My love for the USA inspires me to take road trips with family . I discovered solo travel in 2023 after the greatest loss of my life. I just wanted to go far away where I can devote myself to remember Mother. I love the mountains, and Mom knew my passion, so I chose the west where the mountains rise above 14K+ feet in elevation for my first solo trip.
To start with, I used Google Maps to look at the possibility of covering different places in one trip, meaning flying into an ideal location/airport, make a loop where I can drive through as many scenic spots as possible along the way, spending the night at the main city/town where I also research the safety and take precaution everywhere I go. Salt Lake City was my first stop for Mom inspiring trip. This is the loop that I use to plan my stay.
Salt Lake City International Airport, UT-Pinedale, WY-Jackson, WY-- Grand Teton National Park-Yellowstone National Park, WY-Red Lodge, MT-Rexburg, ID-Challis, ID-SLC
I’ve never been to Salt Lake City. SLC is generally a safe city. I did not plan to spend the night there on this trip. I did spend the night in Brigham City, a beautiful city north of SLC on my second trip.
I was fortunate to sit next to a super nice local couple, who moved from California to Salt Lake City. They gave me advices including “Please be careful.”, and the wife kept reminding me to put safety a priority. This and many stories on my adventures remind me of our beautiful United States of America and her friendly, good-hearted people.
Below is a map for general guidelines. The beautiful places along the ways: Pinedale, WY - Museum of the Mountain Man https://museumofthemountainman.com; Hoback River off of US Highway 191; Red Lodge, MT; RExburg, ID; Idaho Falls, ID; Craters of The Moon National Monument and Preserve; Salmon River; Challis, ID known as a gateway to wilderness; Bayhorse Ghost Town.
US Highway 191 from Pinedale, WY to The Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park was just beautiful, with one spectacular view around the bend after another. On the way to Red Lodge from Yellowstone National Park, I lost GPS signal and got side tracked where I could tell another story of unexpected turn of events.
Pinedale, WY - Museum of the Mountain Man
https://museumofthemountainman.com
Hoback River off of US Highway 191
