Trip of a Lifetime Advice

[BlairHunt]

Hello everyone,

Ive posted here a couple of times for some advice on this or that and the responses were always really good. So I'm throwing out a huge question.

The house was sold last summer, the 'Airsteam Sport' was bought and after living in the Sport 22' through the coldest, snowiest West coast winter in decades the road trip will soon begin.

Looking for tips for things to do, sights to see and advice on national/state parks and boondocking locations. Our overall plan is departing from Vancouver Island travelling the west coast of the USA to San-Diego heading north east to Colorado maybe Wyoming (Jackson Hole). Then we will rolling south east to New Orleans and up through Auburn, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago. After all these Miles (km's) the weary travellers will head due West to Portland then turn North back home into Canada.

This is obviously too big a request for simple answers... I'll be posting and asking questions in various forums now and on the road. We're budgeting about 3 months for the total trip. The emphasis for the first half (Canada-Colorado) will be the coast and using our skis, mountain bikes and surfboards. We will certainly be looking for music, food and sightseeing during the first segment, but, live music, sports and the more 'traditional' road trip activities will be reserved for NOLA, Nash, Chi and home.


maybe some NHL playoffs somewhere? Cubs Game? Food? Music? NCAA sports? Biking, surfing? 4 corners? Grand Canyon, Yosemite, canon beach.... Also any solid tips on RV deanships or auto mechanics would be greatly appreciated since maintenance will have to be carried out with the high mileage of our trip.


Again I know this a huge and broad request.... Its just the beginning of funnelling and sorting all the available info.

Thanks so much,
Blair

P.S. 'We' is myself (Blair), Jamie and sweet lamb dressed as a Rottweiler, Myah
Pics of our winter and trip will posted regularily for sure. We're excited to see such an active community surrounding Airstream and the people who drag them.

[tevake]

Having been watching the PNW weather closely ( part of me wants to move up that way) it is quite the weather you are having now!
My suggestion is to hook up that trailer the next time they plow the roads and head south. Right on past my northern Az location, down to where it's warm and sunny.

You will be more able to do some trip planning once you thaw out.
There is a lot of winter left yet.

All the best on your trip of a lifetime!

Cheers Richard

[Piggy Bank]

How fun.

My only advice would be that the US is vast and destinations are usually a very long way apart, with a lot of void sometimes in between. Meaning that your reason for being there (in a void) is that it is on the way to where you want to be.

A lot of your itinerary will depend on how many miles you are comfortable covering on void days.

We went from Kansas City (right in the middle of the US) to Yellowstone last summer. We have a pick up and a 22 sport. It was our first long trip.

We drove at 60 mph, it was US interstate in the West (so very few cities, and lots of wide open space with few merge on/offs vs city driving, and good roads). We went comfortably from Kearney Nebraska to Dubois Wy in 1 day. (670 miles) My husband (who drove the whole way) remarked that he surprisingly did not feel as tired after driving a slightly longer day at 55-60 mph, than he would have driving car only and trying to "keep up with traffic" 75-80 mph.

I made a little excel spreadsheet to compute average speed at 55 (to account for stops), time zone changes, and the time to arrive at destination to figure out when to leave in the morning.

This worked great on the open road. We learned that any smaller city you need to drive through or change highways, add on an extra 30-45 minutes. If you will hit a metro during traffic ( yes we hit Denver coming home on Friday afternoon), add an extra 1-2 hours for stop and go traffic. This also helped when figuring out when to re-fuel.

[FCloud9]

Hi Blair,
My best tip for Airstreamers heading out for several month long trip is add AlStays RV app to your smart phone/iPad.
We rarely travel with advance reservations and have found this app invaluable as a directory which can be utilized without WiFi connection in searching for state, national, county, Army Corp. Engineers, private campgrounds, fuel stops, Walmart overnights.
We camped over 300 nights using this app in past two years. Also, keep close eye on weather via Weather apps to keep safe and avoid severe weather travel.

Have a great adventure,
FCloud9

[JuryDuty]

Originally Posted by FCloud9

Hi Blair,
My best tip for Airstreamers heading out for several month long trip is add AlStays RV app to your smart phone/iPad.
We rarely travel with advance reservations and have found this app invaluable as a directory which can be utilized without WiFi connection in searching for state, national, county, Army Corp. Engineers, private campgrounds, fuel stops, Walmart overnights.
We camped over 300 nights using this app in past two years. Also, keep close eye on weather via Weather apps to keep safe and avoid severe weather travel.

Have a great adventure,
FCloud9

Wow--didn't know about this one. Extremely helpful. Thank you!

[DavidIowa]

I would head straight south along Washington, Oregon, to California then across the South , biking and hiking then loop up as weather improves and get spring skiing in CO and Utah. Catch a baseball game for Spring training or the Cards or Cubs or Rockies later toward April. Don't forget Austin!

