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StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColoradoLady

Tim, if you spot me... You and the missus, stop for a visit and if we aren't still driving ...a glass of wine. I'll be the Lil' ol' white haired lady with the blond Pomeranian. As we're all kindred spirits...I welcome meeting any and all AIRSTREAMERS along the way. (I hail from the south originally....bred with 'hospitality gene'.) HAPPY TRAILS, YA'LL! Hope to meet and make new friends in my journey! Evelyn.

Sounds great. We love our wine and southern hospitality. Our big red numbers are 1102.

StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bk Yd Safari

Be sure to visit Mount Rushmore at night for the Illumination Program. The burros at Custer will bite so be careful. Yellowstone is awesome!!! so many large animal encounters, but don't miss the Tetons while in the area. If you take the route to Arches and Mesa Verde be sure to see Monument Valley. Head south from Arches to Monument Valley then east to Mesa Verde. Be aware that if head east from Mesa Verde to Alamosa via US160 to get to I-70 in eastern CO you will cross Wolf Creek Pass at an elevation of almost 11,000ft and some grades over 6% on both sides of the pass. This highway has been improved in the last several years.
So many places to see and so little time...enjoy

Really look forward to rushmore at night. Thanks for the heads up on the route. Will be my first time towing at that elevation and those grades. Anything I can do or keep in mind to be prepared? We have an equalizer hitch and I feel like I have plenty of truck for my trailer.

Len n Jeanne · 05-19-2015, 01:44 PM

This sounds like a fun trip.

I don't know how you feel about driving in big city traffic towing a trailer, but there's lots of it in and around Denver and SLC.

If you are driving between SLC and Denver, however, you might well consider the national parks (Arches, Canyonlands) just south of I-70. But like the other national parks and their gateway communities, camping spots tend to fill up well in advance. If you want an RV site in or near Moab, I'd phone ahead ASAP. Arches NP will probably be booked up already. Otherwise, one of our favourite first-come, first-serve boondocking campgrounds is a BLM CG called Horse Thief, very close to the spectacular views of Dead Horse Point State Park. This CG is getting more and more discovered, however; but the BLM does allow overflow camping in the desert just beyond it. There is also first-come first served dispersed camping along the Colorado River east of Moab, but these sites are extremely popular with rafters, kayakers, &c.

If you take I-70 across central Utah, the scenery is breath-taking, but there truly are no services of any description between Salina and Green River-- a distance of something like 105 miles.

JBinKC · 05-19-2015, 02:20 PM

Shortest way from Salt Lake to Little Rock is 1,500 miles, across the fruited plain. Twenty four hours of driving at safe towing speeds. I usually take three days to do it but have done it in two because of a family emergency here at home. Check your tire pressure every single day before you tow your camper. You will be shocked at how low your tires will be after a cold mountain night.

Ray Eklund · 05-19-2015, 02:47 PM

Great tours on this thread! If you have a "bucket list" get it together from these posts.

While at Mount Rushmore, be sure to stop at the Crazy Horse Monument that is still a work in progress since 1948. Large parking lot and if you get there early you can park tow vehicle and trailer anywhere, as most visitors do not begin to show up until 10AM.

The Custer Battlefield near Crow Agency, Montana has an excellent Ranger Historian who makes the trip worthwhile. A bit out of the way, but everyone is familiar with this site.

dames7 · 05-19-2015, 04:55 PM

Hi, We will be in West Yellowstone and Colter Bay from July 6th to 18th.

Bk Yd Safari · 05-19-2015, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreamAholic

Really look forward to rushmore at night. Thanks for the heads up on the route. Will be my first time towing at that elevation and those grades. Anything I can do or keep in mind to be prepared? We have an equalizer hitch and I feel like I have plenty of truck for my trailer.

If your truck has a tow/haul mode on the transmission use it and let the transmission help with braking on the descents. Also keep an eye on the transmission temp.

If you want to avoid Wolf Creek Pass (great scenery) head south at Pagosa Springs for Santa Fe and further south I-40. Amarillo Ranch in Amarillo is an easy off and on and a good overnight stop. I-40 is very rough in OK especially around OK City.

sid42 · 05-19-2015, 06:28 PM

Sounds like a long trip in a fairly short time. Hope you don't get home more fatigued than when you left.

StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

This sounds like a fun trip.

I don't know how you feel about driving in big city traffic towing a trailer, but there's lots of it in and around Denver and SLC.

If you are driving between SLC and Denver, however, you might well consider the national parks (Arches, Canyonlands) just south of I-70. But like the other national parks and their gateway communities, camping spots tend to fill up well in advance. If you want an RV site in or near Moab, I'd phone ahead ASAP. Arches NP will probably be booked up already. Otherwise, one of our favourite first-come, first-serve boondocking campgrounds is a BLM CG called Horse Thief, very close to the spectacular views of Dead Horse Point State Park. This CG is getting more and more discovered, however; but the BLM does allow overflow camping in the desert just beyond it. There is also first-come first served dispersed camping along the Colorado River east of Moab, but these sites are extremely popular with rafters, kayakers, &c.

