Grand Teton (taking I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska rather than I-90) and then heading up to Glacier. We'd like to stop in Yellowstone too but because it's enormous & popular (which is going to be a problem in July wherever we go) we might save it for another time. We'd drive through part of Yellowstone on the way from Grand Teton to Glacier anyway.

If we went on I-90 we'd do Badlands instead of Grand Teton. The I-90 route does cut about 200 miles off our drive, and from the sounds of it the drive through Minnesota/South Dakota is better than the drive through Iowa/Nebraska.

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Any strong thoughts one way or the other? And on either of those routes, what are some good places to stop along the way? Chicago to Badlands (for example) is 12 hours of driving so we'd have to break it up.
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Postby ecto » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:58 am

be sure to try the corn in nebraska and the potatoes in idaho.
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Postby Kenny » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:00 am

That seems like a chill ass trip. I'd do the second one if it was me, though I'd say the best would somehow be to go through South Dakota and go to Grand Teton park.

I always thought one of my grandpa's was from Upstate New York (like my grandma he was married to) but just found out recently he was from South Dakota and now I want to go. He was dead before I was born so it didn't come up much!
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Postby delgriffith » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:05 am

ecto wrote:be sure to try the corn in nebraska and the potatoes in idaho.

You go too fast! Too fast!
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Postby Durham » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:06 am

If you're going to visit Yellowstone properly another time, then I say do the Badlands/Rushmore (lol)/Needles Highway/Wall Drug/Deadwood/Devil's Tower route. It'll make for a very "Americana" road trip, and the Black Hills are very pretty.
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Postby Durham » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:10 am

If you're going to do a proper Yellowstone visit some day, Teton will be right there. South Dakota isn't very convenient to hit up any other time.
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Postby viachicago » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:12 am

if it were me i would def do option 2 but youre going to see cool shit either way
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Postby Beautiful Jugdish » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:15 am

yeah here's some advice - don't run out of gas!

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Postby delgriffith » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:18 am

- Potatoes
- Corn
- Gas

I think I've got this!
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Postby nakedlunch » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:18 am

where in maine are you starting?
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Postby Durham » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:20 am

Maine to Chicago to Seattle to LA is massive
how many people are sharing driving duties. i would go insane
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Postby Beautiful Jugdish » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:22 am

i wouldnt go insane, but that's just because my brain is more powerful than durham's.
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Postby viachicago » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:22 am

either way though that chicago to wyoming leg is gonna be bleak
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Postby nakedlunch » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:22 am

is it just you and your sweetie or is it a car full of ppl? I hope they all like hollywood handbook
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Postby uncledoj » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:22 am

There's some beautiful state parks in Southeastern MN that would be worth a stop, right off of 90. Great River Bluffs on the MN side, Trempeleau on the WI side. Driving along the Mississippi on the WI side is a blast, lots of tiny old Wisconsin river towns with tons of weird bars.

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Postby tricksforchips » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:22 am

I did a similar trip recently and if I had one piece of advice I'd just say take it slow and take your time. We rushed it and it was stressful/not very fun though the sights were beautiful.
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Postby nakedlunch » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:23 am

viachicago wrote:either way though that chicago to wyoming leg is gonna be bleak


a good time to dump off any human remains you have lying around
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Postby delgriffith » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:26 am

Portland, Maine. We're gonna be there the weekend before July 4th then hit the road. I'm going to be with my sweetie yes and we are going to listen to every single Hollywood Handbook episode.
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Postby uncledoj » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:29 am

Once you get to Washington you should for sure go up to Mount Rainier. It's so beautiful, and there's some amazing hikes.
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Postby viachicago » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:31 am

if you have some extra time in WA id also recommend going up to Olympic National Park. compared to your overall drive its not that out of your way, and the scenery is definitely worth it. one of the best parks in the US. and you can cheat by taking the car ferry to Bainbridge Island rather than looping all the way south through tacoma.

then when you exit just kinda loop around the western edge of the park along the coast and start heading south on 101
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Postby nakedlunch » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:33 am

del I wont' be there that weekend to embarrass you in front of your sweetie but here's a little bit of local advice you wont find in any fancy guidebooks... try the lobster sandwich
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Postby delgriffith » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:35 am

Thanks uncledoj & viachicago. Also thanks lunch for the clutch recommendation.
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Postby Durham » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:37 am

