On this exact date last year, we jumped in the car and headed back to Colorado. Not for a vacation like in the previous 9 years, but this time for good. My wife and I were living in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon and we had everything packed up, the Jeep shipped and the only thing that was left to do was drive back home.

Here is what the path of least resistance looked like:

 

Credit: Google Maps
Credit: Google Maps
loading...

We've driven this way before... Numerous times and we had a couple of extra days to kill, so why not go a different way? That is exactly what we did!

plan b
Credit: Google Maps
loading...

This alternate route added more than 1,000 extra miles, very little interstate driving and tons of stops along the way.

This route included driving through/stopping at:

  • A friend's wedding near Bend, OR.
  • Crater Lake National Park
  • Avenue of the Giants in northern California
  • Golden Gate Bridge
  • San Francisco
  • Death Valley, California
  • Las Vegas
  • Zion National Park
  • North Rim of the Grand Canyon
  • Marble Canyon, AZ.

Two humans, two full grown German Shepherds and a Toyota Camry full of stuff over the course of the next few days was an experience we'd never forget. The trip was nothing short of amazing and the final destination was a place we have been trying to get back to for nearly a decade. What better way to close out our coast to coast journeys with an epic road trip!

Here are some of the photos of our trip from last year:

For the trip, I bought a GoPro off of Craiglist and set it up to take a photo every 2 seconds. There were thousands of photos taken each day and our trip can be taken anytime we want in just 10 short minutes through a time lapse video:

We are both so happy to be back home in Colorado. It is a dream come true to work here in Northern Colorado and I am so very thankful for the chance to be here!

 

More From Retro 102.5