Trip Report: The Perfect Family Trip!

[tragusa3]

EDIT: I wanted to add this link here at the beginning.

Ragusa's Summer 2014 Trailer


Hello friends! We have been home for two months, but I am just now feeling like getting to the trip report. The trip was so EPIC, that I was honestly a bit intimidated to put it into a thread. Realizing now that I could never do the trip justice, I decided to just jump in and let the report come out the best it does.

Over the last year or more, many folks on this forum had helped in the planning over on this thread: A year of planning for the perfect family trip! Thank you to all that contributed.

Some were put off by my use of the word "perfect", saying that it wasn't possible. Well, not only was it possible, but it was accomplished! Perfect doesn't mean trouble free. Having the right state of mind is necessary at times. But all in all, 99% of the trip went off exactly as we had hoped.

I want to give a thorough report. We have 20,000 photos and over 20 hours of video to sort and sift through. I've been working diligently on iMovie and already have half the trip put together. I put together a very brief slideshow for close friends and family, and even that is a 4 hour process showing some 1,000 pictures. That being said, the photos and videos are a labor of love for us personally. I hope to share them with people, but understand how hard it is to sit through other families home movies. That's where you folks come in! We have a common interest. Campers, camping, travel, etc. I think posting here will be a great way to share with the community.

The trip: We left on June 6, 2014 from South Carolina and headed west for a 40 day loop through the Southwest. We hit as many National Parks as we could in that time frame. When we parked the truck in the driveway, the odometer read 5,999.9 miles. Every last one of them treasured.

Places visited:

Petrified Forest
Walnut Canyon
Sunset Crater
Wupatki
Grand Canyon
Glen Canyon and Lake Powell
Kanab, Utah
Zion
Bryce
Capitol Reef
Goblin Valley
Arches
Canyonlands
Moab
Mesa Verde
Durango
Silverton
Ouray
Ridgway
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Rocky Mtn National Park
Sand Creek
Wichita
St. Louis

I listed places we actually stopped and did things. There were many other things that were just quick "on the road" stops.


The family: Family of 4. We're in our late 40's with twin 9 year old boys.

My windows to post may be sporadic, so I think it's best for me to post in installments, as I get the time. Like a mini-series. LOL

I'll do my best to keep you entertained and offer opinions for any that have questions.

ADDED: Here's a link to one segment of our home movie 2014 ARCHES VIDEO

[southerngirl76]

I have so enjoyed reading your trip report and looking at your wonderful photos! What wonderful memories you have made as a family. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

[coleman-colorad]

thanks so much for posting the info on meals.....this will really give me some great ideas. I think I will also try to experiment with dehydrated home cooked meals. I also pressure canned chicken, pork loin roast, and also beef roast so that would only be heat and eat...It is the meats that I was concerned with the most....looking forward to more trip reports??

[Kaz]

tragusa3: Thank you so much for posting all this. I read all of the posts, and enjoyed every minute of reading almost as much as if it were my own trip.

And one thought. At one point you mention that you'll find out in 20 years about the lasting effect of the trip on the boys. Well, in 1988, we made a similar trip out west, when our three kids were 11, 9, and 6. (The trip is described in short on the Wendy & Skip page of our camping blog.) I mention it because to this day, 27 years later, the kids, now grown with children of their own, still talk about the trip, laugh, and recount the highlights fondly. And the two boys each recently bought their own pop-up campers so they give their families the same joys that they had growing up. Most of us, our motorhome and two pop-ups, just got together for a family joint camping trip! (Family Camping.)

They say that a great (or maybe scary) thing about being a teacher is that you can never tell where your influence stops. The same is true about taking the family camping...

Thanks again for posting. What a gift!
Skip

[tragusa3]

Thanks Twain!

I received this PM a while back, and thought I'd put it on the thread.

From: coleman-colorado-pup
Sent: 07/17/15 10:35am
Subject: perfect family road trip

I would like you to know that I have read all 23 pages of this trip report and so enjoyed it! also watched the video and was great....

I have a question that maybe you could answer in the forum...others may be interested...can you give specifics on eating all your meals at camp or rest areas etc....eg. kind of a daily menu of sorts and logisitics of storing refridgerated foods when not at campsite and cooking and cleanup especially at rest/picnic ares. we only have a popup and usually on road trips we just eat all meals out, although we watch the budget!...my husband teaches and i am a school nurse so we have summers off and want to travel with pop up more often.

wondering if you had an extreme type cooler? did u onlu use block ice? where did you wash dishes at picnic areas? i think one time you did chili dogs at picnic area when away from camper?....this is the one area that I desperately need help with.....did you all take alot of dried foods etc....also, I know you gave the budget for the trip and i realize everyones menus are different...some eat steak every night!....but just curious by eating all meals at camp/picnic areas approx. how much you spent at grocery stores for the 6 weeks.

thanks so much if you can answer this for me....darlene btw we live in east tn so neighbors

Logistics of storing food:

We did this, trial by fire. We had pre-cooked enough meals to get to the Flagstaff area (about 4-5 days). That is, realistically, all we had room for. It was nice to not have to cook on the road. Plus, we slept at Walmarts and were able to get things each night. We could also grab treats like ice cream and not have to worry about storing it.

