Roadtrip from CA to Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, Denver

Hello everyone, I hope you guys are all doing well.  I am planning our first ever long road trip, and was hoping some of you vets could take a minute and look over what my plans are, and give me any opinions/suggestions.  I will be traveling with my wife (33), my mother in law (60ish), and my two boys (6 and 4 years old).  I have a 2009 Fleetwood bounder 34G, and will be towing a Jeep Wrangler with a Road Master Falcon all terrain tow bar, and a Road Master Even Brake brake system.  I have attached below our tentative itinerary.  We have been on several trips in our rig but the longest distance traveled was about 400 miles one way.  I have also driven our rig down into Yosemite Valley, and up and over the Grapevine.  I want to let you know about this because I'm not sure what the roads I have selected are like, and would like to make sure I am not getting in over my head.  I tried to limit my driving to as short of distances as I thought I could handle, but in order to be able to spend some time at various locations some long trip were inevitable.  At the very bottom is a list describing what roads I plan to take.  This is a major question mark for me.  I hope I have picked the best ones.  Another question I have is in regards to my Jeep.  Do I need to stop in between trips and disconnect the jeep, and have my wife follow me for a while, or simply turn the Jeep on, or nothing at all?  As for where we are staying, do any of you guys have anything to say about them? Especially negative things why I should really consider staying somewhere else.  Lastly if anybody has MUST see's and MUST do's I really want to hear about them.

I would like to thank you guys all in advance, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe summer!

Ernie



Summer Road Trip Itinerary

Day 1: June 19, 2010
Leave at 5am Destination: Bryce Canyon, UT 520 miles (10 hours)

Ruby's Inn and RV Park
26 South Main St
Bryce Canyon City, Utah 84759
(435)834-5341
$42 per night no discount
Confirmation # R040001586

Day 2: June 20, 2010
Explore Bryce Canyon Area

Day 3: June 21, 2010
Leave at 6am Destination: Idaho Falls, ID 427 miles (9 hours)
Snake River RV Park
1440 Lindsay Blvd.
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208)523-3362
$40 per night Good Sam Discount
Confirmation #R020019882

Day 4: June 22, 2010
Make a run to the market for any needs
Leave at 10am Destination: Yellowstone NP 165 miles (4 hours)
Fishing Bridge RV Park
PO Box 165
Yellowstone Natl Pk, WY 82190
(307)344-7311
$31.50 per night No Discount
Confirmation # GBRGH

Day 5: June 23, 2010
Day 6: June 24, 2010
Day 7: June 25, 2010
Explore Yellowstone, do laundry if needed

Day 8: June 26, 2010
Leave at 8am Destination: Buffalo, WY 280 miles (6 hours)
Deer Park RV
PO Box 568
Buffalo, WY 82834
(307)684-5722
$43.00 per night AAA Discount
Confirmation #0626K

Day 9: June 27, 2010
Leave at 9am Destination: Keystone, SD 228 miles (4 hours)
Kemps Kamp
1022 Old Hill City Rd
Keystone, SD 57751
(605)666-4654 (888)466-6282
$42.50 per night Good Sam Discount
No Confirmation Given
Day 10: June 28, 2010 CALL FLYING SAUCER RV CONFIRM RESERVATION
Day 11: June 29, 2010
Explore South Dakota area. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood, last chance to do laundry.

Day 12: June 30, 2010
Leave at 6am Destination: Denver, CO 392 miles (7 hours)
Flying Saucer RV Park
2500 West Hampden Ave
Englewood, CO 80110
(303)789-1707
$40.00 Per night
Do not take reservations
Explore Denver

Day 13: July 1, 2010
Rockies Game @ Coors Field 1pm
Leave at 5pm Destination: Colorado Springs, CO 55miles (1 hour)
2320 Evergreen Rd
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Day 14: July 2, 2010
Hang out with aunt Cindy

Day 15: July 3, 2010
Leave at 11AM Destination: Grand Junction, CO 296 miles (7 hours)
Walmart
2881 North Avenue
Grand Junction, CO 81501

Day 16: July 4, 2010
Leave at 8am Destination: Mesquite, NV 428 miles (8 hours)

Day 17: July 5, 2010
Leave at 8am Destination: HOME 365 miles (7 hours)


Travel plans:  Without getting into specific roads and highways this is the basic route.
I-15N to Bryce (UT-14E/US-89N/UT-12E)
I-15N toward Beaver, ID (US-20E)
US-20E into WY to Fishing bridge RV park(US-191S/US-20E/US-287)
US-20E towards Buffalo, WY (US-20E/US-14E/US-16E/I-90E)
I-90E towards Keystone, SD (US-16E/US-385N/SD-244E)
US-85S/I-25S towards Denver (SD-244W/US-16W/US-385S/US-18W)
CO-82W/US-24W/to I-70W to Grand Junction, CO
I-70W to I-15S to Mesquite
I-15S to Los Angeles

I have been most of those places and your plans look very good to me. I don't tow, so someone who does might have a different opinion. Be ready to be impressed. You are going to see some spectacular scenery. If I were you I would plan at least one, if not two more days at Bryce. The beauty there will totally overwhelm you. There are lots of really good hikes down into the canyon (which isn't a canyon, it is an amphitheater)

You're traveling a lot of miles some of those days. You might want to take it a little slower and enjoy yourself more.

