11,033 Mile Road Trip

[MrFahrenheit99]

11,033 Miles. 236.22 Gallons of Diesel. 46.7 MPG Average. 16 Fill ups. 7 Weeks. 4 Seasons. 2 Countries. 1 Little Tractor-Wagon. This is my 2021 US/Canada Road Trip:

San Francisco > Reno > Evanston, WY > Fort Collins, CO > Denver, CO > Kansas City > St. Louis > Moline, IL > Chicago > Pittsburgh > Philadelphia > Mexico, NY > Cleveland > Chicago > Moline, IL > Babbit, MN > Kenora, Ontario > Brandon, Manitoba > Medicine Hat, AB > Calgary, AB > Banff > Malakwa, BC > Seattle, WA > Spokane > Missoula, MT > Mt. Hood, OR > Portland > Sparks Lake, OR > San Francisco

First stop was public land near Evanston, WY.

Lunch break in Rawlins, WY.

Sunrise outside Medicine Hat, Alberta (Red Rock Coulee)

Moraine Lake, Banff

Just outside Revelstoke, BC

Johnston Canyon, Banff

Waiting for the fog to break at Lake Louise, Banff

Red Rock Coulee, AB

Outside Medicine Hat, AB

Seattle, WA

Lolo, Montana

Brandon, Manitoba

I have plenty more photos, but I'll spare you. Can't wait for next years road trip!!

 

[hskrdu]

Awesome!

Favorite places?

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Lots more photos on Instagram @reiderickson

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Awesome!

Favorite places?

Oh Banff was absolutely the gem of this trip! Chicago is a personal favorite of mine just because I love that town. And Portland was really beautiful. I’ll definitely be visiting Ely, Minnesota again very soon. Those all stood out for me

 

[hskrdu]

I've been trying to get to Banff for a while now, but it's a hike (ha)!

Great trip- post more pictures!

 

[Andyinchville1]

Spare us ?

More pictures please ! .... ;-)

THAT is a heck of a trip! I would love to be able to do something like that .... wow too cool.

Thanks for posting what you did .... gives me something to aspire to...

Andrew

ps - i guess you mostly camped out too?

11,033 Miles. 236.22 Gallons of Diesel. 46.7 MPG Average. 16 Fill ups. 7 Weeks. 4 Seasons. 2 Countries. 1 Little Tractor-Wagon. This is my 2021 US/Canada Road Trip:

San Francisco > Reno
Reno > Evanston, WY
WY > Fort Collins, CO > Denver, CO
Denver > Kansas City
KC > St. Louis
STL > Moline, IL
Moline > Chicago
Chicago > Pittsburgh
PIT > Philadelphia
Philly > Mexico, NY
NY > Cleveland
Cleveland > Chicago
Chicago > Moline, IL
Moline > Babbit, MN
Babbit, MN > Kelora, Ontario
Kelora, ON > Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon > Medicine Hat, AB
Medicine Hat > Calgary, AB
Calgary > Banff
Banff > Malakwa, BC
Malakwa > Seattle, WA
Seattle > Spokane
Spokane > Missoula
Missoula > Mt. Hood, OR
Mt. Hood > Portland
Portland > Sparks Lake, OR
Sparks Lake > San Francisco

First stop was public land near Evanston, WY.

Lunch break in Rawlins, WY.

Sunrise outside Medicine Hat, Alberta (Red Rock Coulee)

Moraine Lake, Banff

Just outside Revelstoke, BC

Johnston Canyon, Banff

Waiting for the fog to break at Lake Louise, Banff

Red Rock Coulee, AB

Outside Medicine Hat, AB

Seattle, WA

Lolo, Montana

Brandon, Manitoba

I have plenty more photos, but I'll spare you. Can't wait for next years road trip!!

 

[Nuje]

Truly epic! Well done.
(And to Andy's point above - I don't think anyone is going to complain about more photos; not only was it a great trip, you obviously know a thing or two about composing and taking exceptional photos!)

Just looking at the last photo - looks like you just popped the tent in a park, as opposed to a designated camping/tenting area (?).
Did you do that a lot? Get any guff from locals or law enforcement?

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Spare us ?

More pictures please ! .... ;-)

THAT is a heck of a trip! I would love to be able to do something like that .... wow too cool.

Thanks for posting what you did .... gives me something to aspire to...

Andrew

ps - i guess you mostly camped out too?

I did about 50/50. I stayed with friends and family all over the country, but when I was in between cities I'd camp. I did splurge on a Hotel in Banff because camping was off limits the dates I was there. Only RV's and such were allowed. And I did get hotels in a few other cities just because of timing or availability.

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Truly epic! Well done.
(And to Andy's point above - I don't think anyone is going to complain about more photos; not only was it a great trip, you obviously know a thing or two about composing and taking exceptional photos!)

Just looking at the last photo - looks like you just popped the tent in a park, as opposed to a designated camping/tenting area (?).
Did you do that a lot? Get any guff from locals or law enforcement?

