Routes and campgrounds in west

Lantley wrote:

zb39 wrote:
My phone says 1587 miles from Nashville to Yellowstone....your closer than me and I have been there 7 times.
Leave friday after work or very early sat am. 3 days to get there. sat, sun mon night arrival. Take a 7 full days to see the highlights including the Tetons. Take 5 or 6 days to get home at a slower pace. JUST DO IT!
Don't let the retired crowd get you down. I went to Alaska and back in 5 weeks. 10k miles total on the coach.
Maybe when I retire I will slow down................nah!

I like your math. It takes 3 days to get there and 3 days back that's 6 days of steady driving. That leaves 8 days of touring. total.
That allows for 3 days to get home. There is not enough time to allot 5-6 days to get home:@.

Now the OP could drive out and back doing 2-800 mile days to allow for more touring time. But that is a grueling pace.

Like the OP I can only muster 14 days off. I have always desired to take an RV trip west, however the drive is just too far to do it at an enjoyable pace. I can make it up and down the east coast and as far west as Ohio within my allotted 2 weeks. However the badlands, Mt Rushmore, Grand Canyon, are just too far to go from the east coast.
For me I want to slow down enough to at least sniff the roses if I can't actually smell them.
I don't want to just do a drive by , beep and go tour do to ti,me restraints.
If I make the effort to drive that far I want to have enough time to actually enjoy the destination vs. just passing by the destination.
To the OP I'm not trying to discourage you. I think you are working on your game plan and your destination is set.
Many have made the journey in 14 days, but for me I prefer my vacation destinations to be closer to home in order to travel and sightsee at a more leisurely, enjoyable place.
I enjoy driving and have concluded after several 500-800 mile days,(BTDT) that vacation should be more about relaxing vs.driving.
Maybe my thoughts on time driving vs. time at destination ratio would change if I were in a class A or Class C.
However I play the towable game,the drive is not quite as enjoyable as it is in a motorized RV.
With that in mind I set distance limits in order to have enough relaxation time to make the vacation worthwhile.
I'm caught in the fast paced rat race 50 weeks a year, I do not need to set a rat race pace while on vacation.
Maybe it's a sign of old age ;)

3 days there. 7 days looking around, that equals 10 taking the sat, sun before gives hime 16 days total. 16-10=6 days left to get home. It's not that hard. Your kids will thank you. Mine sure have.

We spent a week in the Black Hills on an RV trip and will be back there for another week next June for a mining conference. We have also worked, played, and RV'd many times in Durango over the past 50 years. Many of those Durango area trips were with our now-adult children when they were young. One of our sons even went to college in Durango because he loved the area and its year-round outdoor activities more than any other place he had visited.

Based on our experiences in both places, I would choose SW Colorado. As others have stated, there are more activities and interesting places to visit there than you can possibly do in a week. So, you will have to pick and choose those that are of most interest to your children (and to you). If you want fun, outdoor adventures, they can go river rafting or kayaking, mountain biking, fly fishing, hiking, rock climbing, or 4-wheeling on jeep roads with incredible vistas. If you want educational activities, there are more Anasazi ruins, national parks and monuments, and museums than you will have time to see. If you need a relaxing break, the Durango-Silverton train ride is an all-day treat.

You can do many of those same activities in the Black Hills, but the scenery around you will not be nearly as spectacular!

NCMODELA wrote:
So if we decided to just do one of the above. Durango Slidell or Custer SP. would each of those areas have a weeks worth of stuff to do? Otho to within a reasonable drive?

I have gone to the Custer area for 4 or 5 days every year for a number of years with my kids and grandkids. So far we have not run out of things to do and have seldom repeated any adventures. DO NOT go the last week of July or the first 2 weeks of August when motorcycles ruin the whole Black Hills

Yes, Durango has plenty of things to do within a relatively close area.

To add to the list Thom provided:

Visit Durango, Colorado - Summer Recreation

White water rafting
Lots of hiking close by or up at high altitude
Cycling
Jeep/ATV tours
Fishing
Horseback riding tours
Chuckwagon dinner/show
Ziplines
Durango downtown shopping
Telluride for outdoor market and riding free gondolas through town

NCMODELA wrote:
So if we decided to just do one of the above. Durango Slidell or Custer SP. would each of those areas have a weeks worth of stuff to do? Otho to within a reasonable drive?

