RealImaginaryWest 2017 – Route 66 & Southwest Road Trip

This September we’ll get our kicks on Route 66 as we head to the Southwest! The “Mother Road” starts in Chicago, so we’ll drive out to Illinois and follow it all the way to Los Angeles, camping for a couple of nights at the Grand Canyon along the way. After driving all the way to the Santa Monica Pier, we’ll visit Death Valley and the “Big Five” national parks in Utah. After our stops in Colorado, we’ll have visited TEN national parks in total!

This is our longest trip by far, clocking in at 24 days! We started planning back in January and have our itinerary ready to share below. Watch for our posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter with the hashtag #RealImaginaryWest.

Highlights

Our route along Old Historic Route 66 to the Southwest & Canyon Country for RealImaginaryWest 2017
  • 24 days
  • 6,800 miles
  • 13 states
    OH, IN, IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, CO
  • Old Historic U.S. Route 66: “The Main Street of America”, “The Mother Road”
  • Part of the Santa Fe Trail in Eastern Colorado and across Kansas
  • 10 national parks:
    • Petrified Forest National Park
    • Grand Canyon National Park
    • Death Valley National Park
    • Zion National Park
    • Bryce Canyon National Park
    • Capitol Reef National Park
    • Canyonlands National Park
    • Arches National Park
    • Mesa Verde National Park
    • Great Sand Dunes National Park
  • Cities:
    • St. Louis
    • Tulsa
    • Oklahoma City
    • Amarillo
    • Las Vegas, New Mexico
    • Santa Fe
    • Albuquerque
    • Flagstaff
    • Los Angeles
    • Las Vegas, Nevada
    • Dodge City, Kansas
    • Kansas City
  • Also:
    • Palo Duro Canyon State Park (TX)
    • Meteor Crater (AZ)
    • Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park (CA)
    • Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (NV)
    • Valley of Fire State Park (NV)
    • Kodachrome Basin State Park (UT)
    • Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (UT)
    • Dead Horse Point State Park (UT)
    • Natural Bridges National Monument (UT)
    • Bears Ears National Monument (UT)
    • Monument Valley (UT-AZ)
    • Fort Larned National Historic Site (KS)
    • Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (MO)

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RealImaginaryWest 2017 Lite – Black Hills, Badlands, Rockies, and Wildcats

Ready for our adventure to the Southwest on Route 66? So are we…but not until September! I promise I’ll share our itinerary very soon, but right now we’ve squeezed in an 11-day trip to revisit a few areas from the past two years in more depth. We’ll spend most of our time in the Black Hills and Badlands region in South Dakota/Wyoming, followed by stops at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and the Wildcat Hills in Nebraska.

Highlights

Our route to the Badlands, Black Hills, Rockies, and Wildcat Hills for RealImaginaryWest 2017 Lite
  • 11 days
  • 10 states
    OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY, CO, NE, IA
  • 3 national parks:
  • Also:
    • Black Hills National Forest
    • Custer State Park
    • Devils Tower National Monument
    • Wildcat Hills (Western Nebraska)

Continue reading RealImaginaryWest 2017 Lite – Black Hills, Badlands, Rockies, and Wildcats

RealImaginaryWest 2016 – The Oregon Trail & Pacific Northwest Road Trip

We’re headed out West again in July 2016! We’ll drive I-80 from Cleveland, Ohio to Western Nebraska and follow the Oregon Trail route all the way to Portland, Oregon. After a few days in the Pacific Northwest, we’ll spend a few days at Glacier National Park.

We’ve been planning this for a few months now and have our itinerary ready to share below. Watch for our posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter with the hashtag #RealImaginaryWest.

Highlights

Our route along the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest and Glacier National Park for RealImaginaryWest 2016
  • 17 days
  • 14 states
    OH, IN, IL, IA, NE, WY, UT, ID, OR, WA, MT, ND, MN, WI
  • The Oregon Trail
  • 4 national parks:
    • Olympic National Park
    • Mount Ranier National Park
    • Glacier National Park
    • Theodore Roosevelt National Park
  • 3 cities:
    • Portland, Oregon
    • Seattle
    • Minneapolis

Continue reading RealImaginaryWest 2016 – The Oregon Trail & Pacific Northwest Road Trip

RealImaginarySmokies – Fall Color Camping in the Appalachians

We’re taking one more big road trip to explore our sixth new national park this year and take in the spectacular fall color in the Appalachian Mountains! We start off at our friends’ house in Delaware, Ohio and follow the Scioto River through Columbus to Portsmouth. After following the Ohio River briefly, we’ll head south on US-23 until we get into Northern Virginia, where we’ll go west to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Then, we’ll go through Knoxville and set up camp for four nights in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Finally, we move to Indian Boundary Campground in Cherokee National Forest for a night or two, and then we head back home to Cleveland on I-75 and I-71.

