"Go West 'Young' Man" (With your wife for your 25th Anniversary)

I'll have another this fall. We're doing another one with New Orleans, Big Bend, Carlsbad, White Sands, and Hot Springs NP's.

 

We did a 16-day trip from Phoenix to Yellowstone and back a few years ago ( Pre-Tacoma ) in this little camper - loved every minute of it.

 

I like the idea of those, but at 6'6" I've thought they'd be a little tight for me. And they might be a little tough to pull if you wanted to remote camp on a trail up a mountain. I'd also have to justify the expense to my non-camping wife. But I think the dog would like it.

 

However, if I were going to do one, it might be one of these and a kayak to go with it.

https://www.clcboats.com/teardrop?g...w07eC5HuOWDYD0IHPLb8MWvNhXVaj0QwaAtftEALw_wcB

 

Right so the wife and I were supposed to be tall, good looking and rich but they messed up at the factory - therefore we are 5-5" munchkins - we can actually
sleep from side to side in that thing. They make an 'off-road' model with bigger tires and it sets up higher. Otherwise for tight spots just buy a small tent and
a bedroll - never hurt to rough it now and again.

 

I sold the RTT when I got the dog. I have a large ground tent for her and I, and a buddy or two that want to go camping as well.

 

Not sure how I came across this thread but I really enjoyed reading it! Very informative and I loved the abundance of pictures! What an amazing trip and even more amazing that you got to spend it with your wife. I am 22 and getting married May 13th and can't wait for a lifetime of travels with her. We are both National "Parkaholics" as well! I've been to 13 in the last 4 years. Hoping to complete amazing trips like yours someday.

 

On our way back from Big Bend, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and a few other places this year, we made our last stop in TN about eight hours from home. We told our waitress what we had been doing and she had the same reaction. She was a student and said pretty much the same thing you did. We told her not to wait, because it will always find a way to get pushed back.

I don't think she understood that we were serious. In addition to a large tip, we handed her another $50 with specific instructions to go to the bank in the morning, put that in a savings account named National Parks, and add some tip money to it when ever she could. She was near tears, which was not what we intended. We told her to chase her dreams and to start there.

Same to you and your wife. Set some achievable goals, make some plans, and go. And do what my dad told me to do, pay yourself a little from each check. Put some money aside for the things you want to do above the things you need to do.

Glad you enjoyed the thread. We certainly enjoyed the trip.

 

Sounds like an awesome trip. Well Done!!!!!

 

Nice, I have made almost that exact treck twice now. Such a great drive!!!!

 

We also did Big Bend + but haven't had time to do a report yet.

 

Looks like we've traveled a lot of the same paths. We're at 31 National parks so far, maybe we'll cross paths out there some day. Great posts and great pics.

 

We're getting ready to retire and build a house, so no big travels for a year or two. Glacier and the PNW are next on our list and that will be most of the major ones for us. We flew out to CA and did Kings / Sequoia and Yosemite a few years back.

 

State parks are fine by me. The Cimarron of Oklahoma has a couple ...

 

We tried to work in the Big Bend State Park in TX on our last trip but didn’t have the time. There are some state parks I'd like to see, but the scale and scenery of some of the national parks just can't be compared, especially in size and resource management.

 

I concur that there are some really nice State Parks all over this grand land. I also find that they are less crowded than the National Parks
and generally are filled with fewer idiots than the National Parks as well. Big Bend is one I'd like to explore, it's massive, just don't go there
in the summer right?..

 

Absolutely! We were there in mid October and we had 70-80's in the north end and the Chisos Mountain area. But we went down to Castolon and ran 23 miles of River Road West and had 113* on the trucks outside temp reading.

 

I just can't do crowds when I'm out to relax and enjoy.

 

That's why we travel after schools are back in. All of our big trips are planned that way. Yellowstone was awesome in October. We had no lines, traffic jams, snow, summer, and fall weather.

 

The beauty of being retired - skipping holiday travel, skipping weekend travel. I prefer leaving out on Sunday to head to my destination and
watch the traffic in the other direction bumper to bumper,.... coming home on a Thursday or Friday to boot.

Holiday travel?.... perish the thought.