Across United States

• The Plan
• The Journey
• The Data

The Plan

Before my wife, Lihua, and I even arrived at SFO on June 2nd 2006 for my 3-month summer internship, we decided to make a trip across USA from the west to the east by the end of it. That was why we shipped our little car, a 97 VW Jetta, all the way to California, with the intention of riding it back.

We didn't have a GPS, so we planned our route on a map software, Microsoft Streets and Trips, installed on the tablet computer I happened to have bought from (and later sold on) eBay at the time, which proved to be trememdously useful later on the journey.

The basic plan is to visit those national parks in UT and WY, and then HWY 80 will lead us home. The entire trip will be 17 to 18 days. Here is the route map

We didn't want to overstretch ourselves (but in the end we did), so we set a few rules like no night driving, alternate stay at Hotel and camping, etc. (but in the end we broke most of them). Here are the things we prepared

 National Park Pass, free entrance to all NPs for a year
 printed materials, maps of NP, tour guides from BBS and websites, etc.
 sleeping bags, air bed, tent
 knife, torch, compass, umbrella
 cooking pot, utensils, stove with propane fuel (and lighter)
 first aid kit, mosquito repellant, sun block lotion
 Lots of food and water, snacks, fast noodle, canned food, fruits
 sun-block screen for car side window (very useful)
 roadside emergency kit (very limited), spare coolant, engine oil, etc.

As a hindsight, I should have made the driver seat more comfortable before we set off. Though I had a sponge pad to put in between me and the seat back (very very important for long-distance driving), I should have also had a shoulder pad for the seat belt. I was the driver most of the time, and I can tell you, it really hurts when you have the seat belt fastened all day while you drive.

On Aug 31st 2006, with all luggages packed in the trunk and backseat (a full load, and we couldn't stuff anything else except ourselves into the car afterwards), we were all good to go!

The Journey

8/31/06 to 9/02/06 - CA to UT

9/03/06 to 9/04/06 - AZ to UT

9/05/06 to 9/07/06 - UT to WY

(more to come)

The Data

 days:     18 (Aug 31st 2006 - Sep 17th 2006)

 states:   17
           CA, NV, AZ, UT, ID, WY, MT, SD, MN, IL, WI, IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, CT

 sites:    10 National Parks, 3 National Monuments, 1 National Memorial
           Great Basin, NV
           Zion, UT
           Navajo Nation Land, AZ
           Grand Staircase - Escalante, UT
           Bryce Canyon, UT
           Capitol Reef, UT
           Arches, UT
           Grand Teton, WY
           Yellowstone, WY
           Devils Tower, WY
           Mt Rushmore, SD
           Wind Cave, SD
           Badlands, SD
           Cuyahoga, OH

 animals:  moose (1 male in Teton, 2 female in Yellowstone)
           black bear (3, 1 mom and 2 cubs)
           elk (a few), bull elk (a few), deer (many)
           bighorn (1)
           swan (1)
           mountain goat (a few)
           pelican (a few)
           eagle (a few, 1 bald, 1 red head)
           birds (some, 1 woodpecker)
           horses (some)
           wild goose, duck (some)
           hare (many)
           squirrel (many)
           prairie dogs (countless)
           bison (countless)

 casualty: bunny (1)
           insects (countless)
           rear bumper (slightly)

 miles:    5274     mile
 gas:       154.179 gallon
 milage:     34.21  mpg (a bit surprising for a 97 Jetta)

 gas:        $421.33 ($2.73 average, lowest in OH, $2.119 a gal)
 motel:      $476.61 (9 nights)
 pre-trip:   $207.16 (national park pass, tent, airbed, food, etc.)
 mid-trip:   $493.55 (camping, food, etc.)
 -------------------
 total:     $1598.65

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