Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

I see you're getting lots of great recommendations for what to do in the Northwest, so I'm going to concentrate on what's in between Missouri and there. I am generally an advocate of taking different routes out and back on such a long RoadTrip, and in this case you've got two great choices between Omaha and Seattle. I'll describe them assuming you go west on the northern one and east on the southern one, but there's no reason you can't do them the other way or even find a third alternative of your own.

The first is basically I-29 north from Omaha to Sioux Falls, SD and then I-90 west to Seattle. There are a ton of places to stop along here that will more than interest two young boys. Be sure to read this field report on a recent RoadTrip through that under-appreciated state. The biggest highlight of this route is, of course, Yellowstone National Park. From there you head up toward Idaho, the subject of this thread.

The second possible route is I-82/84 from Seattle to Salt Lake City and then I-80 to Omaha. For southern Idaho this post might help. You'd then continue on through Wyoming and Colorado with stops at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and Rocky Mountain National Park. Then as you head back out on to the plains, you'll be following the old Oregon Trail, and you might want to stop at some of the landmarks associated with it such as Scottsbluff, Chimney Rock, and Courthouse and Jail Rocks. Also, there's Buffalo Bill's Ranch in North Platte, and a Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, both in Nebraska.

On more general topics, we offer a number of tips for keeping costs down. If it's not mentioned in there, be sure to get a Golden Eagle Pass from the National Park Service before you go. And be sure to involve your sons in the planning for this trip. Get them some maps and let them 'discover' the major stops along the way that they want to see, and then you, as the cool mom that you are, can just stumble upon some of the others as you drive along. Another great resource for things to do and cheap camping along the way are the various state park systems, be sure to look into them.

AZBuck