We’ve been home now for a month and working on other home base projects plus chores. Some fun, some not so fun. This post covers a summary of the trip and shares a few of the favorite photos and moments!

The trip data

As with any major undertaking, I always want to review how we performed. For a roadtrip it’s measuring our expenses and managing our time on the road.

Comparing the numbers above to our first trip (Fall 2018) in the truck camper we reduced our average miles to 80 mi/day from 155 mi/day. That was due to longer stays (including the kitchen project) and keeping drive days down to about 200 miles.

Our cost per day was much lower this year at $56.91/day instead of $82/day. Yet we spent slightly more on food (both groceries and eating out), more on campsite fees, and more cellular data (we picked up a data only Verizon plan) on this trip than last Fall. Nice to know we can add more extras such as eating out and better data connections, making a more enjoyable journey! Just need to offset those niceties by reducing the overall fuel costs.

This proved that we definitely improved and made better use of our mileage and time this trip.

Our favorite free campsite – North Fork River in Sawtooth Recreation Area

Driving route covering 7600 miles

  • June 26 – August 31st
  • Sept – October 3
Route maps

When we set out at the end of June, we were scheduled to do a kitchen renovation starting August 1st and we had material and supplies to drop off in Colorado. That made for a loop through Idaho, up to Yellowstone, down through Grand Tetons and back to Grand Junction, CO stopping at Flaming Gorge on the way back.

Obviously, not the most efficient route, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. After Glacier we headed north as you see in the 2nd map. Spent about 10 days in Canada then headed southwest to Washington and eventually Southern California. We definitely added a few hundred dollars of fuel completing the back and forth for our project but it couldn’t start sooner and we didn’t want to not be traveling through July!

Best Kayak trip was down the Snake river through Grand Tetons National Park

Interactive Map

With My Maps by Google I was able to not only plot our adventure but also categorize them. For my benefit, I took it one step further and added campsite details for all our camping spots. Our Campsite review page as even more details, but this map is a cool reference. Just click on the icons for details!

More Favorites

  • 1st Kayak portage – we nearly capsized
  • Best Cooper picture
  • Best wildflower
  • Steve’s favorite wildlife siting
  • Most awesome sunrise
  • Cheryl’s favorite wildlife picture
  • Closest encounter
  • Favorite Lake picture – Lake Moraine
  • Favorite canyon hike – Johnston Canyon
  • Hike along the inside of Johnston Canyon
  • Most impressive waterfall
  • Favorite Old Growth forest
  • Best Tucker picture; posing in front of Crowfoot glacier

Where to Next

So far it looks something like this:

  • November – Roadtrip 2019 continues starting with more family time in Arizona
  • December – Truck camping our way through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas
  • January – Project in Austin
  • February – Back to home base and get ready for Island time (heading to Kaua’i)
  • March – Island time continues, then Cheryl heads out to Colorado for Mom and Sister time