[kdickinson]

We have done a few extended trips involving the western US. Regardless of how enthusiastic we have been in terms of scheduling the trip to have time to see and do we always seem to fall short in terms of seeing it all and keep a rather long list of "things we'll do next time". We lived in Houston for 22 years and moved back in the Colorado Rockies 11 years ago. During our time in Houston we took two long RV trips with the kids - one was a circle from Houston to San Diego and up PCH eventually getting to Seattle then over the Cascades and back to Houston. We stopped in Yellowstone and enjoyed it so much we made a dedicated 2 week trip there the following year. All I can say is that, if you can, be flexible on schedule. You will hit places on the way that you will want to stay longer than you planned. Weather is famously variable in the western US and it can dictate your schedule as well. We really enjoyed the entirety of the California coast keeping in mind that we live in the center of the country and don't get to see ocean very often. We stayed at campgrounds so no info here on SP / boondocking. Loved Newport OR, Benbow CA as a couple of stops where we plan to go back to.

[Lucky Tom]

Airstream dealers with great service centers along the Gulf.
http://www.foleyrvcenter.com/
http://www.dixierv.com/index.asp

[Jim Arnold]

Wow, Newbie here! That is what I like about the forum, I am excited for next year!! Sounds like a great trip. From listening to everyone, I would say play it by ear!!

[Starlight Mike]

Jazz Fest NOLA last weekend in April and first weekend in May. We will be there in our 25 AS first weekend at Judd's RV park.

[D2LLIO]

Blair,
Since you mentioned skiing, check out the Lake Tahoe area (border of California and Nevada). It has some of the best skiing in the western US (Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar, Sierra Ski Ranch, Heavenly Valley, Mt. Rose, etc.). Lake Tahoe is a GORGEOUS lake about 21 miles long by 7 miles wide surrounded by beautiful mountains, many around 10,000 feet high. Its the second deepest lake in the US (second only to Crater Lake in Oregon) and 4th deepest in NA. A great place for both winter and summer sports. Enjoy your trip...I am jealous!
Frank

[Wanderer2604]

Hi Blair,

By coincidence, we finished a 3 month trip last year from July into October and passed through Squamish in September on a similar loop to the one you are planning. We are from central Texas so we are halfway around the loop.

In three months we stopped about 60 times and have a long list of places we enjoyed. We especially enjoy stops that are not on the 'A' list since they are usually fun, often quirky and less crowded.

Here are a few in roughly the order we did them.

- Natchez Trace National Parkway from Natchez to Nashville. One of the most relaxing drives ever. No stops, no semis, 50 mph. Not for trying to get somewhere fast or for type 'A' personalities. Lots to do along the way.

- Nashville. Be sure to take in a show at the Ryman theater – the original Grand 'ol Opry. Seems a little lower key that the new one.

- Bowling Green KY. Corvette museum. Even if you aren't that big a fan of the sports car, the sink hole under the museum and the display are interesting.

- Jackson Center, OH. Every Airstreamer needs to get to 'Mecca' at least once and do the plant tour. Neil Armstrong home town and museum are near.

- Dearborn, MI. The Ford museum and village are top notch. The Wright brothers home, Edison lab, etc.

- Holland, MI. Tulips, wooden shoes and a working windmill that was dismantled and shipped in from the Netherlands.

- Frank Lloyd Wright's campus, Taliesin, in Spring Creek, WI.

- National Museum of the Mississippi, Dubuque, IA. The museum is very good. We stayed on the banks of the Mississippi at Miller Riverview Park and watched the river traffic from the campground. You can go a little upstream and watch the locks work.

- Spam Museum in Austin, MN is fun and quirky.

- Minnesota A/S park in Clear Lake, MN is a good place to stay.

- We really enjoyed The International Peace Garden in North Dakota and Manitoba. Look down the international border from the west end of the park. A narrow clearing between the trees off into the distance toward the west. No wall, maybe not even a fence

- Scandinavian Heritage Center, Minot, ND is worth a stop.

- The badlands of Roosevelt National Park are beautiful in their own way.

- Terry Bison Ranch, Cheyenne, WY. Take the small excursion train on the ranch to feed bison from your hand. From the campground it's a short walk to Colorado.

- Salt Lake City. The public is invited to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform on Thursday Nights in the summer. Impressive.

- Potato Museum in Blackfoot Idaho.

- Craters of the Moon National Monument. Walk through a 1000 year old volcano. Very interesting national park that is not crowded

- Experimental Breeder Reactor, Atomic City, ID. Tour includes display of 2 very large atomic aircraft engines. Spoiler alert: The project was canceled before they every flew.

