>>I most definitely want to hit the national parks, yea I know it's
>>going to be packed but the warm weather is the best time be there.
>>Mind you it would have been nicer to be there when it was sweater
>>weather but it will have to do. I could postpone the trip till the end
>>of July or August but it would be even hotter then.

Leave the week after Labor Day is my advice. September usually has great
weather and the holiday hoards are gone. Its my favourite time to travel. We
did a month long trip from Ontario to California and back last year starting
mid-September. It got chilly in October but we were visiting relatives in
Saskatchewan on the way home --- if you stayed South the weather would still
be good.

>>Did you ever have areas where there was no cell phone or internet
>>service?

We were often without cell service --- there is a lot of wide open space in
the Western states -- I'm talking Idaho/Montana/the Dakotas --- we took to
making phone calls during the day while going through or near cities. Very
often we'd camp for the night and find no cell service --- though we like it
as remote as possible :-)

Cheers,
Doug