My wife and I are beginning to plan a 3-4 week trip to the Northwest part of the US beginning in May or June of 2020. This will be our first trip that is more than 3 or 4 days.
I'll be 70, my wife 66 ... we are both in pretty good health but by no means are we athletic, so we won't be taking on any strenuous hiking or climbing. Maybe a bit of easy hiking, or kayaking in easy water, but mostly general sight-seeing. We will also most likely have 2 dogs with us.
We'll plan on getting to our starting point quickly. I plan on driving around 500 miles per day to get there (and to get home from Durango), but will slow down during the NW loop.
Our basic route (just the NW Loop) will be:
South Dakota (Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Black Hills) 2-3 days
Wyoming (Teton, Yellowstone) 3-4 days
Montana (Glacier NP) 1-2 days
Washington (Mt Ranier) 1-2 days
Oregon (Quincy, Bend) 2-3 days visiting friends
Utah (Canyonlands NP) 3-4 days
SW Colorado (Telluride, Durango) 3-4 days
Roughly 3200 miles not counting to/from E Tenn to starting/ending points.
So what am I missing out on?
Are there any places along our route that we absolutely should not miss?
Any really cool museums?
We'll mostly just be driving thru northern Idaho, western Washington, western Oregon, Southern Idaho, northern Utah? Are there any reasons to take a longer look in these areas?
How would you go about planning?
Are there any specific websites that make planning a trip like this easier?
Would you try to plan each stop, selecting specific campgrounds (making reservations if possible), or would you just wing it?
We'll probably prefer NP campgrounds.
How do you find campgrounds that are teardrop friendly?
We will be able to boondock.
So many questions ... Thanks in advance for your ideas.