1st long haul advice

Sounds like you had a successful shakedown trip. Congratulations!

well time for a quick update, we went, we saw, we returned safely. things went well, we took 5 days getting there, and 3 coming back. the truck and camper worked well and had no breakdowns. super great time, the next trip we will make more of a sight seeing based, cause we just did the basics.

Last time I drove this route, I-90 to Minnesota and then south thru Lake Okoboji and to my destination, Storm Lake, I went south at Moorcroft and then to Custer and from there thru the Black Hills. Then into Wall to see the Wall Drug and south thru the Badlands and back out to I-90. If you plan it right, you can do Custer state park from Custer,the pigtail bridges, the Monument and out thru Rapid City all on one route.
On Yellowstone, I would go in the north entrance from Livingston and follow the road down the westside and out the east entrance to Cody and 20-16 to Buffalo.
Coming home on I-90, you can catch the Devils Tower and the Little Bighorn Nat Monument.

Busskipper wrote:

Potentnuts wrote:
I'm taking notes on these responses, very good info I didn't think of. the responses on traveling thru Yellowstone especially.
I don't have anything against the campgrounds I just didn't think they would be feasible, but after some digging online, and your comments, it makes sense to try for them.
I have to get out of the "what I can do" mentality, and start thinking what "we can do". I have driven straight thru from seattle to LA and back before, seattle to Bozeman once, the last one I did was Edmonton to seattle during winter, that one was sketchy cause of 300 miles of snowy mountain passes.
maybe I should prioritize the trip for what it is ,a family reunion in Minnesota.

Lightbulb!!!!!!

With a chance to see a few things along the Way, Still will be able to at least SEE a FEW things as you make the drive.

Plan the Days with 3-4 hours of driving - stop maybe see some things (2hours) drive again - stop see some things - tuck the kids in - Drive some more (Just to Keep YOU Happy) - so YOU can still have the Long days - the Kids and DW can see a few things/have a meal and you can still have a long driving day, broken up by many periods of FUN for the Family.

If the timing is perfect you might just drive through Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore, see lots of local high lights still get to he Reunion, and everyone can have FUN.

Just a thought,

X1 I got the impression that "long Hauler" was actually trying to plan 2 different trips into 1.
Trip 1 was a "Long Hauler marathon trip" Trip 2 was a "family RV trip". This combination of trip planning is like mixing oil and water. I would suggest looking at alternative trip planning i.e.
Plan two seperate trips. Fly to the class reunion for a quick trip. Then plan an RV trip
that is slower paced and family friendly with opportunities to stop and smell the roses.

Potentnuts wrote:
I'm taking notes on these responses, very good info I didn't think of. the responses on traveling thru Yellowstone especially.
I don't have anything against the campgrounds I just didn't think they would be feasible, but after some digging online, and your comments, it makes sense to try for them.
I have to get out of the "what I can do" mentality, and start thinking what "we can do". I have driven straight thru from seattle to LA and back before, seattle to Bozeman once, the last one I did was Edmonton to seattle during winter, that one was sketchy cause of 300 miles of snowy mountain passes.
maybe I should prioritize the trip for what it is ,a family reunion in Minnesota.

Lightbulb!!!!!!

With a chance to see a few things along the Way, Still will be able to at least SEE a FEW things as you make the drive.

Plan the Days with 3-4 hours of driving - stop maybe see some things (2hours) drive again - stop see some things - tuck the kids in - Drive some more (Just to Keep YOU Happy) - so YOU can still have the Long days - the Kids and DW can see a few things/have a meal and you can still have a long driving day, broken up by many periods of FUN for the Family.

If the timing is perfect you might just drive through Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore, see lots of local high lights still get to he Reunion, and everyone can have FUN.

Just a thought,

I'm taking notes on these responses, very good info I didn't think of. the responses on traveling thru Yellowstone especially.
I don't have anything against the campgrounds I just didn't think they would be feasible, but after some digging online, and your comments, it makes sense to try for them.
I have to get out of the "what I can do" mentality, and start thinking what "we can do". I have driven straight thru from seattle to LA and back before, seattle to Bozeman once, the last one I did was Edmonton to seattle during winter, that one was sketchy cause of 300 miles of snowy mountain passes.
maybe I should prioritize the trip for what it is ,a family reunion in Minnesota.