I see you have the WalMart in Grand Junction as an overnight stop. Unless they've changed their rules recently, they don't allow overnight parking there. You might want to have a backup plan. There are 2 state parks just off I-70 as well as at least 3 private campgrounds just off I-70.

Enjoy your trip.
Wendy

Bird, I think I might leave LA Friday night and just stop along the way somewhere past Vegas, and wake up early and get to Bryce early Saturday, so we can have almost 2 full days there. 

Wendy I wish I could take it slower, but we are already at 19 days.  Not only do I need to get back to work, but I'm a little afraid my boys might get tired of living in the RV for almost 3 weeks.  The longest trip we have done as of now is 8 days last summer, which went great but I'm a still a little worried.  The only thing I could do is take a day away from Yellowstone, or Keystone and add one to one of our other stops, but I felt a good 4 and 3 night stay some where would be a nice break from the driving.  Of the parks you mentioned off of I-70, is there one in particular you recommend? I would prefer something for a quick layover, as it will be on our way home, and when we will be heavy driving for 3 days.  Colorado Springs to Los Angeles.

I don't know when you are planning on leaving, but if you are talking June or later you might want to rethink staying near Vegas in an RV. You will fry. RVs do poorly in the heat, the A/C is good for only cooling down about 20 degrees. So if it is 110 out then it will only be 90 in your RV and get down to 80 at night. The weather at Bryce will be wonderful all summer. It is at 8000 feet. One of the coolest things to do at Bryce is go out to Sunrise or Sunset Point for sunrise. (Both face east). It will be one of the most memorable sunrises of your life. If you like to hike then go down the Navajo Trail through Wall Street and hike out on the Queen's Garden Trail. Not too hard. I forget how many miles, maybe two or three. Some of the best scenery you will see in your life. Bring a large chip for your camera.

I assume you're going up to I-70 from Colo Spgs because that would be the quick interstate route? The parks in Grand Junction depend on how quick you want to stop driving. One of the state parks is east of Grand Junction, the other is west of GJ at Fruita. Either one will cost you $20 for electric hookups plus $6 or $8 (can't remember which) for EACH vehicle, or a total of $32 for the night. Mobile City is easy in and out, just off Hwy 6 near the mall. It's ok for an overnighter but not very exciting. RV Ranch is nice but pricey ($50) for just an overnighter. If you don't care if you have hookups, I think you can overnight at the Fruita visitor center. There is also a nice spot west of town, almost to the Utah border, called McInnis Natural Area (or Colorado Canyons Nat Rec Area - they keep changing the name of the place). There are several easy spots there to park on the south side of the interstate for just pulling over and staying overnight.

Enjoy the trip.
Wendy

FWIW, when we lived in Colorado Springs and went to so. Cal. to visit family (Corona, Whittier, Riverside), we usually took the diagonal route to the Four Corners area, down to Flagstaff and onto I-40 at Flag. It's about the same miles as taking I-70 and we used to do it in a day-and-a-half (of course, we were younger then )

Wendy

I live in the Englewood/Littleton area and I'd suggest you look into staying at Chatfield State Park rather than Flying Saucer.  Chatfield is a nice park on a lake and will take reservations.  The location is very close to E-470 which will facilitate travel. For the Rockies game its a short jump up Santa Fe Drive to the light rail station which is the simple and fast way to get to Coors Field.  In my view Flying Saucer is a little tacky and noisy.
Have a good trip!
Herm

Wendy said:

FWIW, when we lived in Colorado Springs and went to so. Cal. to visit family (Corona, Whittier, Riverside), we usually took the diagonal route to the Four Corners area, down to Flagstaff and onto I-40 at Flag. It's about the same miles as taking I-70 and we used to do it in a day-and-a-half (of course, we were younger then )

Wendy

Click to expand...

I-25S to I-40W through Flagstaff, or I-25S to 160W to 89S to I-40W.
I never thought of that??? Since you have done this part of the trip is there a reason why you like this better? I'm afraid I will be having to cross AZ in the middle of the day which really scares me.

We've done it both ways. I-25 S to I-40 is longer but interstate. Hwy 160 is some 2-lane, some 4-lane and is slower than interstate but is more scenic. You do have to go over Wolf Creek pass (10,000') but no matter which way you go, you've got to get over those mountains !

If you take the I-70 route, you'll be driving through the Nevada desert. If you go I-40, you'll drive through the Arizona desert. And either way, you have to drive through the California desert. We used to do it with no air conditioning but we were young and didn't care.

Enjoy
Wendy

Seeing as how you are toting a Jeep with you, you could be in for some scenic adventures that are beyond belief.  There are a lot of trails in the areas where you are heading that are stock Jeep friendly that get you off the road and into some truly spectacular areas.  I have a lot of friends in that region.  Check out UCORA.org (The United Christian Off-Road Alliance). You can sign in free and just ask the question of those living in that region where to go and what to see.  I'll bet they plan a trail ride just for you.