ICYMI, this summer Brennan and I made the decision to sell our belongings, get rid of our lease in Marina del Rey, and road trip to Minnesota for a few months.
Though it may have seemed as a split second decision, we actually went into 2020 knowing that we would be making some big changes around September.
Brennan had reached his 5 year goal in his athletic director role, we were ready for a change of scenery after being in our apartment for 3 years, and a few other family reasons that just made sense.
When COVID hit, we got so antsy being in our apartment and paying for amenities that were no longer available to us that we knew it was time to just go for it.
I can go deeper into that topic if you’re interested, but for now I want to focus on the road trip itself!
This was my first extensive road trip, and I definitely learned a few things along the way.
Going to break down our itinerary just like I did for our trip to Hawaii and add any helpful tips along the way!
PRO TIP – If you know you’ll be hitting a few parks, absolutely buy the park pass! It was about $80 online and we were able to print out our confirmation and show it at the gates for entry. It was worth it because of how many parks we went into, and it’s valid for a year.
ROAD TRIP ITINERARY
MONDAY, AUGUST 24
Departure day! We began our road trip from my mom’s house in Rancho Cucamonga. We left at 7AM to drive straight through to the Grand Canyon. We arrived late afternoon and did a quick in and out. The park itself seemed pretty empty, which was probably due to the fact we showed up on a Monday afternoon.
If you’re going to do the Grand Canyon and really get the full experience, I recommend booking an experience like a helicopter tour, or hiking down the canyon trails.
Since we were on a time crunch we didn’t feel the need to spend much time there, but it was really cool to see in person and we’re happy that we did it.
After the Grand Canyon we drove straight to Lake Powell; it was a long day of driving and we didn’t do much, but we were happy with how far we got!
Our hotel in Lake Powell had a 10/10 view, but the rooms were less than impressive. If you’re going to stay at Lake Powell Marina and Resorts, make sure you get a room with a view on the 2nd floor. It didn’t matter to us since we just needed a place to sleep, BUT we had a parking lot facing room on the first floor and our hotel fridge was full of food from the last tenants – not ideal lol.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25
We decided to wake up super early to catch sunrise at Horseshoe Bend. At 6AM it was just us and a few other people there, so I highly recommend doing this if you want to grab photos with ease! The walk is 1.5 miles round trip so bring comfortable shoes. It’s along a path the entire time so I’d say it was a really easy walk, but something to note.
Grabbed coffee at LP Espresso.
After breakfast we tried to rent a boat to spend the day on Lake Powell but there was nothing available that last minute; to stay on schedule we decied to head straight for Zion instead.
Our time in Zion was SO amazing. We stayed at Wildflower, which just recently opened in July 2020. It was amazing – I only have good things to say about it.
Things to note are they don’t have any food on-site, so make sure to bring your own. They offer s’mores supplies at check-in for you to enjoy around the communal campfire, and there are grills in the common areas for cooking your own meals. We opted for a cabin instead of a tent (our original intention) due to the heat & potential rainfall. It was SO incredible. Truly cannot wait to go back!
If you go to Zion, then stopping for coffee at FeelLove is an absolute must. I still dream about the lattes we picked up there. On our first visit I grabbed a Bay Latte (Lavender) and Brennan got the Buddha Latte (Golden Milk with a shot of Espresso). The next trip I got a FeelLove Latte which was made with their in-house vanilla; SO divine.
We were able to grab shuttle passes into the park for the day after we arrived; I know this isn’t always the case but seeing as we were there during the week I think it was a bit easier for us. They’re just $1 and you get a timeframe for when you can ride up. We got the 9AM shuttle and stayed in the park until about 1PM; we hit the Lower Emerald Pools and hiked up to the beginning of the Narrows hike. Since we knew we didn’t want to spend a full day hiking, we skipped the Narrows. It wasn’t really a must for us but I hear it’s worth it!
Zion Pizza and Noodle Co is a must for a casual delicious dinner. Get the Angel Fire Sticks and thank me later.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26
9AM shuttle to Zion; our experience was easy! There weren’t really any lines or wait times for the shuttles. Once we were in the park we just asked the people working the shuttle stops where they recommended we go if we were on a time crunch.
