Originally, we had planned to go to Spain for our
honeymoon. This was sometime before the
reality of how much a wedding really costs set in. For some time, I had been playing around with
the idea of going on a road trip to some of the National Parks, but hadn’t mentioned
it to Nick. We had both talked about a
desire to see the National Parks, but never as part of our honeymoon. Then, Nick brought it up to me. We figured that if we’d both thought of the
idea separately, then it must be a good one.
Honestly, we won’t be spending much (if any) less money than if we’d
gone to Spain, but it feels like an entirely more appropriate Honeymoon. Spain is a place we’d like to go with Nick’s
family, and as his sister Julianna pointed out to us, we were not allowed to
take family on our honeymoon. Also, we’ll
get to be gone for much longer than we would if we’d had gone to Spain, hence
the title of this blog post.
Our plan is to rent a Westfalia or Eurovan from either
Westfalia Rentals out of Victoria, BC or from Road Trip Oregon out of
Portland. So far, Road Trip Oregon looks
like the more promising rental company, since we haven’t been able to get a
hold of anyone at Westfalia Rentals.
While Oregon Road Trips is slightly more expensive, they also provide
more amenities within their vans. Another
fact drawing us towards the Oregon company is that we’re due to be back in
Portland towards the end of our trip for a dear friend’s wedding, so it may
turn out to be the best bet after all. During
peak season, Road Trip Oregon charges $1155 per week for a three week rental,
and their vans get about 20 miles to the gallon. While this is not cheap, it is a pretty good
deal compared to other types of RV rentals.
Let’s just say that Nick and I are hoping people will notice that we
only have a honeymoon registry...
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| Eurovan from Oregon Road Trips |
We will stay at campgrounds along the way, and maybe inside
some of the parks, but we will also be staying in hotels. I know that we will both want a big comfy bed
and a nice shower once in a while. We’re
also going to balance camp food with food out.
We both want a comfortable and relaxing honeymoon. And we like traveling together, so we’re
pretty confident in the length and manner of our trip.
As far as our route goes, we’re not limiting ourselves to
National Parks exclusively. We’d like to
stop at/in Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Las Vegas (which is its own sort of park), The
Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, possibly Lake Powel, Yellowstone, and possibly
Glacier National Park. We’re not sure
which direction we’ll head first, but do know that we will keep to the general
loop these locations create. We had
talked about stopping at places like Joshua Tree and the Salton Sea, but they’re
just too far out of the way.
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| Merced River, Yosemite; Mather Point, Grand Canyon; Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone - via Sunset Magazine |
We’d really
love to hear feedback from people who have been to these places, and places nearby. Where are good places to stay, both
campgrounds and hotels? What places
should we stop at in between? Are there
parks we should stay at longer than others?
Is there anything we should skip?
Share your experience with us! If
you had to pick half of the locations we’re planning to go to, which ones would
you pick and why? OR if you don't have suggestion, tell us a story about your trip to one of these places!