So that does look like a park, however I found it on a boondocking website called Freecampsites.net The RV and camper community posts places they find all over the map and give descriptions. Most of them are free. In this case, it was a volunteer run camping area/park with restrooms and water. They asked for a small donation just to keep things running and for supplies. There are quite a few of these places I've found. The rest of the places I camped were BLM land, state hunting areas, or designated campsites. It's surprising just how much public use land we have west of the Mississippi! And as always, I pack out what I pack in. Leave no trace!

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

On the first half of this trip, I also visited five baseball stadiums which brings my total up to 21! I'll post some of my iphone photos up here, too:

Another shot of Moraine Lake because why not

State fishing area with two campsites in Blackwater, MO (That's my morning yerba mate, and yes, those are cowboy boots)

Barn in Folletts, IA

Moline, IL

Sunrise in Folletts, IA

Sunrise in Le Claire, IA

Sunrise in Colona, IL

ATV trails in Babbitt, MN

Sasquatch!

Welcome to Babbitt

Birch Lake in Babbitt, MN

Sunsets after a rainstorm

Happy place

On the way to Ely, MN

Saw my first Canadian Moose!

Aside from the comically large moose, apparently this town was a major destination for Al Capone during the prohibition

More scenes from Red Rock Coulee

Pottery kilns at Medalta. A pottery factory/museum in Medicine Hat, AB

I couldn't get enough of this place. Banff, AB

Really darn near impossible to take a bad photo in Banff

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

The house from A Christmas Story (Definitely an unexpected highlight on the trip)

I had too much fun here

Johnston Canyon, Banff

I believe this is Mt. Rundle, just over the hill from Banff

I saw this car pull into a waterfall area in the Columbia River Gorge and I noticed the Argentina plates. This couple drove to Portland from Argentina!

Their route, mapped out on the hood

Their socials so you can follow their journey!

Camping in the Mt. Hood Natl Forest, Oregon

The ever wonderful Multnomah Falls

The last Blockbuster on earth! Bend, OR

Sadly, it didn't have that Blockbuster smell like I remember as a child

Burney Falls, CA

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Can't wait until my next trip through the American South

 

[kennethsime]

Gorgeous photos, thank you kindly sir! Reminds me why I bought another TDI - need to take more road trips!

 

[1ztdi]

That's some trip, great photos'. I can relate to your thoughts on Banff, 'tis a lovely place indeed.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[MrCypherr]

Awesome trip. Would love to see all the photos you took. May take one or two and use them as wallpapers for my computer!

 

[ssaric1.9TDI]

Simply WOW. What an amazing pictures, I have a feeling this might turn into one of the most interesting posts. We all need to take after you and just sit in our cars and drive and see this beautiful country (and run into each other with our TDI's). Keep posting!!!!

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Simply WOW. What an amazing pictures, I have a feeling this might turn into one of the most interesting posts. We all need to take after you and just sit in our cars and drive and see this beautiful country (and run into each other with our TDI's). Keep posting!!!!

Thank you! After a very long and busy year at work, I really wanted to visit Europe in Sept but the world had other plans. So I decided to make the most of it and explore what I had access to!

 

[Nuje]

This (I'm guessing photography) hardware (bottom right) showed up in a few of your photos; what exactly is this?

 

[Nuje]

(And again - your composition and camera settings are exquisite (e.g., below); if you don't do this professionally, I'd think that's a solid Plan B when your current gig runs its course. )

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

This (I'm guessing photography) hardware (bottom right) showed up in a few of your photos; what exactly is this?

It’s a 4x5 camera. Technology from the 1800’s. It was one of the first types of camera. I was shooting film

 

[Nuje]

It’s a 4x5 camera. Technology from the 1800’s. It was one of the first types of camera. I was shooting film

Again - epic!
(So, I'm guessing this is more than just a little side-hobby if you're rocking state-of-the-art 19th century gear. )

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

(And again - your composition and camera settings are exquisite (e.g., below); if you don't do this professionally, I'd think that's a solid Plan B when your current gig runs its course. )

Thank you!! And yes, I do this professionally

 

[Andyinchville1]

It’s a 4x5 camera. Technology from the 1800’s. It was one of the first types of camera. I was shooting film

Cool to see some old school tech ( I was almost wondering if that wasn't some super duper digital camera ! ).

I still have a 35MM Pentax Spotmatic from back in the day!

The newer generation will would not understand about taking pics and having to wait weeks for it to come back from the lab before you could see your pics!

Do you develop it yourself?

 

[MrFahrenheit99]

Cool to see some old school tech ( I was almost wondering if that wasn't some super duper digital camera ! ).

I still have a 35MM Pentax Spotmatic from back in the day!

The newer generation will would not understand about taking pics and having to wait weeks for it to come back from the lab before you could see your pics!

Do you develop it yourself?

Unfortunately no. I shoot color film which isn’t easy to develop at home. Plus I don’t have the space for a darkroom

 

[KiwiCanuck]

Kelora Ontario? Anywhere near Kenora?

 

[Ragdude]

WOW! What a trip