Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Route / Times / Hotels / Sightseeing Spots

 Proposed route and pacing. This turns out to be a 19-day Roadtrip. According to this itinerary, we would leave Antigo on August 1st and return to Antigo on August 19. This allows for four or five days on either side to stay in Antigo and prepare for the road trip and also to prepare for the trip back to Japan.

Sturgis is scheduled for August 5-15. 

Day 1

Antigo --> Rochester, MN - 4 hours

Near Pepin which supposedly has some Little House on the Prairie stuff. Look into this.

Day 2

Rochester, MN --> Sioux Falls, SD - 3.5 hours

Day 3 & 4

Sioux Falls, SD --> Rapid City, SD - 5 hours

This is just east of Black Hills. The Black Hills has all the stuff, including Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave. Devil's Tower is just northwest of this. We will plan to stay two nights.

Day 5

Rapid City, SD --> Buffalo, WY - 3 hours

This is just east of Big Horn. There may be some cool things to see. Look into this.

Day 6

Buffalo, WY --> Cody, WY - 3 hours

We would like to see the Rodeo. Apparently, this is a happening place. It is one hour from the east entrance of YNP. It is a three-hour drive to Gardiner.

Day 7 & 8

Cody, WY --> Gardiner, MT - 3 hours

We will enter YNP through the East Entrance on Day 7 in the morning and end up at our hotel in Gardiner (North entrance) later that day. Staying two nights at the same hotel in Gardiner.

Day 9 & 10

Gardiner, MT --> DuBois, WY - 4 hours

We will stay two nights in Lava Mountain Lodge in DuBois. This is just east of the GTNP. It is about one hour to the Moran entrance. (Need to study more about GTNP entrances and so on.)

Day 11

DuBois, WY --> Rangely, CO - 6 hours

We will drive through the NE corner of Utah and stay at a lodge in Rangeley, CO which is near the National Dinosaur Monument. I may change the hotel though. I want something a little closer to the monument or in the town of Vernal, UT.

Also, looking into skipping Utah and driving through Laramie, WY to get to Colorado. It only shaves off 3 hours. I was excited about the Dinosaur monument, but I'll see if the Laramie route has any cool stuff. Either way, we still need to spend the night somewhere halfway because I am unwilling to drive that much in one day.

Day 12, 13, 14

Rangely, CO --> Colorado Springs, CO - 6 hours

We will stay in CO Springs for three nights to visit Shannon. Jill plans to come and meet us there as well. We can stay at Shannon's house as she says she has plenty of space.

Day 15

Colorado Springs, CO --> Hays, Kansas

Somewhere in Kansas. It does not have to be Hays. It is just that it is a halfway point. Caravaning or riding with Jill.

Day 16

Hays, Kansas --> Columbia, MO

We will stay at Jill's house, depending on her space.

Day 17

Columbia, MO --> Springfield, IL - 3 hours

We will stop here because it is the hometown of Lincoln. Look into Library, museum and log house. Make sure they are open on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

Day 18

Springfield, IL --> Madison, WI or Evansville, WI - 3 hours

It is a 6-hour drive to Antigo from here. We may want to stop halfway but I will ask Dad what he thinks. We could stop in Madison or Evansville if he is up for it. Plus, if we are sightseeing in Springfield, we might not be able to leave until later in the day and then won't want to drive for 6 hours.

Day 19

Madison, WI or Evansville, WI --> Antigo, WI - 3 hours

HOME!

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