My wife and I travel with our 6 and 4 year old sons in our dually and 11.5' TC. About the most distance I can do in one day is 350 to 400 miles. Any more than that and the kids are cranky and the wife is cranky. By the time you factor in all the bathroom breaks, food stops, fuel stops, and a little site seeing 5 hours or so was about all I had left for driving. I used to be a truck driver and do 10 to 12 hours a day but not now with the family. In my experience if you think you're going to drive 8 or 10 hours a day you will all be miserable.
What have you got against campgrounds other than maybe the cost? Campgrounds have playgrounds which are the best medicine for tired mean kids that have been cooped up all day in car seats. A swimming pool feels great after a long day on the road. It's a nice safe place to take a walk with the wife in the evening after supper. They often have mini-golf, ice cream stands, fishing ponds, etc. These are the things that really make me feel like I'm enjoying time with my family and seeing the country. Viewing everything at 70 mph thru the windshield just doesn't quite cut it for me.

One little item on your first day is that, if you are coming out of the Seattle area, you will have at least two mountain ranges to cross. Normally it is at least 4-5 hours to Spokane from Seattle and I'm thinking that Missoula may be a stretch. Also there are a number of places in MT where the cost per nite is like $15-20 and are right off the highway. Have a great trip and another stop is at Deer Lodge with the old Montana state prison and a pretty nice auto and RV museum.

Two websites I use are-
Gas buddy for finding gas nearby Gasbuddy
and
Allstays Campgrounds- a very complete listing.

Re: Yellowstone - the park is much bigger than first timers typically imagine it will be and the loop roads have low speed limits. They tend to be very slow and trafficky during prime summer season, some parts of them more than others especially if a buffalo, moose, or a bear happens to be standing somewhere within sight of passing traffic. With the appearance of any significant wildlife people tend to get very excited, sometimes abandoning their vehicles in the middle of the single lane (each way) road and running into the field with cameras. Sometimes there are one or more buffalo (or dozens) standing in the roadway and they don't go anywhere until they're ready. In other words, expect delays.

Yellowstone is also not really on the way to anything in the sense of just jumping off an interstate, seeing it, and jumping back on. You pretty much have to be intending to go there, and there will be several hours of two lane hilly twisties just getting into the park and out of it from any direction, in your case, most likely from the north on US 191 or 89, and to the east on US 14>20>16.

IMO, it would be a bit of a waste to go there just to drive around the loops and not get out and see and experience some of the sites (meaning more crowds and wait times), but even if all you did was drive a slow parade lap around the loops that's a pretty significant diversion from I-90. Typically Yellowstone (and Teton, which in some ways I like more than YS) would be a several day trip by itself. My family and I enjoyed the parks themselves (Yellowstone and Teton) but we also enjoyed interspersing park-heavy days with evenings walking around West Yellowstone, seeing the shops, having pizza, etc. One of the things we still talk about was one 4th of July having a snowball battle in the park that afternoon (yes, there were/are still snow drifts in higher altitude shady spots in YS park on the 4th of July) then watching the fireworks in West Yellowstone that night, some of us wrapped in blankets against the see-your-breath chill.

Also, if you're planning on going east out of YS to pick up I-90 to the Devil's Tower - Rushmore area, be advised that it's a twisty up-and-down two lane coming out of the mountains from YS into central Wyoming, with a LOT of deer, elk, and even the occasional moose on and near the roadway. We did that route in the summer of '14 (US 14 > US 20 > US 16 between YS and I-90 in Buffalo, WY) and had several close calls with deer to the point that I got semi-paranoid going around blind curves. At one point we came around a curve and surprised a doe and a fawn standing in the roadway. The doe ran down the right side bank in a panic but the fawn ran the opposite way and got trapped against the vertical bank on the left side of the roadway. We came to a stop as the fawn ran around in the roadway in a panic trying to find mama and the way out, so I used our vehicle to slowly herd the fawn away from the vertical bank on the left and toward the drop off on the right that mama had run down. You're not finally clear of the hilly twisties until you come up and over the range of hills in the Bighorn National Forest and descend into Buffalo, WY. I was glad to reach I-90 that evening, but then at dusk we had another close call with three deer on I-90 between Buffalo and Gillette.

In other words, count on that route taking longer and being more demanding than you think.