Things I noticed on my trip out west.

[dodge_guy]

So we took a 2 week trip to Yellowstone, Tetons and Colorado Springs from the NW Chicago burbs. 3900 miles averaging 7.6mpg.

Things we noticed.....
It's all uphill from here. 7k ft rise in elevation to Yellowstone.

No one likes to do the 70mph speed limit. Minimum is 80 even those towing and in MH's.

No one likes to be behind a TT even at 5mph over the limit.

Gas out west is much better than here. And more choices. 5 different choices, including non ethanol. That alone is worth approx 20HP.

RedLodge MT is very underrated! Do not miss this town. Beartooth HWY is a must drive.

I think I did too much research on Yellowstone! Between watching videos/pictures and reading, I wasn't impressed.
Lots of Asians at Yellowstone. I have no problem with that. But it was the largest amount I've seen in one place.
Alot of stupid American parents! Watched one guy get a nice up close pic of a buffalo, way to close for comfort. Not to mention the 8 year old daughter who was running back and forth across the loop road!!!! Thankfully I seen here ahead of time. I guess the pic was more important. A few people thought there minivan could be driving off the shoulder with a 6" drop. That was just as much fun watching that as watching the animals.

Tetons was more impressive for me than Yellowstone! I seen more animals in the 3 days we were in the Tetons than 4 days in Yellowstone.

The best water I've ever drunk was in Yellowstone and the Tetons. I don't know how to say it, but it didn't have the taste of water I'm used to. It just tasted like it should, fresh! LOL

Diesel super C's cannot do any better than 60mph up an 8% grade! Granted they are about 7k lbs or so heavier, but for almost $200k I would think they shouldn't get passed by a 18k lb combined weight V-10 truck in the mountains. I felt good about my setup after that!

I went over this before but quite a bit of the Denver/ Colorado Springs driver are not so good.

Don't pick a campground along I25 in CO that's at he top of a hill! That's all I heard for 4 days was the roar of gas and diesel motors trying to maintain 85mph in a 75mph zone.

There is absolutely nothing to see in CO east of Denver!!!

There is definitely nothing to see in NB! Nothing but slaughter houses! OK I guess there is something to see. LOL

North Platte NB is not RV friendly.

There is nothing to see in IA.

You would think driving downhill from Denver to Chicago would get you better mileage but no! I got the worst mileage in the middle of NB? And I had a slight NE tailwind. Still trying to figure that one out! Got better mileage going west into a headwind!!!

I would do this trip again in a heartbeat! Most relaxing 2 weeks I've had in a long time.

[frankdamp]

For us, Yellowstone is "back East" a couple of thousand miles. "Out West" is west of the Cascade Mountains. Some folks would even say it's west of the Olympics!

[dodge_guy]

Thanks Schwartz. We did see the Iowa80 truck stop before. And that is on the eastern side of IA. I'll have to check out freedodm rock. Thanks for the input.

See these kinds of poss are good. There are a lot of people that will point out things you may or may not know about.

[schwartzworld]

We did the same Yellowstone-Grand Teton trip this year. When you went across Iowa you missed these 2 stops.

https://www.thefreedomrock.com/

https://iowa80truckstop.com/

[John_S_]

We probably were out there at the same time. I read that yellowstone visitor make up is over 17 percent Asian and I think you see them by the bus load so it is more noticeable. Yes it is all uphill gut my C will climb 8 percent grades at 70 but many times I go 60 to 62. Why is that I set the cruise and let everyone passs me. Simpler driving that way but the ten percent grade with sharp turns out of Jackson to the west did slow me down to 61. I wanted to see if I could keep accelerating. I like yellwsytone for the animals but in the hot summer you have to be there early, I would go into the park at 5 am.

[bikendan]

dodgeguy, we drove from NorCal to Chicago and back, to pick up our new HTT.
we drove I80 and i have to agree with you.
that was the worse and most boring drive i've ever done.

Iowa and Nebraska were the worse, especially Nebraska.

i though I80 from Wendover to Reno was bad until i drove through those two states.

[CavemanCharlie]

You know,,,, I was one of the people saying that you just need to look around more and I still believe that. But,, I just drove from my home in SW MN to Nebraska to see the eclipse. For me this means going down Iowa Highway 60. It runs diagonal along the NW part of Iowa. On the way home, after dark, it seemed like the longest, and most boring road that there is. Hour after hour of nothing. Not even any decent mid sized towns. Thankfully, I had enough gasoline.

The only thing that kept me awake is that it was kinda fun to see everyone going North after the eclipse. lol The Southbound lane were almost empty but, the northbound ones were full of cars. Traffic didn't let up,,,well ever. We got off at Windom, MN and there was still a line of cars continuing on toward Minneapolis.

During the eclipse we saw it at the National Homestead Museum in Nebraska. At one point the host on the microphone asked people which state they were from. When she got to MN a big cheer rang up from the crowd. She laughed and called ti the "Big Minnesota Invasion". lol

[hotpepperkid]

Stay out of towns with a population of more than 2500 and you will find real people and some neat breweries.

[SkiingSixPack]

You missed a great restaurant/bar in Paxton, Nebraska called Ole's Game Steakhouse... Many animal mounts and really good food...

http://www.olesbiggame.com/#steakhouse

[mowermech]

I have to admit, the description of Eastern CO, NE, and KS pretty much matches my memories.
To that, one can add much of Eastern Montana, especially along U.S. Hwy 2. As we are wont to say, "Miles and miles of nothing but more miles and miles!"

[jeepfreak]

We went from Ma. to our snowbird destination in Florida , then to Red Bay Al to get the windshield replaced in our coach , then proceeded west. We had no agenda , just wing it. We stayed at least 3 nights at every location. We hit 32 states in 7279 miles. We found interesting places everywhere we went . I think the most surprising was a WWII submarine in a field in an Oklahoma War memorial park. We're in Maine now. We were in San Diego in may. We left Florida the end of march. I guess what I'm saying is this country is awesome , and rving is THE best way to see it.

[pnichols]

There's at least 41 things to do in lowa 😉 :

http://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/iowa#browse

[obgraham]

Good original post, Dodge Guy!

He was having a go at us, nothing wrong with that.

Besides, if somebody tells me there's nothing to see someplace, and nobody there, that's the next place I want to go!

[dodge_guy]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

Bipeflier wrote:
I am originally from Iowa. This about sums it up! I-80 Iowa

Love it. :B

Yep! My recirc, setting in the X got used a lot on the way home.

[CavemanCharlie]

Bipeflier wrote:
I am originally from Iowa. This about sums it up! I-80 Iowa

Love it. :B