Trip out West

[us71na]

We made a trip out west 2 years ago. We started near Erie. PA and returned to the same location. We planned about 400 miles per day on the way out and about the same on the way back. We went to Colorado Springs first, toured the AF Academy, visited Rocky Mountain National park, drove up Pikes Peak and saw the Garden of the Gods. From there we drove up to Yellowstone through the Grand Tetons. We spent a week in Yellowstone and could have spent more. Get up early in Yellowstone and hit the roads looking for wild life. If you see cars pulled over stop and look as they probably have seen wildlife. We saw wolves, Bison, Elk, Deer, a Badger, Black Bears, Grizzlies, Eagles, Antelope, and lots of small mammals and birds. We were in Yellowstone in late August and had snow at the higher elevations on the road.

We also visited Craters of the Moon National park as we went north to Glacier. We spent three days in Glacier. Be sure to drive the Road to the Sun starting early in the day Stop half way at the visitors center and look or Mountain Goats and Big Horn Sheep. We saw several bears in Glacier as well.

Avoid Northern North Dakota as it is the wild, wild west with the oil boom. Camp sites in the d\Dakotas are far and few with few amenities. We stayed one full day and part of another at Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

Plan to get an oil change somewhere along you trip as the miles add up quickly. We towed our Skylark with a 2012 Honda Pilot and averaged 12 mpg for the 6500 mile trip. Watch your gas gauge and down shift on the down grades rather than riding the brakes.