Lewis and Clark & National Parks

General
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#1

I’m in the process of convincing my 19-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter that it would be a spectacular idea to drive along the Lewis and Clark Trail this summer. While it’s impossible for the reader to know us or our travel interests completely, I’ll share a bit and hopefully that will be enough to elicit some feedback. Seasoned travelers may forget or be unaware that there is some knowledge that becomes second nature at a certain point but to the beginner is unknown. I’m hoping to access that or other wisdom gained from travelers that could shed light(or cast a shadow) on my ideas/plans.

My goal: I want to put together a three week trip to allows us to see the most while traveling at a pace that is fast on a few days and medium to slow on the remainder of days. I’d like to visit places that include national parks and or other places that are covered on my national park membership as well as historical and cultural stops, places listed on Atlas Obscura, and I like to find street art (typically in cities though).

To know:
We aren’t interested in Disney type attractions, going out to eat, or spending money when a little work can get us something similar for low cost or free.
We love discovering.
Unlike some travelers, we can zip through museum or other historical site in 30 minutes and be completely fulfilled. That’s not always the case. During our last trip we spent the entire day in a Holocaust museum and had to be pushed out. My point is- I like to plan for many opportunities and when interest or fatigue changes, so does our schedule. If it looks like I’m hoping for too much, I am. But I change and update as our reality changes.
We LOVE the time away from the world and often miss out on early morning departures because we were up late playing cards, watching movies, sitting by a fire or something else. My parents hate that and I sometimes feel like I’m missing out but it’s really the best way to enjoy my kids.

Budget: zero, working on that

My initial information:
Lewis and Clark & National Parks

  • 3 weeks travel
  • Depart late May 2019
  • Accommodations are tent camping, possible hotel for a few nights
  • More than 1 or 2 stops but less than Lewis and Clark stops on the Lewis and Clark Trail
  • US National Parks

To be decided:
Transportation

  1. Drive our vehicle round trip
  2. Rent vehicle round trip
  3. Fly discount airline to/from Denver, rent vehicle to/from Denver (or other city)
  4. Rent (my #1 choice but least likely due to cost)

Trip Options

  1. Lewis and Clark Trail, camping
  2. Mix of Lewis and Clark & US National Parks, camping
  3. Drive to Glacier National Park, navigating our trip so we cover a few of our interests but focus on Glacier
  4. Mix of National Parks (does that need to be capitalized?) and stopping by L & C when near

I’m not insane. I’m doing this by myself and enjoy collaboration. Maybe a little off the charts…

Anyone willing to offer feedback?

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#2

I love this idea. One thing that comes to mind is a literary road trip map we created awhile back. One of the paths – titled “Cross Country” in the map’s legend – is the Lewis & Clark route:

The book we associate with that route could maybe provide some insights. Also, I wouldn’t skip Glacier. I’ve heard it’s incredible and have always wanted to go.

And if you’re nearby, don’t miss this gem:

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#3

In 2010 we visited Montana and had a great experience at the Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park. They had tipi’s you could reserve for camping, mind they are not sealed to the ground, but our kids were 8 & 10 and we loved the adventure even if we had some mice visitiors in the wee hours. The caverns were worthwhile and we wished we had built in a 1/2 to full day to hike around the park. There were hot springs in the vicinity that we had to pass by as well. We did go white water rafting on either the Gallatin or Madison River(an absolute blast!) and visited both Yellowstone and Glacier NP’s on the trip. Glacier was beautiful! Yellowstone amazed as well. There are a lot of choices for the adventuresome, I’m sure you won’t lack things to explore.

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#4

Are you aware of the effort to identify Lewis and Clark campsite? I read about it months ago, and cannot now recall who is conducting it, but the method is interesting. Each campsite had a midden, and the men commonly urinated into the middens. Not a few of the men were under treatment for a common condition in the 18th and early 19th centuries, syphilis, and the most usual treatment employed mercury, usually as an ointment. As heavy metals, of which mercury is a member, can be absorbed through the skin, mercury compounds appear in the urine of those under treatment, and west of the Mississippi, the only ones under treatment in a group at that time (for concentration of the specimen–lone French fur trappers may have left widely scattered singleton deposits) were in this expedition.

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#5

No, but I’ll be researching this immediately!

#6

Thank you…exactly what I was hoping for…this type of response.

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#7

I love that you write, “don’t skip Glacier”. I keep thinking it would be sensible to skip Glacier and do another time. But I don’t want to-simply because it’s not likely I’ll get this way again. Thank you for the feedback.

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#8

Further, all of my crazy collections, far flung ideas, all all nighters don’t begin to stack up to this project(literary road trip). This was a gigantic project. The map alone was a project…and hand typed? Just when I think I’m alone in this world…

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