First Longer Trip advice appreciated!

[hoyden]

Hiya!

Have you done a month-long trip?
What are you suggestions, recommendations, tips, tricks?
(I am not fond of campgrounds, so mostly boondocking, with some visits to friends is what I'm considering)

* How do you plan/get food if you are taking smaller back roads?

* I'm looking at a 200-250 mile per day max. What is a realistic distance to cover so as not be burned out over the month entirity? Like would leaving Arizona, going up the Left Coast to Washington State, and back to Valley of the Gods, Utah be too ambitious?
( up: https://goo.gl/maps/ZkuNiSo3nMy .:. less detailed return: https://goo.gl/maps/8Lg7PDKsSYy )

* I don't know what other questions to ask!

* thank you!

 

[Alley-Kat]

You'll do OK.
We've seen you travel before.

Some smaller towns still have food stores, although the prices may be slightly inflated. Sometimes you can find a local source for plant perishables (like a Farmer's Market or fruit stand).

The main option I use is to make a food shopping list, adding what I want to the list, every day. Then when I get close to a regular sized town with a choice of food stores, I make my purchases. Even small back roads will come to a larger road every now and then.

I take it you have already been on Hwy 1 between Morro Bay and Monterey?
That drive is not to be missed, especially of where you are normally based and how close you will be on this trip.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Cayuse]

200 miles/day means your going to come across some sort of grocery every day or two, even with the new gas can you'll still need to refuel periodically so there will be trips to civilization and you have a fridge.

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams

 

[ski3pin]

You will do fine. We plan our food for 5 to 7 days and will make stops for resupply - either planned or a good source pops up along the way - farmers market - food stand.. We have a reserve of a few days of freeze dried backpacking meals, powdered milk, etc., so getting food is never an emergency. Plan your water needs and do not miss an opportunity to top off your supply. And keep an eye on the propane as you start using the furnace.

Always have a Plan B and a Plan C. Relax, take breaks, change your schedule/plans if you find something along your route you want to spend more time at.

Time driving/distance traveled in a day - do want you find you are comfortable with. We always tend to stop early and have a choice of where to spend the night as opposed to pushing hard, driving into the dark, with no idea of what we'll find for dispersed sites.

Have fun. Be safe.

 

[hoyden]

Thanks all!

Cayuse: I always have my towel!

Ooh, I didn't even think about water/propane needs.

I am terrible with food. I get paranoid about stuff spoiling in the fridge, and I have a lot of canned stuff that I don't seem to use. I really need to work on the food part of the equation.

Alley-Kat. It's been /years/ since I was on Hwy 1 and my last trip to LA had a little of the coast highway, but all I remember is that it was heavy traffic.

It seems that the ease of finding camping in the SouthWest might not be so much on the Left Coast. Especially, on the Hwy 1.

 

[Foy]

I see the loop you describe as having few, if any, intervals where a day's travel at 200-250 miles/day will not bring you close to most any sort of food, fuel, and supplies you may need. Certainly laying in a couple or three days of nonperishable backup supplies is a good idea, as is missing few opportunities to top off the fuel tank, but from recent personal experience your general route from Spokane back to where you'd get off of I-70 in eastern Utah should be "no problem-o" as to food, fuel, and supplies.

I think each has their own comfort level as to miles per day. I start to "hit the wall" in terms of ability to focus and react well after 650-700 miles of fairly open Midwestern or Western US Interstate. In the more congested East, I start falling off of my prime at 550-600. For off-highway traverses, it depends a lot on how challenging the route is. Valley floor graded gravel county, BLM, or Forest Service roads normally allow me to run 40-45 mph unless washboarding is bad. Routes ascending and descending ranges or within tight canyons are more demanding in terms of focus so the slower average travel speeds and low speed required of such routes may make 200 miles a stretch.

Case in point: In late July last year, we left the pavement west of Clark Canyon Reservoir (southwestern Montana) at around 11:00am. First segment was 55 miles of mostly graded gravel road ascending to a divide at about mile 30, then down the opposite drainage along a more remote road with some narrow canyon segments. That was followed by 30 miles of Interstate, then another 50 miles of gravel road. The second gravel segment was wide open and mostly level--no passes or canyon segments, but it was badly washboarded in places. On each segment we stopped often to take in the views and look at the Benchmark maps and other reference material such as Roadside Geology of Montana. It was 6:30 pm by the time we reached our destination and I was seriously ready to get out of the truck. We'd run about 150 miles of 2-lane state highways earlier in the morning that day for an overall 285 mile day. It was all we wanted, but it was a terrific day. Point being there are many variables in play--so many it's hard to make generalizations.