If you take I-70 across central Utah, the scenery is breath-taking, but there truly are no services of any description between Salina and Green River-- a distance of something like 105 miles.

Considering all of your suggestions. We still have a lot to decide.

StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBinKC

Shortest way from Salt Lake to Little Rock is 1,500 miles, across the fruited plain. Twenty four hours of driving at safe towing speeds. I usually take three days to do it but have done it in two because of a family emergency here at home. Check your tire pressure every single day before you tow your camper. You will be shocked at how low your tires will be after a cold mountain night.

Will be a fun drive home. HaHa

StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dames7

Hi, We will be in West Yellowstone and Colter Bay from July 6th to 18th.

We will be headed home July 5th. /-:

StreamAholic · 05-19-2015, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sid42

Sounds like a long trip in a fairly short time. Hope you don't get home more fatigued than when you left.

When we get home from several of our vacations we feel like we need a vacation! We love to take the Stream out every weekend for relaxation with a boat at a nice, quite, relaxing, big lake here in Arkansas. I can be at Degray lake in less than a hour with the Stream set-up and ready to relax! This trip is certainly more about seeing the sites than relaxation. My wife has a conference in Salt Lake this year. We usually fly to those conferences which are in different city's every year but seeing the road trip we could make out of it we decided to do that. I actually only have 5 days of vacation left but thankfully I work for a company that doesn't mind me taking more when my "numbers" are there but I don't want to push it. So not much we can do about it. Plus, you only live once right? I would rather push through this once in a lifetime instead of flying and missing all these great sights. I'm 29 and my wife is 33. It is a somewhat normal thing for us to drive 1,300 miles in 2 days. Most of those trips were following our Hogs around or other sporting events. We went to Houston, San Antonio, and Lubbock this football season. I know it is different while pulling a trailer but I think in 10 years we will be glad we did it. Only regret it if we don't.

TheOhioSean · 05-19-2015, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreamAholic

Thanks you for all of your insight on the route. I will definitely use your advice, I'll have it next to me in a completely map out our trip... We are leaving June 28th. Hopefully snow wont be too much of a factor?!

I don't expect there would be remaining seasonal closures that late in the season, but at higher elevations a bit of snow may be possible at any time of year. For example, I awoke one mid-June morning at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone to find a nice frosting of snow covering the ground. I'd been walking around in shorts and a tee shirt the previous day and into the evening. My experience as a tourist out west has been that a summer storm is seldom more than a bit of slow driving, or perhaps a few hours delay to wait for the storm to pass.

StreamAholic · 05-20-2015, 05:28 PM

Thank you all for the comments! Everyone in their own way has helped prepare us for a phenomenal trip!

PharmGeek · 05-20-2015, 08:16 PM

Good luck

I am planning our first "long trip" - hopefully 4 weeks - it will be in approximately 7-8 years when out kids will be at 10-12 years old.

They will be in school so summer break

I'll file this thread away as a reference

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

Wayne Clamp · 05-21-2015, 03:05 PM

Steam you gonna be driving a bunch for that time frame, but it's fun...yeppers it is, only suggest i would have to those i have seen would be to already have reservations booked where you plan to spend nights. As for the boondocking, not for me. Iffin it aint got electicity, water, and SEWAGE!!!!! it don't gots meeeeeee.

StreamAholic · 05-21-2015, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne Clamp

Steam you gonna be driving a bunch for that time frame, but it's fun...yeppers it is, only suggest i would have to those i have seen would be to already have reservations booked where you plan to spend nights. As for the boondocking, not for me. Iffin it aint got electicity, water, and SEWAGE!!!!! it don't gots meeeeeee.

So much to see in so little time! Will certainly be action packed! We have most reservations left. Just have to figure out where are first stop will be and where our last stop will be. We're not into the boondocking thing either!

TWA640316 · 05-21-2015, 08:32 PM

We are heading out to Glacier National Park in mid June, via Custer SP and Wind Cave National Park. We have it setup so we are not driving more then 400 miles any one day, too much driving and not enough seeing. Still need to plan the return trip, but not enough time to go through Yellowstone, we did that a few years back.
We went across Wolf Creek Pass westbound, last month going to The Grand Canyon, with my wife driving and no problems at all. Yes, it is a scenic drive, and I was able to see it all, not driving and all.

Stan

Landshark · 05-21-2015, 08:56 PM

Since we live in Idaho, our weekend and day trips have been to the Tetons and into Y'stone--it will be cold at night in the mountain west. Please bring layers of fleece or even ski jackets for the evenings and early mornings. You may not get snow, but it will be pretty cold, even so.

Have fun!

Vivian

StreamAholic · 05-21-2015, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landshark

Since we live in Idaho, our weekend and day trips have been to the Tetons and into Y'stone--it will be cold at night in the mountain west. Please bring layers of fleece or even ski jackets for the evenings and early mornings. You may not get snow, but it will be pretty cold, even so.

Have fun!

Vivian

You do every weekend what a lot of us call a trio of a life time! You have it figured out, my friend!

I'm sure we wouldn't have packed anything that heavy, thanks!