Every great road trip has its own rituals.
For my friend Julie’s family, that meant playing the license plate game with Olympic-level competitiveness, asking each other thoughtful questions from conversation cards, and inventing little traditions that kept everyone laughing along the way.
One of their favorites? Whenever someone yelled “Bison!”, everyone had to stop what they were doing and gather for a family photo.
And when they reached the halfway point of a long drive, they would blast Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” As soon as the chorus hit — “Whoa, we’re halfway there…” — everyone sang along at full volume (plus, there was no need for anyone to ask, “Are we there yet?!”).
Those rituals became part of an unforgettable two-week adventure through Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Park, where Julie, her husband, and their three daughters spent their days hiking, spotting wildlife, swimming in alpine lakes, and soaking in Montana hot springs.
And somewhere between the geysers of Yellowstone, the alpine lakes of the Tetons, and the glaciers of northern Montana, Julie realized something: the most meaningful moments of the trip weren’t the famous viewpoints.
They were the hours spent together in the car.
🎧 Click on the above audio link to listen to our podcast interview on Substack, or find and listen to “The Gomes Guide Travel Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
The Road Trip at a Glance
Duration: Two weeks
Route: Seattle → Yellowstone → Grand Teton → Glacier → Eastern Washington
Travel Style: Road trip with three kids (including two teens)
Highlights: Wildlife sightings, alpine lake swims, glamping, hot springs, and a daily Bon Jovi sing-along
🗺️ How Julie Planned the Trip (A Very Gen-X Approach)
Planning a national parks road trip takes some strategy — especially during peak summer travel.
Julie started the old-school way: with physical maps.
She ordered National Geographic maps of the parks and spread them across the table, highlighting routes and sketching out potential itineraries.
“Once I got the physical maps out, that’s when everything started coming together.”
From there, she gathered recommendations from friends, travel blogs, and locals and dumped everything into a Google Doc.
Once the plan started taking shape, she simplified the itinerary and moved it into a shared Notes app on her phone so the whole family could easily see what the plan was each day.
“The kids could just check the Notes app and see what we were doing that day. And I could add notes as we went.”
It became their living travel guide — part itinerary, part travel diary.
And with that plan in place, the family hit the road.
⛺Unique Places They Stayed
Julie intentionally chose three different types of lodging, giving each stop on the trip its own personality.
Glamping outside Yellowstone
Their first stop was glamping in West Yellowstone, where the family stayed in a large canvas tent with real beds and breakfast included.
“It felt adventurous, but we still had real beds — which was key for us.”
A cozy hotel near the Tetons
Next, they stayed in Victor, Idaho, just outside Jackson Hole while visiting Grand Teton National Park.
The hotel had a pool, laundry, and easy access to restaurants — something the kids especially appreciated after long days of hiking.
A HomeExchange in Whitefish
Their final stop was a HomeExchange house in Whitefish, Montana, near Glacier National Park.
The home had a backyard fire pit and space for everyone to spread out, making it the perfect place to land for the Fourth of July.
“After being on the road, it felt amazing to be in a home where everyone had their own room.”
🏞️ Yellowstone: America’s First National Park Still Delivers
Julie admits she arrived expecting Yellowstone to feel crowded and overly commercial.
Instead, she was blown away.
“I expected Yellowstone to feel like Disneyland. But it’s so vast that you can really find your own space.”
The park is so vast that you can easily explore different landscapes in a single day—from geysers and thermal pools to waterfalls and canyons.
Her biggest tip: divide the park into the North Loop and South Loop and explore one each day.
Highlights included:
Old Faithful
Grand Prismatic Spring
Mammoth Hot Springs
Artist Point and Lower Falls
Elk sightings throughout the park
🦬 Grand Teton: The Most Meaningful Moment
For Julie’s family, the most emotional moment of the entire trip happened in Grand Teton National Park.
After hiking through wildflowers to Phelps Lake in the Rockefeller Preserve, the whole family jumped into the icy alpine water together.
“We all held hands and jumped into the lake at the same time. My youngest said, ‘I can’t believe we’re all here together.’ I’ll remember that forever.”
The Tetons also delivered incredible wildlife sightings, including herds of bison and baby bison grazing across the valley.
🐏 Glacier National Park: Wildlife Everywhere
Their final stop was Glacier National Park.
The family drove the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of the most scenic drives in North America, and hiked near Logan Pass.
Wildlife sightings included:
Rocky Mountain goats
Bighorn sheep
Black bear
A distant grizzly bear
There was even snow still on the trails.
“At one point we were hiking across snowfields while my youngest was wearing Crocs.”
💧A Stop Worth Planning: Chico Hot Springs
One of the most memorable stops came between parks.
While traveling from the Tetons toward Glacier, the family stopped at Chico Hot Springs, a historic Montana hot springs resort.
After dinner in the town’s western-style saloon, they soaked in warm mineral pools under the stars.
“You’re swimming in warm water, looking up at the stars. It was such a cool experience.”
🌟 Julie’s Top Tips for a National Parks Road Trip
1. Book reservations early
Park passes, lodging, and timed-entry reservations can fill up months in advance.
2. Visit the ranger station every morning
Rangers can recommend the best hikes and help you avoid crowds.
3. Pack a cooler for lunch
Having your own food gives you flexibility during long days in the parks.
4. Plan activities for car time
Games, questions, and music help turn long drives into part of the adventure.
5. Give teens ownership
Let them navigate, track mileage, or help choose activities.
“When teens have ownership, they feel like part of the adventure.”
♥️ The Little Moments That Matter Most
National parks are famous for their landscapes.
But what Julie remembers most isn’t just the scenery.
It’s the time together — the hikes, the conversations, the ridiculous sing-alongs, and the spontaneous moments that happened along the way.
“When you have teenagers, everyone’s busy and you don’t always see each other much. Those hours in the car turned out to be the most special part of the trip.”
Between wildlife sightings, alpine lakes, hot springs, and Bon Jovi sing-alongs, it was the kind of adventure families remember forever.
If stories like this make you want to start planning your own adventure, that’s exactly why I write The Gomes Guide.
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Meet Julietta Skoog
Julietta Skoog caught the travel bug at the age of 17 when she traveled solo to La Coruna, Spain to live with an exchange family who spoke only Spanish for a summer. Since then, she has studied and traveled abroad to over 25 countries. She lives in Seattle with the love of her life, Jon, and their three sporty and fun kids, two of whom are in local, public Japanese immersion schools in their awesome Wallingford neighborhood.
Professionally, Julietta is a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer with an Ed.S Degree in School Psychology and a Masters Degree in School Counseling with over 20 years of experience coaching families in Seattle Public Schools and homes all over the world. She is the Early Years Lead and co-founder of Sproutable, which offers grown ups the tools, systems and strategies they need to cultivate powerful relationships, teach social-emotional skills, and set healthy limits and boundaries with all kids, from babies to teens. She draws from her real life practical experience working with thousands of students with a variety of needs and her own three children when coaching parents, bringing a unique ability to translate research, child development and Positive Discipline principles into everyday solutions. She is passionate about using travel as an opportunity to teach kids critical life skills that help them reach their full potential to cultivate a more compassionate world.
Follow Sproutable on Instagram here.
Wishing you safe and memorable travels always,
