The Great American Oddity Tour

The longest day of the trip, on purpose. Get into the Heartland and your family knows the vacation has started. City Museum is the destination, not the drive.

1. 1

   Buc-ee's, Calhoun GA

   Mile 70 · Stretch / break

   Day-one Buc-ee's is non-negotiable. Brisket sandwich, bathroom-of-bathrooms, jerky wall, you're set for the long haul.

   ↓485 mi · 6h 59m to next stop

2. 

   2

   City Museum →

   Mile 555 · You arrive!

   Museum in St. Louis, Missouri

   Pull into St. Louis around 4 PM, drop bags, head straight to City Museum. An abandoned shoe factory turned into a five-story climbable rebar sculpture with a real Boeing fuselage on the roof. Wear long pants. Plan three hours.

Sleep at: St. Louis, MO (any downtown hotel — Magnolia, Drury Plaza, Hampton)

The Heartland day. Ted Drewes for the road, the Corn Palace for the soul, an Embassy Suites in Mitchell.

1. 

   1

   Ted Drewes Frozen Custard →

   Mile 10 · Stretch / break

   Walk-up window on old Route 66, since 1929. Get a concrete — they hand it to you upside down to prove it doesn't fall out. Hawaiian flavor. Breakfast doesn't count if it's frozen.

   ↓570 mi · 8h 51m to next stop

2. 

   2

   World's Only Corn Palace →

   Mile 580 · You arrive!

   Multi-purpose venue in Mitchell, South Dakota

   Roll into Mitchell, SD by dinner. The Corn Palace exterior murals are redone each year entirely in dyed corn cobs — the 2026 design honors America's 250th. Free to enter. Photo from across the street.

Sleep at: Mitchell, SD (Hampton Inn or Comfort Suites Mitchell)

South Dakota's greatest hits. Wall Drug at lunch, the Mt. Rushmore photo, sleep in Custer or Rapid City.

1. 

   1

   Wall Drug Store →

   Mile 270 · Stretch / break

   Tourist attraction and shopping mall in Wall, South Dakota

   76,000 square feet of shops, animatronic dinosaurs, jackalopes, and donuts that are genuinely good. Free ice water is still free. Two hours minimum. You'll spend three.

   ↓70 mi · 1h 10m to next stop

2. 

   2

   Mt. Rushmore National Memorial →

   Mile 340 · Stretch / break

   Mountain with U.S. presidential sculptures

   It's smaller than you think. It's also Mt. Rushmore. 20-minute walk, mandatory photo, ice cream from the gift shop made with Thomas Jefferson's actual recipe (true story).

   ↓20 mi · 20m to next stop

3. 3

   Custer State Park area

   Mile 360 · Overnight

   Sleep in or near Custer. Sylvan Lake Lodge if you book a year ahead; Bavarian Inn or a Hampton in Rapid City if you didn't. Bison may walk past your car in the morning.

Sleep at: Custer or Rapid City, SD

The Carhenge day. A 30-mile detour off the route turns into the photo on the Christmas card. Sleep in Cody at the gateway to Yellowstone.

1. 

   1

   Carhenge →

   Mile 120 · Stretch / break

   Sculpture in Nebraska made from motor cars

   Stonehenge, made of thirty-nine gray-painted American cars in the middle of a Nebraska wheat field. Free, no entrance gate, visitor center seasonal. Walk the perimeter, take the photo, get back on the road. Twenty-minute stop.

   ↓290 mi · 4h 57m to next stop

2. 2

   Cody, WY (Yellowstone east entrance)

   Mile 410 · Overnight

   Cody is the cowboy-town gateway to Yellowstone. The Irma Hotel (Buffalo Bill's own) is a real piece of history. Reserve a Yellowstone entrance time for tomorrow morning before you sleep.

Sleep at: Cody, WY

Inside Yellowstone all day. Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, bison in the road. The hardest day to plan, the easiest day to remember.

1. 1

   Old Faithful Geyser

   Mile 100 · Stretch / break

   Check the predicted eruption time at the visitor center, get there 15 minutes early, find a bench. ~90-minute cycle. Inn lobby is genuinely beautiful — eat lunch inside if you can swing it.

   ↓10 mi · 17m to next stop

2. 2

   Grand Prismatic Spring

   Mile 110 · Stretch / break

   Park at Fairy Falls trailhead and walk the half-mile uphill for the OVERHEAD view, not the boardwalk. The boardwalk view is fogged out by spring steam half the time. The hill view is the postcard.

   ↓140 mi · 3h 55m to next stop

3. 3

   Mammoth Hot Springs (sleep)

   Mile 250 · Overnight

   Stay inside the park if you can — book Old Faithful Inn or Mammoth Hotel a year out. Otherwise West Yellowstone is the second-best option, 14 miles from the West Entrance.

Sleep at: Yellowstone National Park (in-park) or West Yellowstone, MT

Decompression day. The Tetons on your way out, lunch in Jackson, sleep in Salt Lake. Hardest day on the calendar but the easiest stops of the trip.

