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....


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!

[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!

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