cross country road trip.

We decided to move across the country, during a pandemic, with a dog, and build a house at the same time. I don’t think it get’s more stressful than that! Thankfully, we planned our trip ahead of time in great detail and this really helped! We learned from our mistakes while driving to California when we moved the first time. The first time we moved, Logan drove a moving truck with my car attached behind on a trailer. Charlie and I followed in Logan’s car. As you can imagine, driving across the country by yourself gets tiring and lonely! We didn’t plan our stops ahead of time, we just drove until we got tired. We drove to California in 2.5 days, we were driving about 16 hour days. We were emotional and so tired. On our way to California, we drove the southern route stopping in Tulsa, Oklahoma, driving though Texas, stopping in Gallup, New Mexico, and then finally hitting Irvine, California. We were naive and had no idea how many mountains we would have to cross once we got to California. Let’s just say, we will never drive a moving truck across the country again!

Anyways, for our move back to Indiana, we utilized our learnings from our first move. We shipped all of our belongs in a POD (highly recommend) and we even shipped my car. Charlie, Logan, and I piled into Logan’s car and we made the drive together. We also spent six days making the drive and stopped at many sites along the way. We ended up having an absolute blast on our drive and seeing so much of America, even during a pandemic. We even went out of the way to see certain states we had never been too. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing about our journey home.

On our first day, we drove straight to Page, Arizona. The drive between Las Vegas and Page, is gorgeous. So many mountains and so much red rock! Page is home to both Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend. We were able to see Lake Powell from the highway, but due to time, we didn’t go down near the lake. You actually have to pay a fee just to drive around the lake. Instead of the lake, we spent time at Horseshoe Bend, one of my favorite places. Instagram has certainly made this overlook popular in recent years. Don’t be discouraged by the busy parking lot, there is plenty of space once you get to the overlook. Horseshoe is not a national park, though it is only five miles from the Grand Canyon. Even thought it’s not a national park, it does cost $10 to park. A plus of it not being a national park is that you are able to bring your dog! The walk from the parking lot to the bend is less than ten minutes and is flat, no need for hiking boots. We went to the bend right before sunset which was a perfect time to go. We spent about an hour walking around the overlook, taking pictures, and just enjoying the views. While we were there, there was actually a dust storm that suddenly happened. Poor Charlie was so scared, it was incredibly windy and dusty. The wind blew the dust so fast that it felt like pellets being thrown at you. Just be careful as these short lasting storms can come out of nowhere. Don’t get too close to the edge!

After leaving Page, we drove through Kanab, Utah. One of our favorite small towns! Kanab is so close to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce (it’s a great place to stay if going to the parks). We drove past Kanab and got to drive right past Bryce Canyon. From the highway, we could see the vortexes in the park!

The drive from Bryce to Capitol Reef National Park was incredible. Most of the drive is through a region called Escalante. I had actually never heard of this region and was shocked at the beauty! I highly recommend visiting this area. Escalante is not a National Park, it’s a National Monument and is a large region. The area is full of large red rocks, and cliffs. It looks like another planet. Honestly, it’s hard to describe, you just have to go visit yourself!

After driving through Escalante on our way to Capitol Reef National Park, we ended up on top of a mountain stretching over 10,000 feet! We had no service and hadn’t seen another car in miles. It was a little eerie of a drive but we kept going! We finally made it to Capitol Reef, about a five hour drive from Kanab. Capitol Reef was full of bright red rock! There are not many hikes in the park nor is there an entrance fee. The park is very small, we drove through it in about 15 minutes. Though beautiful, I wouldn’t recommend going all the way to Capitol Reef unless you are in the area. It’s quite difficult to get too.

The drive between Capitol Reef and Grand Junction was beautiful. We saw mountains in the distance, and bright blue skies. We actually drove right past Canyonlands and Arches National Parks but unfortunately, due to COVID, these parks were closed.

On a side note, there is SO much to do in central and southern Utah. A fun trip would be to rent a car and drive throughout the state visiting all of the National Parks/Monuments.

We stayed in Grand Junction for the night and we not overly impressed by the town. Grand Junction is a very industrial town, though it is surrounded by outdoorsy activities.