- Surely you will visit the Tetons and Yellowstone. An excursion to Cody, Wy is worth the trip. We visited in early September and the crowds were tolerable.

- In your 'backyard': The drive up the Ice Fields Parkway in Alberta is not to be missed.

- Since you are from the area, I assume you have already been to Stanley Park, Butchart Gardens and Victoria.

- Yosemite and Zion national parks are icons. Unfortunately, they are so crowded that they are hard to visit.

- China Ranch Date Farm is an oasis on the edge of death valley in Tecopa Hot Springs, CA. I recommend stopping for a visit on you way to Las Vegas. I'm a retired engineer so I really enjoyed the Hoover and Glenn Canyon dams. YMMV.

- Bryce Canyon National Park is interesting and not as crowded as Zion.

- The meteor crater in Winslow, AZ is pretty amazing.

- In Tuscon, you can see on of the top three aircraft museums in the US, visit a decommissioned nuclear missile site, and visit an ecology experiment called Bios-sphere II. (The other two 'best' aircraft museums are Smithsonian Air and Space in DC and Wright Paterson in Dayton, OH.)

You will see many times this list in 3 months, as we did. Have a great time and try to stay south of the snow.

[BudandSissy]

There are a lot of sites to see In the United States. I would explore in the four corners area and then go to Yellowstone, Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer's last stand), Devil tower and Mount Rushmore the last 3 are east of Yellowstone and can be seen in 2 days including travel time. We did it last year in a sport 22 and 2 dogs.
Have fun.

[Jarrod White]

Sounds like a fun trip. You probably know but going to Auburn will be about 2-3 detour east from the route to Nashville/Chicago (both are straight up I65 - Auburn is east off I85). Chewalka State Park is a good CCC era park near Auburn. If you stay on 65, check out Oak Mountain State Park south of Birmingham.

For New Orleans, French Quarter RV and Ponchatrain Landing are private park options. Bayou Segnette State Park is a little further out but nice. There is always something going on in New Orleans and great places to eat.

You might also consider stopping in Lafayette first to see Cajun country. I hear Acadian park is nice there.

East of New Orleans on Mississippi coast, buccaneer state park is nice in waveland and Davis bayou (federal) in ocean springs.

[rbr]

Planning trips like this is a huge undertaking. Buy a nat'l park pass. Decide when you want to be at very popular places, ie. Yosemite, to get reservations. Check the dates of festivals/events you want to see. Make sure the campgrounds you want to use accept Rottweilers. Many don't. Above all relax, shred the slopes, shoot the curl, and have fun.

[NicheVintage]

We did an extended 6000 mile western us trip in 2010 I highly recommend the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe area, sugar pine state park, Olympic nation park, the Oregon coast, Jackson, Wyoming, Estes park, co, winter park, co, just to name a few.

Enjoy your journey!

[cfishii]

Austin, TX is a must for great food and great live music and a great scene. Also in Buda, TX just a few miles south of Austin is a good Airstream dealership, camperclinic2.com. Mckinney Falls State Park just 7 miles south of Austin is a good camping spot that is located between Buda and Austin or if you prefer camping in Austin proper, Pecan Grove is a god place to stay where you can walk to many Austin attractions but you have to look them up on line and call them. They do not have a web page. Very old school. Good Luck.

[ellenbelle]

Well, here's a vote for the Central Coast. I live here, so perhaps I'm biased. The stretch of road from Morro Bay up to Carmel is the reason I moved here... it's probably my favorite place on the planet. Big Sur is beautiful and magical. Try to not be here in the summer, because the rest of the world agrees with me.

The Paso Robles area is known for its amazing wines. Unlike in Napa, where they just want you to buy your wine and move on, the tasting rooms here like it when you hang out, drink, have lunch, etc. Each one is unique, but its hard to find a bad wine. Collect them all!

Hearst Castle is just up the coast from Cambria, a charming town with great shops and art galleries.

San Luis Obispo has a world famous Farmer's Market on Thursday nights, and the town itself is full of great restaurants, wine bars and tons of locally made craft beer. We have wine tours and beer tours around here.

And of course, Paso Robles also has an Airstream dealer with a great service department if you need it!

[AL4411]

Give us a holler (719.231.5210) when you get to San Diego. We are full timing it and staying mostly in military RV facilities in the SD area this winter. We have been everywhere you have planned. We ride mountain bikes and cruisers. We kayak. We enjoy hanging out at surf spots and have found a few gems, San Onofre Trestles for example. Live music is plentiful and diverse in SOCAL. Dial in to what brings you the most joy. Balance planned destinations with seizing spontaneous adventures and you can't go wrong. Safe travels.

[Peter Culp]

If you make it down to SoCal. I can give you some surf spot advice. There are some great spots to camp along the beach with great waves. PM me if you want detailed info for your surfing skill level, the time of year you will be down here.