Be sure to check which hikes are closed before you go in – a lot of the popular ones were shut down when we were there due to rock slides.
Another thing to be aware of is the water situation – if it’s been raining, then the water is going to be murky. If not, you’ll have crystal clear water. We saw mostly murky waters, and there was also some sort of algae thing happening in the narrows hike – just make sure you research before going in so you are prepared 🙂
Our picnic spot was dreamy; we packed some snacks and a couple of beers and just lounged while taking it all in.
After Zion it was straight on to Bryce Canyon!
This was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip. Bryce Canyon is absolutely breathtaking. And the best part is that you can drive right up to where the hike starts! Super easy to get to the viewpoint quickly, which we love.
The hike down was fun, the hike up was torture. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into haha. But so worth it.
After we left Bryce, we made the drive to Park City, Utah. This was just another stopping point to sleep (like Lake Powell) and it was a challenge when we got in because pretty much every restaurant had closed by 9PM. We were able to find food at a bar that was still open, but keep this in mind if you’re getting into towns late at night. Grocery stores weren’t even open! It was a struggle.
We decided to book a hotel right on the main street so that we could enjoy the little town for a bit the next day, and it was great! The hotel was a bit more than we wanted to spend due to how long we were staying there, but it ended up being super nice.
THURSDAY AUGUST 27
There are so many cute spots to choose from in Park City but we landed on Harvest Cafe for breakfast. It’s Australian cuisine, so it was giving us all the honeymoon vibes!
After breakfast we walked around the shops for a bit on Main St, grabbed coffee at Atticus Coffee Books & Teahouse, then hit the road.
It was finally time for Wyoming!!!! We had been looking forward to Jackson Hole and decided it would be our “splurge” part of the trip, so we couldn’t wait to get there.
After lots of hunting on Expedia, we finally decided on Spring Creek Ranch. Everything in Jackson is pretty pricey, but we used our Chase points through Expedia and were able to save some money on this spot.
One of my favorite details about the property is that it is right next to Amangani, which is UNREAL. For reference, we were told Kanye West rented it out for a whole month lol. So it’s BOUJEE. On our way up to the hotel we realized that Amangani and Spring Creek Ranch share a restaurant, so it was basically like a bang for your buck if you want to compare pricing for the same view.
Our first night on the town was spent at Moe’s Original BBQ for the best BBQ honestly I think I’ve ever had, and then drinks at Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. You have to pay a small cover to get in, and there’s currently no dancing due to COVID, but it was so fun to listen to live music! Highly recommend.
FRIDAY AUGUST 28
We wanted to catch sunrise at the Grand Tetons National Park, and it was truly magical. It happened to be super cold in the mornings while we were there (it would warm up to 75-80 during the day), so we spent most of our time driving our the National Park vs hiking.
The one spot we did explore on food was Jenny Lake; it was SO breathtaking.
After exploring the Tetons we went into town for coffee at Persephone Bakery. It was so cute and highly recommended!
Brennan was planning to golf at Teton Pines Country Club that afternoon, so for lunch we stumbled on Aspens Market near the club and grabbed sandwiches for an impromptu picnic outside. It was such a cute store! Definitely recommend for a casual sandwich spot.
After Brennan golfed we headed up to Piste Mountain Bistro for dinner. We were recommended this spot by so many locals / other tourists we met, but we didn’t grab a reservation for inside quickly enough – it books out in advance and is only serving at half capacity due to COVID right now, so keep that in mind if you want to go there during your stay!
We took the gondola up to try our luck at an open spot outside. Luckily there were a few tables open, but it was super cold at the top of the mountain so be prepared! There aren’t any heaters, bon fire pits, or blankets available so you’re on your own with the warmth situation. Also worth noting that their deck menu is super limited – it was pretty much all bar food style (chili, cheese dip, sliders, fries) and they stop serving at 8PM SHARP. We heard a woman try to order at 8:02 and they said no. Last gondola ride down the mountain is 8:30PM, but you can take your drinks to go! The ride is free round trip – takes about 10 min to get up the mountain and 5 min to get down. Overall it was a fun experience and I’m glad we did it!
SATURDAY AUGUST 29
We ended up booking an extra day at our hotel because we just weren’t ready to leave!
