When my husband got a job in California there was no question about how we would get from our then home ground in Illinois to the Golden State: we would drive! That would be a perfect educational family road trip itinerary: we would be able to observe changes in weather and climate, topography and nature and we wouldn’t miss such an opportunity for the world. We did not have any major constraints, except that my husband’s company, which was relocating us, insisted on 1 condition: we would need to travel at least 350 miles a day. We calculated that it would take us about 6 days to complete the trip with about 5-6 hours on the road each day and we could use the rest of the time to explore attractions along the way.
There are 3 major routes from Midwest to the West Coast : Northern route on HW 90, Middle route on HW 80 and Southern route on HW 40/44. We had to take HW 80, which directly connected our Illinois home town with San Francisco, our final destination. I had heard that HW 80 is not extremely scenic route but I was determined to make the most of it and find the best and most interesting places to visit.
It took me several months to map out the road trip itinerary and it would be the most exciting trip ever! We would drive through 8 states: Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California and each day we would explore a new destination. Unfortunately, not all things go according to plan but no matter what happens we were determined to have the time of our lives.
Day 1
Things went “sideways” right from the start. Our movers were slower than an injured snail on sleeping pills. It was a disaster. As a result we started our journey 7(!) hours later than we originally planned and thus, we had to completely give up on our 1st set of attractions. The original plan for this family road trip itinerary was to drive to Kansas City, MO and enjoy the town for half a day. Kansas City is known for its fountains. It is ranked 4th in the world according to the number of fountains! They are all different but all so unbelievably beautiful. We would visit some parks where they are located, walk around (stretching your legs is very important on long drives), visit a rose garden in Loose Park as well – sounds almost perfect, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t meant to be…
So if you decide to follow this family road trip itinerary, go to Kansas City for us and snap as many photos of the fountains as you can and add them in the comments to this post. Let’s see who can get the best pictures! 😉 To help you with your fountains’ scavenger hunt here is a link that will provide you all the information you need, including a map: City Of Fountains Foundation. As for our trip, we had to drive to St. Joseph, MO, where we spent the night, and continued on our journey the next day.
Day 2
With the lazy movers out of the way, things were all under our control and from now on we would keep to our schedule and itinerary as planned. Stopping in St. Joseph turned out to be a good educational experience. We learnt that in 1860-61 the town was the starting (and end) point for the famous Pony Express. During its 19 months of operation, this mail service reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days. When it was in operation it became the West’s most direct means of east–west communication before the transcontinental telegraph was established in 1861 and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the United States. We saw some educational exhibits in our hotel and learnt that our journey West would pretty much follow the Pony Express route!
A couple of words about our hotel in St’ Joseph. This time I deviated from our standard approach of choosing lodging (see my post on how to choose the best lodging) and booked Stoney Creek Hotel. I wanted every experience on our journey to be special and this hotel was indeed quite special and fit very well with the theme of our trip. It was built as a Wild West mountain retreat with wooden log beds, animal statues throughout the premises, stone fireplaces and a wooden swing in the backyard. It gave us a glimpse of things to come – we were following in the footsteps of the brave men and women who conquered the West. So it was not surprising that it had a small exhibition dedicated to Pony Express. As a bonus, we did not pay much for the night, it was actually cheaper than the local Hampton Inn and provided a great complementary breakfast as well.
If you are a history buff and are not restricted by 350 miles/day requirement you can spend a day in St. Joseph and visit Pony Express and Jesse James museums but we had to move on to keep with the schedule. The journey of Day 2 went through the western corner of Iowa and on to Nebraska. We broke the trip in 2 halves with a stop in Lincoln, NE.
Lincoln is home to one of University of Nebraska’s campuses but we were there for a different attraction – Lincoln Children’s Museum. You can’t really go wrong with a Children’s Museum when traveling with kids. I never ever heard kids complain about a place completely dedicated to their interests and needs. And the museum in Lincoln was no exception: it provides 3 floors for fun and exploration and the only problem you may encounter is how to drag your kids out of there when it’s time to hit the road again.