When we got to the Walmart in Flagstaff (pain to find), we bought about 5 days worth of food to get us through Grand Canyon. This meant that we had two ice chests and the fridge completely full. The coolers are the extreme variety, and kept ice for about 3 days in the desert heat. I hadn't thought it through enough, raw meat became a concern as soon as we pulled away. So, I cooked all of the meat the first night. This worked out well, and I think we threw away a pound of pork that had gotten too old. It is a pain to have your storage so jam packed...lots of shuffling, but you probably know that. For the second half of the trip, we didn't buy so much at one go. We ate less meat that started off raw. It was worth it to shop at the more expensive mom and pops so as to not be so crammed.

We ate like we do at home. I'd say mid-priced food. I'd be guessing at what we spent, but here goes...I think about $800-900 for the six weeks.

We always made sure we had things we could pack in backpacks for lunch. This was not just to save money, it was a huge time saver and made planning our day out much easier. I couldn't imagine traveling these areas and having to get to a restaurant every time you were hungry. It would cut the number of things you saw down to a small fraction.

We used disposable plates and utensils, but did have to wash pots. Not sure how my wife planned out washing those. They were always clean though. 🙂

My advice is to not over think it (like I did). You'll figure your own system in the first few days.

[Twain]

I've spent the better part the past 18 hours reading this entire thread; thoroughly enjoying the journey. I traveled across I-40 in '88 and returned in 2005 to visit Grand Canyon, Sedona, Petrified Forest, Vegas (will pass on this next time) and Zion. This was before our camping life began in 2009. My two oldest were 4 and 1 at the time and do not remember anything. Now we have a 14, 11, and 8 year old and am trying to squeeze in a return visit that is very close to your trip, one to Yellowstone area and a DC trip; all before the oldest leaves home. DC is planned for next May, unless we can get my boss to approve a month off for a western trip.

Living in Florida this is quite a commute, but we are determined to do so. And being a FL native I am in awe of the vastness of the west. The size, the solitude, the views, the independence all draw me back. My camping budget is similar to yours with the addition of one meal out per week to sample local cuisine. My wife has authorized generator(s) for A/C and I'd love to camp inside the parks and try some boon docking. We have done Walmart and plan on using them coming and going.

I know what you mean about videos. We make a 20-25 minute year long summary video for Christmas each year and I doubt family members watch them more than once, if at all. Only my wife's boss will comment on what's in the videos. Have thought about making a one song video for the ADHD relatives. Anyway, great job on this thread.

[tragusa3]

I've been watching the calendar over the last few weeks. Can't believe we are at the one year anniversary from this trip. This day last year, we were headed to RMNP. Wish I was this year too!

[tragusa3]

Glad you enjoyed it Eco!

[EcoBullet]

Nicely done! What a great way to liven up the memories!

[tragusa3]

I come with good news this morning! I have a new internet service at home, and my upload speed has tripled. It still isn't great, but better. What does this mean? It means, I was able to upload one installment of our trip videos! Sorry, the resolution is greatly reduced (down to 480 instead of the 1080p of the originals).

I chose to upload "Arches" so you would have an example of what the entire package is like. There will be times that you find it drags, and times you find interesting (hopefully). It wasn't filmed to entertain the public, it was filmed for our family.

As mentioned before, this is one installment of 17 chapters. We hope you enjoy!

2014 ARCHES VIDEO

[tragusa3]

RGar, that's an interesting offer, and flattering. However, I wish I could show them to all for free. If anyone's interested, bring the popcorn and plan to stay for about 8 hours. Seriously, I would entertain showing anyone that was passing through and interested.

Maybe one day I'll have them uploaded to some type of cloud and I can send links...


Speaking of videos, over the Easter break, I let one of the boys take the action cam into the lake with them...it never came back. I'm in the process of ordering another.

Don't know if anyone noticed on the 2016 thread, but reservations are made for Yellowstone next summer!

[RGar974417]

Sorry that your family doesn't appreciate what you've done.But I would pay for copies of your videos.Message me if you wish to make copies and sell them.

[tragusa3]

Andrewsdk wrote:
Thanks for your wonderful post and photos! I am taking my 2 kids (9 & 11) on a long road trip this September and we will be hitting many of the same spots (Grand Canyon, Mesa, Arches) but we are coming from the other side (Seattle area) and only have 2.5 weeks. I can't wait! (Poor hubby needs to stay home and work.)

It looks like you mostly stayed at National Parks? How was that with the trailer? I will have my Dad's motorhome so was looking more for places with hook ups, but saving money is a definite bonus! Did you find you needed reservations?

You will definitely want reservations if you plan to stay in the parks. I don't think you would be in many of them at all without them.

We stayed in every park. At least half of the trip was without electricity. It wasn't a problem except for our stay at Arches. It was over 100 during the day and there were lots of sandstorms keeping windows shut. It was pretty rough, but look at the pictures! You'll have to decide if waking up to the scenery is worth some sacrifices. For us, it was!

[tragusa3]

4X4 Dodger, thanks so much for your comments. Being a good parent is intentional. I need to hear input like yours from time to time, as it isn't all sunshine and roses. 😉 It is really nice to hear you say the things you did.

We have a more local trip planned this year with the camper, and then a 3 week trip to Hawaii! I'll report on both.

[tragusa3]

KO, I'm glad the thread is helping you! Enjoy your trip and let us know how it goes!

[CManley]

Well Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!