RV Trip Through the Western US: Summer 2019



Day 1: June 29, 2019

Here we go again! We are taking off on our epic 6-week journey today!

Sean put together an awesome and full itinerary and prepared the Yukon for the journey, Kinsey did her research on each park, and I packed clothes, food, and books (of course!). Barrett relaxed and watched soccer, but I know he’ll really jump in to enjoy the fruits of our labor!




Today we left from home in Hermosillo, Mexico and drove to Phoenix, Arizona where we will stay overnight before picking up the RV rental tomorrow morning.

Here’s a look at our itinerary for the entire trip—
1. Joshua Tree National Park
2. Sequoia National Park
3. Kings Canyon National Park
4. Yosemite National Park
5. Lassen Volcanic National Park
6. Crater Lake National Park
7. Mt. Rainier National Park
8. Olympic National Park
9. Spokane KOA
10. Glacier National Park
11. Yellowstone National Park
12. Mt. Rushmore National Monument
13. Crazyhorse Monument
14. Badlands National Park
15. Wind Cave National Park
16. Rocky Mountain National Park
17. Great Sand Dunes National Park
18. Mesa Verde National Park
19. Arches National Park
20. Canyonland National Park
21. Petrified Forest National Park

We’ll spend 1-4 days in each park, meeting up with friends in a few places, and adding some stops in state parks as time allows. Sean has done a lot of research and reserved RV spots in some of the busier parks, but otherwise we’re keeping the trip somewhat unstructured in terms of timing and activities. I take the approach of looking at the travel books and hiking maps while we are en route to the next place so by the time we arrive we will have an idea of hiking trails and activities we won’t want to miss in each park.

An essential part of each park visit is to stop in the visitor center for the junior ranger book so the kids can work on it during our time in the park. These kids have a major goal to add to their already blinged-out ranger vests and I can’t wait to see how they look at the end of this trip!


Tomorrow the journey continues!
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA

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