QotD: Best Road Trip Ever

What was your favorite road-trip of all time? 
Submitted by bodhibound. 

Sean says...

The road trip that sticks out most in my memory was one that I took from Las Vegas to San Franciso two weeks before 9/11.  The person I was seeing at the time and I planned a 14 day trip that started with a few days in "Sin City;" visited Death Valley National Park (NP), Manzanar National Historic Site, Mono Lake, Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP, Pinnacles National Monument, San Francisco, Muir Woods National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Ano Nuevo California State Reserve.  Whew!  But that trip stands out because of the miles and the things we saw. I will never forget the paper cranes at Manzanar; the elephant seals of Ano Nuevo; the Jefferson Tree at the top of Sentinel Peak; a cave I crawled through at Pinnacles; the Sequoia and Redwoods I stood beneath; the beauty of the desert; the brine flies of Mono Lake; and the fog at Point Reyes that you could cut through like in a cartoon.

Another road trip I will always remember was in 1996.  My friends Mark, Jodi, and I were driving from Helena, MT to Chico Hot Springs, MT for a weekend long celebration of our efforts in the just ended general election. We didn't do very well in the election that year but we needed the closure. Mark wasn't involved like Jodi and I in the election but came along for the ride as he had many times before. What I remember from that 5 hour drive was great laughter, incredible mix tapes, a few irresponsible swigs of beer, and a sunset on the road from Townsend to Three Forks that was stunning.  Later in the weekend, Mark continued our search for the best chicken fried steak in Montana and found a great contender in Gardiner. I hear from Mark now and again and have lost track of Jodi, but they are always frozen in my mind driving in my 1992 Toyota Corolla.