One more advantage of this museum is that it is located right in the downtown area. When we arrived it was pretty much time for lunch so we had a lot of options to choose from. When we travel we often opt for Mediterranean food: it is healthy and kids love it so I can highly recommend the place we stopped by – Ali Baba Gyros (112 N 14th St, Lincoln, NE 68508). The dishes were big, tasty and inexpensive.
If you have more than a day in town, check out this great list of things to do in Lincoln, Nebraska.
After lunch we continued our road trip for another 220 miles to North Platte, NE, which roughly brought us to the required 350 miles limit. In addition to its convenient location right off HW 80, there were 2 things that attracted me in this small town: comfy Hampton Inn North Platte
and Fort Cody Trading Post right next to it. Fort Cody is in essence a replica of a Wild West trading post which is now a gift store. It is one of those roadside curiosities that are fun to stop by. Also right next to the hotel there are tons of dining choices so it was a perfect spot to spend the night.
Day 3.
Most of Day 3 trip lay through Wyoming. We were passing along its Southern edge so we wouldn’t be able to visit Yellowstone NP, unfortunately, but Wyoming is a wonderful place for nature lovers because one or the other beautiful park is always waiting around the corner. Our first stop within the state was at its capital, Cheyenne. The town gives out a pure “cowboy vibe” with cowboy boots statues scatted through the town, fancy cowboy attire stores and Wild West museums (Nelson Museum of the West, Cowgirls of the West Museum – if you have time I strongly suggest exploring those as well as Cheyenne Depot Museum dedicated to Union Pacific Railroad .We did have time to explore the latter and we thoroughly enjoyed it).
Wyoming is nothing like the neighboring Nebraska and you know right away that you are now in the heart of the Wild West territory. We had a hearty lunch at Wyoming Rib &Chop House (400 W Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001), tried some cowboy boots and hats on and proceeded to a much needed after lunch walk/hike.
There is Vedauwoo Recreation Area just 20 minutes’ drive or so from Cheyenne further along HW 80. It is officially called “climbing area” and you are definitely welcome to try rock climbing, but there are a lot of easy hiking trials there too among the beautiful rock formations. Our kids loved walking and climbing on, under and in between the rocks (perfect place for playing hide-and seek).
After the hike we followed HW 80 further West to Rawlins, WY. There was nothing special about this little town, it was chosen just as an overnight stopover but it turned out that it had one of the best Thai restaurants I have ever been to – Anong Thai Cuisine (210 5th St, Rawlins, WY 82301). After a great dinner we were welcomed for the night by the good old Hampton by Hilton.
Day 4
On this day we were to drive all the way through the state of Utah. An obvious location for a stop to break the 6 hours’ drive is Salt Lake City. It is a big city with a lot of attractions to choose from. If you have some time it would definitely be worthwhile to spend an extra day here but since we only had about 3 hours we decided to visit The Natural History Museum of Utah. When you have dinosaurs fans in your family it is a perfect destination. It also has a nice cafe on site so that you do not need to waste your time on looking for a lunch spot in town.
I honestly wish we had more time in Salt Lake City than half a day so that we could explore all the natural beauty around it. Then we would have definitely hiked one of these great Salt Lake City trails.
The rest of the day was pretty much a scenic drive. Once you reach Wyoming, the road becomes much more picturesque. In Utah HW 80 runs through the mountains, then along the Great Salt Lake and the salt flats. The scenery is really surreal: you look out the window and see the fields covered with snow, but it is July! And then you realize that it is all salt.
This area of Utah became home for one very unique attraction – Bonneville Salts Flats International Speedway which is a venue for car racing and numerous land speed records. When there are no official races scheduled you can see cars racing there on their own just for the adrenaline rush. I think it would be really fun to participate in one of the record setting events and watch cars “flying” at over 500 miles/hour.
