It's official, folks! The trip itinerary for our Creative Highways Project 2009 has been published. It is, of course, subject to change on a whim (we may make a left turn instead of a right way out there in the desert), but we will certainly be keeping you updated on our stops and photos along the way. Here is a summary of our trip:
June 28 – depart Mercersburg, PA for Chicago, IL to stay with Larissa’s best friend, Emily Adair Peterson. Urban fun, Vespa rides, perhaps a stop at The Hideout - and dinner out.
June 29 – Chicago, IL to Kadoka, SD, the gateway to the Badlands National Park and Wall Drug, both common stops on our past trips West.
June 30 – Kadoka, SD through the Badlands, and on to Bighorn National Forest, WY. Though not yet in the “Rockies”, this recreational area rises straight out of the central Wyoming plains and offers beautiful and dramatic vistas and higher elevation relief from the heat below. We’ve camped there before and love everything from the drive up to the explorations above.
July 1 – Bighorn through Yellowstone National Park (Yellowstone in the summer is a bit much to take. We can only take the bumper to bumper traffic through a wildlife area for so long - try it in the winter, it's glorious!), and on to Grand Teton National Park for more camping. The Tetons take our breath away.
July 2 – Breakfast in trendy Jackson, WY, then a drive to Bend, OR (via Pocatello, Twin Falls, and Boise, ID). Don't know if we'll have time to stop off for some climbing at Smith Rock, but it would be sweet. We were there in the fall before, though, so it might be a bit toasty to climb there in July.
July 3 – Bend, OR to Corvallis, OR to stay with friends, Kendra and Adam. Their dog, Jake, just had knee surgery, so even though he and our dog, Sadie, love to play, we'll have to make sure they only have so much fun! Kendra and Adam moved out to Oregon last fall so that Kendra could attend Oregon State University's graduate geology program. We're excited to see where they've been shacking up for the past year.
July 4-5 – Celebrating our furthest point West and our nation’s naissance on the Oregon Coast with Kendra and Adam. Mmmm, the misty Pacific sea cliffs, a camp fire on the beach, wine, the dogs, good friends - nothing like it!
July 6-7 – Bumming around Corvallis and Vicinity - hangin' with the dogs and Kendra and Adam.
July 8 – Corvallis to Walla Walla, WA for some wineries and Palouse Falls.
July 9 – Walla Walla, WA to Moscow, ID, our old Idaho hometown, where we lived from 2001-2003! We will spend two nights staying in downtown Moscow and visiting old haunts such as John’s Alley, the Moscow Food Coop, friends, University of Idaho (Ryan's alma mater and Larissa's former employer), etc.
July 9-11 – Moscow, ID and Vicinity
July 11-13 – Moscow to Lochsa and Selway River regions for hotspringing, camping, and general no-man’s-land-ing.
July 13-15 – Lochsa/Selway area to Riggins, ID for camping on the white sand beaches of the Salmon River, our favorite river in the world! You get a whole beach to yourself! Hope to find French Creek hot springs way up along the canyon walls where we went for Ryan’s birthday in 2003.
July 15 – Riggins, ID to the South Fork of the Payette River near Lowman, ID. More hot springs and beautiful vistas of the Sawtooth Mountain Range await! Just the drive alone is gorgeous.
July 16 – To Redfish Lake, the furthest point East that salmon swimming from the Pacific Ocean along the Colombia River travel - a gorgeous lake near Stanley, ID, nestled along the Sawtooth Mountain Range.
July 17 – Redfish Lake, through the Sawtooths, south through the Snake River plain of Idaho, and on to Provo, UT for a motel, clean-up, and gearing up for more camping.
July 18-20 – Provo to Joe’s Valley in the Manti-La Sal Mountains, and the San Rafael River - a climbing and bouldering mecca and a place we remember loving to camp – gorgeous.
July 20-22 – Joe’s Valley to Moab, UT area for some explorations of Arches National Park and the Canyon Lands.
July 22 – Moab to Boulder, CO in search of the Green Hornet sushi roll, which we ate there way back in 2000 (our first year together). We think we might be able to find it here. Will it taste as good now as it did then?
July 23 – Boulder to St. Louis, MO – we’re truckin’ now, haulin' home.
July 24 – St. Louis to Mercersburg, PA - home at last!
Click here for an interactive map of our trip.
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