Tour the Country??

Just remember that dogs/pets can be heavily restricted (to campsite, developed areas only) or banned in most National Park trails/areas. I have seen people get ticketed for bringing a pet on non-paved trails in Yosemite. Yosemite is heavily restricted for pets. The rangers usually have no sense of humor there.

The Grand Canyon for instance only allows them at the south rim, on a leash at all times and not on inner trails, or park buses or park lodging.

State parks and national forests are usually more pet friendly.

Expect campsites to either be full and/or operating at reduced capacity around NP parks.

 

Hopefully this pop-up has an A/C, that really helps. My typical options for beating the heat are a) sleep at high altitude, b) budget some precious cargo space for my 80 pound generator, or c) find a campsite with hookups.

My popup has seen both coasts and a few hills in between. It pulls fine, mostly. I once hit a brutal headwind in Yuma that dropped mileage down to 6. That was an adventure not worth repeating. Another time I forgot to properly plan out my fuel stops between Zion and Moab, then saw the dreaded "115 mi until next services" sign. Other than that, it pulls like a dream and Ive had no issues parking it in town or getting it up some steep switchbacks.

Its been in 105 degree days and 10 degree nights, 40 mph wind gusts, torrential rain, etc... Its always been comfortable, it just takes a little planning on whether I need 30 amps of juice or if I can get away with just the onboard batteries.

Really the biggest challenge (and drawback) in a popup for me are the long travel days with only one night at a campsite. It isnt like a van where you sleep as soon as the gearshift slams into park. You might get in late but still have to level, unhitch, crank it open, set the door, unfold the dinette, make the bed, then prep dinner. Next morning, its get everyone awake, eat a dry breakfast, fold the trailer, raise the stabs, hitch it and hit the road. You really look forward to the non-travel days, where you have two or even three nights at camp. The days where your itinerary is open to your choice of go roam or stretch your legs, or be lazy, it really feels like a luxury. On a long road trip like this, planning out as many of those two night stays as you can get away with is essential.

 

I’ve toured the entire western US pretty extensively if you have any questions this side of things.

freecampsites.net is your friend for free BLM camping.

What route are y’all considering? Starting point? To where and back? Etc

 

Definitely check out Utah/Arizona for things to do... and WY/SD are barren but have national parks along the way. Kansas and Nebraska suck to drive through and I love driving through the Midwest ha.

Unfortunately if you’re driving West to East on that short time frame you may have to decide between going to the PNW and seeing all that or the deserts of SoCal/AZ/UT etc. The drive from south to north is longer than you’d think.


Lots of ways to do it cheap or nearly the same cost as living at home (minus gas).

 

You can stay on BLM land for free as long as you don’t stay longer than two weeks. I like this website as it tells you which land is free and which ones you have to pay. https://freecampsites.net/

 

If higher cost will equate to less time on the rode as you stated earlier on I would suggest taking the vehicle you have already and throw some camping gear in it. Pop up a big tent and blow up a pad, about the same thing as a pop up camper, honestly ha. Cook on a camp stove. Shower with a Nalgene. Haha. Maybe the family wouldn’t be down but it’d cost a lot less than a vehicle rental or purchase. I’d budget a month for this trip, minimum, personally.

Just thoughts! You know you and your fam and what would work best! Keep us posted!

 

OK, so about a week out. Still haven't made the finally yes decision. The plan is to stay in a pop up as much as possible, maybe 1 or 2 nights of hotel/Motel, but not until week 2.

But here is a start of a plan



Day # / Destination

Leave on Day zero by 9 pm (Probably more like noon) and drive till need to stop and sleep (rest area), then finish drive on Day 1

1

#1 St. Louis

1300 Miles/19 ½ hours driving.

2

Dener CO

900 miles/ 13 ½ hours of driving

3

4 corners

500 mile 8 ½ hours of driving

4


5

#2 North Grand Canyon

6

#3 Mojave

7


8

#4 Sequoia

9

#5 Yosemite

200 mile from Sequoia 4 ½ hours of driving

10

#6 Redwood

550 miles thru driving. About 10 hours of driving

11

#7 Olympic

550 miles 10 hours.

12

#8 Mt. Rainier

100 miles 2 hours

13

#9 Cascades

14


15

#10 Glacier

16

#11 Yellowstone

400 miles, 6 ½ hours driving

17

#12 Rocky Mountain (Maybe remove)

18


19

#13 Badlands

20


21


12 hours

22


12 hours

23

Maine

14 hours

 

Honestly. I would cut the number of destinations and spend more time at the ones you visit.

Sounds like a fun trip

 

thats what will probably end up happening. Just not sure what will be open, what restrictions we will face and now I want to avoid cities even more so.

I am starting to locate camping spots now, hoping that I can find lots of free spots so I don't have to deal with reservations and what not.

 

Beware the "Plan"

If you're too deadset on your planning you're going to be leaving fun places while still having fun to go to boring places.

 

I am only planning to make sure we have enough time to get out west and back home. We are in for the adventure.

 

After the first fill up


First stop of the trip was to put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean.
Then drove and slept a few hours in rest area in Pennsylvania the first night.

 

Awesome, me and my wife did something similar in 2018, but we went southwest, popped into Utah/Colorado, out to California, up the coast through OR, WA, then back east to NY. What was supposed to be a 4 week trip turned into 40 days since we both ended up having to quit our jobs to do it. Good on you all for going for it!

 

Sweet! Keep the photos coming!!