A Drive Across America! Every retiree’s dream, right?
We just returned from our second drive across America in two years, and today we’ll share the highlights of our adventure and what we learned along the way. If you’re planning a drive across America in retirement, this post is for you!
If you like pictures, you’ll enjoy today’s post. If you’d prefer, you can even skip the words and just look at pictures (I’ll get over it, smiles). I’ve included a LOT of them in this post, hope you enjoy!
A Drive Across America
6,748 Miles
20 Days
Consuming just 20 days, it was a fast one (unlike our 3-month Great American Road Trip last year). We learned some things with the new approach, and I’m sharing my thoughts for anyone who’s planning a drive across America in the future.
6,478 Miles in 20 Days. Wow, what an adventure. Today, I share the highlights and lessons learned. Share on X
A Drive Across America
Yep, our second drive across America in two years. We’re living the dream! This trip was different than the first, and today I’ll share the highlights as well as what we learned from the new approach.
First, we typically plan our big excursions well in advance, but not this time. This one happened fast. A few months ago, our daughter called to let us know her husband was getting reassigned from an Army base near Seattle to one in Southern Alabama.
Yeah, they’re moving closer!!
But wait…there’s more.
Given that they have two Jeeps, four dogs, and a two-year-old daughter, they needed some help. Would we be willing to help out by transporting their 2-year-old daughter from Washington to Alabama, allowing them to each drive a vehicle and transport their dogs? Why of course we could, we’re retired!
We hastily put together plans for our Cannonball Run and hit the road on October 14, 2020.
The Plan For Our Drive Across America
Since we knew we’d be putting in a ton of miles in a very short amount of time, we chose to “hotel it” during our drive across America. Yep, our wonderful RV stayed in our driveway! While that may seem counter-intuitive, we’ve learned that hauling the RV more than ~300 miles a day is exhausting. Further, we knew we’d be enduring 5 days in a row of 5-600 miles of driving on our return leg, and hauling an RV wasn’t suited for this type of trip. Without the RV, we also decided to hire a dog sitter to stay at home with our 4 dogs.
We had Freedom unlike any other trip we’ve taken in retirement. Freedom to stop wherever we wanted to stop, without worrying about the dogs or maneuvering the RV.
We took full advantage of that Freedom.
The Westbound Leg
Knowing we’d be “sprinting” on our return leg, we chose a bit more leisurely pace for the outbound leg. Still constrained to meet an Oct 31 move-out date, we prioritized our trip to spend time in the areas that interested us. Here are the highlights:
First, we put in a few marathon days to get to the good stuff, with full driving days to central Illinois and Omaha, NE putting us in South Dakota by Day 3. We did some serendipitous stops (a Pony Express station in St. Joseph, MO and walking from NE to IA on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha, NE), and continued that approach for our entire trip.
Once in South Dakota, we slowed down:
- Sioux Falls: A leisurely afternoon stroll around the beautiful downtown falls.
- Badlands National Park: Wow, what a treat to tour National Parks “off-peak”. We saw our first snow of the trip.
- Custer State Park: A hidden gem, rated by my cousin as “Better Than Yellowstone”. I can’t say that I disagree, and would encourage anyone traveling through South Dakota to spend some time in the Black Hills. A gorgeous spot, worth sharing a few pics. Keep an eye out for that wild herd of donkeys!
Yellowstone National Park
If you ever get an opportunity to visit Yellowstone “off-peak”, grab it with both hands. We’ve been to Yellowstone numerous times, but this visit was truly amazing. No tourists, no traffic, and tons of wildlife. (Be prepared, however, as most concessions are closed for the season. Also, expect winter to hit early). A few of our highlights:
- Buffalo Bill Museum – Cody, WY: We spent our first night in Cody, and spent the following morning touring the amazing Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody before heading into the park. Worth a stop.
- The Northeast Quadrant: We’d done all of the “tourist” stuff in Yellowstone, so elected to spend most of our time in the remote NE corner of the park. It was a spectacular drive, as shown in the “feature photo” near the top of this post. (TIP: The road shown runs from Gardiner (Mammoth Hot Springs) to Cooke City and is, surprisingly, open year-round)
- Trout Lake Hike: We took advantage of the light crowds to enjoy a beautiful hike around Trout Lake in the Lamar Valley (photo below).
