Block 1: Travel (Driving from AL)

 Savannah and I were extremely lucky to get this as our Block 1 rotation, so we had two weeks off before having to start here. That allowed us time to travel and explore some sites before settling into the groove of rotations. As for myself, I took a 7-day road trip with my now-fiancé to see the country, and it was absolutely AMAZING! In case you are lucky enough to do this yourself, I'll give you an overview of what we saw and where we stayed.

Day 1 - We did a chunk of driving this day and really only stopped to walk around the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MO. I would absolutely recommend stopping here if you get the chance! It was MUCH larger than I expected and the park was beautiful to walk around. If you are good at planning in advance, you can reserve a time to go up into the arch, but just allot about an hour for that (we did not look in advance, and the next ride was too far out when we got there).

Night 1 - Hampton Inn, Blue Springs MO (really nice and was the cheapest in the area at the time!!)

Day 2 - We drove another chunk and spent some time at the Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City! We decided to make a stop at the Nebraska Crossing Outlet stores in Gretna, NE, that morning and spent several hours there walking around and shopping - successfully achieving my goal of finding hiking boots. I think this day was the first time I had ever seen a windmill in person, so we did take a detour off the interstate at some point to attempt to get closer to the windmills (also MUCH larger than I expected). We ate at Table 32 in Sioux City since the restaurant in the casino was closed, and overall the food was great!

Night 2 - Hard Rock Casino Sioux City (rooms typically are cheaper on week nights)

Day 3 - Our first stop was the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site off I-90. We were not entirely sure what we were getting into, and when we walked into the visitor center we found out they were completely booked for tours of the missile silo. If you are interested in a tour, make sure to make a reservation beforehand. After walking through the small museum area there, we headed into the Badlands!! We drove the Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240) from there (I believe it was exit 131 on I-90) to Wall. We of course had to stop at several of the scenic overlooks and take a few brief walks to stretch legs. It was breathtaking. Once we made it to Wall, we had to stop by Wall Drugs because there were too many signs on I-90 that spiked our curiosity. It was a pretty big place where you can buy souvenirs and grab some snacks. From there, we decided to drive straight to Mount Rushmore even though we were running behind. We ended up getting to Mount Rushmore at about 6pm (the souvenir shop did not close until 9 so we were still able to get our pin which is what we were worried about). One thing I did not know going into it was that they apparently light up the monument at 8pm, and I hear it is beautiful! However, we did not want to hand around that long as there were not any activities to keep us busy at the monument. Crazy Horse Memorial is close to Mount Rushmore, and we wanted to see this but the site had closed for the day by the time we got into town.

Night 3 - Tru by Hilton, Rapid City SD

Day 4 - We headed out at a decent time that morning to make the trip out to Devils Tower National Monument. I didn't really have expectations for this as I had never heard of it, but it was awesome to get to see! There is a small paved loop around the monument that was nice to walk on and stretch our legs. There were people climbing up it while we walked which was super cool to see! From there we drove straight to Gardiner, MT (a VERY long day of driving).

View from Absaroka Lodge Balcony

Night 4 - Absaroka Lodge, Gardiner MT - I cannot say enough about how amazing this place was!!! I wish we had stayed here longer, and I think this would be a great place to stay if you are ever just coming out to explore Yellowstone. It is 1 mile from the North Entrance (you can see the sign from the parking lot entrance), and the rooms have balconies overlooking the Yellowstone River. 10/10 recommend.

Day 5 - YELLOWSTONE!!! I am not sure what I was expecting of Yellowstone, but I was pleasantly surprised. We first entered Mammoth, and the Upper Terrace Drive was closed, so we parked and walked the driving route. From there we drove through Lamar Valley to Trout Lake. Lamar Valley was where we saw the most wildlife, and it was an absolutely stunning drive. We made several stops along this route, but we did not do much hiking until Trout Lake. I convinced Luke to come with me to Trout Lake even though we were completely unprepared for a bear encounter (bear spray is real folks), and it was worth EVERY STEP. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I'll include a picture here, but pictures don't do it justice. From here we turned to head back to Mammoth (the roads from Tower-Roosevelt to Canyon Village were closed when we went) and started our way down to Old Faithful. Norris was closed because there was still too much snow there, so we continued down through Madison. I feel as though it is important to note here that there were plenty of bathrooms to stop at between Mammoth and Trout Lake, so we didn't really think of that when we headed south of Mammoth, but ALL of the bathrooms between Mammoth and Old Faithful were locked except for the information center in Madison (I am guessing because of the time of year we were there). If you make this drive, I would recommend pulling off at a majority of the springs on the side of the road. You definitely need to stop at the Midway Geyser Basin area to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. Again, pictures do not do it justice. By the time we got to Old Faithful, we had time to see it erupt once before dinner at the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room (expensive dinner for not the greatest food - it is buffet style - but honestly, we didn't realize that no other restaurants in the park were open, so we ended up only having granola bars I found in the back of my car for lunch that day, and we were pretty hungry).

