Honeymoon roadtrip - Seattle to Chicago

Hi all,

My future wife and I have decided to go on a roadtrip for our honeymoon this June. We are both from the small island of Malta (pop: 400K), and it will be our first time visiting the states. We have been on several roadtrips in Europe so decided to venture into the great USA for this very special occasion.

Any suggestions regarding places of interest, motorway advice, accommodation, activities, itineraries and general advice to follow, will be greatly appreciated. From the initial research we have done (which wasnt much), we were considering the below, however we are very open to suggestions:

JUNE
17th - 19th: Seattle
19th: Missuola
20th - 23rd: Yellowstone National Park
24th: Cheyenne
25th: Lincoln
26th: Iowa City
27th - 29th: Chicago

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Clint & Andy

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

What was your though process on heading down to Cheyenne and then across Nebraska and Iowa? It's not necessarily a bad choice, but it's not the most popular one.

Most people making this trip would leave Yellowstone to the east, either checking out Cody or going over Beartooth Pass, on their way to South Dakota. Going that way would take you through the Black Hills, with places like Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Jewel and Wind Caves, and then the Badlands.

Like I said, going across Nebraska and Iowa isn't necessarily a bad choice, but that's another option for you to consider as you do a bit more research and planning.

Hi Michael!

Thanks for your reply. We will definitely look into all the places you have mentioned. We just searched on google maps how to get from Seattle to Chicago, then researched some areas based off this trajectory. As I said we are still early into our planning stage so any information such as your post will be really helpful for us.

Our only consideration is that we need to be in Chicago by latest the 28th June as we fly back on the 29th.

Thanks again for your reply :)

Once you have decided I would get onto finding lodgings in or around Yellowstone as a matter of priority, it's a very popular place. It's also a very large place and you might want to consider lodging in two different areas. You could also spend a day in the Grand Tetons just to the south of Yellowstone.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Once you have decided I would get onto finding lodgings in or around Yellowstone as a matter of priority, it's a very popular place. It's also a very large place and you might want to consider lodging in two different areas. You could also spend a day in the Grand Tetons just to the south of Yellowstone.

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Will make booking accommodation at Yellowstone a priority.

Any suggestions re the areas you mentioned?

There are 9 lodges within the park at Yellowstone. Outside the park, the best selection of hotels and motels are in the town of West Yellowstone. I've stayed in the Evergreen Motel, which is one of the least expensive options in town and it's a charming little place.

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Originally Posted by glc

There are 9 lodges within the park at Yellowstone. Outside the park, the best selection of hotels and motels are in the town of West Yellowstone. I've stayed in the Evergreen Motel, which is one of the least expensive options in town and it's a charming little place.

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Are the lodges within the park nice?

I checked the rates and most are approximately $135 per night. The description of the rooms is quite basic and no images of the actual room is made available.

Does having a room in the park itself make a difference to the experience?

I much prefer to stay in the park as there is nothing quite like being 'there' and it saves on drive times in and out. You do pay above the going rate because of the location but for me it's worth it. Plus you do pay a bit more in the nearby towns anyway. On a recent trip we stayed in a cabin at Canyon which was basic and small but clean and cosy, and also a room in Grant village which was not big, but very well maintained and nicely furnished. I would expect the other lodgings to offer similar conditions. Our trip report which includes Yellowstone and the Tetons can be found in the roadtrip field report section.

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Originally Posted by clintosdebrave

We just searched on google maps how to get from Seattle to Chicago,

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Since this trip is still months away, it would pay you to get hold of some good detailed maps of the area. If these are not available locally, you can order a Rand McNally road atlas here. You will have it in a week or two.

Good maps show natural, historical and touristy attractions, as well as the scenic routes and much more. It will be a great help to your planning, and essential to have with you on the road.

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

I much prefer to stay in the park as there is nothing quite like being 'there' and it saves on drive times in and out. You do pay above the going rate because of the location but for me it's worth it. Plus you do pay a bit more in the nearby towns anyway. On a recent trip we stayed in a cabin at Canyon which was basic and small but clean and cosy, and also a room in Grant village which was not big, but very well maintained and nicely furnished. I would expect the other lodgings to offer similar conditions. Our trip report which includes Yellowstone and the Tetons can be found in the roadtrip field report section.

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Thats a very valid point. Thanks for your feedback. Will look into your trip report.

Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

Since this trip is still months away, it would pay you to get hold of some good detailed maps of the area. If these are not available locally, you can order a Rand McNally road atlas here. You will have it in a week or two.

Good maps show natural, historical and touristy attractions, as well as the scenic routes and much more. It will be a great help to your planning, and essential to have with you on the road.

Lifey

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I was planning on using a GPS based off my mobile device. Do you think an atlas would be helpful?

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Originally Posted by clintosdebrave

I was planning on using a GPS based off my mobile device. Do you think an atlas would be helpful?

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An atlas isn't just helpful, it really is essential.

Electronic tools certainly have their place, but you should always consider them secondary navigational tools to real maps. You should always be the one picking the roads you want to take, and then using a GPS as a tool to make it easier for you to follow those roads. Doing it the other way around - and just going where the GPS tells you to go - can quickly lead to big problems, and there have been many cases where people have gotten into even life threatening situations by following GPS directions into roads and places they should never have gone.

Besides booking accommodation at Yellowstone National Park from beforehand, do you think its possible to book accommodation for the rest of the journey on the fly? This would of course give us more freedom with timelines.

Thanks as always.