1. 1

   Grand Teton National Park (drive-through)

   Mile 90 · Stretch / break

   Pull into Jackson Lake Lodge for the famous mountain-window lobby photo. 15-minute stop, photo, back on the road. The Tetons are the most photogenic mountains in America and you can drive past them in under two hours.

   ↓20 mi · 23m to next stop

2. 2

   Lunch in Jackson, WY

   Mile 110 · Stretch / break

   Walk Town Square — the antler arches are the photo. Eat at Persephone Bakery or Pinky G's Pizzeria. Touristy, charming, fine. Get back on the road by 2 PM.

   ↓210 mi · 3h 56m to next stop

3. 3

   Salt Lake City (sleep)

   Mile 320 · Overnight

   Any hotel downtown works. Temple Square at sunset if you've got energy left, otherwise pool + dinner + early to bed because tomorrow is Zion.

Sleep at: Salt Lake City, UT

The big-red-rocks day. Zion in the morning (shuttle in, hike out by lunch), Grand Canyon by sunset. The hardest day to do; you might split this in two if you have the time.

1. 

   1

   Zion National Park →

   Mile 300 · Stretch / break

   National park in Utah, United States

   Drive into Springdale, park at the visitor center, take the shuttle in. Easy hike: Riverside Walk (1 mile, paved). Harder hike: The Narrows if you brought water shoes. Out by 1 PM.

   ↓140 mi · 2h 33m to next stop

2. 

   2

   Grand Canyon (South Rim) — Mather Point at sunset →

   Mile 440 · You arrive!

   National park in Arizona, United States

   Pull into Grand Canyon Village around 6 PM. Mather Point is a 5-minute walk from the visitor center and is the sunset photo. If you sleep in the park (El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge), you'll be up for sunrise too — book a year ahead.

Sleep at: Grand Canyon Village (in-park) or Tusayan, AZ

Down off the high country, onto Route 66 and I-10. Two roadside icons in one day. Sleep in Tucson.

1. 

   1

   Wigwam Motel #6, Holbrook AZ (photo stop) →

   Mile 180 · Stretch / break

   United States historic place

   Sleep in a concrete teepee on Route 66. Or — if you didn't book a year ahead — just pull in for the photo with the vintage cars permanently parked out front. Five-minute stop. The neon at night is the bonus.

   ↓220 mi · 3h 40m to next stop

2. 

   2

   The Thing? →

   Mile 400 · Stretch / break

   After 200 'WHAT IS THE THING?' billboards on I-10, you pay your five bucks. Walk through a climate-controlled museum of dinosaurs and aliens. See The Thing. We are not allowed to tell you what The Thing is. The five dollars is correct.

   ↓80 mi · 1h 20m to next stop

3. 3

   Tucson (sleep)

   Mile 480 · Overnight

   Any hotel near downtown or off I-10. Eat at El Charro Café — the country's oldest continuously-run Mexican restaurant, founded 1922. Sleep early; tomorrow's a hot one.

Sleep at: Tucson, AZ

The desert miracle day. Salvation Mountain at lunch, Joshua Tree by 4, Santa Monica pier by sunset. A LOT of driving but no day on this trip beats it for photos.

1. 

   1

   Salvation Mountain →

   Mile 350 · Stretch / break

   California hillside visionary environment

   Three stories of hand-painted adobe in the California desert, built by Leonard Knight over 28 years. Free, hot, no facilities. Bring water. Photographer's dream. Donation suggested if you want to leave one.

   ↓70 mi · 1h 19m to next stop

2. 

   2

   Joshua Tree National Park (drive-through) →

   Mile 420 · Stretch / break

   National park in California, United States

   Enter the south entrance (Cottonwood), drive 35 miles north out the west entrance. Stop at Skull Rock — five-minute walk, automatic photo. The boulder piles look like something a giant kid stacked.

   ↓60 mi · 1h 8m to next stop

3. 

   3

   Santa Monica Pier →

   Mile 480 · You arrive!

   Pier in Santa Monica, California, United States

   Roll into Santa Monica around sunset. Park, walk the pier, watch the sun drop into the Pacific. You've just crossed the country. Pier-end carnival rides if you've got the kids.

Sleep at: Santa Monica or West LA

The last day. PCH-1 north along the coast to Santa Cruz. One last weird stop. Then it's up to you — drive home (~3 days back) or fly out of SFO/SJC.

1. 

   1

   Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz →

   Mile 350 · Stretch / break

   Tourist attraction in Santa Cruz, California

   A guided 40-minute tour of a tilted cabin where balls roll uphill and your brain politely loses the argument. Open since 1940. $10 per person. Reserve a tour slot in summer.

   ↓10 mi · 10m to next stop

2. 2

   Santa Cruz boardwalk (and you're done!)

   Mile 360 · You arrive!

   Final-night dinner on the boardwalk. The Giant Dipper roller coaster is from 1924. Fly out of San Jose or San Francisco tomorrow, or start the long drive home. You've earned the rental-car upgrade either way.

Sleep at: Santa Cruz, CA (or your flight home)