Foy

 

[allanb]

I like to think of hi milage trips like those as broad overview trips. Good to get an idea of areas you haven't seen, places you may or may not want to go back to. Or your just going to one spot or "moms" and spending your time there. But hard to spend the time to really appreciate any given area.
Food is easy, yes freeze dried, and I always have a good supply of nuts, crackers, bars, cheeses etc. A few frozen things, a few cans, and your good for a while, until the ice cream craving kicks in

 

[longhorn1]

Hoyden, all good comments and advice. We haven't done a trip longer than 2 weeks. We leave on an 18 day trip Friday. I lay out a plan of where we are going and put an itinerary together. My wife and I then plan out the meals for a week, planning on stopping to re-supply as needed. Travel days might be yogurt and a muffin after we hit the road. If there is a micro-brewery, we will try and make that lunch and head on to our campsite. So far we have mixed in some restaurants, and maybe too many as the cost does add up.

For us the longer trips will come when I partially retire in a couple of years. This year we did an 8 day spring trip, a nine day summer trip, and now the 18 day fall trip.

As far as driving goes, if we know we are going to stop at a motel, I will put 10 - 12 hours in knowing we have a guaranteed reservation. However, travel days once we get there are kept to 100 - 200 +/- in a day, and take a little long on the way home to make it easy.

Have fun. jd

 

[hoyden]

Yeah, I haven't fleshed out my return trip so it's just a big swath now. But I'd like to do the same 200-250 mile for that too.

I've got friends in Berkeley, Oregon coast (Yachats), Seattle, Leavenworth/Spokane Wa. Then I'd like to visit the FWC in Jackson, Wy. As well, I've not spent time in Montana or Wyoming, but both states greatly appeal to me. The wide open spaces and giant skies.

That's kind of why I'm feeling like I might be biting off more than I can chew. I gotta be at Valley of the Gods, UT by the 19th or 20th.

I might need to re-learn how to fish for this trip

 

[allanb]

Good analogy Foy. Lot depends on the terrain and road and view and mind set, [point a to b getting there, vs having time]
x2 on morro bay to monteray but only off season and during the week. Anymore, any other time its like a racetrack. Its definitely harder to find dispersed sites, and takes a while. And might not be left coast legal.
Ditto on marin county to arcata

 

[hoyden]

While I'd like to visit friends, my main goal is to relax and get some perspective. That's part of the 200-250 mile day rule for myself.

The Technomads ( http://www.technomadia.com/ ) have a 2-2-2 rule that I like "Drive no more than 2 hours, stay no less than 2 nights and be in to your next spot by 2pm."

 

[Stalking Light]

I just did a similar trip except from Atlanta. I'd suggest going south down the coast, that way all the viewpoints are on the right and easier to get in/out of. Also keep in mind any mountain passes you need to cross, weather could be a factor.


Charlie

Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West

 

[hoyden]

That is a good point, foy, on the distance vs road conditions. I plan on staying off super-slab.
And washboard just hurts. And Pugsly absolutely hates washboard, so I do try to stay off it.
I was looking for a campsite nearish Escalante in Utah, but gave up due to the washboard and the look on my dog's smooshy face.

It's difficult to navigate too too much alone, and the pug isn't any help. Argos sits in back and refuses to navigate unless I give him the passenger seat, but the pug has claimed that, so I'm stuck with these two useless hounds.

That makes going on the more back roads more difficult, unless I have a really specific place to go. And even then, can be tricksy. Part of why I got the extra gas can and mounted last night at Adventure Trailers - I get paranoid about running out of gas in the middle of nowhere.

 

[hoyden]

Ooh, hi Charlie!

I didn't consider that viewing part. Hmmmm

 

[Stalking Light]

Last year I did a similar trip only north up the coast from SoCal and missed some views. The downside of views on the right is that you are often driving on the side with the sudden drop.

Charlie

Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West

 

[GroovyDad]

My only little tidbit of advice is relevant regardless of the length of trip, but I ALWAYS keep a roll or two of quarters in my center console for pay showers. I don't like campgrounds either, but you can always pop in to one just for a shower and nothing's worse than being dirty in front of a shower with no quarters. Plus, you may need them to feed the old school parking meters along the way too.

If your trip brings you through Reno, let me know and maybe we can meet up. I also have a big driveway and an acre lot if you need a place to camp for the night.

 

[ski3pin]

My only little tidbit of advice is relevant regardless of the length of trip, but I ALWAYS keep a roll or two of quarters in my center console for pay showers. I don't like campgrounds either, but you can always pop in to one just for a shower and nothing's worse than being dirty in front of a shower with no quarters. Plus, you may need them to feed the old school parking meters along the way too.

Great point Mr. Groovy. We do the same. Quarters are also used for laundry stops.

 

[Stalking Light]

Ditto on a supply of quarters.

 

[Cayuse]

Also, a checkbook is handy for paying campground fees since they always seem to be amounts that i don't have the correct change for.

 

[hoyden]

I don't have a checkbook, but I did get a couple of checks from my bank and have those in my wallet.

Didn't think of the quarters! I'll do that! Hopefully, I can see friends a few times and utilize their showers... :-D


My goals:

+ get perspective
+ re-learn how to relax