USA, Here We Come

A 29-day adventure by Bill Read more

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Trip start
June 17, 2017
USA, Here We Come Bill Bates
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Day 1
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 11:00 AM
☀️ 81 °F
Altitude: 89 ft
United States San Jose Downtown Historic District 37.338177, -121.88629937°20’17” N 121°53’11” W
San Jose, CA
June 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
Time to hit the road! Well, we are ready to head out on our cross country road trip. Boston, here we come with more than a few stops along the way.
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Day 1
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 5:05 PM
☀️ 86 °F
Altitude: 597 ft
United States Emmons Health And Counseling Center 34.127384, -118.21046434°7’39” N 118°12’38” W
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Occidental College
June 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
A quick peek at Oxy for Casey. It was very pretty, but the surrounding area was a bit sketchy. Seeing Jack Kemp Field was a treat. It is just as amazing as you would think. 😉 (I should have wrapped that last sentence in sarcasm tags.)Read more
Matt FeldonSorry Casey, but Quinn looks taller!
6/19/17Reply
Mimi Payne very cool
6/19/17Reply
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Day 1
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 7:23 PM
☀️ 82 °F
Altitude: 1,207 ft
United States Claremont 34.097229, -117.71065534°5’50” N 117°42’38” W
Claremont Colleges
June 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F
A quick visit to Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd and Scripps. No pictures, we drove around for about 20 minutes and didn't get out.
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Day 1
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 9:29 PM
🌙 79 °F
Altitude: 1,073 ft
United States Tomas Rivera Library 33.972294, -117.32717133°58’20” N 117°19’38” W
University of California, Riverside
June 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 79 °F
Another quick peek. We drove around UC Riverside at night a few months ago. This time, we got to see it in the daytime. It is a nice campus. Again, we mostly drove around, but we did stop and stroll. We found Hunter Pence looking for commencement. 😊Read more
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Day 1
Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 10:17 PM
🌙 91 °F
Altitude: 177 ft
United States Palm Desert Country 33.735184, -116.31951933°44’7” N 116°19’10” W
Palm Desert, CA - End of Day 1
June 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 91 °F
Too dark for pictures, I'll post some in the morning. 479.7 miles traveled today. Phew...
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Day 2
Sunday, June 18, 2017 at 7:00 AM
☀️ 84 °F
Altitude: 184 ft
United States Palm Desert 33.728882, -116.3825333°43’44” N 116°22’57” W
Palm Desert, CA
June 18, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
Good morning, Palm Desert! 91 degrees at 7am. Yikes!
Mimi PayneGet the heck outtathere!
6/19/17Reply
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Day 2
Sunday, June 18, 2017 at 12:39 PM
☀️ 106 °F
Altitude: 974 ft
United States Buena Vista Mobile Home Park 33.422848, -112.59052333°25’22” N 112°35’26” W
Love's Truck Stop - Buckeye, AZ
June 18, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 106 °F
Quick refuel stop on the way to The Grand Canyon. Should I have gotten Jenn a new purse?

It's only 106 degrees here. Cool for the area, I am told. 😊
Mimi PayneOh, Jenn, can I borrow one?
6/19/17Reply
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Day 2
Sunday, June 18, 2017 at 10:25 PM
🌙 75 °F
Altitude: 6,962 ft
United States Grand Canyon Railroad Station 36.057059, -112.13853636°3’25” N 112°8’19” W
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Grand Canyon Village - South Rim
June 18, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 75 °F
Wow, what a day at The Grand Canyon! First of all, amazing! We arrived at 4pm. The park radio announcements said there would be no parking. We found a spot right out front of the village!

Also, we tried to get a room at the village, but nothing was available. It books up months in advance. On a whim, I walked up and asked. I said, "I know you guys book up months in advance, but I thought I would check on cancellations." The woman was super nice and we chatted. She said she did have some cancellations and then said she would give us the manager's rate. We got the room for four of us for less than we were going to pay 20 miles outside of the park!

I have many more pictures to post from here, but need time to go through them.

We hiked a bit and then took a bus to some scenic spots and watched the sun set over the canyon. It was an awesome day!!!Read more
Bill BatesLove this picture of Quinn and the Canyon.he looks like he is meditating. I'm glad you got a room. Stay cool!
6/19/17Reply
Bill BatesThanks! Yeah, we really lucked out on the room. The picture was Q's idea. 😊
6/19/17Reply
Matt FeldonGreat pic! And sounds like huge early trip mojo. Love it. Good sign there!
6/19/17Reply
Matt Feldon This one is awesome!
6/19/17Reply
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Day 3
Monday, June 19, 2017 at 8:10 AM
☀️ 81 °F
Altitude: 6,965 ft
United States Grand Canyon Railroad Station 36.057095, -112.13875636°3’26” N 112°8’20” W
Morning at The Grand Canyon
June 19, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
We are up and ready to go. Some last looks at the canyon and then we are off to Bryce Canyon on our way to Yellowstone.