- Trapped By Bison: On a hike near Canyon Falls, we had to wait 15 minutes for some bison to leisurely move off our return trail. Not your typical “traffic jam”, and a great experience.
- Getting Off The Main Road: We also “explored” a remote dirt road along Slough Creek, and were rewarded by parking in the midst of a buffalo herd grazing along the road (photo below).
Exploring The Oregon Trail & Snake River
We’ve always had an interest in The Oregon Trail, and took advantage of our slower pace to visit numerous Oregon Trail historical sites along our drive, including a fascinating stop at the most common (and treacherous) Snake River crossing at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho. We also enjoyed some time in Twin Falls, Idaho, including a stop at the Canyon Rim Trail to take in the beautiful views of the Snake River.
An Idaho Ranch
Who doesn’t yearn for the life of a Western rancher? Fortunately, my Aunt and Uncle live that life, and we took advantage of the opportunity to spend a weekend with them on their 400-acre ranch about an hour North of Boise. That’s their house in the middle of their ranch photo below, taken during an afternoon off-road drive “around the ranch” in my Uncle’s old pickup truck. Heaven on earth, indeed.
Anderson Island, WA
Knowing we’d have a tough sprint back East, we planned 4 days of rest and relaxation on Anderson Island, one of our favorite places in the world. It’s a short ferry ride from Steilacoom, WA, and convenient to our daughter’s place near Tacoma. We rented an Airbnb, and savored our short time in the Pacific Northwest.
We enjoyed some quality time with our daughter and her family in the area, including the unique experience of Halloween on an Army base with our two-year-old grandaughter.
The Eastbound Sprint
After a restful 4 days on the island, it was time. We strapped our two-year-old granddaughter in her car seat, my wife dutifully jumped in beside her in the back seat, and we were off…
Every morning, we’d leave shortly after the sun rose, and drive until sunset. Our daughter and her husband took a different approach, leaving several hours later and “catching up” with us several hours after dark. 500 – 600 miles a day, with several extended stops to let a certain 2-year-old run around a bit. We ate pre-packed lunches “on the go” to allow more “running around time” at rest areas, and drove until we got tired.
We used “HotelTonight” as we neared the end of our drive, and were impressed with the app (I do not have an affiliate relationship with them, I’m just recommending it because it’s good). Since our daughter’s family was following with their 4 dogs, we’d filter the results for “Pool” and “Dog Friendly” in our targeted area, and choose the hotel. Simple as that.
We took advantage of the hotel pools to let our granddaughter burn off some energy after a long day of being held captive in her car seat, and it seemed to do the trick. She slept great each night, and seldom complained during the long journey.
I’d like to say I have a lot of pictures to share from our return leg, but the reality is that it was a marathon of highway miles. Here’s a summary:
- Day 1: Anderson Island, WA to Boise, ID (527 miles)
- Day 2: Boise, ID to Laramie, WY (686 miles)
- Day 3: Laramie, WY to Lincoln, NE (491 miles)
- Day 4: Lincoln, NE to Jonesboro, AR (580 miles)
- Day 5: Jonesboro, AR to Enterprise, AL (490 miles)
Here’s a shot of a rest area break on the Wyoming/Nebraska border:
Home At Last
After 5 days of marathon driving across America, we spent a few days with our daughter’s family in their new home – their first home purchase! Exciting times. It was great seeing their 4 dogs explore their wonderful new yard, and we hope they have years of enjoyment in their new home.
A few days later, we made the “short” 300 mile trip from Enterprise, AL back to our retirement cabin in Blue Ridge, GA, and completed the full loop. It was a trip we’ll never forget, and we’re looking forward to spending more time with our granddaughter over the coming years.
Lessons Learned
For anyone considering driving across America, we picked up a few lessons which may apply.
