2013 National Park Tour

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drober23
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2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:36 pm

I've been gearing up for this the last few years, and this is the year to do it! My wife, kid (will be 9) and I are taking two weeks off in early June and hitting the road in the '75 Westfalia camper.

The route will be:
Carleton , MI (home)
Mt. Rushmore
Rocky Mountain National Park
Arches National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Carleton, MI

Figure about 2 days each in Rocky Mountain, Arches, and Grand Teton, and a bit longer in Yellowstone. Roughly 4,000 miles in 16 days. We will split our camping with some in national/state forest campgrounds, and others in campgrounds with a few facilities.

If anyone has recommendations for sights to see along that route, or specific places to camp I would be most grateful. Other than the general route, not much has been set in stone yet. We want to do Yellowstone last as more of the ranger-led programs will be running, and there are a couple of those my son is really excited about.

The bus is in good shape for the run I think. The only project (other than normal maintenance) to be done before we go is the rear brakes. I have new backing plates and wheel cylinders to install. The engine and transmission are strong, and the suspension and tires have been solid.

Can't wait!
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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sped372
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by sped372 » Mon Jan 28, 2013 2:43 pm

You must drive highway 128 near Arches. This is not an option. Depending on your habits and preferences, you may not need more than a day for Arches, and it would be good to see nearby Canyonlands as well. I liked the Tetons a bit better than Yellowstone, personally. If you can get a general route up I might be able to offer some more advice since we've been to most of those places in the last couple of years. Sounds like a great trip.
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Amskeptic
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:16 pm

drober23 wrote:I've been gearing up for this the last few years, and this is the year to do it! My wife, kid (will be 9) and I are taking two weeks off in early June and hitting the road in the '75 Westfalia camper.

The route will be:
Carleton , MI (home)
Mt. Rushmore
Carleton, MI

Figure about 2 days
Get me a date to try to meet up with you at Mount Rushmore . . . if you'd like.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by glasseye » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:49 pm

sped372 wrote:You must drive highway 128 near Arches. .
Also UT 313 and UT 211. Again, no options. Moab is do-able in two days, but that'd be stretching things. It's an amazing place. Moab will be getting pretty warm by June, but it's a dry heat. :angryfire:

The campground inside Arches NP is absolutely magical. Kids go crazy. Book ahead. Book now, if you can.

Yellowstone will be a zoo. Be prepared for long waits for traffic. :scratch:

Teton NP is nice, but if you can steal a day from there and give it to Moab, it'd be good. Jackson is a tourist trap. The Tetons are pretty, but you've just come from The Rockies.
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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:38 am

Glasseye, thanks for the tips! I see UT 211 takes you into the Canyonlands, and UT 311 into a state park there. Our plan after Arches is pretty flexible, so if we are having a good time, we can stay a bit, or split early if not. No plans to stop in Jackson.

Colin, Mt. Rushmore looks to be the evening of June 9, staying in a campground pretty close and then going to see Jewel Cave in the morning before continuing on to either Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone We have been waffling on weather to go clockwise or counter clockwise. But either way we should hit Mt Rushmore on Sunday the 9th. We're hoping to bring along a decent sized telescope, as my son is getting excited about astronomy lately. If you catch us in the evening, I'm sure we'll be trying to set it up for a bit unless it is cloudy.

By the way, clockwise would be Mt Rushmore, Rocky Mountain, Arches, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, while counter clockwise would be the opposite once leaving Mt. Rushmore.
DJ

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(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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glasseye
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by glasseye » Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:21 pm

drober23 wrote:Glasseye, thanks for the tips! I see UT 211 takes you into the Canyonlands,
That's a great drive, but it'll use up quite a bit of time getting down to the intersection, let alone down into Canyonlands.

and UT 311 into a state park there.
This is a five-star destination. "Deadhorse Point State Park". An absolutely incredible location, equaling any viewpoint over the Grand Canyon. From the point, you can see a 270 degree panorama that looks 2000 feet straight down, 100 miles away and several hundred million years ago. There's a campground there so you can see it at sunset and/or dawn. And as a bonus, it's darn dark. Perfect telescope country. I guarantee if you've not been to Deadhorse Point, it'll be a high point of your journey.

Continuing south from near Deadhorse SP is a new road, one I've not traveled, but I can see it on Google Earth. That road leads to Canyonlands NP and would be a far better choice than UT 211 mentioned earlier.

Happy trails!

Peter
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Xelmon
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by Xelmon » Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:06 pm

Another SHOUT for the view in the area... Dead Horse don't look bad, I however would recommend the Needles Outlook.

I warmly recommend Canyonlands, as it is a hop and a skip from Arches.

And this is where my recommendation comes in...
You can thoroughly cover Arches in about 2 nights, arrival, tourist day, and moving onto Canyonlands. This includes time to view the sunset over Monument Arch - Utah lic plates - and a tour there that takes you through some nifty CCC trails, don't remember what it cover off the top of my head.

Onto Canyonlands... Fill up at Moab! While there is gas over in Canyon, I seem to recall that it's close to Death Valley expensive.

Canyonlands is FCFS only, so it's a bit of a crapshoot. We were lucky and nabbed the last spot.
If you are unlucky enough, go straight to the Hamburger Rock BLM lot (PDF map). The outpost right outside the Canyonlands NP is private land, and the lady there is apparently crazy, soooo I'd avoid it.

