Goodwill became our new best friend in March of 2021. It seemed like we were taking a load there every other day as we tried to pare our belongings from what had fit in a two story house, to what could fit in a four door truck. My parents very kindly let us store some boxes in their basement, which meant we could keep some things that we wanted for our future home, but wouldn’t be useful in Alaska. We sorted, boxed, and threw away, ruthlessly. Our new to us Toyota Tacoma and it’s camper shell were stacked to the brim by the time we were ready to go, but all of our essentials fit.

We had booked tickets on the Alaska Marine Highway, because Covid restrictions prevented us from driving through Canada to get to Alaska. We gave ourselves two weeks to make the over three thousand mile drive from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to the ferry terminal in Bellingham, Washington; this ensured that we didn’t have to drive 12 hours days, and also gave us time to stop at many amazing spots along the way. Airbnb, friends, and hotels made up our housing. I would often find myself searching for spots with at least a 3 star rating on google (and no mention of bedbugs) at 6pm in the evening when we approached our town for the night. I have to give a shoutout to the Bring Fido App which became invaluable to us for reliable recommendations for where to stay with a dog. It saved us a lot of searching, and we still use it to find pet friendly spots when we travel. It tells you about not only hotels, but also dog parks, and pet friendly stores and restaurants.

National Parks, and unique landscapes were at the top of our list of places to see. I don’t want to turn this post into a walking advertisement, and these recommendations are in no way sponsored, but for anyone who is reading this as they research to do their own cross country roadtrip, I would also recommend the Roadtrippers App. We used it to plan our itinerary, and it allows you to input as many way points as you want, and also recommends hotels and interesting stops along the route you input. I will include of screenshot of the route we used on the app below, I still reference it to remember all the different places we stopped.

It would take a book to summarize all the amazing spots we saw along the way. Our trip took us through West Virginia, Kentucky,Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington. There were a couple of spots that really stuck with us and I’ll highlight those in this post for anyone looking for stops in the listed states.

HIGHLIGHTS ON OUR USA ROADTRIP

Breckenridge, CO – the LOGE – unfortunately for tourists this very unique hotel closed its doors in this location, but they did it for all the right reasons to provide more affordable housing options for people living in the area. We loved it for the fact that it catered to outdoor enthusiasts, with outdoor gear in each room that you could rent, or borrow, the fun community bonfire spots around the property, the affordable price, and the fact that it was so dog friendly. They have four other locations on the West Coast that you can find at www.logecamps.com.

Flagstaff, AZ – The Grand Canyon – This one feels like it goes without saying, everyone should see the Grand Canyon at least once in their life. We did worry about this landmark being overrated, but it was definitely not. There is no way to describe how tiny you feel when you stand on the edge of this massive abyss, it felt like an optical illusion, it’s hard for the mind to comprehend. We wished we had more time to spend here, we just hiked part of the rim trail, but would one day love to go back and take the train, or a Mule Pack down to the Lodge at the bottom of the Canyon. Food and gas are very pricey here, so be sure to plan ahead.

Orick, CA – The Redwoods – a lot of folks have asked us if we preferred the Redwoods, or the Sequoias. Stephan and I both agree that the Redwoods were our favorite. The Sequias were stunning, but the park was packed, and had a lot of traffic, and was very heavily developed with preset paths, and fences around many of the trees. The Redwoods had more options for different parks to stop at, We chose Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park where you can hike through the massive trees, and were the only people on the trail. We enjoyed this much more then the Sequias and spent awhile there marveling at the massive trees and walking through the quiet forest.

Brookings, OR (Anna’s favorite part of the trip) – the whole city was a very unique, and very lovely harbor town. They offer plenty of amazing Airbnb options, but The Beachfront Inn (www.beachfrontinn.com) is a stay we still talk about. The ocean was about 50 feet away from our balcony and we fell asleep to the sound of the waves with the sliding glass door open. They also had a very photogenic aesthetic with clean modern furnishings, and were pet friendly! You can also have a driftwood bonfire on the beach right behind the hotel. Stephan also found his favorite coffeeshop of all times here, The Bell and Whistle, (16340 Lower Harbour RD) and one day we may need to drive to OR again just for their iced Mocha, and homemade chocolate espresso beans! From cute shops, to piers to watch the sea lions from, this little town was one of all time favorite stops!

Furnace Creek, CA – Death Valley National Park (Stephan’s favorite part of the trip) – the Mesquite Dunes were a favorite here, bring a sled or a snowboard and you can glide down the massive sand hills. TIP – unless you board is waxed you will not slide well at all, also bring plenty of water, and closed toed shoes because the sand gets HOT! The park is a massive area to explore and we felt like we needed more then one day to do it justice, but the unique landscapes like the multi colored rock walls of the Artists Palette Drive, and the barrenness of the Salt Flats were the highlights we chose to stop at. Also make sure you gas up BEFORE you enter the park, there’s not much available once you get inside and what they do have, you will pay a pretty penny for.

San Francisco, CA – this city was not as fun for Stephan as it was for me since he was the one driving the crazy 90 degree slanted streets. But the streets of San Francisco in the glow of the sunset with all their crazy angles, and unique houses, and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog as the sun went down, were both stunningly beautiful. TIP – If you plan ahead there are small parking areas at either end of the bridge that you can pull off on for a better photo op, we didn’t see these until we were passed them, and wished we had noticed them before we got in the bridge traffic and couldn’t pull over.

California State Route 1 – Arguably the most beautiful drive on the West Coast, it runs from LA to Leggett and winds through some crazy views of the coast. Highly recommend driving this route if you’re ever on this side of the USA.