- Take advantage of opportunities: When we decided to help our daughter with the move, we decided to enhance our drive across America by adding a leisurely Westbound leg. Sure, we could have flown, but we wanted to savor the experience of a drive across America.
- Don’t let COVID stop you: COVID wasn’t a hurdle to our journey. We simply wore a mask when appropriate and got on with it. Don’t let fear stop you from enjoying life.
- Pursue “off-peak” travel to National Parks: We were a bit disappointed by the size of the crowds during last year’s trip in the midst of the “busy” season. We had the exact opposite experience this time. If you’re retired, take advantage of your time freedom to avoid the crowds. Travel off-peak!
- Travel the off-beaten paths in National Parks: There’s a LOT more to Yellowstone than Old Faithful, and you’ll be missing some of the best of the National Parks if you just jump from landmark to landmark taking selfies. Get off the beaten path. Every National Park has a hidden road. Find it, and experience what truly makes the National Parks great.
- Use HotelsTonight: As mentioned above, we were pleased with this app and encourage you to check it out if your plan includes hotel stays. Also, since you’re booking “last minute”, the hotels use lower rates to lure you to their hotel, which would otherwise go vacant. No-haggle, lower prices, and convenience.
- Modify your travel to meet your requirements: Leaving our RV at home turned out to be a great decision. Though you may prefer one form of travel over another, remain flexible to adapt to whatever best suits the trip you’re planning.
- Be Serendipitous: Without the RV or dogs to worry about, we were intentionally serendipitous on our trip, and the unplanned stops we made became some of the best memories from the trip. We used “Things To See” on Google for the areas we were traveling through and made spontaneous decisions on what to explore. It was a great way to travel.
- Pack meals, drinks, and snacks: While restaurants are a nice break on occasion, it becomes burdensome to spend several hours a day keeping your body fueled when you’re trying to cover the country. We typically ate breakfast at the hotel, ate lunch in the car, kept snacks and drinks within reach, and relaxed with a slower-paced dinner at the end of the day.
- Make “Loops”: We hate driving out and back on the same road, so planned our trip to be a “loop” to the extent possible. Life’s too short to travel the same road if you don’t have to. Get out and explore a new path.
- Have Fun: Don’t forget your reason for travel. It’s easy to get stressed being in unfamiliar places and focusing too much on covering miles. Relax and enjoy the experience.
Conclusion
A Drive Across America.
Two years in a row, but VERY different experiences. Our experience highlights that there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to travel. Do whatever appeals to you, and enjoy the process. We’ve worked decades to enjoy the freedom of our retirement years, use that freedom to its fullest advantage. Get out and go.
Enjoy life.
Your Turn: Have you ever taken a drive across America? What have you learned? Are you planning a drive across American in your future? What questions do you have? Let’s chat…
Man, I gotta do this one day. I still have 5 states that I’ve never even set foot in, and there’s no excuse for that. Although readers of my blog would come away thinking I hate driving, I actually only hate driving in urban areas with traffic and chaos. Being out on a beautiful rural state highway or smaller road can be beautiful and a great way to see America. Great pics and looks like you had a blast!
Dave, I’ve no doubt you WILL do it one day, sounds like a loop with the 5 states you’ve not yet seen is in order (unless, of course, one is Hawaii). I agree there’s something peaceful about crusing down the highway across the open country.
I have a daughter in Seattle and I have made that road trip 5 times in the last 10 years. I enjoy the scenery and drive every time. Thanks for the tip on Hoteltonight, I will give it a try. I am planning a trip to Yellowstone next year and will try to do it “off season” as you suggest.
We’re kindred spirits, Dan. Our daughter was there for the past 3 years, we couldn’t be happier to have her closer to home.
Four years ago our youngest son made a job changed and moved from Chicago to LA (from the frying pan into the fire as far as I’m concerned, but…). Anyway we went to Chicago and moved all his stuff back to our house in southern IL and stored it for him until he got out to LA and found an apartment. Once he found a place we rented a big yellow Penske truck and made the trek from IL to LA in 3 1/2 days. Not exactly a leisurely drive, especially in a truck, but we did manage to make some stops along old Rte 66 and a side trip through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. We even made it to the official end of Rte 66 on the Santa Monica Pier. It was a hectic roadtrip but we got to help our son get moved in and then enjoyed a few days sightseeing the LA area before we flew back home.