That shouldn't be a problem. I very seldom prebook anything unless I know I have to be somewhere on a specific day. Yellowstone, of course, is an exception but I've even been able to walk in to a motel in West Yellowstone in the first week of October. All the cities in your list in the first post are large enough to have a good choice of lodging, and unless there is a special event going on there shouldn't be a problem finding something decent.

However, if you are going to be in Chicago for 3 days, it may not hurt to prebook. Be advised the downtown hotels are quite expensive. If you are only going to spend 1 or 2 nights there, you shouldn't have a problem finding a room in one of the many hotels out by the airport. It's a 45 minute light rail ride from out there to downtown and I'd advise you return the rental car when you arrive and use public transportation, it's quite good. Parking downtown is a hassle and also expensive.

Yellowstone is already fully booked in summer so I guess I'll have to go for a nearby town. Any recommendations?

Which type of activities are you interested in?

Route I-90 down to I-80
24th Rapid City Deadwood. Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument.
25th Souix City Omaha Badlands
26th Davenport IA
27-29 Chicago

West Yellowstone, MT, is one that is still fairly close to places like Norris Geyser Basin, Old Faithful and the Upper/Lower/Mid Geyser Basins. Gardiner, MT, is closer to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. The only thing on the south end of Yellowstone, outside the park, is Flagg Ranch Resort. That would be a major drive from there up to Mammoth or even Tower Junction/Tower Falls area.


Donna

West Yellowstone is the closest town to the park with a good choice of lodging. In summer, it's all going to be expensive.

I just checked, and the Evergreen Motel has rooms available for those days in June, and they are $125 - $135 a night. I can highly recommend this motel, that's where I stayed. Rooms are small, but it's recently renovated and clean. Book NOW if that's what you want, you won't find anything cheaper that's anywhere near as nice. The young couple that owns the place are very nice.

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Originally Posted by clintosdebrave

Besides booking accommodation at Yellowstone National Park from beforehand, do you think its possible to book accommodation for the rest of the journey on the fly? This would of course give us more freedom with timelines.

Thanks as always.

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For a honeymoon trip you might like to book before hand. Winging it may not necessarily get you the most romantic accommodation.

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Yellowstone is already fully booked in summer ...

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With their cancellation policy, I would keep looking every day, even more than once a day, and see if you can pick up any cancellation. Don't give up immediately. Otherwise settle for whatever is closest to the main attractions in the Park.

Lifey

Hey all. Thanks for your suggestions and advice.

Unfortunately work has gotten in the way of our planning process and only just sat down to book accommodation at Yellowstone. We managed to book a cabin at Eagle Ridge Ranch. It has excellent reviews and the cost while not cheap, isnt too bad compared to other places we saw. The only problem is that it is 40 minutes away from West gate. This is the link to the place:

https://eagleridgeranch.com/

Has anybody ever stayed here? Any thoughts? I can still cancel this booking and I think I will take Lifey's advice and keep checking availabilities in and closer to the park.

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I just checked, and the Evergreen Motel has rooms available for those days in June, and they are $125 - $135 a night. I can highly recommend this motel, that's where I stayed. Rooms are small, but it's recently renovated and clean. Book NOW if that's what you want, you won't find anything cheaper that's anywhere near as nice. The young couple that owns the place are very nice.

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Unfortunately when I went to book this place, I had just missed out on the last room which was booked only 1 hour before :(. Will keep checking though and hope for cancellations as Lifey said.

40 Minutes to the West Gate is a LONG way away. You need to remember that Yellowstone is a huge park, with very slow travel speed. Just from the entry point, you've still got long drives to get to major parts of the park. Even the closest main attractions to the west gate, like Old Faithful, are going to take well over an hour to get to, and places farther away like Mammoth, Canyon, Yellowstone lake will be a couple of hours drive away.

Not to mention, where did you get the "40 minutes" from? I looks like it is closer to an hour away from the West Gate. Google maps shows it being 45 minutes just to the town of West Yellowstone.

We stayed at the One Horse Motel in West Yellowstone. The folks that run the place were friendly, there's laundry facilities, but I can tell you that the rooms are all small and cramped. Everyone that I talked to, said they barely had enough room to walk in their room. That about described our room, though the bathroom was pretty decently sized!

If you aren't planning to spend a lot of time in your room, it's close to everything in West Yellowstone - you can walk to dinner, a grocery store, a lounge, a museum or a gift shop. It's also less than a mile from the kiosk to enter Yellowstone Park.


Donna

We stayed in West Yellowstone at the Moose Creek Inn. Clean and tidy with nice owners and not bad for walking into town at night. The rooms are small but very cosy and there is a communial kitchen to make drinks etc. They are showing rooms available, single queen bed room; $138 and single King $148 on their site.

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

40 Minutes to the West Gate is a LONG way away. You need to remember that Yellowstone is a huge park, with very slow travel speed. Just from the entry point, you've still got long drives to get to major parts of the park. Even the closest main attractions to the west gate, like Old Faithful, are going to take well over an hour to get to, and places farther away like Mammoth, Canyon, Yellowstone lake will be a couple of hours drive away.

Not to mention, where did you get the "40 minutes" from? I looks like it is closer to an hour away from the West Gate. Google maps shows it being 45 minutes just to the town of West Yellowstone.

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Thats a very good point. Thats over 3-4 hours of travelling from park to accommodation each day. I checked all these new suggestions unfortunately nobody has availability.

I did find here:
http://www.pineshadowsmotel.com/

Anybody has experiences with this motel?

Thanks