Westward Bound May 2016 and Photos

 

Although I’ve visited family in Bozeman, Montana and the surrounding area twice, the trips were made via flying.  I’ve not viewed any of the scenery west of Minnesota (driving to a conference in Minneapolis) or west of Oklahoma (driving to a conference in Lubbock, Texas) by land.  My recently retired husband suggested “let’s do a road trip”.  So the planning of an approximately 1700 mile trek each way began.  I must admit, this task was much more challenging than planning an 18,000 mile round trip safari to Africa.  Trying to split up the driving days evenly, then find reasonably priced lodging that would allow our 9 year old collie and have it all fall into areas we wanted to spend some time visiting was quite a bit of research.  We also wanted to do this at a time of year that was a little cooler and less crowded since we’d be visiting National Parks.

A plan was formulated…. we drove Lansing to Onalaska, Wisconsin (497 miles) spending one night.  Then onward to Wall, South Dakota for two nights (482 miles) so we had time to spend in The Badlands.  Departing Wall, we drove the final 517 miles to Bozeman, Montana.  We all were glad to get out of our vehicle and celebrate our arrival with an ice cold beer (well, our Collie Lacey was just happy to have some nice grass).

After a week in Bozeman (including 2 nights in West Yellowstone), and really not looking forward to the long drive back, we departed Bozeman for Spearfish (478 miles), South Dakota (stopping at Little Big Horn and Devil’s Tower along the way).  We spent two nights in Spearfish to give us time to explore The Black Hills and Custer State Park.  Then it was back on the road from Spearfish to Des Moines, Iowa (669 miles).  From Des Moines, the final leg back to Lansing, Michigan was 535 miles.

Since our return, I often get the question “would you do it again?”  There is definitely more to see out west.  I’d like to see Glacier National Park as well as Grand Teton National Park.  My preference however, would be to fly out that way, rent a vehicle, and then start the tour.