This summer, my parents gave me a choice: get a job in my hometown or RV across the country with them. To me, the choice was clear — spend the summer with my parents in a thirty-eight-foot RV driving across fifteen states from Connecticut to California. Along the way, we explored what this country truly has to offer, from its bustling cities to remote wildernesses, and everything in between. Here are my top 10 favorite places from the trip and where you should visit:
10. Jewel Cave
Along our trip, we visited many caves, and at some point, all of the cool underground rock tunnels began to blend together, but Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota stood out from the rest. As soon as you reach the underground cavern you’re greeted by a huge open room with calcite ‘jewels’ lining the walls that seemingly transport you to another world. This otherworldliness continues as you walk through one of the world’s five longest caves.
9. coeur d’alene
Unsuspectingly located in Idaho, Lake Coeur D’Alene and its surrounding little town felt like the epitome of summer. As we meandered around downtown, passing by countless families laughing, and wandered along the lake, watching people enjoy the blue water under the sun, it was hard not to feel like this was a place of a million memories for people of all ages. From our trip, I certainly gained a few memories from this place, too, from exploring downtown with ice cream in hand to walking the floating boardwalk with my dogs.
8. Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, New York was my first stop on the trip, and there’s something special about being able to watch millions of gallons of water spill over into the river hundreds of feet below. The power of the water is put into perspective by the booming noise of the water and the mist you can feel from across the river standing on the Canadian side. The highlight of this stop was dawning a bright blue rain poncho and taking the Maid of the Mist ferry to the base of these falls, adding to the awe.
7. chicago
I’ve flown in and out of the Chicago airports numerous times, so I was excited about the prospect of actually being able to explore the city I’d seen so many times from the air. While there we took an architectural boat tour through the city, and the city’s history was undeniable from historic stone churches to modern seemingly gravity-defying skyscrapers. We of course also made a stop at the iconic “The Bean” statue and took selfies in the reflection.
6. Badlands National park
After spending days driving through the seemingly endless prairies of the Dakotas, the badlands were a welcome change in geography. Badlands National Park, South Dakota encapsulates how unique this terrain is with big horned sheep and pronghorn running, the stacking of multicolored soil on the painted hills, and stunning overlook points.
5. Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is the poster child of national parks — and for good reason. Seeing the multi-colored thermal pools and geysers shooting up from the ground for the first time is astounding, and there’s nothing else in nature that can compare. The wildlife we saw in Yellowstone was also so unique, from watching bison calves run alongside their mother, seeing grizzly bears wander across meadows, and hearing wolves howl in the distance.
4. Mount Rainier National park
A national park that is often overlooked, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington took me by surprise. Being towards the end of the trip, admittedly, I wasn’t expecting much except to look up at another snow-capped mountain. But there was something special about this place — being able to hike down to countless crystal-clear glacial waterfalls, wandering through crisp pine forests, and looking up at glaciers, all against the backdrop of beautiful Mount Rainier.
3. Pacific NorthWest Coastline
Growing up in California, at my core I’m a beach girlie. Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen a large body of water since the Great Lakes in Indiana, but seeing the Pacific Ocean again for the first time sent a wave of happiness to me. We visited a number of beaches throughout Washington and Oregon where the rugged coastline met the powerful ocean, and at all of them running along the beach in the sand made my inner child smile.
2. Grand Teton National Park
I’d been to Grand Teton before, and remember being awed by the mountains, but it wasn’t until revisiting the park that how spectacular it is truly set in. It holds that national park magic from the evening we spend driving down a dirt road underneath a double rainbow to our morning boating across Jenny Lake and hiking while seeing bears on the horizon. The nearby town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming also embodies that old American West spirit with infinite cowboy lore.
1. Glacier National Park
The week and a half we spent in Glacier National Park, Montana was easily the highlight of the trip for both my parents and me. The east side of the park felt like pristine untouched wilderness with huge snow-covered mountains running into teal alpine lakes. A two-hour drive along the stunning Road to the Sun took us to the west side of the park where stunning pine forests gave way to more jaw-dropping lakes and waterfalls. It felt like you could spend an eternity in the park and still have more gorgeous trails to traverse in order to truly see this jaw-dropping place.
Explore
Regardless of how you choose to do it, the underlying reminder throughout the RV trip was to get out and explore. Sometimes it was the unsuspecting little towns or state parks that caught my attention the most, and truly, amazing memories can be made anywhere.