Night 5 - Old Faithful Inn Old House Room without bath - this was the cheapest room option, and having a communal bathroom was not a problem. The bathrooms never got crowded. There was no AC here, but leaving the window open with the fan worked out fine!

Day 6 - Thankfully, the road from West Thumb to Grand Teton opened this morning (perfect timing because otherwise we would have had to take a massive detour through Idaho). We walked around the geyser basin at Old Faithful that morning before heading to Yellowstone Lake. We ate at the Old Faithful Ski Lodge before hitting the road. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to drive all the way around Yellowstone Lake, but the part we did get to see around West Thumb was amazing! There was not much we could do between West Thumb and Grand Teton (there were some hiking trails, but there was still an astounding amount of snow, so all of those roads and trails were closed). We drove straight into the Grand Teton National Park and the views were BEAUTIFUL!!! Because we were pretty exhausted, we just drove through straight to Jackson Hole. Once we got to Jackson, we made a quick run to Target before eating dinner at The Merry Piglets Mexican Grill which was good, but I love almost any Tex-Mex. We of course had to take a picture at the Elk Antler Arch which is livestreamed on YouTube in case you want to let your family know so they can see you. 

Night 6 - Homewood Suites by Hilton, Jackson WY

Day 7 - We took this day to explore Grand Teton. We stopped at a visitor center in Moose to get more park information before driving around and finding some walking areas. Jenny Lake was absolutely beautiful and has a trail loop around it. One of my favorite views was from the Cascade Canyon pull-off. Luke told me we had somewhere to be at 8pm that evening, and we pulled into a pull-off (Mountain View Turnout) around 7:45 where Luke asked if we could take a picture which ended up being a proposal. He had photographers there who took tons of pics before moving us to Schwabacher Landing to take more photos - both were beautiful views!! I'm including a picture of both areas below for reference. That night we headed back to Jackson - we got into town too late because most restaurants close at 10, so we ended up just getting Wendy's and reorganizing bags so we were ready to leaving bright and early in the morning. 

Night 7 - Homewood Suites by Hilton, Jackson WY

Day 8 - Luke's flight departed at 7am Mountain Time from the Jackson Hole Airport, so I dropped him off around 5:30am. His one-way flight to Huntsville, AL, was $493 on Delta with Comfort+. Savannah met me at the airport because her fiancé was on the same flight as Luke, and we left from the airport to head to the rotation housing. Before we left the area, we stopped at the Cowboy Coffee Co. which had a delicious breakfast burrito and amazing coffee. Our brief drive through the Shoshone National Forest on the way to Fort Washakie, WY, was breathtaking. 

Overall comments:

-Food: We were generally able to find someplace to eat, but most were not very cheap. However, there was basically nothing to eat or do between Devils Tower National Monument and Billings, MT. We took WY-112 N to WY-212 W instead of getting on I-90 in Moorcroft because we thought it might be more scenic (which it was beautiful, and I would recommend). Thank God for The Spoon & Fork in Lame Deer, MT - without their chicken salad sandwich, I may not have made it past day 4. 

We also were not prepared for the lack of food in Yellowstone on Day 5. Most places were closed due to the season, so I would recommend looking into that and preparing by bringing a picnic lunch or something. The only restaurants open at this time were at Old Faithful. 

-Gas: Luke and I were both extremely confused the first time we pulled into a gas station and saw 4 different types of regular unleaded at different octane ratings. As noted by John Parker in an earlier blog, the 85 octane rating is cheaper and won't hurt your car to use. In total, I spent $322.97 on gas for the entire trip up (one-way). 

-Hotels: We paid for every Hilton on here with Hilton points from Luke's credit card. I had originally intended on camping throughout the trip, so if you are looking for cheaper options and enjoy camping there are plenty of campgrounds, especially for the second half of the trip!!

-I-90: even though there's not a lot to see along the route, I just wanted to comment on how amazing the road was, how little traffic there was, and how great it was having a speed limit of 80MPH. There were some areas of roadwork, but they moved smoothly and we got through everything very quickly.

-Park entrance fees: If you plan on visiting multiple national parks/monuments during your time here, I would recommend getting the America the Beautiful National Park Pass. It is $80 - you can just purchase it when you enter your first park.

I would 100% recommend making this roadtrip if you have the chance. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

-Amber Smith