Last summer, I decided to spend Canada Day south of the border and headed out to the American West. With only six days to make it there and back, I was going to have to cover a serious number of kilometers each day.

The first day was fairly uneventful but enjoyable; the sun was shining and made for a pleasant drive that included a stop at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

After camping out overnight, day two brought more hot sun as I pushed towards Wyoming. Trying to get a good vantage point for a landscape photo, I drove the car off the highway and up a gravel runaway truck ramp. After snapping a few shots, the quickly setting sun brought an onslaught of hungry mosquitoes, so I hopped back into the car to continue east. Well, the gravel was a lot deeper than I thought because during my getaway attempt, all I did was manage to spin my wheels and get the car stuck! Fortunately, after a bit of digging I was able to get the car out and back onto the open road.

The dark of night cast an eerie quiet over my surroundings, but I wanted to make it as close to Yellowstone as I could before calling it a day. I had to be more alert than I had been all day — not just to avoid running off the road, but just as importantly to avoid running into any wildlife that could dart into my path. This point was reinforced by one stretch of highway and the sight illuminated in my headlights of grey pavement turned red with blood, the aftermath of a large deer’s fatal encounter with another vehicle. After that chilling sight, I was eager to get off the road until daylight. I made it safely and without harming any animals to the outskirts of Yellowstone, where I camped for the night on a hillside overlooking a quiet valley near the park.

Day three marked my first official day in Yellowstone National Park. I wasn’t the only tourist in the park by far, as every rest stop parking lot held a mix of cars and license plates from all over North America. A stop at Mammoth Hot Springs revealed interesting looking rock formations and pools of sulfurous water coloured by the minerals they held. From this first point of interest, I drove through the park towards Lower Yellowstone Falls and enjoyed the scenery of bison and moose that occasionally dotted the shoulders of the roads and the green spaces beyond. To top off the outdoor experience, I managed to secure a camp site at Bridge Bay where I pitched my tent and had a great meal that I cooked over an open fire.

No visit to Yellowstone is complete without seeing Old Faithful, a geyser that can shoot water an average of 145 feet in the air. The next morning, I continued my drive through the park to visit this famous site. However, while interesting, what really caught my eye were other beautiful, although less well-known, geysers located nearby (such as Castle Geyser and the Morning Glory Pool).

A drive south out of Yellowstone and through Grand Teton National Park brought more great scenery. After enduring more mosquitoes while photographing in the shadow of this beautiful mountain range, the day was drawing to a close, so I continued on at nightfall into Jackson Hole, a friendly cowboy town known for its proximity to great skiing in the winter time.

I awoke to realize that it was the Fourth of July. I started my celebrations by having a $5.99 breakfast buffet that included all-you-can-eat pancakes, ham, bacon, biscuits, and gravy. After devouring multiple helpings, I decided to walk off the meal by exploring the city center on foot. Souvenir and western gear shopping was pleasantly interrupted by a parade down the main street. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the evening’s fireworks display, as I had a long drive back to Canada, and little over one day to complete it. And so, before stopping to camp in the car overnight at a rest stop near American Falls, Idaho, I drove westward under a night sky that was punctuated by flashes of firework-induced light.

The final day of driving (literally, a day of driving) was of little interest, except for a chance meeting with another couple from British Columbia who thought I was crazy to make the journey from Idaho to home in one day. After crossing the border at 2:00 the next morning and reaching home by 3:00, I was amazed at how yet another whirlwind trip had come and gone so quickly.

The Numbers:

• 9 gas station fill-ups
• 1 hotel stay
• 2 camp-outs in the tent
• 2 camp-outs in the car
• 6 mosquito bites
• 16 magnets for the collection
• 26 road kill counted
• 4 animal encounters (not including the time in Yellowstone)
• 3775 kilometers driven round-trip
• 1500 kilometers driven in a single day (on the return trip)
• Countless bugs that met their end on the front of the car

Special thanks to travel partner Liz Tham for composing this blog entry since I’m busy preparing for my next big adventure – Singapore and India!