We started in Austin and headed west to San Angelo TX. After crossing the New Mexico border we stopped in Carlsbad, Las Cruces and Santa Fe. Then we headed north to Durango CO where we visited Mesa Verde National Park. From there we explored the national parks in Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Bryce) before going south to Arizona and the Grand Canyon.
We visited the West Rim of the Grand Canyon from Kingman, then headed west to Ventura. Our original plan was to visit Yosemite, but a wildfire in that area caused us to change our itinerary, so we went north to Paso Robles where we visited Hearst Castle, Morro Bay, local wineries and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur to Monterey. Another wildfire near Clear Lake caused one more itinerary change, so we went further east to Vacaville (from where we visited wineries in Napa Valley) and then onto Lake Oroville.
After leaving Oroville we drove north though smoky haze into Oregon. It was so smoky that the truck headlights came on. While in Oregon we stayed near Medford (Rogue River) and Roseburg (smoke-obscured Crater Lake), then went to Lincoln City on the coast and finally Portland. From there we continued northward to Seattle and then turned east to beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
While in Missoula we intended to visit Glacier National Park, but a fire had closed one of the main roads in the park, so we continued southeast and visited Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. From there we drove south to Colorado and spent time in Denver and Colorado Springs.
From Colorado Springs we attended the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque before beginning our drive east. While in Amarillo and Oklahoma City a storm front blew through and we experienced two tornado warnings.
