Best and worst routes across the Mountains ?

Dick_B wrote:
You may want to keep a copy of Mountain Directory West handy to help plan the routes.

Definitely do that! Do not get anywhere near 1 south of Stinson Beach. Do not take 101 thru SF. (I’d suggest you take 20 south of Willits to 5.) Make reservations way, way in advance for your RV sites. I’d strongly recommend from Sacramento south you take 99 (better RV parks) or 5 to 58. Tehachapi is easier than Grapevine. 58 gets you to I-40. With our previous 37’ Class A, we always spent the night at Orange Grove RV. From there we could get an early start to get over the pass before it got hot. We could also keep an eye on the winds. It can get real windy thru all the So Cal passes. (More than happy to share excellent RV parks along the routes.)

Tom/Barb wrote:

Where at the coast?
I would avoid the LA/Cal area if possible by doing the red rock country thru Moab Ut. then use I-15 / I-84

In 1946 my uncle moved from Massachusettes to Albany California where he had nine children and 28 grandchildren, and i have lost count of the great grandchildren.

One grandchild is a flight attendant, he is the ONLY one of my uncles 50+ descendants who does not still live within 30 miles of that house in Albany.

That is the actual goal of the trip and if we blow an engine in the rockies and pull up in a rental car it will still be a success.

SInce i began this thread we already shifted the track- straight to yellowsotne and the down instead of Grand Canyon and then up. We will not add desert heat to the list of failure points.

hertfordnc wrote:

The main mission is to introduce my kids to a vast extended family on the west coast.

We pretty much pass the Grand canyon on the way there and if we see my brother in portland, we pass Yellowstone on the way back.

25 days, 7500 miles.

We travel pretty well together. We did about 5000 miles last summer in a few small trips on the East Coast but that was with an Excursion pulling a hybrid.

I am a very seasoned driver but wise enough to appreciate my inexperience in the mountains.

What a great trip.
Where at the coast?
I would avoid the LA/Cal area if possible by doing the red rock country thru Moab Ut. then use I-15 / I-84

Busskipper wrote:


Enough - of my stories - you need to be sure you have many cameras - take Hundreds of Images (Every Day) then store them so you can find them later - they will be Priceless.

That's funny. I'm a photographer for the US COast Guard. But sometimes it becomes work and i don't feel like it. But this will be pretty well photographed.

I am 60 years old. my boys are 10 & 13 - Wife is a teacher. When I retire in two years. we will have just three more summers with both boys.

So this is bit of a practice run. Shoot across the mountains, see some sights, meet some family for hte first time. Drink Beer.

After i retire these trips will begin on the last day of school and run until Late august.

Unless we find we hate it. then we'll do somethign else.

But my goal (which i do not share outload ) is ALCAN Summer 2023.

And my real dream is West Africa- Morocco to Senegal 2025 (not real optimistic about that one)

hertfordnc wrote:

Busskipper wrote:

So there you go pretty much your trip, just there were only TWO of us and we visited No One but 7,500 is really not going to cut it - more like 350 - 400 miles a day every day and no - 0 - Nada - time to stop and enjoy - so I will try to get it across to you that your kids will remember Experiences not sites/places - that's a fact!

300-400 miles ? That's an afternoon craigslist run. :-)

More like 600-800 miles a day on travel days. Leaving two and three day chunks to enjoy the experience.

I am hoping the MH makes that easier.

We do 600 miles in a small car and the occasional 24 hour flight to Ethiopia.

But i fully expect to be wrong about many things.

Sounds like we are similar in how we approach things - :) - difference is I learned that the Passengers might not enjoy the Driving as much as I do.

When I did my 8,900 mile Run - I had a couple 900+ mile days - Crazy - but necessary to do what I did in the time I did it. My Mission was for my New Bride to see the country I loved - SEE IT - not experience it - she did, it took 50 more years to experience it, which became the new Mission as life moved on.

The point I'm trying to make is that it will be a grind for the Kids - short story on one of the later trips when my boys were younger - 7 and 9 - in a GMC, similar to your Revco - GMC Images - and yes I also drove this 900+ miles on a few days, soooooo, it took me years to learn, :)

Story - on a trip to Yellowstone, and Glacier one year, we started to depart Yellowstone at 8:00 in the AM - just stopping at a few more spots, so at 8:00 PM when we finally headed out I started the drive East - this was when we just looked at paper maps and went Straight - thinking it was the fastest route - no,no - I took RT 14 across the Mountains (look up the route :)) - Cresting the top and heading down well after midnight - looking up in the clear sky I said to my wife "Look over there, The Northern Lights" OMG lasted for maybe 30 minutes as we stopped to watch them Dance - No pictures - just Mind images - my Boys have Never Forgiven Me for not waking them up. They vanished into the black sky and we continued on fo maybe 4-5 more hours.

Couple notes on the old Revcon - Brakes - and Brake Lines - have them checked to be sure all is really in good shape - as you will make it up fine the going Down is the Issue. Couple years later my GMC developed pin hole - rust - leaks on the brake lines - loosing the brakes at 60 mph when traffic stops in front of you is a challenge - another story - but it required me to replace ALL the Metal brake lines on the GMC and the DW never felt comfortable again in that Coach.

