16 months of absolutely no travel.
Vaccination.
Removal of restrictions.
Time to hit the road.
With COVID uncertainty still plaguing travel, particularly international travel, we opted for a domestic trip. Not quite ready for airline travel, we settled on a road trip. Destination: North Dakota, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Why? Those three states finish all 50 for each of us.
Picking the route
- National Parks
- State capitals
- Priority geocaches (Cache Across America, 2000 caches, state’s oldest)
- Minimizing route overlap
Proposed trip plan
Day 1: Home to Michigan
Day 2: To the UP
Day 3: The UP
Day 4: Across ND
Day 5: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Day 6: Little Bighorn, Beartooth Pass, and the Lamar Valley
Day 7: Yellowstone Upper Loop
Day 8: Yellowstone Lower Loop
Day 9: Grand Teton National Park
Day 10: Devil’s Tower
Day 11: Black Hills and Mount Rushmore
Day 12: Badlands
Day 13: The Return Trip Part I (to Iowa)
Day 14: The Return Trip Part II (to Indiana)
Day 15: The Return Trip Part III (the Finale)
Future posts will summarize each of the trip days
Trip necessities
Roofnest Condor – we opted for a rooftop tent. Not every location would easily accommodate camping, but the western areas of our trip certainly would.
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Yeti Tundra 45L – two weeks in a car meant we would need a larger cooler than our day-use Hopper Flip.
AeroPress Go – camping means no coffee readily available. Heard good things about this little tool. Coupled with our trusty JetBoil Zip, it would ensure morning caffeine.
A surprise necessity was the privacy pop-up tent we bought from Amazon. Other items included Rumpl original puffy blankets, Backpackers Pantry and Good To-Go backpacking food, and a car trash can.
platoaddict's pursuits 