Official departure date and the first week!

June 29, 2009 is the official start of my roadtrip across America
I should say that I am planning my trip around all the beautiful national parks, monuments, forests and other federally protected sites in the U.S. The America the Beautiful pass is the best $80 I've ever spent. Also, my parents are driving out and taking Max back since he's too old to be on the road for a month. Luckily, I'm the perfect age ;)

Well I've got my first week and a half planned out. I'll leave Denver and drive up to Jackson Hole. The next day I'll spend in Grand Teton National Park. I'll camp there and head up to Yellowstone for the next 4 days. I originally booked for 2 days but there's so much to do and see there that I decided to stay longer. The picture above is the Morning Glory pool which I saw on a my Dad's old viewfinder when I was little and have always wanted to go there. I will then trek up to Glacier National Park through Bozeman, Butte and Helena, Montana with a quick stop at Lewis and Clark Caverns state park. After a good nights rest, I'll keep going and cross the Canadian border and spend a day at the Waterton National Park in Canada. I'll come back to the U.S., grab some sleep, and shuttle across Glacier. Glacier actually has an awesome shuttle service that's free so you don't have to fight the crowds and you save gas. I'm really excited about this stop because this park will cease to exist in my lifetime (according to scientists). After that I'll drive south thru Idaho and swing through the Sawtooth area and then go by the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Whew, I'm going to need a break before I start planning for Utah. Utah has a lot to see and I will need to do some strategizing to make sure I hit everything. I'm pretty excited about floating in the Great Salt Lake. Please let me know if you have any suggestions about what to see (and not to see).