Let’s Capture Some Fall Color!

My original plan was to enjoy this year’s fall color while camping for the week at Hocking Hills State Park. This is hands down my favorite park in Ohio, and always gives me ample photographic opportunities. It’s easy to camp there over a weekend, though, so we’re there rather often. Our RealImaginaryWest road trip in July expanded my mind toward new possibilities…and got me thinking about how to scratch another national park off of our list.

Ash Cave at Hocking Hills State Park in Southern Ohio is the largest recess cave east of the Mississippi…and there are a million other beautiful things here…but we have been here many, many times…

Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Northeast Ohio

Frozen Niagara in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky

The view from the top of Stony Man in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia

We’ve hit three of the four national parks within a day’s drive…Shenandoah in Virginia, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and Cuyahoga Valley in our own back yard. The Appalachian Mountains should look incredible this time of year, although higher and colder elevations up north are probably well past peak color. Trees further south should be at peak this week just like our trees in Southern Ohio, so let’s go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park! When I floated the idea past Becky…she was on board, and I began hunting for campsites…

So off we go on another adventure to what will be our sixth new national park for the year! Back in July, we visited Badlands, Wind Cave, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Before this, I was always afraid that camping in temperatures lower than 50°F would spell trouble for my asthma, so I never risked it. When I found out that overnight temperatures regularly dip below 40°F at most campgrounds in Yellowstone, I told myself to suck it up…because you’re camping in Yellowstone! Thankfully we risked it and everything was fine, which is great because we’ll have to endure a couple of sub-40°F nights early this week in the Appalachians.

It was well worth enduring chilly nights to enjoy a place like Yellowstone National Park!

Rough Itinerary

Day 1 Sun Starting in Delaware, Ohio, follow the Scioto River down through Columbus to Portsmouth. Follow the Ohio River and then US-23 from Ashland, Kentucky to about Prestonburg or Pikeville where we’ll hopefully find a cheap motel for the night.
Day 2 Mon Continue south on US-23 into Virginia, and then cut over to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, where the borders of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee meet. From there, we’ll proceed via Knoxville, Tennessee to Elkmont Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Day 3 Tue Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Elkmont Campground.
Day 4 Wed Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Elkmont Campground.
Day 5 Thu Explore Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Elkmont Campground.
Day 6 Fri Leave Great Smoky Mountains National Park and move south to Indian Boundary Campground on the Cherohala Skyway in Cherokee National Forest.
Day 7 Sat If we can get another campsite at Indian Boundary Lake, we’ll stay one more night in Cherokee National Forest.
Day 8 Sun If we’re still there, we’ll depart Cherokee National Forest and take I-75 and I-71 back home to Cleveland.

Continue reading RealImaginarySmokies – Fall Color Camping in the Appalachians

RealImaginaryWest Day 1 – Our Adventure Begins in Wisconsin

We drove from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, to REI & Whole Foods in Chicago, and then to Motel 6 in Janesville, Wisconsin for the night.

So it’s been a slog to get ready for this trip—fun much of the time—but anxiety-laden as well! I have struggled a great deal with anxiety all my life, often worrying about things I know will almost certainly never happen, especially when I’m getting out of my comfort zone and doing something I’ve never done before…or at least doing it in a way I’ve never done before.

Cars approach the Chicago Skyway toll plaza at dusk

Toll plaza on the Chicago Skyway just after crossing into Illinois on I-90 at dusk

But either way, the preparation is for the most part over, and now the adventure has commenced! I’ve wanted to do a road trip like this for a long time, and see the places we’re going to see on this one. I’m really glad I have my lovely “real imaginary” wife, Rebecca, with me on this whole expedition! Without her, I’m sure I’d have neglected to prepare for all sorts of things and I’d be spending more time at the ubiquitous Walmart than enjoying our unique surroundings.

So to finish off the preparation thread, I want to mention that researching so many places in just a few months was daunting! I wish I could have been a bit more thorough in parts…but oh well.

Here is our itinerary:

Continue reading RealImaginaryWest Day 1 – Our Adventure Begins in Wisconsin