Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest

[PhillipsLT5]

Nice, keep em coming

[B17 Crew]

I always look forward to reading about your road trips and the great photos!

I hope Ohio was hospitable. Be safe in your travels.

B17 Crew

[93 Vette]

Have a great trip Jim! I look forward to your updates.

Matt

[QB93Z]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. The day before departure was very hectic, so I didn't get a chance to post up the trip plan. I have been planning this trip for about 18 months. In order to get reservations at the National Park Lodging, reservations had to be made a year in advance. The basic itinerary was formulated in March 2014. Here is the big picture of our route:







We will visit Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, Craters of the Moon, Hells Canyon, Mt Rainier, North Cascades NP, Olympic NP, parts of the Pacific Coast Highway, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, Redwood NP and CA state parks, San Francisco, Yosemite NP, Park City, UT, and Rocky Mountain NP.

The trip will be 32 days and about 9,000 miles.

Jim

[QB93Z]

On Wednesday, we left West Branch, Michigan early to get an start on a long day of sight seeing and driving. North of West Branch we crossed the 45th parallel, marking a spot on the earth that is half way between the Equator and the North Pole:



We had to stop and get a photo with the PurpleZ in front of this gigantic beer "bottle":



We proceeded north about 2 hours to Mackinaw City at the very tip of the Michigan "glove". We found some more got-to-do photo ops with a large bear and a large hot dog and the American flag proudly flying:





In Mackinaw City we visited two lighthouses. First was Old Mackinaw Point Lighthouse with the Mackinac Bridge in the background:



Then we visited McGulpin Point Lighthouse:



to be continued...

[QB93Z]

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge across the channel between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron:



Lyndi got a nice Rear View Mirror Shot:






The Mackinac Bridge took us to the Upper Peninsula which is known as the U.P. People who live on the UP are known as Yoopers. Say it out loud and it makes sense.

We headed West across the UP on Rt-2 which runs along the south shore of Lake Superior.



Here is a nice view of a sailboat near Munising, MI:



to be continued...

[QB93Z]

We continued west and crossed the border into Wisconsin:



and then into Minnesota near Duluth:



After 14 hours of driving and sightseeing, we stopped in Grand Rapids, Minnesota just as the sun was setting:



Jim

[Racinfan83]

Awesome! I would love to do a trip like that. Will never happen though - for several reasons. So I will enjoy following your journey...

[Dynomite]

Great Photos and Notes Jim
Added to Solutions Post #7 (Road Trips)

[Paul Workman]

WOW! Some beautiful shots!! I like the rear-view mirror shot especially; the photo "artsy-fartsy" in me I guess.

Looking forward to the next installment with eager anticipation!