Current itinery- any comments?

We are planning a 2 week honeymoon from the southwest of Colorado to yellowstone for this July.

Day 1- (July 14)- fly into Durango, co

Day 2 %26amp; 3-(15 %26amp; 16)- Durango, Co. Do soaring tree top adventures, atv off-roading

Day 4-(17) drive to Colorado Springs, see pikes peak, Garden of the Gods, 7 Falls. Stay there

Day5-(18)Finish sights of Colorado Springs, travel RMNP. Stay either at Fort Collins or estes park.

Day 6-(19)Visit budwieser Brewery. Possibly stop at Cheyenne at rodeo.Drive towards Jackson. Stay ??

Day 7(20)- Stay in Jackson

Day 8 (21) Stay at Grand teton at Signal Mountain Lodge.

Day 9 (22) Stay at Lake yellowstone hotel.

Day 10 (23) Stay at Old Faithful Inn.

Day 11 (24) Stay at Canyon Lodge.

Day 12 (25) Stay at Mammoth Hot Springs.(Hot tub cabin!)

Day 13 (26) travel beartooth pass on to Billings. Stay at Billings.

Day 14 (27) Fly home.

Do I have too much packed into one trip? The days I am concerned with is after we leave Colorado Springs until we get to Jackson. Is there too much going on. How long is the drive from Cheyenne to Jackson? Could we do that in one day or is there a lot of sights to see that we don%26#39;t want to miss driving at night? We may interchange RMNP and the brewery. Thanks in advance!!

Current itinery- any comments?

What about visiting the Cody area? The museums are great and so is the shootout!!

Current itinery- any comments?

We are probably planning a day trip from Yellowstone to Cody. Or a possible trip into to Cody on our way to Billings.

Ims -- give me dates and I can give you specific help with the RMNP, Estes, Ft. Collins, Cheyenne section of your trip.

Yes, you can drive Cheyenne to Jackson in a day -- we usually plan that it is about 8 hours. There are things to see, but generally not much until you get halfway there.

Sounds good overall, but I agree about Cody museums and, perhaps, the shootout and rodeo.

I%26#39;d try to reduce your hassle inside YNP and see if you can get a cabin or rooms for two or more nights. Prefer Canyon and Lake, ourselves for their ';centrality';. I%26#39;d rather repeat drives than change rooms each day. Plus, each drive could turn up new wildlife, and new perspectives, as to when, i.e., what time, to return to, say, the rapids, the valleys, etc.

We will be in the Fort Collins/ RMNP area on July 18 and 19, 2008. Staying in the area the night of the 18th. Unsure of which area to stay in either Fort Collins or Estes Park.

The Brewery is a must so we need to be in fort Collins when it is open.

It makes more sense to me to go from Colorado Springs to RMNP then to the Brewery and then on to Cheyenne from what I can tell of the roads.

I%26#39;ll pick up as you leave Colorado Springs on Friday the 18th. Assuming good traffic, plan that the drive will take 3 1/2 hours. So at most you will have half a day for RMNP and Estes Park. It will take you a little over an hour to down to Ft. Collins.

If the brewery is a priority, the first tour starts at 9:30am (that is a little early to be sampling beers at the end of the tour!!). You could certainly stay the night in Estes and easily drive to Fort Collins for the first morning tour. The road down is fine, but it is a winding mountain road, as you follow the river down the mountainside. Cheyenne will be 45 min up the interstate from the brewery.

Saturday the 19th is the first day of the Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne (there will be a Friday night concert - Matchbox Twenty). That morning there will be a parade (starts at 9:30am) through the downtown streets. Parade will clear out about 11. Also Saturday morning there will be rodeo slack events (these are the excess rodeo entries that don%26#39;t fit into the 8 regular rodeo shows) that are free at the rodeo grounds.

The rodeo starts at 1pm and lasts until around 4:30. There is an Indian Village featuring periodic entertainment, exhibits, arts and crafts booths, and a few food stands which is free. Saturday and Sunday Rascal Flats will be the night show. Saturday night will be a big party night -- lots of different venues with good entertainment, lots of drinking and dancing.

If you want to stay in Cheyenne to enjoy some of the cowboy night life, you need to make plans immediately. This is the world%26#39;s largest outdoor rodeo and the town does fill up (also rates increase during this time).