Enough - of my stories - you need to be sure you have many cameras - take Hundreds of Images (Every Day) then store them so you can find them later - they will be Priceless.

Will give you a couple links that may help as you Plan the trip;

This family did it often:)

http://www.cross-country-trips.com/

These Images will help determine the locations to visit;

https://www.pbase.com/sparker1/root%26view=tree

Once again will enjoy following this adventure,

edit - sent you a PM with a fe more ideas

Busskipper wrote:

So there you go pretty much your trip, just there were only TWO of us and we visited No One but 7,500 is really not going to cut it - more like 350 - 400 miles a day every day and no - 0 - Nada - time to stop and enjoy - so I will try to get it across to you that your kids will remember Experiences not sites/places - that's a fact!

300-400 miles ? That's an afternoon craigslist run. :-)

More like 600-800 miles a day on travel days. Leaving two and three day chunks to enjoy the experience.

I am hoping the MH makes that easier.

We do 600 miles in a small car and the occasional 24 hour flight to Ethiopia.

But i fully expect to be wrong about many things.

hertfordnc wrote:

Busskipper wrote:


Give us more info to be able to Give you more detailed insight - Who is in the Party?

Mission?

When?

How Long?

Interests?

Experiences?

Will enjoy following, Best of Luck,

The main mission is to introduce my kids to a vast extended family on the west coast.

We pretty much pass the Grand canyon on the way there and if we see my brother in portland, we pass Yellowstone on the way back.

25 days, 7500 miles.

We travel pretty well together. We did about 5000 miles last summer in a few small trips on the East Coast but that was with an Excursion pulling a hybrid.

I am a very seasoned driver but wise enough to appreciate my inexperience in the mountains.

Did what you seek to do once with just the DW - Pulled this out of another post about a few trips;

Next was a real Pick Up Camper – 8 feet of luxury in/on the back of a 67 Chevy ½ ton – don’t think it had real plumbing but did have some running water and a great bed over the cab – had some sort of set up so you could crawl through the back window to gain access to the back – Was teaching Civics at the time and had my kids do a report on all the National Parks, then in the summer of 1971 did the big loop with my wife, Her first trip out of the Mid-Atlantic, seeing the whole country with her, coast to coast in 21 days – then went to OC, MD to rest for a couple of days at the end. Remember $.24.9 cent gas in Denver and having the mirror in most of the pictures. Mt Rushmore – YNP – Tetons – GNP – SLC – Reno – RWNP – SF – PCH - Disney – YNP – SNP – Las Vegas – GCNP – San Juan’s – RMNP – Denver – Smokies – Annapolis (1970-1975) (8,900+miles)

So there you go pretty much your trip, just there were only TWO of us and we visited No One but 7,500 is really not going to cut it - more like 350 - 400 miles a day every day and no - 0 - Nada - time to stop and enjoy - so I will try to get it across to you that your kids will remember Experiences not sites/places - that's a fact!

I just did the Trip of a life time this Summer - with My two boys (in their 40's) - and their 5 Daughters and wives - 25 days - Yellowstone to Taos - Best trip Ever, and I've been doing this for 50 years.

Week in Yellowstone and the Tetons - couple Days in Vernal, UT -
week in South Western Colorado, - ending Up with 3 days in Taos

While we visited many National Parks along the way, the Kids all remembered the times we spent on the Rivers, Lakes, Reservoirs and Streams - The Water, where they could be kids - ages 8,8,10,11,14 - What I learned is Kids just want to have Fun.

When we traveled we normally could only make about 250 miles once we got to the Rockies and those were long days - remember you need to Eat and that takes time - just saying.

While you can do it, it just never worked for me after the first trip, when my kids were younger we usually would try to do just a couple location on each trip out west.

So I will be in the Camp of try to make it more Fun and Less Driving.

The truck, if running well, will make it in the mountains - use the I's where you can to get over the mountain passes.

Study the areas you plan to visit and pick the targets you want to visit - the more you know the more fun it will be.

Just my $.02,

Will be fun to follow,

hertfordnc wrote:

I am a very seasoned driver but wise enough to appreciate my inexperience in the mountains.

Then you will be ok. Moutain driving is just slower -- and being alert and a little sensitivity (looking at gauges more often) on the truck's capabilities.

Enjoy and stop to enjoy the view pn vista points and turn outs. (as my kids kept on reminding me, not while I'm driving).

Busskipper wrote:


Give us more info to be able to Give you more detailed insight - Who is in the Party?

Mission?

When?

How Long?

Interests?

Experiences?

Will enjoy following, Best of Luck,

The main mission is to introduce my kids to a vast extended family on the west coast.

We pretty much pass the Grand canyon on the way there and if we see my brother in portland, we pass Yellowstone on the way back.

25 days, 7500 miles.

We travel pretty well together. We did about 5000 miles last summer in a few small trips on the East Coast but that was with an Excursion pulling a hybrid.

I am a very seasoned driver but wise enough to appreciate my inexperience in the mountains.

If I have to make a simple bottom line advice, it will be this.

Camping and RVing, to fully enjoy the experience, will involve going up high elevation sites and driving on zig-zags, narrow mountain roads and steep hills.

Therefore, the basic essentials are a capable vehicle, the fortitude or courage and driving skills, which can only be gained through practice, The more the experience, the more skills you gain and the more confident you'll be.