The drive between Grand Junction and Boulder was stunning. We weaved in and out of mountains being followed by a rushing river the entire way. We made the drive in late May and everything was so lush and green. We drove through Glenwood Springs and stopped and explored Vail’s ski village. We really got to see so much! As we approached Breckenridge, it was wild to see that there was still so much snow! Having been to Denver before, we bypassed the city and drove straight to Boulder. We were able to find a fun, dog friendly hike. Downtown Boulder had many shops, breweries, and restaurants. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the city was pretty shutdown so we didn’t get to experience much of the city. We did go for a walk along their riverfront and even enjoyed some local beer we bought while sitting along the river (you are allowed to drink in public in Bounder).

After leaving Boulder, neither of us had been to Nebraska, Wyoming, or South Dakota so we decided to drive out of our way and visit these states since we were so close.

We drove north through Fort Collins and stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming for breakfast. Cheyenne was smaller than we expected, their downtown was very walkable and had free parking.

Next, we continued on, cut east just to drive through Nebraska, because why not?!, and we continued north towards Rapid City. On the drive, we were surprised by the rocky plateaus in Western Nebraska and by all of the green, rolling hills in South Dakota. We definitely saw more cows on our drive than we did people!

Logan had always wanted to visit Mount Rushmore, it was never a place on my list. I am so glad that he talked me into it! We drove straight to Mount Rushmore, and spent about an hour here. This is a national monument, so it costs to enter. Keep in mind, Mount Rushmore is not dog friendly. I was so blown away by the majesty of Mount Rushmore. It made me feel like a proud American, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. We made the small hike around the base of the mountain and I’m so glad we did. We were able to get pretty close to the base of the sculpture. This was such a neat experience and made both of us so grateful for our country and how far we have come. Seeing Mount Rushmore makes you feel so small and really opens your eyes to how big and how great our country is.

The Black Hills area around Mount Rushmore is extremely touristy. We bypassed the tourist attractions and went straight to Rapid City, about thirsty minutes from the monument. We really enjoyed our time in Rapid City, they had a quint little downtown with a few restaurant options. It was really interesting how many small casinos there were in Rapid City. We counted at least a two dozen.

The next day, we drove about an hour to Badlands National Park. Similar to Capitol Reef, this was really unique park experience. It was difficult to find the park entrance, as Google Maps didn’t have direct instructions on how to get to the park. There was no park fee or kiosk, you simply entered the park. For lack of a better term, the park was full of colorful mounds of dirt. I know I always say this but the park really did look like another planet. It was pretty eerie because the park was absolutely empty, we hardly saw any people or cars. We did get to see a bison fairly close up, as well as an owl, and dozens and dozens of mere cats! The mere cats reminded me of wack-a-mole! They would pop out of their holes in the ground, make a high pitched squeak, and then burrow back into the hole. They were pretty funny to watch!

We had Charlie with us so we drove through the park and stopped at a few overlooks. We didn’t do any hikes, I’m honestly not even sure if there were hikes. There were a few boardwalks with fact exhibits that were wheelchair friendly but not dog friendly. It took us about an hour to drive through the park. Again, unless you are in the area visiting Mount Rushmore, I wouldn’t drive all the way to the Badlands just to see the Badlands, it’s not a destination park.

After driving through the Badlands, we headed east. We stopped for lunch in Sioux Falls and walked around the park and waterfalls. I didn’t know anything about this city but I really liked it! There was a nice downtown area and the urban waterfalls were super neat to walk around. I had no idea they even existed! We continued driving east, driving the entire length of South Dakota and Minnesota, until we stopped in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the night. We knew we were nearing the midwest as this portion of the drive was very flat and full of farm land.

La Crosse sits along the river and is surrounded by rolling hills with dense trees. We were pleasantly surprised by this moody little fishing town! The downtown area has many restaurants with outdoor dining and shops. La Crosse has a large brewery right in the middle of downtown and it’s also a major fishing town. The town smells like hops and fish. It’s a blue collar town that it very friendly! I would definitely visit La Crosse again!

Next, we drove through Wisconsin, cutting south to the Chicago area where we stayed with my family. Our last day, we drove the three hours from Chicago to Fort Wayne.

I feel so blessed to have experienced so much of the country. I think there is something so special about driving rather than flying. You get to see and experience parts of America that many people don’t get too. Whether you are moving across the country or just want to experience new places, driving across the country (even with a dog) is a great trip!

Where We Stayed:

In Page, Arizona we stayed at the brand new La Quinta (La Quinta’s are making a comeback!). The hotel was super nice and had a really big room and was of course dog friendly! The location was great, it was only about a five minute drive from Horseshoe Bend.

