This trip was originally going to be an Alaska trip. My husband and I had been planning it for over a year, but after months of thinking about it he got bored of the idea, so we changed our destination to Northern California since we’ve never traveled farther west than Montana. We’ll be taking a fifth wheel, our two kids, and my younger sister. It’s actually fine with me that we’re not road-tripping to Alaska because our new itinerary is 900 fewer miles each way!
I thought it would be fun to post a little travel journal in case anyone wants ideas for places to stop on a road trip through the Western United States. Because we have kids, I planned it so that the driving days aren’t too long and there are lots of destination points along the way.
Wednesday, 07/29/26
We planned to leave by 11 AM. This turned out to be an over-ambitious goal because we were vacating our North Dakota apartment the same day, and we had to finish packing up. Not only that, it was 100°F.
By 2:20 PM, we had the camper hooked up and we were on our way. Our original plan for the day was to stop at Fort Buford and Little Bighorn on the way to Buffalo, Wyoming because I’ve been getting into western history specifically about those spots, but we just didn’t have the time. I guess that’ll give me more time to read and research before I return to do a post about them!
We changed our destination to BLM land in Weston Hills, Wyoming, and that turned out to be the best decision ever because boy, was it beautiful!
https://www.blm.gov/visit/weston-hills
Coordinates: 44.63616° N, 105.33741° W
We stayed right at the entrance. There were no amenities, but we had what we needed with us.
By the time we arrived, we were hot and sweaty from packing, starving, and tired from driving, but I was pumped because I could finally get my nature fix! Living in a third floor apartment, I found it difficult to balance household duties with outdoor time after having children, especially when you basically have to drive to get outdoors (besides going for a quick walk around the apartments). North Dakota also has pretty extreme weather a lot of the time; I’m talking deep into the negatives in winter, crazy high temps in the summer (as evidenced by this 100°F day), and often windy, sometimes so much so that my baby can’t take a breath. Needless to say, the new scenery in Montana and Wyoming took my breath away.
P.S. This same day one of the slides on our camper quit working and we ran out of oil for our generator. Luckily when we arrived the weather was absolutely perfect with a slight breeze and our evening hot dogs were the best thing I ever ate.
Animals I saw today: cows, cows, and more cows! Horses, pronghorns, sheep.
Thursday, 07/30/26
I woke way too early, but when I opened the camper door I felt like God was smiling at me from the sky.
After a breakfast of bananas, trail mix, and beef jerky, we got on the road!
One thing I did not account for when I planned the itinerary was the extra drive time for towing a camper at 60 mph in an 80 mph zone, but whatever!
We stopped in Gillette, Wyoming to get our camper slide fixed at an RV shop. It didn’t take too long, but we paid handsomely for quick service! By 2-something PM we arrived at Fort Caspar Campground in Casper, Wyoming. They have all the amenities (bathrooms, showers, laundry, playground, hookups), but in the RV part it’s just gravel and no shade, so that was kind of a bummer on this scorching day. The smaller sites are shaded, though. It looks like a lot of RV’ers stay here long-term.
Animals I saw today: woodpecker, cows, deer, pronghorns, and some not shy rabbits.
Plants I found today: wild morning glories (inedible unless you want diarrhea and hallucinations), prickly pear cactus (edible, but I think this one was too old?), and some kind of thistle (edible, but old).
Friday, 07/31/26
Today we got an early start for the long day of driving ahead of us. We took I-80 through western Wyoming into Utah, and the farther we drove the more the view took my breath away! We went through grasslands bordered by distant mountains to scrub-brush desert to the stunning Rocky Mountains so tall at some points that I almost couldn’t see the sky out the window of the truck! We saw mansions on top of mountains, horses grazing on farm fields in the foothills, and more trains than I expected. After almost eight hours, we arrived in Salt Lake City, a busy city nestled into the mountains.
Our drive ended at Great Salt Lake State Park and Marina where we stayed for two nights. I thought it would be sweet to stay right on the water, but I should have realized 1. That it was going to smell like a marina; 2. That the lake would be saltier than we wanted to swim in; and 3. That an unshaded campsite on a 103°F day would be brutal. Also, the parking setup is inconveniently tight, though I’m not sure if that’s common for marinas or not. My sister went to relax on the beach at sunset and she was swarmed by tiny flies, grossed out by dead maggot-looking sand, and walked into a spider web with twenty spiders in it! The sunset was one of the best I have ever seen, though.
I’m amazed at just how big the United States is. You can drive for an entire day and see varying landscapes, some so awe-inspiring that they make you feel like a tiny ant, yet you’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s available in this country. How lucky I am to live here!
Saturday, 08/01/26
We rested from driving and spent the day in town. Because it was over 100°F again, we went to the Natural History Museum of Utah, which was fun with kids. They have interactive exhibits, spots to play, and room to push a stroller around. My favorite specimen was a preserved snake with legs from the 1940s.
We had lunch at From Scratch, which had the best wood-fired bread.
Then we spent the rest of the day shopping and catching up on camping duties like laundry before passing the evening in the camper trying to feel the AC (haha).
All in all, we’ve gone from North Dakota > Montana > Wyoming > Utah, and it feels like I’ve seen every landscape that could possibly exist, but we haven’t even made it to California yet! The driving has been tiring, but doable especially with the built-in break in Salt Lake City, and so far I’m happy with the itinerary, although as a Michigan girl I’d hesitate to visit the desert in August again without good reason.
See you next week in Caliiiii!
– Madelyn