Traveling north from New Mexico

[giatt]

Hello everyone,
In July we will start a road trip with our Classic 27FB. We will leave from Albuquerque, New Mexico and plan on traveling North then East to arrive in Long Island New York by mid August. Can anyone out there suggest some interesting routs to follow? My wife would like to see Mt. Rushmore on this trip but there is no specific time frame for this to happen. I appreciate any and all suggestions.
Dennis

[Luigi123]

We are from the Black Hills area, can make some tourist type suggestions for you in the Black hills--first one is to make RV reservations now. Also, there will be 400,000 motorcycles in that area for the Sturgis rally sometime early to mid August. A nice Camp ground on the interstate is outside on Hill City where you can launch in may directions, besides, Hill City is a funky town on 385 the back bone of the Hills. Give a shout, I have several magazines maps of the area. We participated in the Surgis rally for 35 years, now just putt around here local.

[giatt]

Thanks Luigi,
We'll look into the Hill City campground shortly. I see you are a 3 Rivet Member and, at one time, from Las Alamos. Any suggestions for interesting routes to take to eventually get to Hill City?

[nilesrob]

If you go by way of the Black Hills, I might suggest a more northerly route that takes you across the Upper Peninsula (UP) in Michigan. Really gorgeous area, relatively new to us since our son started college there. Stay in Houghton (there is a city campground there that is right on the river), visit the Keweenaw Peninsula (Copper Harbor), head east and see Picture Rocks... I mean the entire area is beautiful - these are just landmarks.

As you approach Long Island, one of our favorite "campgrounds" is Liberty Harbor Marina, which is in Jersey City (NJ), maybe serves as a final staging area before your trip onto Long Island. While it is essentially a parking lot (it is after all a marina primarily), the location is line of sight to the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. Simply gorgeous views, and provides an EASY way to get into NYC for a day if you are so inclined (boat ferries leave right from the marina).

[nilesrob]

A couple of quick pics... the first near Copper Harbor on the UP, another looking down at Picture Rocks, our views from Liberty Harbor (the view to the Statue of Liberty has my roof rack in the foreground, so that picture was from our site).

[giatt]

Thanks Brad,
Great suggestions. We will probably be at the Airstream Convention in Gilette in June so your suggestion for the upper peninsula is great. We will probably go to the Liberty Harbor Marina as we leave Long Island and head toward Florida for the winter.
Dennis

[Beer Snob]

We split time between Durango, Colorado and East Hampton, Long Island although we have yet to get the Airstream much further west than The Hill Country West of Austin, Tx. The drive north from ABQ to Durango is one of our favorites. We also love to keep heading north through Durango and on to Silverton and Ouray. Moab is nice too.
As for the Island there is great boondock beach camping on a first come- first served basis at Montauk County park at the very eastern end of Long Island. Hither Hills is on the ocean but books solid and can be really tough to get in. Cedar Point Park in East Hampton is nice but has no electric. How far out Long Island do you plan to go?

[Luigi123]

Hey DennisL, when I mentioned Hill City, that should have said, "Deadwood" off interstate 90. We often travel up 285 up to Denver, over to highway 76 to Fort Sterling, north to Sidney, Nebraska, then highway 385 north through Nebraska, on into South Dakota, which will eventually weave you through Hot Springs, Hilii City, Crazy Horse Monument, Mt Rushmore , Deadwood, then out to interstate 90 where you can pick up the camp ground. You could easily spend three days there. By the way, I still live in Los Alamos, NM.