advice on cross-country trip

I am new to this forum. My job is moving out of state, which we have
decided to view as a blessing rather than a curse; and an opportunity to
drive cross country for the summer with my husband and 11 year old son.
I have learned a great deal from this forum already, THANK YOU.

I would appreciate any specific advice you could offer. My husband and
I want to see national parks and baseball is my son's # 1 objective. I
am the planner of the family, but also have a tendency to over reach at
times. So would love feedback on my current itinerary. We have been
to Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and the Tetons so left them out this
time. We like to hike and are bringing our bikes. We are planning on
car camping and staying in hotels.
July1 -7 I will drive from Massachusetts to Denver & pick up boys
at the airport.
July 7th See Rockies game that night
July 8 Drive to Moab
July 9 Moab, (Fiery Furnaces Hike)
July 10 Drive to Bryce via rt 24 and 12
July 11 Spend day at Bryce then head to Zion in late afternoon
July 12 Most of day at Zion then drive to either Alamo or Rachael Nv
July 13 Drive to Yellowstone camp at Tuolumne Meadows
July 14 - 17 Yellowstone Valley
July 18 Drive to SanFran - Alcatraz night tour
July 19 San Fran - RedSox - A's Game
July 20 Golden Gate park - head up 101 to Mendocino - Camp Van Damme St Park
July 21 Drive thru Redwood NP - camp Prairie Creek St Park
July 22 Crater Lake
July 23 Portland
July 24 Seattle -Redsox-Mariners game
July 25-27 Seattle (Maybe leave afternoon of 27th )
July 28 Olympic NP - Camp Kalaloch Campground (Grab early ferry)
July 29 Olympic NP Hoh rainforest drive partway back to Port Angeles - camp
July 30 Ferry from either Port Townsend to Keystone and deception stpark or go to Victoria
July 31 either way - need to get over by Vancouver - or somewhere into Canada today
(Is Vancouver worth trying to spend a day? Or Whistler?)
Aug 1st -Aug 10 -have 10 days to cover Vancouver, Banff, Jasper and
Glacier National Park. Would love advice here. Want to see Lake Louise, Banff, Icefield Parkway and take snow coach on glacier. Husband would love to do go on Burgess Shale guided Hike near Field. Lake O'Hara sounds great Was thinking 1 day Calgary, 2-3 in Glacier. Should we skip Jasper and only go as far north as Columbia Ice field?
Aug 11 Drive to Billings area
Aug 12 See Devil's tower - head to Rushmore Area
Aug 13-15 Crazy Horse, Wind Cave and Badlands
Aug 16 Drive to Sioux Falls - see corn Palace
Aug 17 Head to Minneapolis Twins Game
Aug 18 drive to Chicago
Aug 19-20 Cubs day game! On 19th
Aug 21 -22 Milwaukee -visit family and see Brewer's game
Aug 23 Detroit Tigers night game
Aug 24 Toronto Blue Jays game
Aug 25 Niagara Falls
Aug 26 -27 Cooperstown
Aug 28 Home (north of Boston)

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for all your help!

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

First off, congratulations on your view of the move. I've lived in a few different areas of the country and visited a few more in depth, and while I understand everyone's view that their home is the best, there's nothing like a little variety to help you appreciate the true scope of what this country has to offer. Also, congrats on taking 7 days to get to Denver. That leaves you plenty of time to enjoy your own RoadTrip at a relaxed pace before getting back to the mayhem that is family travel. Be sure to take advantage of the many roadside opportunities for some quality alone time on your way.

Now for some specific comments on that later portion:

Trying to see a ball game after a cross country flight may not work out. Remember that although the game is scheduled on Mountain Time, your boys' bodies will still be on Eastern Time - two hours later.

Unless you or your boys are real sci-fi/conspiracy/black ops aficionados, I'd give Rachel a pass. There really is not much to see there. Alamo/Rachel to Yellowstone is around 800 miles, far more than is doable in a day's driving. In fact, given that much of this drive is on non-Interstates through some truly photogenic countryside, I'd schedule at least two full days for this section.

Similarly, Yellowstone to San Francisco is nearly 1000 miles - again, a two day drive, minimum.

You get to see the Sox twice?!! Can I come? My major regret since moving to Arizona from Maine is that the Sox are in the Grapefruit rather than the Cactus League and that the Diamondbacks are in the National League.

July 30th or so. I highly recommend the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, spending a day or two in the Victoria area, including the Natural History Museum and the Quw'utsun' Cultural Center in Duncan for the boys and Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay for yourself before taking another ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen (Vancouver).

There is no shortage of things to do in the Banff/Jasper area, but for a taste of old fashioned (but affordable) elegance have lunch at the Fairmont on the shores of Lake Louise. My understanding of the Burgess Shale tour is that it is on horseback and even so is quite rugged, and of course, your husband will not be allowed to take any 'souvenirs'.

Otherwise, your trip seems well paced and well thought out. You're all in for a great time.

AZBuck