The plan

Sometime in February 2016, I was at a friend's place in Edison, NJ discussing plans for a long weekend for the labor day weekend of May. The general consensus was going to Cancun, Mexico for a beach vacation. I was too lazy to apply for a visa for a vacation and thought there is so much to see in the US that I would rather take a vacation somewhere closer. A few days later, my long standing dream of driving across the country got seeded. I was browsing the internet searching for interesting places to visit when I came across Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park. I thought, why not do both and more. I made a skeletal plan and emailed two of my old friends. I could not elicit much enthusiasm from them. Meanwhile Nihar, a friend who lives closer home got wind of the plan and he got in touch with a very old friend of mine, Rajdeep who lives in Indianapolis. Both of them showed interest and a plan was hatched. We would take a week off around the labor day weekend in May and hit the road. I was to the make the detailed plan - cities, landmarks, days, vehicle. It was an easy task, given that I have been thinking about this since 2007.

Over the next few weeks, the plan got altered and we decided to hit the road in New Jersey on the first week of May, drive through the country, reach California in about 10 days and fly back. Flight tickets were booked, car reservation was done and we were all set. A few weeks before the actual date, Rajdeep came over to Jersey and we all made a detailed plan over drinks. I borrowed a book on scenic byways and highways of America from a friend and did a detailed plan on the roads we would take in our journey.

Destinations:

Friday – Chicago (I80, 176E along Huron, Sandusky towns along lake Erie) 12.5 hours

Saturday – Sioux Falls, SD (via Des Moine) 9.5 hours

Sunday – Gillette, WY (via mount rushmore) 7.45 hours – will be more because we will take interior roads

Monday – Spend time in yellowstone and grand teton (with cody, wy as the base camp. Take 14, 191 and 89)

Tuesday – Explore Yellowstone, Grand Teton etc.

Wednesday – East Glacier Park Village (via Townsend and Helena– highway 89, 287, 15, 89, )– 9 hours

Thursday – boise, ID – 11 hours

Friday – Medford, OR (via crater lake) – 9 hours

Saturday – SFO (via US 101) 11 hours

The eventual route was altered owing to changing weather conditions, but we roughly stuck to the key places to visit on our way.

Day 0

We were all set after all the planning. On day 0, Nihar and I secured the vehicle (thanks to Enterprise car rental, we got a great deal - $615 for a pick up in Jersey, drive of over 4000 miles and drop at San Francisco airport after 10 days). Nihar even went ahead and bought a radar detector to escape speeding tickets. Rajdeep was in Newark that morning and I went to pick him up from Hamilton station in the evening. I went to pick him up well in advance and could sneak in a few moments with the love of my life - nature in the form of a beautiful park.

We were to drive to Atlantic city (which was quite a stupid plan to begin with, as it was in the opposite direction from our originally planned route). On our way home, Rajdeep put Nihar on a conference call and even went ahead to book a hotel room in Atlantic city. Eventually better sense prevailed after a few bottles of beer and we decided to sleep well at home for a fresh start early morning.

Day 1 - New Jersey to Chicago

Nihar's 6 AM call woke me up to find Rajdeep snoring away to glory. I realized it was a lost cause to get him ready to start at the scheduled 8 AM. So, I got myself ready, double checked the bag and was all set before Rajdeep leisurely got himself out of bed. It was raining cats and dogs. The original plan was by now changed so we were to drive to Indianapolis instead of California so Rajdeep could pick up a few fresh cloths. We eventually set out at 9 and stopped over to pick up Nihar. After a few unscheduled stop at enterprise to add the new drivers and at ezpass, we finally hit the highway 76 towards Indianapolis. Midway through 76, Rajdeep changed his mind and we changed our route again back towards 80 heading towards Chicago. It was still raining on and off. The beauty of Pennsylvania along the I80 was captivating even in the rains.

We drove through Ohio, a bit of Indiana and finally entered Chicago around 10 in the night. We relied on the hotelstonight app to book hotels along the way.

We checked into the hotel after a few rerouting with the GPS and google maps, thanks to the flyovers. No sooner did we check in, Nihar started having his withdrawal symptoms. Now, this is odd, but he always prefers to sleep with a specific type of teddy bear and he would just not get sleep without that. So we browsed over all sorts of late night delivery websites to get the teddy delivered. I guess it was too late and all the teddy's were taken, so we had to struggle to put Nihar to sleep. Rajdeep even resorted to singing a lullaby followed by heavy snoring. Thankfully, I was carrying my earplugs. Another day another story to tell....

Day 2 - Chicago to South Dakota via IOWA

The journey was slated to get interesting now. We woke up, I took few of my customary early morning phone calls and Rajdeep got very curious at my dedication to my phone calls. We headed out for a nice stroll looking for breakfast along the lakeshore of Chicago. It was a nice breezy morning and we were all eager to start the next next. After the barren plains and towns of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, we were now all set to drive through the beautiful cornfields of Iowa heading towards Des Moine to see the covered bridges of Madison county.

Rajdeep took over the wheels for the first time and within the first 20 miles, managed to get a speeding ticket in Iowa.

After a few pit stops and snacks along the way, we reached Des Moine around afternoon. We stopped over at Madison county to have a look at the bridges of Madison county and then stopped over at a restaurant for late lunch.

After the Des Moine stop, we started driving towards our original destination of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The idea was to enter South Dakota, find a hotel and get some rest, before starting the next day. Along the way we drove through vast corn fields that appeared golden thanks to the setting sun. The roads were almost empty and Rajdeep was driving a steady speed while Nihar maintained a steady snore at the back seat.

We took a few quick breaks at a few scenic stopovers along the way. Soon after, Nihar took over the wheels while Rajdeep started looking for hotels to stay. Along the way we debated and changed the route plans fifteen times before reverting to the original plan. Eventually, we decided to drive a few more miles and stopped over at Chamberlain, South Dakota. As we were looking for a place to have dinner in a deserted town by the Missouri at 11 in the night, we realized that we were fast running out of options. Eventually we found a nondescript bar in the middle of nowhere and Rajdeep went about his business of inspecting the place for its suitability of dinner - not that we had much of an option. While Nihar and I were waiting outside, we were encountered with a ferocious looking hound of a dog approaching us as if we were its dinner about to be served. Both of us made a hasty retreat to the comfort of the bar and the matter of dinner was closed. Not that there was much of dinner that night for us. Further inquiry revealed that the bar was about to be closed and all that they had were a few packets of chips and leftover bacon sandwiches.

We finished dinner to drive to our hotel for the night to realize that it was quite an old looking place. A stuffy smelling room was allocated to us. The stuffy smell and a dark looking room did not dampen Nihar's fetish for teddy bears. Rajdeep and Nihar debated almost till midnight searching for a room delivery mechanism. Before they could resort to another round of lullaby and heavy snoring, I quickly put myself to sleep so I could be fresh for my early morning run and phone calls.

Day 3 - South Dakota to Wyoming

I started the next morning with a run along the Missouri bank by the hotel. It was a beautiful morning, but the very long drive the previous day was wearing me out a little bit. Coffee was the need of the hour. 

After a good hour spent outside, I returned to the room only to find both the guys still in bed. A good hour later, we were all got ready to start day 3. We went downstairs for breakfast only to find that lunch was getting ready to be served. It was actually only about 10am and we decided on breakfast along the way. We found a very welcoming 97 year old restaurant and spend another good hour savoring breakfast.

Day 4 - Sheridan to Glacier National Park, Montana

Day 5 - Glacier to Yellowstone