Rod, In early Aug. 2009, we entered via the North Entrance outside of Gardiner, MT, which is south of Livingston. We came from Minot, ND & spend an overnight at the south unit of T. Roosevelt NP. We stayed a few nights at Mammoth Campground. No reservations needed. Somewhat warmer & dryer area than most of the Park, maybe not as high in elevation (?).
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...3.cfm#25401173
We have a
Propane Cat-Heater (smaller one) & it has worked well in high elevations. At least at 9,000' plus. We also have a small Honda 2000i generator & it works well at the same elevations. Use it with a electric cube heater (cheap one from Wal-Mart). But at times we use the Cat-Heater.
We have an old Coleman Cat-Heat (Coleman Fuel) which shouldn't have any problem at higher elevations. Some smell from it at times...mainly when cutting it off.
Never been in May, but have been in early June (first trip back in '86) ice was still rimming Luis Lake. Last time was in 2010, in later June.
Many folks stay in West Yellowstone, never wanted to do so. Always enjoy being more in the park.
T. Roosevelt was a neat place, enjoyed out few stays there.
We have stayed at Birch Bay State Park near Blaine, Washington twice over the years, used it as a base for going to Victoria & Victoria Island in Canada. Once on the way out of Canada, once before going into it. It is a 194-acre camping park with 8,255 feet of saltwater shoreline on Birch Bay and 14,923 feet of freshwater shoreline on Terrell Creek. The park is rich in archeological significance and offers panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains and Canadian Gulf Islands. Very nice park, neat views, neat seafood in the area. Not too far from Port Angles.
We enjoyed a short stay at Sequim Bay State Park, a year-round, 92-acre marine camping park with 4,909 feet of saltwater coast in the Sequim "rainshadow," just inside Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula. The bay is calm, the air is dry and interpretive opportunities await visitors.
To get to Sequim from Birch Bay, we did take a ferry to Port Townsend. Can't remember route at this time. We also took a ferry from an island, which we drove to from Sequim, to Seattle. Bough some fresh pawns at a small country stop & shop and some smoked salmon from some guys selling it from their van along the way. Go some crab boil at a Super Market in Sequim. Oh, was it a feast! We went to the Aquarium in Seattle and rode a tram to close to the Space Needle.
After staying a few days at Sequim Bay, we spent a night at the Olympic National Park Campgroud at a Temperate Rain Forest site, can not remember the name, etc. instead of finding one along the coast. It seems the Rain Forest area was on the Pacific side of the Park.
We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory Visitor Center and enjoyed seeing them making cheese.
But before leaving Washington, we stopped at Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) is a 1,882-acre camping park on the Long Beach Peninsula, fronted by the Pacific Ocean. The park offers 27 miles of ocean beach, two lighthouses, an interpretive center and hiking trails. Visitors enjoy beachcombing and exploring the area's rich natural and cultural history. The nearby coastal towns of Ilwaco and Long Beach feature special events and festivals spring through
fall. It was very nice. Some sites are on the beach or very near it.
Like the Washington state parks, there are Oregon State Parks all along the coast. They are all good for both a short stay or longer. Good spots for a one-nighter while covering the miles and Good places to stay for several days and deeply relax in a quiet, beautiful, interesting spot. We stayed a 2 I believe. One was Beverly Beach State Park, very nice, near New Port.
Bullards Beach State Park might be the other one, or one close to it might be it. We may have walk to this one along the beach from where we were.
Fort Clatsop a Lewis and Clark National Historical Park was neat to see, our young kids loved it. It is near Astoria. No camping there.
The bridge over the Columbia River is neat to cross at Astoria as well. We stayed a couple of nights at a state park located just outside Ilwaco at the very southwesternmost corner of Washington. Camping facilities include 190 standard campsites, 60 RV sites and 4 primitive campsites. It was called Fort Canby State Park when we were there, but is now: Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) is a 1,882-acre camping park on the Long Beach Peninsula, fronted by the Pacific Ocean. The park offers 27 miles of ocean beach, two lighthouses, an interpretive center and hiking trails. Visitors enjoy beachcombing and exploring the area's rich natural and cultural history. The nearby coastal towns of Ilwaco and Long Beach feature special events and festivals spring through
fall.
The campground was Walking distance to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse which began operating in 1856, and is now the oldest lighthouse still in use on the West Coast.
On our second trip we drove over to Portland from the New Port, OR area so we could go by Mount St. Helens Area and stayed at a Forest Service campgournd not too far off the interstate.
In 2010, we spent a few days in the Seattle area when flying back from Alaska:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...egg-44077.html
Made it over to Port Towsend & Port Gambel on a day car trip. Neat places to see.
Monterey Aquarium is an excellent place, very neat one. North of Monterey at Moss Landing is a great sea food place over by the docks, called Phil's Fish Market & Eatery.
http://www.philsfishmarket.com/
South of Monterey after crossing the Big Sur Area, "Hearst Castle", "Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument" is a must see.
http://www.hearstcastle.org/tours/
San Simeon State Park is just south of the Monument.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=590
Enjoy your trip! Should be a Great One.
PS: IMHO, a 3 day stay at say Mammoth CG wouldn't be too hard to handle. When we started RVing with a TT, we didn't have a generator.
To keep the battery from getting run down, I would often just run the tow vehicle in the mornings when we would shower (pump tends to drain the battery with showering, my wife & I and two small kids). Ditto for using the furnace. We often used a Coleman Lantern (Coleman fuel) to warm the TT as well, works really well.
The furnace drawing power should be able to be off set by just hooking up the Scamp to the tow vehicle when using it in the morning & at bed time.