Definitely a weeks worth of things to see/do in the Durango area. Just returned from there last week, after a couple of days in Mesa Verde NP. Did the Durango and Silverton RR as well. There's 4 Corners not far away, your kids might enjoy that. Canyon of the Ancients outside of Cortez. Aztec ruins down in NM. Hot Springs outside of Durango as well as over in Pagosa Springs. Vallecito Reservoir area for some great camping and scenery. Drive on the San Juan Skyway/Million Dollar Highway from Durango to Ouray (do this in your van only for a better time of it) -- over 3 major passes of 10000+ feet. Downtown Durango has a lot for a variety of interests, I think your kiddos would love the area.

So if we decided to just do one of the above. Durango Slidell or Custer SP. would each of those areas have a weeks worth of stuff to do? Otho to within a reasonable drive?

Lantley wrote:

RedRocket204 wrote:


OP, you may need a vacation, after your vacation, but the family memories from your trip will be priceless. That will mean a lot to your kids when they are older and reflect back on the good 'ole times.

I understand you guys take and I also believe you guys see my take on this.

Lantley, 100%!

I too prefer less driving and more "visiting" and will choose that over long periods of traveling and seeing more. I prefer not to rush things but know that isn't always the case and will then "roll with the punches".

I can also be of the mindset to wake at 2am to get on the road and get 4 hours of drive time under my belt so that 4 hours have expired from a 10 hour drive... just the way I think at times. Regarding the OP's situation, I think back to the excitement as a kid of the first time I was going to the "snow". That was a long day of plane rides to IN to visit extended family and it wasn't an issue. It was only going to be "an issue" if we didn't go (I know that sounds bad, like a spoiled kid tantrum which wasn't the case... but I think you get my point). I can imagine the same holds true for a kid the first time they get to visit an ocean beach or the mountains.

That leads me to what the OP has expressed as their kids want to see the west. In that case, nothing else will be good enough and the OP is trying to manage their family trip within that two week time period. Obviously, sacrifices will need to be made which will include a good amount of driving since the family is so big and flying is too costly. Add they want to visit their son's biological family in OK. Those items right there would put my mind at ease knowing I would make it work and not let it bother me.

NCMODELA wrote:
I am looking into Durango, Custer state park and Arkansas river. Our 13 yr old is adopted and half Sauk Fox. And he has family in Shawnee Ok. That we may see if we can stop and see too. He has never met his fathers side of his family.

A place to stay somewhat near Shawnee might be Lake Thunderbird State Park. Lots of activities for the kids (and adults) and a very nice campground.

For ideas on routes and not-to-miss-sights in Colorado, if that's where you decide to go, see my blog at HERE. You can ignore the camping locations I have listed if you don't want to boondock or dry camp, but the rest may be of some help.

Obviously, if your wife and your 17 year-old can help with the driving, you can make better time. And, if you are going to Shawnee, then I suggest you take I-40 to US 84 at Santa Rosa, NM, then I-25 to Santa Fe, and US 285 into Colorado. From Alamosa, CO, you could make a loop in either direction to see many of the sights suggested previously--Durango, Mesa Verde NP, Silverton-Ouray, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NM, Salida-Buena Vista, and Great Sand Dunes NP.

Those locations are about the only ones you will have time for in only 2 1/2 weeks. But it will give your kids brief impressions of not just the deserts and mountains of "The West" but of the Pueblos, the Anasazi, the routes of the 16th-18th century Spanish and 19th century American explorers, mountain men, cowboys-ranchers, gold and silver miners, railroad builders, and Great Depression-Dust Bowl "Okies" using Route 66 to get to a better life in California. And maybe those impressions will make them want to come back to the West again and again until they have seen it all!

As if that is a goal that is even possible to reach. I have lived in the West for 72 years and still not seen all of it. But I keep trying, so that's why I have an RV.

RedRocket204 wrote:


OP, you may need a vacation, after your vacation, but the family memories from your trip will be priceless. That will mean a lot to your kids when they are older and reflect back on the good 'ole times.

I understand you guys take and I also believe you guys see my take on this.
My thought is you do not have to drive consecutive marathon days to make memories. There are plenty of memories to be made that require less drive time.
Instead of excessive time behind the wheel or being seat belted in. You can be out and about actually doing stuff!
just my 2 cents.

johnwalkerpa1 wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Not trying to rain on the parade but I don't think 2 weeks is enough time to do the west from the east coast via RV.
Too much driving vs. the amount of time you will have to actually tour and see stuff.

This is true. But......do it anyway :)

Agreed!

OP, you may need a vacation, after your vacation, but the family memories from your trip will be priceless. That will mean a lot to your kids when they are older and reflect back on the good 'ole times.