Big Roadtrip - Chicago to Yellowstone/Glacier, to Seattle, then to Austin

I am very late in posting this - so it is more going to be a photo dump rather than a discussing of what I should put on my ‘must see list’. Also not sure that this is the best sub-forum to have this story - but I asked and this was suggested.

See my 2002 Tacoma V6 4x4 manual love story and clean up here.

The trip started from Chicago - and I drove to pick up my best friend from the Minneapolis airport and crashed at a friend’s house. From there the adventure began. The plan was to take a long haul from Minneapolis to Medora, North Dakota. We broke up the nine hour drive by stopping at:

• Big Ole Viking Statue in Alexandria, MN
• Otto the Big Otter in Ferguson Falls, MN
• World’s Largest Booming Prairie Chicken in Rothsay, MN
• World’s Largest Buffalo Monument in Jamestown, ND
• World’s Largest Sandhill Crane in Steele, ND
• World’s Largest Holstein Cow (Salem Sue) in New Salem, ND

Along the way we stopped at Dee’s Drive-in in Barnesville, MN - WHICH WAS AWESOME! We attempted to stop at as many mom and pop places and this was a huge win. Essentially think of this being the inspiration for Culver’s. Stupid good - but we didn’t get any of the ice cream - dumb mistake.

We made it to the Rough Riders Hotel in Medora, ND in time to stretch our legs and have some dinner at a local spot. Nothing to write home about but still good. I am a huge ‘Cars’ movie fan and Amazon suggested the sun shade. I typically don’t fall for the digital ads/marketing, but this one got me good. I know it is stupid, but I think it is hilarious.

The trip started on 6/2 - so I have a good amount to catch-up on. Next stops are:

• Roosevelt National Park
• Mount Rushmore
• Yellowstone (picked up another buddy and got a rental car - so no Tacoma pics here)
• Glacier
• Whidbey Island (where I am currently)
• Down Pacific Coast Highway
• Cut over at some point to Texas

 

Badass

 

Safe travels...

 

I am pretty big into national parks and Roosevelt is the only one named after someone. It isn’t a well visited park and doesn’t have the amenities that the big parks do, but if you are near, give it a shot. Then we stopped at the Geographic Center of the US. Since you can see for miles and miles - there were some pretty cool storms to view in the distance. Finally we made it to Spearfish and stopped at the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery and saw a cool old rail car. I love old rail cars and it was great to see that this one has been taken care of and refurbished. We then headed south to a dino park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devil’s Tower.

Driving from Devil’s Tower took us through Big Horn National Forrest - PLEASE GO HERE! The entire time we talked about this view or that view. And while the Tacoma handled the roads easily, I wished I had a sports car on the trip! Just one note - going down the west side has a 10% grade. I was in third gear to not overheat the brakes and I was almost at 4k rpm.

On to Bozeman to pick up another buddy and pick up a rental car. Three dudes - all six foot tall - two 210-plus, aren’t comfortably fitting in an extended cab so we got a rental car for the next segment.

 

We did the first part of this seven years ago on our way to Yellowstone / Grand Tetons for two weeks. Loved it and want to go back. If you have time when you make the swing toward Texas, try and hit Yosemite. The record snowfall has all of the waterfalls going strong. The Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest are also worth the stops if you have time. We did Big Bend last year and that was also a good place to go.

Keep this coming!

 

I got home on Saturday night and while that was an incredible trip, I am happy to be back in my own bed and spending every night in a hotel!

To pick back up from where I left off -

I picked up another buddy from the Bozeman airport and the three of us went to Yellowstone. I didn't know what to expect because I knew that we weren't going to be doing as much hiking as I normally like to do. Having said that, Yellowstone was pretty incredible. I have seen bison before but there is something different about seeing hundreds of them in the wide. While we were in the Lamar Valley, I group from the California Horseless Carriage club passed us. As a car guy, I was beside myself. Touring around Yellowstone was already cool - I can't imagine how fun it would be in an old antique (it wasn't hot yet or else I would not have been envious of them!). After Yellowstone we drop the friend I picked up from Minnepolis at the airport, got the Tacoma and headed up to Glacier. This was the star of the trip without a doubt. Sadly the main east/west road - Going to the Sun Road - wasn't open yet, but that let us explore the Many Glacier. What I didn't know about the parks before I left was that both Yellowstone and Glacier have their old 1936 antique tour buses still running. Thanks to the Ford Motor Company in the late 1990s, a large number were renovated with new engines and updated technology. Yellowstone has yellow ones (how 'bout that) and Glacier has red ones. We didn't take a tour on them but we did speak with some of the drivers and those guys know their stuff and love to talk.

 

After dropping of my co-pilot in Spokane I continued on to Whidbey Island, Washington and took my first ferry with the truck. I stayed in Coupeville and did some geneology research and a volunteer at the visitor center helped me a ton with different stories and helping me find a cemetery. Then it was down the Pacific Coast Highway into Oregon for some cheese and ice cream. The drive down the PCH was just as incredible as people describe it. Most of the time a lot of places are too-hyped but this lived up to it.

Now that the trip has finished I can say that for a 21 year old truck with 200k miles, people thought that I was risking a bunch taking it on such a long road-trip. The only issue that I had with the truck was one dash light - and that was from the windshield washer fluid being low. smh

One or two more posts and then I should be caught-up and done.

 

After a drive through Avenue of the Giants, I drove through the big red wood - $15 for a quick photo that doesn't look as cool as I wanted it to - but I imagine kids would love it. I then hit my limit of driving and of staying in a different hotel every night. I had a massively long drive ahead from Northern California to just north of Austin, Texas, so I cut the trip short and spent two days putting in long hours to get home. What I didn't expect was how cool the Moab area is. Along insterstate 70 there is an old highway 10 that I am sure a lot of you already know about to the west of Moab. It followed the interstate as an old gravel road that goes into the valley and twists with the terrain. Really wish I had found this in my research and drove on this. But something to leave for next time I guess.

I really enjoyed this trip - and now I know that 16 days of driving is about all I want to do! Maybe in a camper it would be different - or an RV. But this truck didn't falter once despite being 21 years old! I took it to a Toyota dealer - normally I do independent shops - and they gave it a thorough once over and said that everything is in great shape!

 

Lots of great shots! Looks like a fun trip, thanks for sharing.

 

incredible trip; thank you so much!

 

Nice trip report. Thats how I do my trips also. Always lookiing for unique, off the beaten path points of interest. Eating at hole in the wall diners, taking in the stupid stuff along the way. Good for you guys......there is one site I use that lists these places by state and highway. "Roadside America"

 

Nice trip report, thanks

 

beautiful truck and nice photos. Thaks for sharing.

 

How many total taco miles did you log start to finish?

 

A total of 6,063 on the Tacoma and 584 (I think) on the rental. So 6,667 miles in 16 days - with 2,500 ish in the last three days.

 

Love epic road trips. And yours is epic!