Our stop for the night was not far from the racetrack – right on the border with Nevada in a town of Wendover. It was an interesting experience of crossing the border within the town limits from the plain Utah side to the bright neon lights-filled Nevada side. We chose to sleep on the quieter side at Best Western hotel but have dinner in one of the casinos in Nevada. Pancho and Willie’s restaurant at the Peppermill serves high end, high quality Mexican food but at surprisingly reasonable prices.
Day 5
I was not looking forward to driving through Nevada. This would be our longest 1-day journey, but I really wanted to be done with it in 1 day and arrive to South Lake Tahoe as soon as possible. Big mistake. In my mind Nevada was always associated with a barren desert, nothing much to look at. It turned out North-Eastern Nevada has beautiful mountains and interesting hiking trails. This area is officially called Ruby Mountains but it is nicknamed “Nevada’s Swiss Alps”. Too bad we only learnt about it when our kids requested a bathroom break in a town of Elko and we decided to stretch our legs a little bit. We strolled to a nearby Elko’s Parks and Recreation Department where a nice young man told us all about the things we were going to miss on this family road trip and gave us a lot of maps we won’t be able to use this time around. This incident solidified my belief in item # 8 on my list of a Dozen Tips for Stress Free Traveling with Kids – do try to plan for the unplanned. I still keep all the maps in my resources library and I am definitely planning to come back one day to explore this part of the country. More information about Nevada’s Swiss Alps can be found HERE.
(photo courtesy of roubymountains.net)
What I did plan well in advance was the place where we would have lunch in Nevada. A savvy HW80 traveler gave me a tip that there is a unique Basque restaurant in the town of Winnemucca called the Martin Hotel. I have never tried Basque cuisine in my life and I was very intrigued. The restaurant exceeded all our expectations (the lamb entree was the best) and now I am sharing this tip with you. This is a stop definitely not to miss on HW80.
After the yummy lunch we pressed on westwards and around 5 pm we arrived in South Lake Tahoe, CA. It has been almost three years since that day when I first laid my eyes on Lake Tahoe and there would be many more trips there after that but this first experience was the most memorable. Though I totally hated the town of South Lake Tahoe because of the crowds, traffic jams and hoards of partying youths (since then we only go to North Lake Tahoe for family vacations) but the lake itself left me in complete awe. It’s monumental majestic beauty takes hold of you and never lets go. We had a great time at the beach that evening after which we headed for dinner at Base Camp Pizza.
We spent the night at Americana Village hotel. Since it was our last night on the road I wanted to book something special, but reasonably priced, in harmony with the surroundings and a short walk from the beach. This lodging option fit all these criteria and also offered a free breakfast in the morning.
Day 6
We got up early so that we had a chance to explore Emerald Bay State Park before everybody wakes up and the streets and parking lots are jammed again. I do believe Lake Tahoe is best enjoyed in tranquility, then its serenity has a calming, almost healing effect on you. It is probably best to visit this area off-season in autumn and spring.
After having lived in California for 5 years and having visited Lake Tahoe numerous times after this cross-country family road trip I can safely say that I prefer North Lake Tahoe much more than South Lake Tahoe. For more information, please, read my post North Lake Tahoe family road trip itinerary.
Our final 3,5 hours on the road were uneventful and in the afternoon we arrived in San Francisco Bay Area which has since been our home for 3 years. Looking back at this trip I can say that we had an amazing experience. We not only observed the change of scenery outside the car but changes in people’s attitudes and behaviors. The further away we were from big cities, the nicer people we met. Nebraska, Wyoming and Nevada embraced us with the warmth and hospitality of their residents. We have learnt and experienced so much!
I highly recommend this trip to everybody. If you live in California you can do this family road trip in reverse, ending in Chicago, Illinois. Before heading out you may want to read my post about Chicago family vacation tips and ideas. We are thinking about doing the drive across America again to explore the Northern and Southern routes – so stay tuned!
Want to see even more of the U.S.? Check out this ultimate USA bucket list.
If you found this family road trip itinerary useful, please do me a little favor and share this trip with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂
