2 month trip around the west

[Ray Hyland]

hey folks,

We are about to go on a 2 month trip in our little retro travel trailer, towed behind our Defender 110.

I will be doing some sales calls during the trip, so we have a rough route, but it is very flexible.

I am looking for some ideas on cool stuff to see along the way. It will be the wife and I and our 3 boys aged 8, 9 and 10.

The route so far is Vancouver BC, Spokane, Denver, Austin TX, Dallas, Carlsbad, Albuquerque, Gallup, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Vegas, San Diego, LA, San Fran, Portland, and back to Vancouver BC.

Stuff we want to see so far are Yellowstone, Carlsbad Caverns, The Wyoming Dinosaur museum, Roswell NM.

Any local recommendations on cool, fun or interesting things to see that are kind of along the route? We can detour for cool stuff.

Thanks for any thoughts or ideas.

Cheers

Ray

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I have a thread for this very thing. Unfortunately, threads die fast around here now.

Fun Things to do in Your Hometown.... (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47525&highlight=fun+things+hometown)


Have Fun, be safe!


.

[Ray Hyland]

Some fun things there but too bad most of them are not where we are are going to be. Will try to take in what works though, thanks.

I was wondering more about stuff like cool parks/canyons that usually only the locals know about, cool places to camp, the best milkshakes in the state, tiny museums that are small enough to see in half an hour yet still cool enough to stop at, the world's largest ball of string/wool/rubber-bands/dental-floss, a hidden "graveyard" of trucks/cars/planes/mining equipment in the desert, fun and cheap drive-in restaurants that the kids will get a kick out of, drive-in theaters that show cartoons one night of the week, that sort of stuff.

Anything with Elvis/Cadillacs/Rte 66/lots of chrome/generally wacky and fun is usually good.

Cheers

Ray

[Redline]

I'm curious about your retro travel trailer. Care to share?

[Ray Hyland]

Not much to it yet, it is a 1950's or 60s 15-foot single axle trailer, reskinned in the 70s, so it has the 50s shape and the 70s disco coloring (think of gold lame hot-pants, and then carry that idea across to travel-trailer design...).

It was gutted by the previous owner and used as a spare bedroom. Has a 1 piece roof, solid frame and floor, tons of louvered windows with bug screens, heavy-ish axle, 14 inch wheels. We are adding queensize bunk beds and redoing the floors and walls inside to make it new looking inside. Other than the beds it is an empty shell, or as we look at it, a hard-sided tent. Nice and light and easy to tow over the rockies, even with an old diesel land rover.

We like tent camping but putting up and taking down our Springbar every day for 2 months will get old really fast. This way we can leave the beds made but still have the tenting experience (coleman stove on the folding table, outdoor dining, etc) when we want it, but we can move that stuff inside when it is raining, or just hang a tarp between truck and trailer as a compromise.

Ray


www.hylandadventures.com

[Hill, Bill E.]

While in TX, there's the Texas Ranger museum, (Waco, TX I believe)

And the Alamo is pretty cool, as well as the river walk in San Antonio.

There are also some really cool animal preserves, (in TX) where you can drive through 'Safari like' , if you do this though, buy a bag or two of "feed" from the host, the animals will mob your truck looking for snacks!:elkgrin:

[Redline]

Nice :)

Hard sided trailers certainly have their place and are maybe a little under appreciated for some overland trips.


Not much to it yet, it is a 1950's or 60s 15-foot single axle trailer, reskinned in the 70s, so it has the 50s shape and the 70s disco coloring (think of gold lame hot-pants, and then carry that idea across to travel-trailer design...).

It was gutted by the previous owner and used as a spare bedroom. Has a 1 piece roof, solid frame and floor, tons of louvered windows with bug screens, heavy-ish axle, 14 inch wheels. We are adding queensize bunk beds and redoing the floors and walls inside to make it new looking inside. Other than the beds it is an empty shell, or as we look at it, a hard-sided tent. Nice and light and easy to tow over the rockies, even with an old diesel land rover.

We like tent camping but putting up and taking down our Springbar every day for 2 months will get old really fast. This way we can leave the beds made but still have the tenting experience (coleman stove on the folding table, outdoor dining, etc) when we want it, but we can move that stuff inside when it is raining, or just hang a tarp between truck and trailer as a compromise.

Ray


www.hylandadventures.com

[Ray Hyland]

While in TX, there's the Texas Ranger museum, (Waco, TX I believe)

And the Alamo is pretty cool, as well as the river walk in San Antonio.