Ugh, I can’t imagine driving a Penske truck on that marathon run. You’re a better man than I.
Hi Fritz!
That is a trip with lifelong memories for both of you! Attaboy to both of you! I love driving loops as well…..because we can when we have time affluence in retirement! I have Custer State park on my list to visit. Have been in all 50 states but love to travel. One suggestion is to share your trip costs if you like. What did you drive? Average MPG? Please, for us number crunchers? 🙂
Keep on keeping on young man. Love your posts. We will winter in FL once again. Visiting son during the birth of our second granddaughter and helping them out with the other 2 children. Looking fwd to it!!
COVID has put a stop to my Hospice visits with my friend Bill. 🙁 He is 98 years young and a WWII vet. Love sharing the Bible with him. He can no longer read the small print. MO cases are spiking. I sure hope the “stop visit” ban for volunteers ends before CHRISTmas Fritz!
God speed, Steve
Steve, I hate to admit as a personal finance blogger, but we didn’t track all of our trip expenses (you know how I roll, I don’t budget. We just know if it’s in our checking account we can spend it). I debated going through our credit card statements and trying to tally it up, but it never happened.
I will say we drove our 2018 Subaru Outback and averaged just under 30 MPG per the computer.
I hope you get started soon on those Hospice visits, at 98 years of age the reality is that time is short (isn’t that true for all of us?). Awesome that you read the Bible with him – good man! As for the MO COVID cases spiking, seems to be a trend at the moment. We’ll get through this, sooner or later…
Sounds like an amazing journey Fritz and love your photos!
Two close friends of mine made extended road trips. One in a sports car hoteling it and the other with a RV. The car / hotel option most appeals to me, especially with the Hotel app working so well for you. For me, it sounds more spontaneous, fun, and easier driving.
Although I’ve done lots of travelling, I’ve never driven completely across America. So many places to see and experience. In fact, Georgia is on my bucket list and look forward to one day visiting your beautiful state.
I agree the car/hotel option works well, and I’m a fan of RV’ing! No wrong way to do it. Looking forward to when you check Georgia off that bucket list, hope your trip includes a visit to Blue Ridge! Lunch is on me. Smiles.
Thanks Fritz for sharing your wonderful experience. Your trek made me remember of a somewhat reverse trip we made in 1989 from Fort Lewis, WA after finishing my command as an artillery battery commander and heading to Florida with my young girls in tow. Long journey diagonally across our wonderfully blessed country, but nonetheless enjoyable. We hit some of the big sites you did. I had to smile widely on your Custer stop, my girls most memorable part of the trip because of Flintstone Bedrock Village. LOL.
Very similar trip, Eduardo! Thanks for your service (my son-in-law is also in the infantry). Hate to admit we missed that Flinstone Bedrock Village. How did THAT happen? Haha.
What an amazing trip – loved the photos!!! Just recently found your blog (in the last year) and I must say I really enjoy the lessons learned section in a lot of your posts. It drives the point home for all of us readers.
We haven’t done a full cross country trip, but twice in the last 3 years we have taken our girls (tweens and teens) on two week National Park road trips. Those trips covered many of the parks you reference and I fully agree with the point of getting off the beaten path to enjoy the parks fully. And the best part for us, the girls still talk about how much they loved those trips – good old fashioned family fun that have become memories for their and our lifetimes.
Glad you loved the photos, Eric. Apologies for those pesky “Pin It” flags, I’ve tried for hours to remove them but I can’t remember how I installed them and can’t find them anyway. Frustrating beyond words.
I’m glad you enjoy the “Lessons Learned” approach, I find it’s a good way to solidify the thoughts when I’m writing, glad to see it resonates with you. When I was working we took many trips similar to yours, with two week trips to various National Parks. Great memories, indeed, and I’m sure you’ll all treasure them for a lifetime.
