Day 1. Drive to St. Louis. See Botanical Garden and Museum of Westward Expansion in St. Louis. Night in St. Louis.

Day 2. Visit the St. Louis Zoo in the morning. Drive down I-44 to Tulsa, stopping for a cave tour along the way. Night in Tulsa.

Day 3. Morning drive down to Norman, Oklahoma to visit museum there. Continue on to Amarillo, Texas for the night.

Day 4. Drive from Amarillo to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Night in Santa Fe.

Day 5. Morning in Santa Fe. Day to see Indian ruins, including Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, and Aztec Ruins National Monument. Night in Aztec, NM (and the Aztec ruins, which are small, can wait for the morning of Day 6).

Day 6. Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Winslow Meteor Crater, and get to Grand Canyon to spend the night in the El Tovar Hotel.

Day 7. In the Grand Canyon.

Day 8. Another day at the Grand Canyon. Third night at the El Tovar Hotel.

Day 9. Drive from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas taking the long way (US-89, Utah State Highway 9, and I-15) so one can drive through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and stop in Zion National Park for a few hours along the way. Night in Las Vegas.

Day 10. Morning in Las Vegas and a relatively short drive toward Sequoia, stopping along the way (probably in Bakersfield) for the night.

Day 11. Arrive in Sequoia National Park. Stay at the Wuksachi Village.

Day 12. Hiking in Sequoia National Park. Second night in Wuksachi Village.

Day 13. Drive down into Kings Canyon. Stay at Cedar Grove Lodge.

Day 14. Second day in Kings Canyon.

Day 15. Arrive in Yosemite. Stay at the Wawona or Yosemite Lodge. The Ahwahnee is too expensive

Day 16. Yosemite.

Day 16. Yosemite.

Day 17. Day driving north. Late afternoon hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Spend the night either at Drakesbad Guest Ranch in Lassen Park or else get a room near Mt. Shasta, perhaps in Redding.

Day 18. Drive through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to the coast, and head north to Redwood National Park. Possibly stay at DeMartin Redwood Youth Hostel.

Day 19. A day in the Redwoods, and a second night in or near Redwood National Park.

Day 20. Morning in Crescent City, CA. Early afternoon stop at Oregon Caves National Monument. Drive to Crater Lake National Park and stay at Crater Lake Lodge.

Day 21. Day at Crater Lake National Park and second night at Crater Lake Lodge.

Day 22. Drive along the Cascades (through Bend, Oregon) to Government Camp, and stay at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

Day 23. Morning on Mount Hood. Afternoon drive to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Evening arrive at Paradise Inn in Mount Rainier National Park.

Day 24. Day in Mount Rainier National park. Second night in Paradise Inn.

Day 25. Drive to coastal rainforests near Olympic National Park. Night in Lake Quinault Lodge.

Day 26. Day for hiking and exploring rainforests. Second night in Lake Quinault Lodge.

Day 27. Hike in the Hoh Rainforest and along the coast at La Push. Night in Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort.

Day 28. Day at Sol Duc Hot Springs. Second night there.

Day 29. To Lake Crescent. Night at Lake Crescent Lodge.

Day 30. Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. Night in Port Townsend.

Day 31. Drive on State Highway 20 through North Cascades National Park. Spend the night along the Columbia River near Chelan.

Day 32. Take boat in the morning on Lake Chelan (from Chelan to the Stehekin Lodge). Night in Stehekin Lodge.

Day 33. Day in North Cascades. Second night in Stehekin Lodge.

Day 34. Ferry back to Chelan. Drive across northern Washington, spending the night in Republic or Curlew.

Day 35. Continue across Washington and the Idaho Panhandle to Glacier National Park in Montana. Spend the night in the Lake McDonald Lodge.

Day 36. Day in western Glacier National Park. Second night at Lake McDonald Lodge.

Day 37. Going to the Sun Highway. Night in Glacier Park Lodge.

Day 38. Morning in Glacier National Park. Afternoon drive south to Helena, Montana. Night in Helena.

Day 39. Continue south to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, stopping in Missouri Headwaters State Park along the way. Night in Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.

Day 40. Hiking around Mammoth Hot Springs. Second night in Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.

Day 41. See Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Continue to Old Faithful and stay at the Old Faithful Inn.

Day 42. Day to see Geysers. Second night at Old Faithful Inn.

Day 43. Geysers in the morning, and then drive to Yellowstone Lake. Stay in Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

Day 44. Day at Lake Yellowstone. Afternoon drive down to Grand Teton National Park. Stay there at Jackson Lake Lodge.

Day 45. Grand Teton National Park.

Day 46. Grand Teton National Park. Third night at Jackson Lake Lodge.

Day 47. Drive south on US-191 to Vernal, Utah.

Day 48. Morning visit to Dinosaur National Monument. Stop in Craig and Steamboat Springs on the way to Grand Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Night in Bighorn Lodge in Grand Lake.

Day 49. Rocky Mountain National Park. Stay at Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

Day 50. Second day in Rocky Mountain National Park. Second night at Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

Day 51. Denver Museum of Natural History, then drive east to Hays, Kansas.

Day 52. Visit museum in Hays. Then drive to St. Louis, stopping in Topeka and Kansas City along the way.

Day 53 Arrive home.