If you decide to stop and enjoy some or all, but head off down the road, there are a few options. Casper is 3 hours on the interstate. Nothing much redeeming about it, but a lot of motel choices.

When we head to Yellowstone, we typically head off after work on a Friday from Cheyenne and drive to Thermopolis (5 hours). The hot springs are amazing and if you stay at the Holiday Inn, their indoor pool is heated by the hot springs. Take a quick tour around the hot springs park in the morning and it%26#39;s an easy and beautiful 4 hour drive on into Jackson.

As to moving from hotel to hotel in YNP, there is the hassle factor -- packing up every morning, and then having to check in. However, this is your magical trip and each of the locations have their magic. You will enjoy each and every one of them. Canyon may be the most centrally located, but it is my least favorite. Lake Hotel, Old Faithful and Mammouth (to a lesser degree) are grand journeys back to a different time.

I am so excited about your trip! Let me know if I can answer any questions or help in any way.

So from that, if I plan kind of backwards, we should stay in Thermopolis the night of the 19th. We plan on doing alot that day.

We have the option of going to the rodeo in Cheyenne or later in Cody. But from what I hear we are much better going to ';the daddy of %26#39;em all!';

So with that in account, we would like to go to the rodeo and then drive on to Thermopolis. Which would put us there about 9 or 10 at night.

Would it be out of the question to go to the brewery in the morning then on to the rodeo and be there (Cheyenne) around noon?

Is an hour at the brewery about enough time?

So, with that all in account, we might be better off driving late to Fort Collins and stayin there and getting a decent jump on the 19th.

I would definitely keep the drive over the Beartooth Mountains as part of your trip. This is one of the most scenic drives in America.

Ims, Thermopolis is where I would stay if I were you, the night of the 19th. It is an easy five hour drive – nothing difficult and nothing much to look at, except a lot of openness.

As to the rodeos, it would be like comparing a daily local golf tournament to the Masters. At the ';Daddy of %26#39;Em All'; you will see some of the best stock around and every top cowboy in the country will compete (as long as he’s healthy!). Plus the Wild Horse Race is something unique to Frontier Days and is something not be be missed (don’t leave early – it’s the last event!).

I just can’t remember how long the brewery tour was – you might call them. I’m guessing an hour, but it might have been a little longer. We spent some time looking at the Clydesdales and time sampling, as well. I suggest you get to Cheyenne by 11 or 11:30. Go to the Indian Village at the rodeo grounds and have Indian Tacos for lunch and view the arts %26amp; crafts booths, Indian teepees, and maybe catch a little entertainment. Then walk over to the rodeo grounds and carnival – this will give you time look at some of the vendors and take a look at the carnival.

After the rodeo, it will take you a while to get to your car (I live about a 10-15 min. walk to the rodeo grounds – I’ll let you park in my driveway, if you’d like). Other options are to park in paid parking at the rodeo grounds (very limited parking) or utilize the shuttle parking, but you have to wait for a shuttle to get to and from your car.

You could catch an early dinner – there is good BBQ up at the grounds, or hit the road and stop for dinner in Wheatland (1 hour from Cheyenne) or Douglas (2 hours). You likely won’t be to Thermopolis until 10:30 or maybe 11, unless you pick up fast food and eat in the car. If you think that’s too late, too much for a day – then spend the night in Casper (3 hours from Cheyenne) instead of driving on to Thermop.

OK- so after talking to my fiance we have decided, i hope, to leave Colorado Springs on the 18th hopefully around noon and go to the brewery. After our tour we are going to head to RMNP.

Since we will probably not have alot of time there, we are going to stay in Estes Park and if we want to go for a drive in the morning. (Since we will be in Yellowstone and Grand Teton for 5 days we can do more hiking and exploring then. I know this will only be a small taste!)

Then on the 19th we will head into Cheyenne for the day. And then on to Thermopolis.

Neither one of us minds the driving, we are like kids and can%26#39;t wait to get to where we are going so long road trips don%26#39;t bother us!

Would we be better to stay in Riverton than Thermopolis? Or did I hear correctly that Thermopolis has the best hot springs in the world? (Hot springs are on our to do list for this trip!) If its true we are willing to go out of our way for the springs!

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