Nice, you are living our dream for sure!
We tried to take a road trip from Florida to New Mexico last month, but aborted when the COVID cases in New Mexico were going up and they strengthened their quarantine. But we did spend a few days in Memphis and Oklahoma City. Hoping we get to try again soon…
Scott, sorry to hear you had to abort. We were fortunate that we avoided any quarantine issues. Better lucky than good!
Wonderful trip! I too have a son and his family outside of Seattle and I live in South Florida. Can’t get much farther apart!! I’m thinking about doing a cross country trip with my two 70-lb dogs. Was there any problem finding hotels along the way that would take pets? Any advice in that area?
Julie, no problem at all. The Hotelstonight app that I mentioned lets you filter for dog friendly hotels. We had 4 dogs with us on our return, and none of the hotels had any issues (we were transparent with them about the dogs). Note that most hotels do charge a slight upcharge for the dogs (~$25).
Thanks, Fritz. Sorry to bother you again, but in looking on the HotelTonight app, I don’t see where you can filter for hotels that allow pets. Is that the correct app?
Julie, my apologies. My wife booked our hotels while I was driving, I asked her about your question, she confirmed you actually do have to click on the hotel and read to see if they’re pet friendly, it’s not a built in filter. Apologies for the confusion, but still easy to do.
No worries! Thank you for the clarification!
Fritz, this was awesome. Loved the pictures. Can’t even wait to just jump in the car and do this one day.
To your question:
We’ve done several east coast beach roadtrips north and south over two week periods with the truck packed and kids in carseats. Newport, RI cliff walk, Cape Cod, “Lobsta” in the northeast, crabs in MD & DE, southern hospitality and cooking in the southeast around Charleston and Savannah and the beaches of the Gulf Coast leave us humbled by the beauty and wealth of the U.S.
Can’t wait to do a trip west like yours. Will definitely look at the tidbits you shared! Glad the family is back home safe.
Tom, thanks for the kind words, and for providing your awesome guest post while we were traveling! Glad to hear you’ve been able to hit the road, no need to give up the traveling in spite of COVID lurking around, as long as we take the appropriate precautions. Thanks for stopping by with your comment.
What a great journey! We’re planning an epic 2- or 3-month road trip from Atlanta to Alaska sometime in the next couple of years to mark the beginning of retirement. I’m using roadtrippers.com to do the planning; anticipation and exploration are half the enjoyment for me.
Wow, now THAT’S a road trip! We’ve been to Alaska several times and have considered driving up there in retirement, but not sure we’re up for that long of a haul. I’d love to hear how it goes once you complete the trip. What an adventure! BTW, I’m with you in enjoying the anticipation and planning.
We are making this same trip in the Spring of 2021! Our daughter has also been stationed at JBL for three years, and we’ll be flying out and joining her for a leisurely drive back to the east coast. She will be stationed on the east coast near our home for the next two years. Can’t wait! We are mapping our “must see” sites for the return trip. We are thinking 14-20 days, but still refining the plan. Thanks for the tips!
Small world! We can relate to your excitement about having her close to home. We’re heading to our daughter’s for Thanksgiving, looking forward to being able to spend more time with them. Good luck on your trip!
I really enjoyed your pictures and reading about your adventures. We hope to head out west in the next year or two, with our Reflection. I saved your post and comments to my travel ideas folder. They will help me plan our trip. Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to see wild donkeys!
Ah, another Reflection owner! Great RV’s, I’m sure you’ll love the Western trip, it’s a great part of the county for RV’ing! I’ve written several other posts about RV’ing you may be interested in, here’s a few:
https://www.theretirementmanifesto.com/how-to-rv-in-retirement/
https://www.theretirementmanifesto.com/taking-an-rv-trip-across-america-with-4-dogs/
https://www.theretirementmanifesto.com/the-great-escape/
I hope they’re helpful as you plan your trip!
Thanks for sharing the hotelsapp. Love reading your latest. We’re still 9 years out to retirement but kids are college or late Hs so we’ve got more time to explore. Loved hearing About your road trip. Keep the tips coming. Reading everything we can to be sure we’re ready for retirement. Make sure you take time to check out TOCCOA Falls in your new home area. Closed right now because of Covid but daughter in college there and it’s Beautiful!