Olympic rules. Jagged snowy peaks, lush rainforest, and beautiful rocky beaches in one park. It's like Alaska and Hawaii-lite
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Postby viachicago » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:47 am

yea i stayed 3 nights there and camped in a different part of the park each day. it was like 3 mini trips in one.

i also recommend pounding many many espressos at the little roadside coffee stands that are just randomly situated everywhere in the forests of Washington
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Postby fresh » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:50 am

i've taken this route a couple times and would definitely recommend it:

chicago to sioux falls
sioux falls to the badlands
the badlands to the black hills
the black hills to cody wy (stopping at devil's tower along the way)
cody wy to yellowstone/teton

yellowstone does have a lot of tourists in the summer but there are some first-come-first-serve campgrounds, so if you spend the night in cody and get up early you can get into the park in time to snag a spot. if you have overnight packs there'll also be plenty of backcountry spots open but watch out for ones that are swarming with mosquitoes.
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Postby uncledoj » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:54 am

We did the Paintbrush Canyon/Cascade Canyon loop as an overnight in the Tetons a couple years ago and it was amazing. Very intense hike though.
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Postby brent » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:00 am

if you don't mind the extra miles i would definitely do 2; the first option definitely has some nice stops and scenic areas, but option 2 will break up the monotony better, that drive through western minnesota>south dakota>montana is an incredibly long stretch with not a ton to see other than the black hills, which are definitely beautiful. i'm probably a little biased because i have driven it a billion times, but i love going west on i80 thru nebraska. it's not for everyone but i love the rolling plains, i think the color is much more vivid and drive a little more varied than i90 through south dakota.

if you do option 2: stop to eat in omaha, it's a cool/inexpensive food city, and basically the only bigger city on that drive. i can give some suggestions on places to try if you have something in mind, im sure the other nebraska boarders can as well. it will add on another couple of hours of driving, but you could also try to squeeze fort collins, CO in as well if you want to see the rockies there, but it may not be worth stopping by unless you want to do other things in the city (ie hit up some of the breweries there), as you would have to drive further to really see the mountains close up. def try to spend some extra time in the tetons/yellowstone area if you can. jackson is a tourist city but there are some decent places to eat. jenny lake in the grand tetons is a great stop, you can catch a cheap ferry across the lake and walk back around the lake, it doesn't take a ton of time and it's insanely beautiful. yellowstone is fucking huge and you definitely need time to really explore the entire park, but don't let the busy season deter you from stopping anywhere. it's a very driveable natl park and because of this i've never found it annoyingly crowded, even in peak seasons. at least try to stop by and see the falls, they're really amazing and there's tons of different viewing areas (obv you could also do something like old faithful, which is cool and unique and touristy, but the falls are the more picturesque option to me). also, it could be interesting going from yellowstone to glacier, while yellowstone is definitely a busy park, glacier to me is the opposite, it truly feels 'wild' and relatively untouched. we stayed at a campground at st mary's lake and a bear came through the campground every night we were there. definitely drive going to the sun road, one of the coolest drives i have ever done, and your timing will be perfect as i'd imagine the entire highway will be open in july

have fun!!
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Postby schmuck » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:02 am

instead of taking i-90 straight across from spokane to Seattle I'd recommend doing the upper loop to one of the least traveled national parks - North Cascades National Park. You've got the metow valley, winthrop, ross lake and diablo lake. driving highway 20 is amazing.

here's a link to the scenic loops: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/LocalPrograms/ScenicByways/
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Postby shark week » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:02 am

travel whichever route takes you closest to Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness
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Postby brent » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:10 am

oh yeah and to bounce off guy incognito, i've never been to medicine bow but that's probably a way cooler/better suggestion than doing a jaunt over to fort collins

also the last time i went to yellowstone, i took i90 and stopped in the black hills for 2 nights. it is really cool, you can hike harney peak in a few hours if you haul ass, it's the highest point in south dakota and you get amazing views on a clear day. you can easily stop in the badlands, jewel/wind caves and at mt rushmore as well, all are worth checking out, even if mt rushmore is dumb/weird as hell. echo stopping at devils tower if you go this route too. also, the bighorn mountains are really fucking cool, i can't remember the drive i did exactly because it ended up being a detour due to a semi accident on the route i was initially taking...alternate hwy 14 maybe.
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