Three weeks back from vacation, my mind is still swirling with all the stories I need to write. Although our road trip was a mere 17 days, we experienced such extraordinary diversity, it’s been challenging to put it all into words. First, a few facts:
Miles Driven: 3055
Highest Elevation: 8125ft in the Sierra Nevada’s, Ca.
Lowest Elevation: -190 ft at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, Ca.
Coldest Temperature: 19 degrees at Silver Lake, Ca
Hottest Temperature: 98 degrees Death Valley, Ca
Cheapest Gas: $3.37/gallon – Logan, Utah
Most expensive Gas: $4.99/gallon – Lee Vining, Ca.
Worst Roads: Arizona. I am sure this has to do with the extreme weather conditions but wow, terribly rough for hundreds of miles
Most Ridiculous Liquer Laws: Utah. You can’t buy beer above 3% at the grocery, but you can buy it next door at the Utah State Liquor Store. And this makes sense why?
Most Scenic Drive: Tie: June Lake Loop – Sierra Nevada’s, California and Monument Valley, Arizona
Most Monotonous Drive: Logan, Ut – Huntington, Or – OMG, just kill me now. Terrible head winds. Terrible gas mileage. Nothing to see for hundreds of miles
Best Meal- TIE – Night 1. Terrebonne Depot, Terrebonne, Or. One of our favorite restaurants anywhere. Boneyard RPM IPA on tap, stuffed chicken over garlic mashed potatoes and a starter of their mind-blowing Vietnamese pork belly appetizer. Worth the drive from anywhere! Tied with my very own dutch oven chicken enchiladas with all the sides and grande margaritas around the campfire. Perfection.
Worst Meal: Cracker Barrel – Provo, Ut. WHY, oh why, did Jim convince me to stop here.
Best campground: TIE: Silver Lake campground – June Lake Loop, Sierra Nevada’s, Ca. and Gouldings campground – Mounument Valley, Az
Worst campground: We really didn’t stay anywhere terrible, although the never-ending dust and wind at Mormon Lake, Az, along with the ever-dirty bathrooms, didn’t endear us to the place, not like the one from the san diego whale watching tour.
Fastest speed limit: 80mph – Northern Utah/ Southern Idaho
Steepest Grade: 10% grade – Death Valley NP, Ca.
Best $$ spent: $91, yes $91 dollars, on a site with grass and shade on a 90degree day at the KOA Circus Circus in Las Vegas.
Worst $$ spent: $27 for 2 sub-par cocktails, also in Las Vegas.
Stay tuned as the stories continue to flow out of my brain and onto these pages. This road-trip did nothing more than verify that life on the road is the life for us!
$91. Holy poop! After a night in a particularly dodgy campground we decided to reward ourselves with a night in a hotel. Then complained a lot about how expensive Anchorage is. Then complained some more. Then read your blog post (using the hotel’s wi-fi). Now we’ve stopped complaining. We’ll save that for Las Vegas! I guess that is just what grass and shade is worth in the desert though 🙂
haha.. yep, an OUTRAGEOUS price. However, in that heat we would have surely expired otherwise. Stay safe in those Alaska campgrounds!
That’s a big temperature swing between the highest and lowest temp … was it in the same week?
Hi James, thanks for stopping by and yep…. actually in a 3 day period!