Thanks for your kind words. Those 9 years will pass before you know it, good for you for reading up on retirement planning while you’re still some time away from The Starting Line. And yes, Toccoa Falls is a beautiful spot!
Thanks for taking the time and effort to allow us to relive your trip. It was fantastic and gives all of us confidence to get out there and try it.
My wife and I are setting January 3rd as our maiden voyage start date and we will keep you abreast of the progress.
Planning is well underway and is so exciting.
Take care,
Mike
Mike, best of luck on the “maiden voyage”. Exciting times, would love to get some updates as your trip unfolds.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s on our bucket list to travel across the country as well. No RV for us in the plans either. Although we’ve never experienced an RV, it just seemed a bit much to deal with traveling that way. Your tips from the trip seem like they’ll work for us too. We are new to the FIRE community so excited to experience what’s ahead. My thoughts are there are millions on places to go and see in the U.S. This will also allow us to travel more often than our original goal of 1 or 2 vacations abroad every year. Thanks again. You’ve explained in great detailed how we imagined a trip like this would be.
Ron, nothing wrong with traveling cross-country without an RV. As mentioned, there are no right or wrong ways to do it, and there are pros/cons to every approach. Welcome to the FIRE community, thanks for reading my blog on your journey!
What a great write up! Husband and I are retiring in a couple years. We want to mountain bike across the US and are debating on an RV vs. a short term rental in various areas to act as our base…
Decisions, decisions. We strap my mountain bike on the back of our RV and I explore the various trails in the State Parks where we stay. It works well, and is a great way to fully experience new parts of the country!
We’ve taken several multi-thousand mile road trips this year. The latest ended earlier this week. It was one of the shortest at 2,200 miles round trip, and was to see two of our married kids who live in different parts of Virginia. But we’ve towed our ATV to ride in Colorado, our boat to fish in the Gulf marshes and driven far west for hiking. I agree, have a mask handy and keep on living, Covid isn’t a problem on road trips, or it hasn’t been for us. Our rule on National Parks is to hike trails five miles or longer, that weeds out the crowds of casual hikers. Only serious hiking junkies have the stamina to go five or ten miles in steep terrain. We usually eat all three meals out when we are driving, but lunch is often from a drive through window, just much faster than going inside. We also stay in hotels or VRBO or AirBnB or similar. I get a lot of Hilton points so we get free nights in any of their properties. I loved the lessons learned, many of the most memorable sites we’ve seen were totally by accident because we just looked out of the car window and… there was something amazing right there!
Hey Fritz, That sounds similar to a trip we did in 2016 to deliver a trailer full of our daughter’s stuff to their first new house in Spokane, WA. We did a big loop covering 7500 miles in 18 days. Now I am retired I am moving slower in our RV and having a blast. We are spending the winter in southern CA and Arizona. So far not loving the desert except for the great temperatures.
Thank you for all your information!!!! I have less than 20 days to work and i hope to change my state of mind. (A)
Very nice trip with the safety of fewer crowds during the off season. It certainly looks cold though and certainly not leisurely on the trip back east. I’m envious of your travels and enjoy reading about others during this time
Did you haul all that luggage in an out at every hotel stay? Yikes, that consumes a lot of time during sprints to get miles behind you.
We pack an overnight bag with a couple of days worth of clothes, supplies and food and use it for very short overnight stays so don’t have to haul the large suitcases into the hotel every time.
Hey Fritz, I know I’m tardy to the comments but as an avid swimmer, I wanted to ask about the lack of pics cold water swimming in Sylvan and Trout lakes??? Loved hearing about your latest adventure and look forward to many similar of our own in the years before and after retirement!!
Love the FI world. FI saves lives too. I’m early 50s still trudging through the work routine. Visited Grand Canyon’s south rim and Sedona during the 1st week of November. Really enchanted area plus crowds were minimal; so much more enjoyable. Peace