Our Road Trip Stats- the Ultimate license plate game

Enjoying Mt Rainier National Park- located in our new home state 

We moved from Illinois to Washington State in June 2021. We utilized U-haul U-boxes and shipped our stuff out there, rather than drive it all in a van across the country. Max and I are not big road trippers- our typical limit is about 4-5 hours a person per day. When traveling long distances we usually try to fly. When you factor in the cost of gas, time to travel and prices of hotels, food etc we usually find that we save money or break even for the two us when comparing flying vs driving. This trip was different because we had to get a car out there so we had to drive. Also our stuff took 2 weeks to ship out to WA so we knew we had time to take it slow. 

Because we are big nerds we decided to play the ultimate license plate game. Before we left I created a sheet with all the states names on it. We knew that there was no way we could attempt to keep track of each and every license plate that we ever saw so we would only mark a state down if it was new that day.  On the sheet we had all 50 states listed and if we saw that state we would write the date next to its name. 

We did this entire trip just the two of us in our Toyota Corolla. It was packed to the brim and I spent alot of time planning each item that we would need to make this trip successful- essentially living out of a compact car. Most of the time we stayed at peoples houses or air bnb's but we did camp for 3 nights in North Dakota. 

Day 1- June 3. Springfield, Illinois- Brookfield, WI 

This was a big day for us- we closed on our house and we gave Max's car of 14 years to his brother. We stopped and stayed at my parents house.  

Total Miles: 278

Last picture in our first ever house- a bittersweet moment 

Last shot of the Springfield CWLP smoke stacks on my way out of town

The end of an era. Saying goodbye to the Saturn Ion.

Entering Wisconsin- my original home state. It will always have a place in my heart!

Day 2 June 4. Brookfield, WI- Menomonie, WI 

Total Miles: 259

I have extended family that live in Menomonie so we decided to visit because it had been at least two years (because of covid) since I had last seen them. 

Day 3 June 5 -Menomonie WI- Minneapolis MN 

Total Miles: 84

We visited with extended family for most of the day before traveling to Minneapolis, MN

Visiting with some of my extended family 

We couldn't get to the sign at the border- but this works too. Another beloved state of mine. I lived here for 3 years in college.

Day 4 June 6 -Minneapolis MN. 

Total Miles: 0

This day we visited with my friend Cody and went to Coon Lake on his boat. It was nice to relax and catch up. Cody and I have been friends for 10 years!

Day 5 June 7-Minneapolis MN- Medora, North Dakota- with a long stop in Fargo, ND 

This day will be forever one of our top ten craziest days ever. We closed on our house- they called us and told us that we had to stay in Fargo, ND until the notary person got off work for us to sign everything. We eventually made it to Medora, ND around 10pm and crossed into Mountain time zone. 

Total Miles: 563

                        

The North Dakota State Sign- right outside the Fargo Visitor Center 

The Woodchipper from the movie Fargo- I still have yet to see it 

Crossing into Mountain Time Zone!! (This picture was actually taken the next day- but we crossed it the day before officially) 

Day 6&7  June 8 & 9  Medora, ND

Total Miles: 0

We spent the days in Theodore Roosevelt National Park 

To see more of what we did click this link

https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/07/exploring-theodore-roosevelt-national.html

Day 8 June 10 Medora ND- Rapid City, SD

We went to Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse (kind of) and Custer State Park 

Total Miles: 235

 
Day 9 & 10 June 11 & 12 Rapid City, SD

We went to Badlands National Park 

Total Miles:0

 

Rapid City activities blogpost:

https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/07/visiting-western-south-dakota-mt.html

Badlands National Park Blogpost:

https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/07/badlands-national-park.html

Day 11 June 13 Rapid City, SD

We went to Wind Cave National Park 

Total Miles: 0

Wind Cave National Park Blogpost:

https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/07/wind-cave-national-park.html

Day 12 June 14-Rapid City SD,- somewhere Wyoming- Bozeman, MT

We stopped at Devils Tower National Monument before traveling onto Bozeman MT

Total Miles: 514

Devils Tower Blogpost: https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/07/devils-tower-national-monument.html

Day 13 & 14 June 15 &16 Bozeman, MT

June 15: We spent the day ziplining, whitewater rafting and hiking in the Gallatin River Canyon  

June 16: We explored downtown Bozeman and the Museum of the Rockies. 

Total Miles: 0

Bozeman MT Blogpost: https://craftytravelgirl.blogspot.com/2021/08/exploring-bozeman-montana.html

Day 15 June 17  Bozeman, MT- Puyallup, WA - OUR NEW HOME!

Of course our new state didn't have a sign or a visitor center that we could stop off at- trust me I tried to find one! 

Total miles: 741

Our new official time zone!!

We travelled through Idaho- this is where we crossed into Pacific Time zone and officially became PNW people!

Our new house- the day that we moved in. 

The entire route: 2604 miles straight through. Our speedometer read 3686 miles when we pulled into our house- but that includes day trips 

License Plate Stats 

So we were super pumped that we actually saw a license plate from every state. When we got home we made an excel spreadsheet from our paper. 

Most Commonly seen license plate 

Most commonly seen license plates:

- Minnesota 15/15 days 

-Indiana 14/15 days 

-Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado 13/15 days 

-Idaho, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota 12/15 days 

Least commonly seen: 

-West Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island 1/15 days 

-Hawaii (yes we were totally shocked) & Washington DC 2/15 days 

-Arkansas & Maryland 3/15 days 

-Alaska, Nevada, New Hampshire 4/15 days 

Days with the most license plates seen 

Highest variety days: 

June 10-39 different plates- This is because we went to Mt Rushmore and it is very popular  

June 12, & 14- 36 different plates- June 12- Badlands NP, June 14- Driving to Bozeman and Devils Tower 

June 17- 35 different plates- driving from Bozeman, Mt to Home

Least variety days:

June 5- 12 different plates- Menomonie to Minneapolis

June 6- 7 different plates- Boat day in Minneapolis 

Fun Facts about our road trip 

- We listened to the book "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss- we had been thinking about reading it after one of our favorite Youtubers recommended it to us. It took a little bit to get into but we really enjoyed it in the end. 

- Until we crossed the boarder to WA gas was cheaper in every state we travelled to than in Illinois 

- There was a massive heat wave going through the USA while we did this road trip. Every day  was 90 or more until the second to last day. 

- We watched Raya and the last dragon and started the Loki (Marvel) series