Cafe Genevieve was highly recommended so we grabbed breakfast here and then hit the Farmer’s market happening downtown.
If you were following us on stories, then you already know how this outdoor workout went – here’s a refresher:
One of my favorite decisions we made in Jackson Hole was to ride horses via our hotel stables. It was such an easy process and I highly recommend seeing Jackson this way! We did a 2 hour tour and it was so stunning.
Post horse ride we made a cheese board and poured some wine to enjoy on our hotel balcony.
PRO TIP: If you’re going on a road trip and enjoy wine, buy a set of plastic wine glasses for the trip. This was such a random thing we didn’t know we needed until our road trip! The hotel plastic cups just weren’t cutting it, so we finally found this set at a liquor store in Jackson. You can definitely opt for stainless steel to-go glasses instead, but it’ll be less painful if the cheap plastic ones get lost on the way.
That evening we had dinner at Gather (ordered the Truffle Pasta and Scallops, along with a glass of our favorite Montepulciano) and it was incredible. Definitely worth the hype!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29
Before leaving Jackson we stopped at Cowboy Coffee – the wait was SO long, but worth it. Yummy breakfast burritos and good coffee. Pro tip you can order ahead 🙂
Sunday was solely devoted to Yellowstone National Park, but even that wasn’t nearly enough to conquer the park. We were totally out of our league with this one – it is MASSIVE. We’re talking…one attraction is 54 miles north, and the other is 46 miles west. It’s HUGE. This sort of threw us off since we were on such a tight schedule, so we drove around for as long as we could and hit as many spots that were possible on our route, but eventually we decided we needed to come back and plan to camp there to get the most out of it. Coolest thing I think we saw was the Grand Prismatic – SO insane.
Definitely download GyPSy Guide if you’re driving through the park – this is the same travel app we used in Kauai and it’s full of amazing advice and information.
After leaving the park we drove through Montana and decided to stay in Billings for the night. We found a great hotel on Expedia that was walking distance to downtown, so it gave us a fun impromptu date night opportunity!
We went to Montana Brewing Company that had a lot of surprisingly healthy options (vegan dishes) and was the prefect spot for a casual night.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31
Billings has a ton of cute coffee shops, but we landed on Moav Coffee.
It was aggressive, but we conquered South Dakota in one day. We drove through the Black Hills, had lunch in Deadwood, and stopped to see Mount Rushmore.
Dark Canyon Coffee Co in Rapid City SD was recommended to us, and just FYI you can’t actually buy coffee to drink there (we didn’t realize that lol) but we did grab some AMAZING coffee beans. Worth the stop and makes for a good souvenir.
Our final stop in South Dakota was Badlands National Park. Another one of our favorite spots! You can drive in and park where you want to explore, which as you know we love lol. Admittedly, instant gratification when it comes to National Parks is what we’re all about.
Leaving Badlands we had our sights set on staying in Sioux Falls. It was an aggressively long drive, but we made it! We found an incredible hotel for under $100, which I toured in our Road trip vlog.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Before leaving Sioux Falls we stopped at The Source for coffee. It was SO cute.
After a few hours we made it into Minnesota and our road trip had come to an end. It was truly one of the best trips I’ve ever been on, and cannot recommend road-tripping enough!
HELPFUL ROAD TRIP TIPS:
- Buy your park pass ahead of time if you’re planning to hit multiple parks; it saves you money!
- Be aware of when you’ll be in Zion so you can grab shuttle passes.
- Bring lots of snacks and have them accessible in the car – this will help with staying healthy on the road; middle America isn’t so big on healthy food to-go so it was a struggle on the long hauls.
- Bug spray, wet wipes, and SPF were all high on our list but since we weren’t camping these didn’t end up being essentials.
- This car storage was a life saver for us!
- Don’t travel without a tripod and bluetooth remote for the ultimate photo ops with your travel partner! This is the adapter I use to shoot on my iPhone.
- If you’re packing your car with things you won’t need to be taking in and out of hotels/camp sites, pack a separate luggage that’s easy to grab. We had SO many clothes since we were essentially moving somewhere, so we had designated luggage for our road trip necessities that was easy to take in and out of the car at each stop.