There are also some really cool animal preserves, (in TX) where you can drive through 'Safari like' , if you do this though, buy a bag or two of "feed" from the host, the animals will mob your truck looking for snacks!:elkgrin:

Awesome suggestions, thanks!

[cmgraves]

I would highly recommend to taking hwy 20 to get from north Seattle to Spokane. You get to miss all the traffic of seattle, and the drive on hwy 20 is stunning. In addtion, no one goes on that route, cause they all want go go go on I-90. There is camping going through the North Cascades National Park, and it is completely beautiful at the top. Leventhworth is worth hitting up. A town that reseables a german town. It is a little touresy, but it also in some gorgose surroundings, and the outdoor rec. is plenty. I'm almost positive they have campgrounds nearby.

When are you planning on stopping in Spokane, I would be incline to see this impressive camper that you got going. I'm sure all the neighbors are jealous.

I also enjoyed Crater lake, south of Portland a ways. It is a touris trap, but the lake is outstanding and is worth a visit.

best of luck! and enjoy your two month trip.

[AmericaOverland]

If you do get down to Austin, you might want to take Hwy 71 East out of Austin towards Houston. There's a pecan stand, a big one on the left about 20-30 miles out of Austin. Pecan season is about to start up again in Oct.

http://www.berdollpecanfarm.com/

Stephanie

[Martinjmpr]

There's a bajillion things to do in Colorado, the only limitation will be how much time/money do you want to spend. A trip up Mt. Evans road is always spectacular, at 14,134' above sea level it is literally the highest road you can drive on in North America and still be on pavement. It's only about 40 miles West of Denver so it's an easy half day trip. For off-road the network of trails around Montezuma offers amazing views of the high rockies. Your trailer won't make it but your Defender will do just fine. Go to http://www.traildamage.com and pick out a few trails. My favorites include Saints John, Radical Hill, Red Cone, the Swan River trails, Georgia Pass, Kingston Peak, and Ptarmigan Pass. There is also Medano Pass in the Sangre de Cristo mountains down South near Westcliffe, ending up in Great Sand Dunes National Park, home to the highest sand dunes on the continent (over 700 feet high.)

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is probably one of our lesser known national parks, a spooky looking canyon that is 2000' deep but only about a half mile across at its narrowest point.

Coming out of Yellowstone and heading towards Casper you pass Hell's Half Acre, an area of very weird bluffs and little canyons. If you're a sci-fi movie buff, parts of the movie "Starship Troopers" were filmed here.

There's a cool aviation museum just East of Pueblo at the old airport, which is good for a few hours of fun.

Lots more, again, just limited by time/money.

[Uncle Roger]

Well, some thoughts off the top of my head for San Francisco:

The Exploratorium (http://www.exploratorium.edu/) is an absolute must.

The new California Academy of Sciences (http://www.calacademy.org/) in Golden Gate Park is pretty darn cool too -- while you're there, check out the Japanese Tea Garden (http://japaneseteagardensf.com/) and the De Young Museum (http://deyoung.famsf.org/).

If you make it downtown, the Yerba Buena Gardens (http://www.yerbabuenagardens.com/) is home to Zeum (http://www.zeum.org/), the sf children's museum.

The Randall Junior Museum (http://www.randallmuseum.org/) is cool -- if you're there on a Saturday, there's a huge model train layout.

Fort Point (http://www.nps.gov/fopo/) is neat with a lot of history and great views of the bridge.

I haven't been to the Fortune Cookie Factory (http://www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/fortune-cookie-factory-san-francisco.html) but it sounds awesome. (And now I'm hungry for dim sum! At midnight!)

And the Urban Safari (http://www.theurbansafari.com/) is the best tour you can get in the City. (Yes, that's a Defender 110 in the logo.) Some of the above suggestions are from Daniel, the guy who runs it.

[Uncle Roger]

Forgot the Cartoon Art Museum (http://www.cartoonart.org/), the Walt Disney museum (http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/index.html), and I'm told that AT&T Park (http://mlb.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/index.jsp) has a bunch of stuff for kids (I hate it for tying up traffic all the time.)

Lots more if you're willing to go further afield.

[Ray Hyland]

Wow, some really awesome suggestions, very very cool.

Thanks Folks, keep em coming, we keep revising our itinerary accordingly.

