larrypowellnc
Well-known member
This was our second extended road trip since buying our MH in 2012. Our trip started the morning of July 11 heading to Las Vegas for a family reunion, the first of only four destinations on this trip. We overnighted in Crossville TN, Little Rock AR, Canute OK, Albuquerque NM and Williams AZ. At this point I must explain my standard for planning a trip: 400+ miles and 6 to 8 hours driving per day, arriving in time for pre-dinner cocktails. On the way we stopped in Kingman AZ to visit the Route 66 museum. We stayed at the downtown hotel where the reunion was held rather than an RV park. Planning ahead we packed a large suitcase for the four days of the reunion. Some of us toured Red Rock Canyon by car. It was just too hot for this senior citizen to hike any of the trails. The Las Vegas downtown is being revitalized and some of us did a walking tour.
We left Las Vegas on July 21 headed for Port Angeles WA. On the way we overnighted in Wells NV and Pendleton OR. We stayed in Port Angeles and for two days took the ferry to Victoria BC to visit friends. What a beautiful city. Well worth a visit just don?t forget your passport.
Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park. On the way we overnighted in Coeur d?Alene ID. We met up with my brother and sister-in-law to tour the park. We stayed outside the West entrance while my brother stayed inside the park at the Madison campground. Since we were not towing on this trip and I didn?t want my brother making a 40 mile round trip twice a day to pick us up and drop us off we rented a car to commute between our RV park and Madison campground. We took my brother?s extended cab Chevy PU as it was much roomier that the Ford Focus we rented. We spent two days touring Yellowstone, one day on the South loop and one day on the North loop. It was the height of the tourist season and a few of the sites we wanted to see were just too crowded. The third day we went to Jackson Hole WY. My wife and I spent day four shopping in West Yellowstone MT (very touristy), and getting ready to leave for Mt. Rushmore, again meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law.
On the way to Mt. Rushmore we overnighted in Buffalo WY and stopped off at Devil?s Tower. Quite a sight, made us want to watch Close Encounters. When planning this trip I had to work around the family reunion so the schedule was pretty much set. What I didn?t realize was that the schedule put us at Mt. Rushmore the weekend before the start of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I?ve never seen so many motorcycles in my life, they were everywhere. When we went to the Crazy Horse monument they had sectioned off part of the parking lot for motorcycles. It was like a sea of motorcycles. After two days at Mt. Rushmore, which included a visit to Custer State Park, we headed for home, my brother and sister-in-law to the Phoenix AZ area and us to NC.
On the way home we stopped at Wall Drug, just something we had to do. A ton of motorcycles there too. We overnighted in Mitchell SD (yes we went to the Corn Palace), Adel IA, Champaign IL, and Argillite KY. We arrived home on the afternoon of August 9. It was a wonderful but exhausting 30 days and almost 7,000 miles. Except for the microburst thunder storm in NV, and rain, wind and fog off and on from Mitchell SD (oh, and Cincinnati; what a nightmare. Go around rather than through if you find yourself in the area) the trip was fairly easy.
We are already planning next year?s trip. We are sticking to the East on this trip. The one problem with living in NC is that almost every place we want to see is over 4 days away. Williamsburg VA, Washington DC, Coopers Town and Niagara Falls are on the agenda. Other stops will be added as the planning continues.
I plan to chronicle our 2013 trip in a few days.
Happy RVing everyone.
We left Las Vegas on July 21 headed for Port Angeles WA. On the way we overnighted in Wells NV and Pendleton OR. We stayed in Port Angeles and for two days took the ferry to Victoria BC to visit friends. What a beautiful city. Well worth a visit just don?t forget your passport.
Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park. On the way we overnighted in Coeur d?Alene ID. We met up with my brother and sister-in-law to tour the park. We stayed outside the West entrance while my brother stayed inside the park at the Madison campground. Since we were not towing on this trip and I didn?t want my brother making a 40 mile round trip twice a day to pick us up and drop us off we rented a car to commute between our RV park and Madison campground. We took my brother?s extended cab Chevy PU as it was much roomier that the Ford Focus we rented. We spent two days touring Yellowstone, one day on the South loop and one day on the North loop. It was the height of the tourist season and a few of the sites we wanted to see were just too crowded. The third day we went to Jackson Hole WY. My wife and I spent day four shopping in West Yellowstone MT (very touristy), and getting ready to leave for Mt. Rushmore, again meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law.
On the way to Mt. Rushmore we overnighted in Buffalo WY and stopped off at Devil?s Tower. Quite a sight, made us want to watch Close Encounters. When planning this trip I had to work around the family reunion so the schedule was pretty much set. What I didn?t realize was that the schedule put us at Mt. Rushmore the weekend before the start of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I?ve never seen so many motorcycles in my life, they were everywhere. When we went to the Crazy Horse monument they had sectioned off part of the parking lot for motorcycles. It was like a sea of motorcycles. After two days at Mt. Rushmore, which included a visit to Custer State Park, we headed for home, my brother and sister-in-law to the Phoenix AZ area and us to NC.
On the way home we stopped at Wall Drug, just something we had to do. A ton of motorcycles there too. We overnighted in Mitchell SD (yes we went to the Corn Palace), Adel IA, Champaign IL, and Argillite KY. We arrived home on the afternoon of August 9. It was a wonderful but exhausting 30 days and almost 7,000 miles. Except for the microburst thunder storm in NV, and rain, wind and fog off and on from Mitchell SD (oh, and Cincinnati; what a nightmare. Go around rather than through if you find yourself in the area) the trip was fairly easy.
We are already planning next year?s trip. We are sticking to the East on this trip. The one problem with living in NC is that almost every place we want to see is over 4 days away. Williamsburg VA, Washington DC, Coopers Town and Niagara Falls are on the agenda. Other stops will be added as the planning continues.
I plan to chronicle our 2013 trip in a few days.
Happy RVing everyone.
