# Topics > Off the Beaten Path >  Planning 30th Wedding Anniv Trip out West.

## LKJames

My husband & I are planning a road-trip out West.  We've never been west & would like to see Yellowstone & Mt Rushmore.  We are leaving from central Indiana & have two weeks to travel.  After visiting a lot of confusing websites we are more confused than ever as to where to go & where to stay.  We are kind of off the beaten path types & prefer the scenery, and quaint towns vs the crowds.  Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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## Mark Sedenquist

First, congratulations on your 30th anniversary and welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum!  Two weeks is a reasonable period of time for such a trip.  Are you going to be camping or staying in motels?  How much travel would be ideal for you in a given day?  Do you prefer hiking or shopping in small towns?  What kind of budget do you have?  What are you driving?

Mark

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## Mark Sedenquist

Depending upon how much zigging and zagging you do, this trip will be ~ 3800 miles, so you'll need to probably be on the road at least some of each of the days you've allotted.  You can use the Map Center mapping tools to map out a basic route and then see what RTA attractions are found along the way.  And as you share more of your trip goals with us, we'll add comments.

Mark

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## LKJames

Thank you!  We will be staying in motels/hotels.  As far as traveling per day...that's a good question.  The first few days we figure we will travel all day, stop somewhere & head out again.  If we see someplace we want to stay then we'll stop.  We like easy hiking...we are middle aged.  I like to shop antiques!  Otherwise not really.  Our budget right now is around $2500 or so.  We'll be traveling in a Suzuki 4WD Touring car.  We get around 30 miles to the gal.

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## Mark Sedenquist

Plugging those details into the RTA Fuel Cost Calculator, your fuel costs will be ~$570 
_Your 3800.0 mile (6115.3 km) road trip will cost you about 570.00 in fuel, based on an efficiency of 30.00 miles per gallon and a total fuel volume of 126.67 gallons. (Your fuel cost per mile will be about 0.15.)_   Obviously as your planning continues the mileage count could increase or decrease.  I generally don't get reservations when I'm on the road because I like the flexibility of choosing where I'm going to stop for the night, when I'm still on the road.  But the RTA Reservations service has some killer hotel deals right now.. so you might want to look *at some of the key cities and see what you see.*

OK, I've got to jump off here for a few moments, but I'll be back soon. If you put the names of some of the towns you're interested in seeing in the Google search box (top of this page) you can read some of our suggestions about places to see in the vicinity.

Mark

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## LKJames

Maybe this road -trip is too aggressive for us...is there a way we can take a leisurely trip & still see some of the west?

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## Mark Sedenquist

If you flew from Indianapolis (or wherever central Indiana is) to Billings, Montana and then did a loop trip to Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Wind Cave, Yellowstone and back to Billings?  Much easier pace, get to see so much beautiful country and actually relax a bit.  Here's an introduction to the Fly and Drive Road Trip.

Or even to Minneapolis or Salt Lake City or Denver...

Mark

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## Utahtea

Congratulations on your upcoming Anniversary!

What time of the year are you planning your trip?  

The only place I'd recommend making reservations once you decide on your route and dates would be for Yellowstone.  Lodging in the park books up early but there are always cancellations. 

Utahtea

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## Lifemagician

My congratulations on reaching this milestone in your marriage.  A trip is such a great way to celebrate.  And, as UtahTea asked, a lot will depend on when you are taking this trip.  Though, I would have to agree with Mark, that it is a bit rushed.

On the other hand, fly / drive has advantages and disadvantages, and you have to weigh these up, see how they fit in with your travel style.  Is there any possibility of extending the trip somewhat?

Lifey

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## LKJames

I don't think we want to fly.

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## Lifemagician

You can of course, go ahead with the trip you have planned, but as Mark said, it would be quite rushed, you would be spending a lot of your time in the car, which over 14 days can become very tiresome.  Would it be possible to perhaps make a less ambitious trip, and leave Yellowstone for when you have more time?

Would a trip to the south west corner of South Dakota work for you?  There is so much more, besides Mt Rushmore.  In the Black Hills you have Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Custer State Park as well as Badlands NP, to name just a few.   Then there are the touristy attractions such as WallDrug, Crazy Horse, and at Belle Fourche the Centre of the Nation marker.  And you will find lots of small towns.  However, at this time of the year, it is hard to find anywhere without significant crowds.  It is after all, holiday season.

And I am sure if you read through the forums, check a good map and search in the Road Trip Attractions you will find lots more.

Hope we have helped sort out your confusion, and not added to it.

Lifey

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## Mark Sedenquist

We have an ever expanding resource list of road trip routes.  Here are a couple more things to look at as you scope out your trip.

Great Lakes region road trip routes
Great Plains region
....Since you're interested in the west and would prefer less crowds, this one in western North Dakota might be perfect.
----LIkewise here's a route in western South Dakota that is less-traveled but it does include stops at Mt. Rushmore

So, let us know what you're thinking _now_ and we can help you fine tune this trip a bit.

Mark

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## glc

If you are planning a trip to southwest South Dakota, avoid the annual Sturgis Rally, which is August 7th to 14th this year.  The week before and after the rally can be very busy too.

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## Utahtea

If you can manage 2 long days of just driving to Rapid City, then you could spend a couple of days visiting Mt. Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park and one or two of the caves in the area. Spend a leisurely two days getting to Yellowstone with possible stops at Deadwood City, SD and Devils Tower National Monument in WY, spend 5 - 6 days in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and 4 to 5 days getting home.   If you can manage both weekends of the two weeks you would actually have 16 days for this trip. 

One very important part you haven't answered is *WHEN* do you want to take this trip?  Yellowstone services starts shutting down at the end of September so if this trip is for October you might not have the option of Yellowstone!  Check the opening and closing dates for Yellowstone

Utahtea

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## rogerskevin

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary. This is a very adventurous way of celebrating your anniversary. I appreciate your idea to travel 3800 miles on road trip from Indianapolis to Yellowstone & Mt Rushmore. But if you think calculative, the journey 	would cost a lot and the trip would very long and tiring. Suppose at a speed of 70 mph would go up to 55 hours. Thats 2 days and 7 hours and almost 4 and half days both ways. You can save time and money on fly and drive.

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