Miles Traveled Day 2: 466
Total: 945.7
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Day 3
Monday, June 19, 2017 at 1:53 PM
☀️ 100 °F
Altitude: 4,370 ft
United States John C Page Park 36.915975, -111.45755836°54’58” N 111°27’27” W
Page, AZ
June 19, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 100 °F
After 150 miles of driving, it was time for a break. There has nothing around us for the entire drive and all of a sudden, Page is a major metropolis. A stop at Safeway to replenish supplies and then back on the road.Read more
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Day 3
Monday, June 19, 2017 at 5:30 PM
☀️ 86 °F
Altitude: 8,104 ft
United States Inspiration Point 37.61591, -112.17011637°36’57” N 112°10’12” W
Bryce Canyon
June 19, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
We arrived at Bryce Canyon late in the day. We were weary from travel, but Bryce did not disappoint! In fact, you would think it would be hard to impress us after seeing The Grand Canyon. Nope. Bryce was amazing!

Casey, Quinn and I hiked about halfway down to the bottom of Thor's Hammer. It was breathtaking.

After spending a few hours at Bryce, it was time to hit the road again. We won't make it all the way to Salt Lake City, tonight. We'll see where we end up.Read more
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Day 3
Monday, June 19, 2017 at 11:00 PM
🌙 70 °F
Altitude: 5,846 ft
United States Spring Branch Slough 38.251122, -112.64866638°15’4” N 112°38’55” W
Beaver, UT - End of Day 3
June 19, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 70 °F
We found a place to stay the night. Beaver is the largest city in the county. That isn't saying much. Of the 10 or so food places in town most close at 9pm. We rolled in at 9:06 and were mostly out of luck. It was a McDonalds night. Even Denny's was closed!!!!

Side Note: Both Philo Taylor Farnsworth (inventor of the television ) and Butch Cassidy (notorious outlaw) were born here.Read more
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 10:28 AM
☀️ 82 °F
Altitude: 5,902 ft
United States City Ditch 38.279583, -112.64128938°16’46” N 112°38’29” W
Day 4 - Beaver, UT - Let's Get Going!
June 20, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F
Day 3 Miles: 373.8
Total Miles: 1,319.5

Well, today the family got to rest a bit. We decided not to make a huge push and get to Yellowstone today. Instead, we decided to sleep late (8am) and have a nice breakfast.

We stayed at a Comfort Inn. It was great. Nothing super special, but it was clean, comfy and had a great hot breakfast that was included. Also, the staff was absolutely wonderful.

We were very happy and will stay at a Comfort Inn again.Read more
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 1:39 PM
☀️ 91 °F
Altitude: 4,265 ft
United States Salt Lake City 40.758476, -111.88814540°45’31” N 111°53’17” W
Salt Lake City
June 20, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F
Utah is pretty sparse on I15 North until you get within 25 minutes or so of Salt Lake City. Then civilization hits you like a brick!

We ate lunch at a beautiful mall just across the street from Temple Square. Call us bad, but Chick-fil-A was freaking good!Read more
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 3:00 PM
☀️ 93 °F
Altitude: 4,331 ft
United States Temple Square 40.770382, -111.89251740°46’13” N 111°53’33” W
Temple Square
June 20, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F
Seeing The Salt Lake Temple is always a treat. We may not be LDS, but we can appreciate the site. We took a stroll through the grounds, toured the visitor's center and went into the tabernacle.
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 6:20 PM
🌫 88 °F
Altitude: 4,521 ft
United States Blackfoot 43.189617, -112.34378843°11’23” N 112°20’38” W
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Idaho Potato Museum
June 20, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 88 °F
You know what they say, "You can't go to Idaho without seeing the Potato Museum." Well, we were no exception. We rolled in 40 minutes before closing and it didn't disappoint!

We learned the history of the potato and how it changed the world. We saw old farming equipment, spent time in the Potato Lab and saw the largest Potato crisp in the world!

There was also a fenced off staircase going down where you could just make out a creepy couch potato family down below. It was very Silence of the Lambs. "It puts the lotion in the basket, or it gets the hose again."

The cashier at the gift shop shared with me that both her uncle and father were killed by great white sharks (at different times). Interesting tidbit.

They had a cafe, but we were disappointed. They didn't have any interesting potato dishes. They missed a big opportunity.Read more
Matt Feldon Creepy indeed! And the GWS tidbit is creepy also.
6/21/17Reply
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 10:07 PM
🌫 70 °F
Altitude: 4,757 ft
United States Ammon 43.475399, -111.98202943°28’31” N 111°58’55” W
1
Idaho Falls, ID - End of Day 4
June 20, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 70 °F
We eventually made it to Idaho Falls. It is the largest city in Eastern Idaho with a population of almost 60,000.

