Planning a 20 day trip in July out west with the truck and camper. Figured out I can't use google maps very well since the roads in Yellowstone are closed currently. Bing lets me so I'm planning with it. Some KOA stops for the kids, Some boondocking, Some state parks, and a visit to my Mom. Should be a good time. Full truck with the Wife, 4 boys and little dog. May have to stop and see BioBurner's 6 door while I am at it.

Here is a link to the proposed route: https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=2710d...=2&form=S00027

We have cut some things out and replaced others and think we have something solid. Must do's are Tucson/ Grand canyon then need to be In Yankton Sd a week later. Yellowstone could be dropped if needed.

Overview picture



I have driven to Tucson a few times but have always went down to St Louis then 44 to 40 to Albuquerque trying something new.

Leaving from work and will stop somewhere for a nap along the way to Tucumcari.

Off to Tucson to stop at my Moms so she can see us and the kids Might stop for another night between Tucumcari and Tucson if we will be getting into town too late.

Spend a few days at her house in Tucson.

She is following us up to camp at Williams. See the grand canyon, ride go-carts, go swimming, play on the playground. Basically let he be Grandma. The boys will be 9,7,2, and 1. The 9 and 7 year olds were 5 and 3 when we met so this is the first time with little ones. She will drive back home from here.



Heading to Koosharem Reservoir for a night boondockinng by the lake. just a place to sleep on the way.






Heading towards Salt Lake City on way to Yellowstone.



Boondocking by a lake west of West Yellowstone. See old faithful and a tiny bit of Yellowstone. then move on to Cody.



Cody to Tongue River Reservoir State Park. May need to drop down to 16 then go north or eliminate this stop. I have heard mixed things about this route.




Koa at Mt Rushmore for a few days. Waterslide, Pool etc.



Then off to Yankton SD for a family reunion and headed home.

 

Also Really looking forward to see how the truck performs. Planning on running a few different tunes. Toyhauler will be empty as far as motorized toys go. Just bicycles and stroller. Water tanks will always have a little in them but will not fill until leaving the Grand Canyon for the boondocking then empty again. I need to measure all the tanks and calculate the capacity. I have not had any luck finding information on the trailer. It is a 2002 Forest River All American Sport 36CKSS.

 

The last time we went from GA to Seattle we were out for 45 days... Enjoy it, that is all you can do.

 

Word of caution...schools out, families like yourself out vacationing. Lots of people out. Have 2 or 3 places as a backup plan for your boondock spots. Locals like to leave their rv's parked in NF areas for loooooong periods of time. Just isn't enough enforcement of the posted stay limits.

Have fun and you might need a vacation for your vacation.

 

sounds like a great trip, we try to do long trips if possible and going cross country is always on the agenda.


I run with a full tank (100 gal) of fresh water. Often the water is not too tasty so we will run the fresh water tank when needed.


We have also been to a few places over the years where the water system went out.

 

Thanks. Both places have other options nearby but I am concerned about it a little. The one that you sent I will drive by on the way to the lake so that would be an excellent back up.

 

Good point. I'll leave my house full. I was hoping to eliminate a little pin weight since the garage will be 1000 pounds lighter than normal.

 

If you get to the busy places on Friday- Monday it is a little harder but not the end ofthe world with a back up plan.

 

Are there any low bridges or tunnels?

 

Great question. Any ideas of how to check this? When going to a specific place I will look at the destination and the immediate area with aerial view but that is a little bit much for 4300 mile route. I did stumble on a tunnel on us 20 west of Cody WY but have not been able to verify the height. I think it is good as it seems to be a very popular route and I could not find a posted height. (I know very bad to assume) Part of the reason I'm asking hoping for some first hand knowledge.

Tour bus for scale lol no signage on either end.

 

We did a trip from MI to Raleigh, NC. I used this website to plan my trip/stops.

https://www.rvtripwizard.com/

They do have an annual subscription fee, but its pretty cheap. You define the size of your rig, and it has all the low clearances, etc and wont route you through known unpassable bridges.. Also has many other planning options, like fuel stops, etc.

 

For bridges and tunnels just look at a trucker atlas. If it's a "short cut" way look at the dot web site for particular route. Some routes can be seen on google street view plus googling the rt#, searching rv boards for routes. Sometimes there is a lot of homework involved from becoming a star on utube because of error.

 

THANKS for this! We are planning a spring trip from Michigan to Florida, spending nine days DC area on the return trip. This will be extremely helpful.

 

Actually you might GAIN pin weight as with nothing in the garage there nothing to counterbalance the front pin.

 

YW. I should add that I used this tool to determine where to find my nightly stops along the way. The tool has min-med-max driving ranges that you setup, and then on the map, shows as big circles. You then choose your layovers that make sense, etc. You can select which type of poi's show up on the map, CG's, Walmarts, fuel stops, etc.

It does have the ability to load the routes to GPS, and for Garmin, it actually worked out well, as it only loaded the stops as user POI's. On the actual trip then I just set the next POI as my destination for the day, and it usually routed the same as what the tool did. I also travel with a Garmin DezlCam trucker GPS that also takes rig size and computes your route to avoid low clearances.

I only use the GPS when travelling somewhere I havent been, so that I dont get down a path I dont want to be...