A few statistics...

We spent 42 days in the USA, visited 11 states and covered 8,000 miles (which is the equivalent of the flight from the capital city of Alaska to Punta Arenas by the Strait of Magellan); six times we went over the continental divide, every day we covered (on average) 190 miles. It is a little less than we expected, which means that mileage computed by Google Maps is pretty accurate. With average gas mileage about 23.6 mpg we used 340 gallons of regular unleaded gas. Counting also the flights, we covered some 18,500 miles, which is about 3/4 of the Earth's perimeter.

We covered the biggest portion of the mileage in California (3,100 miles), which is the equivalent of the flight from Seattle to San Francisco and from San Francisco to New York, combined). We also spent most of the nights in California -- 18; followed by Colorado with 8 and Arizona with 5. We visited 18 national parks, 10 national monuments, 6 state parks and other monuments, and 7 big cities. We experienced 125 F in Death Valley and snowing in Rocky Mountain; we made it 12,000 feet above see level and 280 below; we survived violent storms in Badlands and dry deserts of California.

Our total cost reached 10,500 USD, from which the price for air tickets (4,700 USD) constitutes almost an half. Another big item was the auto rental (2,500 USD). We spent 970 USD for gas, 980 USD for food, 760 USD for accommodation, 200 USD for admissions, 170 USD for souvenirs, and 280 USD for other items (like camping gear). So the trip was less costly than I estimated in Fall, even though we payed twice as much for the SUV than I originally planned and also gas mileage was somehow worse. Total costs per day and person therefore averaged at 63.35 USD, air tickets included.

Should we choose our favorite park, it would probably be Great Sand Dunes because it is so unique (I wouldn't believe if I didn't see it) but also because it was far not crowded. Other highlights were Bryce Canyon, Badlands, Yosemite... there was no disappointment. The most pleasant surprise, however, was the American society, the way how people treated us (even strange people we met). I can hardly imagine such a trip in Europe.