Next, we stayed in Grand Junction, Colorado at the Residence Inn (also dog friendly). The Residence Inn had a full kitchen and was close to the highway.

In Boulder, we stayed at the Base Camp Hotel. This was such a neat hotel! The hotel was older but had recently been redone. The rooms were decked out in creative hiking and outdoorsy decorations. Upon check in, we were greeted with local beers. The hotel had a climbing wall and a large outdoor patio with fire pits. Most of Colorado was still on shut down when we drove though so unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much in Boulder. We spent most of time hanging out at the patio, and really enjoyed ourselves. The hotel employees were super nice and even sat on the patio and enjoyed a beer with us. The patio and hotel were very dog friendly.

Basecamp Hotel Room, Boulder, CO, May 2020

Basecamp Hotel Patio, Boulder, CO, May 2020

Next, we stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Rapid City. The hotel was huge and had a bar and restaurant that even Charlie could go too! The hotel was also very close to downtown Rapid City.

In La Crosse, we stayed at the dog friendly (dogs have to enter through the back door), Grand Stay Hotel. This was an older hotel but was near downtown La Crosse and was within walking distance of restaurants.

Our last night, we stayed with my family in the Chicago area.

Where We Ate:

We drove right through Las Vegas and had to stop for our last In-N-Burger! Seeing the strip during the pandemic was a really weird feeling. It felt like a deserted movie set.

Call me crazy but there’s nothing better than ordering pizza, having it delivered to your hotel room, and eating pizza straight from the box in bed. This is exactly what we did in Page!

While driving through Utah, we had breakfast at Jakey Leigh’s in Kanab (one of our favorite small towns). When we drove through Escalante, we stopped and had lunch at Circle D Eatery’s patio. This was our first restaurant we ate at since the pandemic, we were super excited!

Circle D Eatery’s Patio, Escalante, UT, May 2020

In Grand Junction, we had deep dish pizza and a calzone at the Old Chicago Taproom. Being from Illinois originally, I have to say, I was impressed with the authenticity of the Chicago deep dish here.

On our way from Grand Junction to Boulder, we stopped in Vail and explored their ski village. We stopped and got coffee at Two Arrows Bar, both a coffee shop and bar.

I don’t know if it was the elevation getting to me or not, but in Boulder we had some of the best Italian food in my life at Pasta Jay’s. According to locals, this was the best Italian in town and it did not disappoint. When we were there, they were only doing take out, but from what I could see, the inside of the restaurant was pretty big and decorated like a country Italian kitchen. We got our food to go and ate it on the patio at our hotel.

Call us crazy but when driving through Western Nebraska we saw one of our childhood favorite fast food restaurants, Taco Johns! We had to stop for some nostalgic potato ole’s! If you know, you know.

A popular coffee chain in South Dakota is Scooter’s. We stopped here for breakfast sandwiches and coffee while in Rapid City.

Bread & Circus is a scratch kitchen in Sioux Falls. It was even dog friendly both inside and outside. They had a really neat patio right by the waterfalls. We had delicious sandwiches and they even had some beers on tap.

We knew we weren’t in California anymore when we ate at the local’s favorite, Schmidty’s, in La Crosse. Schmidty’s had a dog friendly patio out back and had a huge, affordable menu. The meals were large portions and were so cheap compared to what we were used to in California! We ordered cheese curds as an appetizer because you know, when in Rome.

Schmidty’s Patio, LaCrosse, WI, May 2020

Breweries:

In Grand Junction, we stopped at Kannah Creek Brewing Company for a quick beer. Though they have a large outdoor space, they are not dog friendly.

We stopped at Accomplice Brewing in Cheyenne. This was a neat place to stop as the brewery was also connected to The Good Egg restaurant. We had breakfast sandwiches and beer right on the train tracks. For a smaller town, they had quite an extensive beer list and their patio was dog friendly! I really liked their sour beer.

In Rapid City, we went to Firehouse Brewing for dinner. Firehouse was not dog friendly.

Also in Rapid City is Dakota Brewing. Dakota Point Brewing was not one of our favorites. My favorite brewery on the trip was Zymurcracy, located in Rapid City. Zymurcracy had a dog friendly patio. My favorite beer was, you guessed it, their sour!

cross country road trip.

southern michigan brew tour.

yellowstone and grand teton national parks.