We had dinner at The Bees Knees. A grunge like dive bar/restaurant. It was trivia night! We were too late to play as a team, but played a long ourselves.

The food was really good. I had a huckleberry beer. I really enjoyed it. Too sweet for a second, but one was good enough. Jenn's chef salad was a salad with a a full chicken breast and two slabs of ham on top. It was more food than my steak!

For desert, we had Grandma's Slutty Brownie. The description: "Oh so naughty brownie, peanut butter, cream filled & dressed according to our mood." It was awesome!Read more
Matt Feldon Nice!
6/21/17Reply
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 8:36 AM
🌫 66 °F
Altitude: 4,751 ft
United States Ammon 43.475529, -111.9821743°28’32” N 111°58’56” W
Day 5 - Yellowstone, Here We Come!
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 66 °F
Day 4 Miles: 424.9
Total Miles: 1,744.4

We are only a couple hours from Yellowstone. We'll power up with some breakfast at La Quinta and head out.

I wasn't impressed with La Quinta. The carpet was wet near the AC unit and the windows were left open. It had rained, so the water was either from the AC or the rain coming in the windows.

The bed was a pillow top, so it was comfy, but the fellas got stuck on a pullout. Casey was hanging off of it.

We did see some cool hover craft in the parking lot.

It is going to be a cooler day, today, in the low 70s. The cool weather is a nice break.Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 10:00 AM
☀️ 66 °F
Altitude: 6,978 ft
United States Firehole Falls 44.63334, -110.85762244°38’0” N 110°51’27” W
Yellowstone - Animal Jam!
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
We had just entered Yellowstone heading for Old Faithful when we got stuck in a traffic jam. We found out a half hour or so later that it as an animal jam!

A heard of American Bison (Buffalo) were crossing the street. We got to see some pretty large animals up close!

Thanks to Yellowstone, the American Bison were saved from the brink of extinction along with wolves, grizzly bear and more.Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 12:00 PM
☀️ 70 °F
Altitude: 7,260 ft
United States White Geyser 44.539208, -110.80235344°32’21” N 110°48’8” W
Yellowstone - Geysers Galore!
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
Yellowstone is know for its geothermal activity and it lived up to the hype! We witnessed a handful of great eruptions. We weren't always fast enough to get a picture, but here are a few good ones.
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 1:00 PM
☀️ 70 °F
Altitude: 7,762 ft
United States Black Pool 44.418201, -110.57161744°25’6” N 110°34’18” W
Yellowstone - Hot Spring Heaven
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
There are plenty of hot springs and mud pots in Yellowstone. We visited quite a few. 😊
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 4:38 PM
⛅ 72 °F
Altitude: 7,408 ft
United States Old Faithful Geyser 44.459656, -110.82742344°27’35” N 110°49’39” W
Yellowstone - Old Faithful
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F
We were a little early for Old Faithful, so we hit the gift shop and had some ice cream! Old Faithful didn't disappoint. Yellowstone uses http://geysertimes.org for eruption predictions. The prediction for us was 4:37pm and Old Faithful erupted at 4:38pm. Not too shabby.

The crowd was huge and one of the workers said it was a light day. Ha!Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 6:00 PM
⛅ 68 °F
Altitude: 8,360 ft
United States Craig Pass 44.441666, -110.71847544°26’30” N 110°43’7” W
Crossing the Continental Divide
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
While in Yellowstone, we crossed the continental divide. There is a little lake, Isa Lake, which is more of a pond and straddles the continental divide. Part of the lake feeds into the Pacific and the other part feeds into the Atlantic. Very cool!Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 9:00 PM
☀️ 63 °F
Altitude: 7,831 ft
United States Steamboat Point 44.530125, -110.29727944°31’48” N 110°17’50” W
Yellowstone - End of a Great Day
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Yellowstone was awesome! We'd like to come back and spend a week. One day. One day... 😊

On the way out, we ate dinner at a little diner. Quinn asked for bacon in his grilled cheese and the waitress thought that was the best idea ever!

We saw the sunset over Yellowstone Lake. The second sunset we experienced in a national park. It was awesome!

We drove through the most active grizzly bear portion of the park at dusk. We didn't see any and I think I am okay with that. 😉

Casey is a budding photographer. He has taken control of our good digital SLR. In the gallery for this post is a picture of him at work.

Finally, on the way out we saw a lot of water falls. We lost count. At 9,000 feet, there was still snow. The melt caused a ton of waterfalls. Very cool!Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 11:00 PM
⛅ 68 °F
Altitude: 5,000 ft
United States Our House Hospital 44.527012, -109.05636644°31’37” N 109°3’23” W
Cody, WY - End of Day 5
June 21, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
The drive to Cody was in the dark. Man, it gets dark on out there.

Late checkin and straight to bed! One quirk... we stayed at a Super 8, which was fine, except we were on the second floor and it did not have an elevator. Ugh...Read more
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