The dim sum comment made me realize we also need to try lots of local food and restaurants/cafes/diners. We love hole-in-the-wall places with ethnic and spicy food. (The kids were born on the equator and the wife is Peranekan, so there is no food too hot, smelly, or fermented to try...) Of course, a great burger and milkshake is always on the menu too. :chef:

What's your favorite cafe or meal that we should try enroute everyone? It can be pretty off the wall and unexpected. After all my favorite french restaurant is in Bangkok, and my favorite Mexican restaurant is in Singapore... :sombrero:

Ray


www.hylandadventures.com

[James86004]

Man, asking that question is like asking which of your kids is your favorite.

Here is an itinerary I would consider for the Albuquerque to Las Vegas leg. I could come up with many more if you don't like this one. I assume you mean the Vegas in Nevada, not New Mexico, although the one in New Mexico has some fascinating architecture. We have taken our daughter to all these places over the years.

Head south on I-25 to US 60, then head west. Halfway between Magdalena and Datil is the Very Large Array, a huge collection of radio telescopes. They have a little visitor's center.

Continue west on 60 to US 191/180, and head north. Branch off on 180 to see the Petrified Forest.

At the north end of the Petrified Forest, head east on I-40 to US191 north, then go to Ganado and Hubbell Trading Post.

From there you can either head north to Chile and Canyon de Chelley, then northwest on IR 59 to Kayenta and Monument Valley. Or, you can head west on AZ 264 which will take you to the Hopi Mesas. They have a really nice museum.

Continue west to US 160, then south on US 89. Turn right at Cameron and go to the east rim of the Grand Canyon.

From the Canyon, you can get to Flagstaff. I recommend visiting Lowell Observatory in Flag, the visitor center there is great. Then, take 89A south from Flag through Sedona, then down to PHX.

Personally, I would skip PHX and head west from Sedona through Jerome, to Prescott, then up to Ash Fork, then get off I-40 in Seligman and take old Route 66. You can visit Grand Canyon Caverns and in Peach Springs you can buy a permit to drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.

Then it is off to Vegas, but make sure you stop at the Hoover Dam.

[XJINTX]

I'm in central Texas... Waco area 90 miles from Dallas and Austin about 130ish from San Antonio. You are welcome here and I am sure we could point you to a few good stops.

If you are looking for a full size bed and bath away from the trailer you are welcome to spare room and a hot meal too. We have plenty of space and place for vehicles. I'd be interested in first hand report of your travels 2 months on the road would be nice.

[nwoods]

Don't miss out on Yosemite and Kings Canyon!

[refried]

On your way from BC to hyway 20 in Wa. get off the freeway just south of Bellingham and take Chuckanut drive south, It has great views of the San Juan Islands well worth checking out.
http://chuckanutdrive.com/entrance.html
While your in the area head west on 20 to Anacortes and maybe over to Deception Pass for more great views. Friday Harbor on San Juan Island is a nice day trip, Park your rig at the ferry landing in Anacortes and walk on the ferry (it's not worth driving on unless your spending a few days, the ferrys are expensive if your over 30' long and over 7'9" high $150.00+). You can spend the day wandering around the town and the ferry ride is very scenic.
Mount Baker is also nice, get off the freeway in Bellingham and head east on the Mt. Baker hyway, it's possible to take a trailer up the mountain road (exept the last few miles) but the road gets steep and has lots of switchbacks.

[hoaxci5]

around the San Diego area, you should head out to Borrego Springs, there is a ton of open desert space along with a pretty cool hike up to the Oasis which a lot of times you can see big horn sheep. Over in that area is a small town called
Julian which is known for it's apple pie. It's a cool old town place with lots of original buildings from the early gold mining days.

In Coronado, the Coronado brewing company is good for a craft beer and Diablo Shrimp (amazing!) or head up toward Solana Beach to Pamplemousse Grille, it's on the pricey side, but it's awesome food.

[Ray Hyland]

Such great ideas that we have decided to think a bit bigger.

This means that we will delay our trip to the spring, but also means we will expand the trip to include Nashville, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and a few others.

And spring means spring skiing in Utah, Colorado, etc. :)

Not sure if it is feasible to pack my Mattracks but it would sure be cool to do some deep-snow cross country driving. I wonder if Yellowstone lets you take a 110 on tracks on the snowmobile trails?

I am thinking at least a 3 month trip now...maybe 4...

Ray



www.hylandadventures.com