Road trip from Wisconsin to Seattle

[yyyyyguy]

Wife and I are leaving next week in our Scamp 13', first major road trip. We've only done local camping for no more than a week so this will be quite an experience. We're thinking about 3 weeks but are flexible. Mt. Rushmore, Glacier and Yellowstone are but a few of our planned side trips. I'm towing with an '01 Ranger. Any suggestions that we may not of thought of would be appreciated. Oh yeah...we're bringing our long haired Persian cat for her first road trip as well. Wish us luck

Pete and Donna

[Nancy]

Hwy 2 use to be our favorite route west. Because of the oil boom the last trip through Williston, ND will be our last.

If you go through Williston expect traffic delays and poor road conditions. The growth is more than Williston can manage. Even if it were possible you *would not* want to overnight anywhere near there. Even getting in and out of the new WalMart parking lot would be a challenge.

If you have time to burn and like the back roads we enjoyed a stop at the fossil place at Republic, WA on WA State 20. Going across 20 in Washington was slower but very scenic.

We have also really enjoyed taking 12 across Idaho and Washington.

If you take I90 plan your gas fill up somewhere other than Vantage, WA. We came in on an empty tank and had to gas up. It was the most expensive gas of any of our trips.

Have a wonderful trip. I'll miss being west this summer.

Nancy

[Eddie Longest]

I think I would look into one of those GPS pet locators. They seem to be fairly cheap insurance if the cat decides to take a side trip. Also RV motor club towing insurance is a good thing to have on a trip.
Eddie

[Nancy]

If you take a more southern route across Idaho you might want to consider Craters of the Moon between Boise and Idaho Falls. It was very interesting.

If you nail down your highways I could tell you of camping spots we have found the five times we crossed.

Nancy

[Steve Hammel]

If you enjoy history stop at the Custer battlefield in Eastern Montana. You can stand on those wind swept hills, close your eyes, and "almost" hear the sounds of battle being waged around you.

[Steve Hammel]

PS Also don't stop at Seattle. Drive up to Anacortes and take a ferry(not that expensive) across Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula. Then follow hwy 101 west around the Olympic rainforest. Some of the most beautiful scenery you'll ever see.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Nancy

If you take a more southern route across Idaho you might want to consider Craters of the Moon between Boise and Idaho Falls. It was very interesting.

If you nail down your highways I could tell you of camping spots we have found the five times we crossed.

Nancy

Craters of the Moon is a good idea. Actually since you're going to be in Yellowstone, go on south through the Grand Tetons then on to Craters of the Moon.
Then if time is an issue get on I-84 to I-205 to I-5 to Seattle. You'll be traveling through the Columbia River Gorge on I-84 in Oregon.

[Nancy]

thanks Byron, I went back and corrected my post. Nancy

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

PS Also don't stop at Seattle. Drive up to Anacortes and take a ferry(not that expensive) across Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula. Then follow hwy 101 west around the Olympic rainforest. Some of the most beautiful scenery you'll ever see.

Drive almost to Anacortes, turn south to Whidbey Island, and take said ferry from Coupeville (Keystone) You'll need a reservation (actually a plus) for the ferry. If you come across 20 just follow it to the ferry (and you'll miss the infamous collapsed bridge, but probably not the traffic from it.)

Good idea, but Seattle does have some neat stuff, so if you aren't opposed to cities, it's a good one. Pike Place Market, Museum of Flight, new Museum of History and Industry (don't ask me the name of that one), Space Needle. Find a nearby park and drive places without the trailer, though, or take public transit, as you won't want to try to park with a trailer.

I think you need more than three weeks!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by yyyyyguy

Wife and I are leaving next week in our Scamp 13', first major road trip. We've only done local camping for no more than a week so this will be quite an experience. We're thinking about 3 weeks but are flexible. Mt. Rushmore, Glacier and Yellowstone are but a few of our planned side trips. I'm towing with an '01 Ranger. Any suggestions that we may not of thought of would be appreciated. Oh yeah...we're bringing our long haired Persian cat for her first road trip as well. Wish us luck

Pete and Donna

We made a similar trip in 2008.
If you take I-80 You must stay a night at Dugway recreational area just north of Sinclair Wyoming. It is on the North Platte river about seven miles north of I-80.
If you have time, to stop at Minden NE, Pioneer Village is just 13 miles south of I-80. They have a decent camp ground good rates and a museum that reminds me of a smaller version of the Henry Ford Mueseum at Dearborn.
DON"T miss the Columbia river gorge or the various waterfalls including Bridal Falls. Here are some pics of Dugway...

