OK, thank you to everyone that has given me their experienced advice both publicly and privately. I am going to post my itinerary here just so you can see what we did (in case others are planning a similar trip they can start here).
I had no clue how long this would take. I have spent probably 20+ real man hours on this but mostly because the "point the RV in the direction you want to go" is not feasible with our trip being that it is in July.
Also, new development is my in-laws and their lifelong friends will now be joining us on our journey in their brand new MH. Very excited to have them along.
The biggest problem with our trip is we were trying to get completely around the country in 23 days in order to get to our Family Event in Rochester (yes...Family Event capitalized. Its that big in our Italian family.)
So what we did is we decided to do our trip in the opposite direction and start in Indianapolis/Chicago and work are way across that way and instead of doing the entire trip by the 17th of may, we will get to Denver CO by the 17th, board Southwest Airlines and fly to Rochester. Spend our 4 days there and head back to Denver and pick up the trip right where we left off.
Sure it cost us an extra $700 in airfare but when we did the math, it cut off 950 miles off of our trip which is about $500 in fuel.
Here is the new revised itinerary:
June 24,2013 Knoxville, TN Indianapolis, IN
June 25,2013 Indianapolis, IN Chicago, IL
June 26,2013 Chicago, IL Chicago, IL
June 27,2013 Chicago, IL Great River Bluffs Park, MN
June 28,2013 Great River Bluffs Park, MN Great River Bluffs Park, MN
June 29,2013 Great River Bluffs Park, MN Pipestone National Monument
June 30,2013 Pipestone National Monument Badlands National Park
July 1,2013 Badlands National Park Badlands National Park
July 2,2013 Badlands National Park Rapid City, SD
July 3,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 4,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 5,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 6,2013 Rapid City, SD Devils Tower National Park
July 7,2013 Devils Tower National Park Yellowstone East
July 8,2013 Yellowstone East Yellowstone East
July 9,2013 Yellowstone East Yellowstone West
July 10,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 11,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 12,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 13,2013 Yellowstone West Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 14,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 15,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 16,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Rock Springs, WY
July 17,2013 Rock Springs, WY Denver, CO
July 18,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 19,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 20,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 21,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 22,2013 Denver, CO Rocky Mountain National Park
July 23,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 24,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 25,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 26,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 27,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Lincoln, NE
July 28,2013 Lincoln, NE Open
July 29,2013 Open Open
July 30,2013 Open St. Louis MO
July 31,2013 St. Louis MO Knoxville, TN
I had no clue how long this would take. I have spent probably 20+ real man hours on this but mostly because the "point the RV in the direction you want to go" is not feasible with our trip being that it is in July.
Also, new development is my in-laws and their lifelong friends will now be joining us on our journey in their brand new MH. Very excited to have them along.
The biggest problem with our trip is we were trying to get completely around the country in 23 days in order to get to our Family Event in Rochester (yes...Family Event capitalized. Its that big in our Italian family.)
So what we did is we decided to do our trip in the opposite direction and start in Indianapolis/Chicago and work are way across that way and instead of doing the entire trip by the 17th of may, we will get to Denver CO by the 17th, board Southwest Airlines and fly to Rochester. Spend our 4 days there and head back to Denver and pick up the trip right where we left off.
Sure it cost us an extra $700 in airfare but when we did the math, it cut off 950 miles off of our trip which is about $500 in fuel.
Here is the new revised itinerary:
June 24,2013 Knoxville, TN Indianapolis, IN
June 25,2013 Indianapolis, IN Chicago, IL
June 26,2013 Chicago, IL Chicago, IL
June 27,2013 Chicago, IL Great River Bluffs Park, MN
June 28,2013 Great River Bluffs Park, MN Great River Bluffs Park, MN
June 29,2013 Great River Bluffs Park, MN Pipestone National Monument
June 30,2013 Pipestone National Monument Badlands National Park
July 1,2013 Badlands National Park Badlands National Park
July 2,2013 Badlands National Park Rapid City, SD
July 3,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 4,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 5,2013 Rapid City, SD Rapid City, SD
July 6,2013 Rapid City, SD Devils Tower National Park
July 7,2013 Devils Tower National Park Yellowstone East
July 8,2013 Yellowstone East Yellowstone East
July 9,2013 Yellowstone East Yellowstone West
July 10,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 11,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 12,2013 Yellowstone West Yellowstone West
July 13,2013 Yellowstone West Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 14,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 15,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls
July 16,2013 Grand Tetons/Idaho Falls Rock Springs, WY
July 17,2013 Rock Springs, WY Denver, CO
July 18,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 19,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 20,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 21,2013 Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
July 22,2013 Denver, CO Rocky Mountain National Park
July 23,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 24,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 25,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 26,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park
July 27,2013 Rocky Mountain National Park Lincoln, NE
July 28,2013 Lincoln, NE Open
July 29,2013 Open Open
July 30,2013 Open St. Louis MO
July 31,2013 St. Louis MO Knoxville, TN