It's Now or Never - 1 year country tour

kknowlton wrote:
SOunds wonderful! We had thought of this when we were younger, but work requirements (and probably inertia) set in. Never did do it, though we have seen quite a bit of the country, and hope to see a lot more!

I definitely approve of your plan to see the Henry Ford Museum (and of course Greenfield Village, attached) - worth an entire day and then some! And Glacier is stupendous - you'll spoil yourselves for mountain scenery after that. :) I hope you plan to include Yellowstone - the kids will love the animals, geysers, etc. - keep a close rein on that little guy, though!!

Thanks for the kind words! Yellowstone is definitely on the list- looks like we hit there June 13-20. (I say that like this plan isn't going to screw the pooch shortly after shove off. :D )

OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
when will you be in Yosemite? In my opinion, only bad time to be there is Memorial Day to Labor Day. Falls have been hit or miss lately with the drought. Tioga Road and Glacier Point have been open early in recent years.

highly recommend Michael Frye's app on Photographing Yosemite. $10 well spent. Same content as his book but gets updated occasionally and uses phone GPS.

Yosemite is early May (9-16). I have a buddy who hiked the Half Dome a few years back. Poor guy got within a couple of hundred yards of the top and someone froze above him. No one could go up or down past the poor lady. With the clock ticking, he ran out of time.

Thanks for the app suggestion! I'll definitely buy it. I'm a crappy photographer with a great camera (Nikon D7000).

2gypsies wrote:
You are giving your children a great gift and one they will always remember. You're so lucky to be able to work your job in this manner. Your schedule is awesome! Enjoy!!!

Thank you for the kind words! The job is truly a blessing. The week-by-week schedule can be seen pretty nicely on the RV Parky link:
http://rvparky.com/trip/5811140770660352

loggenrock wrote:
Gotta ask... what occupation? A new locale every week? Interesting. Are your evenings open mid-week? When you already are "someplace" you don't need a lot of travel time to see local sites... ST

I'm a web developer building backend applications primarily. I'm a code monkey and not a designer. :) I'm going to have to invest in WiFi + cellular boosters to make it work, though. I'm not sure about evenings just yet- I'll be working four 10-hour days; so we'll see. I once heard someone tell a pregnant woman who had all of these great "once my baby is born" plans, "Everything you think you know now is likely wrong. You'll find a groove, but you have to wait for it." I chuckle any time that I say, "here's our plan". We'll see how it shakes out!

spoon059 wrote:
Hope you enjoy your trip. When I was 13 or 14 we went on a 6 week cross country camping trip. There were some days that we would leave at 7am and drive until 7pm... then there were days on end that we would do that. Those days were horrible.

The trip was a lot of fun and encouraged me to keep camping with my wife and now the kids. One day we hope to take a leisurely cross country trip with the kids to give them the same experience. I am eligible to retire in 12 years at 46 years old. I might take a year off and travel while I am young and the kids are still with us.

Have fun, be sure to document the trip for us AND for you! Sounds like a real blast. I hope everything works out and you don't have any mechanical issues or any other unpleasant surprises.

Good luck from just down Rt 29 in Montgomery County!

It's been fun hearing about folks who have done similar trips. Lots of people say it was a great experience with some crappy days in it. Which is just about what we expect. :) We have a few extremely long haul days getting from one point to another.

For documenting, I hope to continue my blog. And one of our big roadschool plans for my daughter is for her to start a blog. It'll be neat to see the two come together. With unexpected and unpleasant surprises- we're pretty good about rolling with stuff. We'll see, problems are inevitable.

Montgomery County... please share my rental listing with your family, friends, and coworkers! :D
http://tinyurl.com/RentColumbia4bd3baSingleFamily

rockhillmanor wrote:
I posted this to another family RV'ing that wasn't aware of a franchise of CG's catering to family's.

Check out Yogi Bear Jellystone Park CG's along your route.

They are really great CG's if you have kids of all ages.

Thanks for the idea! I'll take a look at it. I know of Jellystones, but we've only stayed at one back when we had our pop-up.

Army11Bravo wrote:
We visited Montana 10 years ago on a family vacation. After five days, we returned home to the big city, sold our house, quit our jobs and we were back permanently in Montana within 6 weeks.

Northwest Montana is where God himself leaned down and kissed the earth.

I hope you enjoy your trip, especially here in "The Last Best Place."

Funny story- my cousin in Huntsville says the same about Monte Sano mountain. :) I can't wait. We aren't decided if we are coming back to this area or moving. So this will give us a taste of places that we want to go. However, I want to run away from cold- I'm not sure that I could do Montana!

Crowe wrote:
Instead of looking at it from the standpoint of what you can't do, how about looking at it as a taste of what you want to do in the future? Each area will be a "taste test" to wet your appetite for a subsquent trip. It's a fantastic opportunity to "preview" what each area is like, rather than commit to one area for a week or two sight-unseen. Keep a separate journal of what you like/dislike in each area for future reference. Not spending time in the NE since it's easy access is also a smart idea. Go where you can't normally get to easily while you can.

This is the best thing I've read. I've had a lot of people stressing how we're missing a lot of the country and how there are things we can't miss (but yet can't fit into our schedule). Thanks for giving me a great perspective on this. Cheers.

Dog Folks wrote:
If your job allows it I would suggest working weekends and sightseeing during the week, between Tuesday and Thursday.

Attractions will be a LOT less crowed then, and you can enjoy it more.

Just my 2 cents and what we discovered when we retired.

I've had that exact thought and really wish it were possible. I'd love to travel on Tuesdays and sight-see on Wednesday and Thursdays. BUT- being a "normal" 9-5 job, I have to be able to interact with coworkers and clients. But, I have it so tough. (joking!)

4runnerguy wrote:
I've been almost everywhere you've got on your map, and I have to say you'll miss some of the most fantastic scenery in the country if you can't make time to visit SW Colorado (the San Juans, Salida/Buena Vista, Mesa Verde, etc.) and southern Utah (Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands). I'd gladly give up several of the weeks you have scheduled for Nebraska, Oklahoma, TX, and going to Pikes Peak :p to be able to take your kids to some of the most wonderful and magical places in the US. Places like Durango, Moab, Salida, and St. George will have the business facilities you might need on the road.

Consider carefully how much time you want to spend along the southern CA coast. Tough going for RV's and you'll find just your truck will seem very oversized in San Francisco.

Also, I would stick to the OR coast as much as possible rather than spending so many miles travelling I-5.

Just last night, my wife muttered the words that our trip may be 14-16 months. Which means we may be extending by 2 months and not worrying about being back by the time school starts for the 2016-17 school year. I was like, "YEAH, BABY!" And then she realized what she said and got quiet. If that's the case, then I can hit south-west Colorado. So, we'll see.

As for tough going in a dually- I've done a handful of beach towns and small cities so far. Key West and Rehoboth were both pretty cozy. I'm not overly stressed about it because I can't change that aspect of it. :)

Thanks for the OR coast recommendation. I don't really have route plans. RV Parky picks a single route, but as we get closer to each week- I'll map out routes.

sdianel wrote:
What great memories you will make! Can't wait to read the blog.

Thanks!