[floyd]

Oh and how about a drive up to Mt. St. Helen's observatory?...

[floyd]

Columbia river gorge...

[Bobbie Mayer]

This gets me wanting to make an around-the-state trip! Take 20 East, then something south? then the gorge west, then 101 up the coast and around the Olympics.

[yyyyyguy]

Thanks for all the help, we'll be visiting my sister-i-l while at Seattle so dropping the Scamp and sightseeing is on the agenda. Bobbie I think you're right but we are concerned with our "traveling" companion. We're going to try to acclimate her to the truck and traveling this week.

[CindyL]

Our traveling companion (Ellie the Munchkin cat) turned out to be fun to have along. She rides in the van up on the luggage looking out as we drive. In the camper, she sleeps wrapped around my head (I could not sleep at first but found a way to make it work.). She shows a healthy fear of the open camper door, although we may invest in the GPS tracker. She is with us now in our camper at Custer, SD, and during the change from the van to the camper, she was too interested in the outside for my comfort.

It has turned out well (except for 3 AM stinky poops), and she will be our permanent camping cat, or, since we just left from our annual volunteering on Pine Ridge Reservation in SD, our new Rez cat. Here she is in our Uhaul camper wearing her Lakota collar.



CindyL

[Dave and Kathie]

Depending on which route you take from Yellowstone, the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic site in Deer Lodge Montana is worth a stop. Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site - Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site It is a working cattle ranch - in 1850's it was originally 10 million acres - about 1200 acres donated intact to the NPS in the 1960's. They have reenactors on site. 'Cookie' was manning the chuck wagon when we were there. 'One cup coffee to one cup water and throw in a horse shoe, would you like a cup?' How could we refuse? Have fun.

Happy Trails
Kathie

[gmw photos]

If you are traveling with an iPhone or iPad ( I use an iPad ) then a couple of apps are really handy to have, save some weight and are easy to use. The first is you can get the current version of Rand McNally road atlas for $5 and the second is an app called Allstays. I also have campwhere, state parks and oh, ranger, but of all of them, I like Allstays best. These apps pretty much eliminate the big heavy telephone-book-thick Woodalls directory.

Enjoy your trip, sounds like a fun journey.

[David B.]

Pete, last year we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking our 13' Scamp for a 60 day trip up the west coast. We found that we had over packed. We did use large plastic storage tubs & suit cases divided into categories of use, such as winter clothing, rain jackets, summer, swimsuits, laundry products, tools, etc. and kept them in the truck bed, which was covered by a used fiberglass topper that we purchased for such occasions. This method kept the clutter down in the little Scamp. My wife is an avid reader, so we purchased a kindle fire, and we used our apple lap top to search points of interest, stay updated on the FGRV forum, and to watch movies on. We don't have smart phones yet, but I could see how having them would be a great help, especially for a "hot spot" for our lap top. We would drive and take in the adventures along the way, and maybe only travel 50 miles. I found that after 3 days in one place was about right before the travel itch got us going. Many times if we called ahead for just an over night stay somewhere, and explained that we did NOT require any hook-ups, we could get a much better price. I believe that all the sights along your route would require at least 2-3 months, and you won't believe how fast the time flies, and how close the two of you become again . The 13' Scamp was all we needed, but my wife would like to get something with a bathroom when we start traveling after retirement, as a few facilities we had to use were 3rd world-like.
Happy Trails
Dave & Paula

[Briantb]

I'd suggest Devils Tower National Monunent, Craters of the Moon, Crater Lake and Olympic NP.. doesn't take long to pay for the National Parks Pass

[yyyyyguy]

Well we took the cat with on a short drive today...not happy...really not happy...holy crap not happy, think we may leave her home and hire the neighbor as we do for shorter vacations. We'll try again tomorrow maybe with some cat nip. Well it seems to work like alcohol