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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by BumbleBus » Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:20 am

drober23 wrote:The route will be:
Carleton , MI (home)
Mt. Rushmore
Rocky Mountain National Park
Arches National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Carleton, MI
I'd say you're doing yourselves a disservice by not visiting Glacier National Park, but Going to the Sun road will still be closed in early June most likely. Sounds like a fun trip! Post photos!!
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by vwtopia » Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:49 am

drober23, I'm looking to do a Route 66 to the Grand Canyon in June but haven't nailed down any dates. Not that we'd meet up but there is always that chance so when you know when you'll be at the GC let me know.

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:39 pm

drober23 wrote: Colin, Mt. Rushmore looks to be the evening of June 9,
Look at that . . .
June 07 the miz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eagan MN *9h-622m
June 09 drober *. . . . . . . . . Mt Rushmore SD *9h-595m
(* coffee break 5:30PM to 6:10PM)
June 11 whc03grady . . . . . . . . Anaconda MT
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:01 pm

Mt. Rushmore is still scheduled for June 9th...

I am in full-on panic mode finishing the last details before we leave on Friday! Colin visited last Tuesday. Since then, I have replaced the CV boots, the brake shoes, and have wired in the charging relay for the second battery.

All that is left is finalizing the mount for the second battery, wiring in a couple 12v power points from it, and cleaning up the bus. Then I can focus on mowing a few acres of grass and packing before we leave. No sweat!

I'll have the camera, and hopefully a laptop with me. Should be able to post some photos from the road. We've been getting the bus ready for a trip like this for a couple years now. Exciting to see the date drawing near.
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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poptop tom
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by poptop tom » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:39 am

drober23 wrote:Mt. Rushmore is still scheduled for June 9th...

I am in full-on panic mode finishing the last details before we leave on Friday! Colin visited last Tuesday. Since then, I have replaced the CV boots, the brake shoes, and have wired in the charging relay for the second battery.

All that is left is finalizing the mount for the second battery, wiring in a couple 12v power points from it, and cleaning up the bus. Then I can focus on mowing a few acres of grass and packing before we leave. No sweat!

I'll have the camera, and hopefully a laptop with me. Should be able to post some photos from the road. We've been getting the bus ready for a trip like this for a couple years now. Exciting to see the date drawing near.
Good luck and have a blast! Safe travels!

If you need anything while travelling through my neck of the woods (off 94 on southern tip of Lake Mich, LaPorte/Mich City area), don't hesitate to call! (219)221-1087.

Tom
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by Gypsie » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:29 am

Can't wait to hear of your travels...
So it all started when I wanted to get better gas mileage....

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Sat Jun 08, 2013 7:05 am

The plan was to leave the house at 5:00 pm and drive to Rockford, IL. We rented a hotel room for the first night as we would be getting in late. We ended up leaving at 8:00, and arriving in Rockford at 2:00 am! Blerg.

Bus is running nice so far. Here we are ready to go.

Image
DJ

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(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:15 am

72 hours and about 1,500 miles later things are getting interesting! We had smooth sailing through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Eastern Minnesota along I-90 is pretty steep as you start to gain elevation once across the Mississippi River. About halfway through Minnesota, we got the downpour that Colin was driving through on his way to Montana.

Our first camping night (we had stayed at a hotel in Rockford, IL the first evening) was in the middle of a full blown thunderstorm. We decided to not pop the top, and had my wife, the 9-year old, and me all in the lower bed. '75 full width bed for the win! We brought the 10" diameter (5' long) telescope, which takes up half of the space behind the back seat. Moving it around in the bus without opening the door was quite a challenge; but, we managed to get it into the front seat to clear up the sleeping area after a bit of wrestling.

Sunday Morning, the rain let up a bit, and we visited Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The falls are impressive, and worth a visit if you are travelling through there.

Image
Image


It is not one massive waterfall, but several spread over 1/4 mile or so. The rock is a red quartzite (jasper) and is very striking.

We loaded up and headed across South Dakota to Mt. Rushmore. South Dakota is over 400 miles wide. Between Western Minnesota and South Dakota I was greeted by almost every combination of wind speed and direction, road grade, and altitude as well as a good range of temperature! That 600 miles or so really drove home in my brain that the bus responds to all of these variations, sometimes in an apparently non-linear fashion. Instead of worrying about what the bus "should be doing", I began to accept what the bus was doing. It was (and through Wyoming continues to be) a tremendous lesson in living within the limitations of the vehicle.

Mt. Rushmore is cool. The altitude is well over 5400 feet by then, and some of the grades are very steep. The combination made me be very aware of what gear I was in. Several grades had me downshifting. It is a fun place to drive though!

Image

We camped in a campground, then saw Jewel Cave the next morning. Then we drove off through Wyoming toward our next destination, Rocky Mountain National Park. We are in Cheyenne this morning, and will be hitting the road soon! Looking forward to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park!

Summary to date: Mileage: around 1500
Average Fuel Economy: 16 mpg
Best Tank Fuel Economy: 19 mpg (tailwind)
Worst Tank Fuel Economy: 12.5 (we got beat up for 200 straight miles)
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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