My wife and I are 63 and 64, respectfully, and we couldn't be more different in overall approach: She says "surprise me" with destinations and routes, while I have been known to study a destination and route so thoroughly and for so long that I more or less recognize it when I get there. Must be the old field geologist in me. I cut my teeth trip planning as a Project Geologist running a drilling crew of similar size to a platoon of WWII-era armored vehicles, so taking great care to figure out where we can go, can't go, want to go, and need to go are second nature. All of that said, the planning and its requisite map study are very enjoyable exercises and comprise much of the fun.
Having been trained in the use of USGS 7.5' topos at 1:24,000 scale and a Brunton pocket transit, the infinite variety of digital products available now has led to me to..........not use any digital maps whatsoever. Oh, I do like to zoom in to crux points with Google Map sat photos and I do so regularly and agree they're fine tools, but my intent is to dance with the one that brung me for as long as I'm able to dance. Accordingly, DeLormes and more recently Benchmarks are my primary tools.
Overall, my trip planning involves several stages:
- Hankerin'
- Longin'
- Jonesin'
- Schemin'
- Daydreamin'
- Advanced Daydreamin'
- Obsessin'
- Site plottin'
- Time and distance cipherin'
- Reality checks, review, and bookings when needed.
Last night I finished Site Plotting and started on Time/Distance on a long, broad arc through southern and central Montana scheduled for August 2020. We'll enter MT at Red Rock Pass down near Henry's Lake, ID and will run a trapline of familiar haunts we just can't do without seeing again for the nth time and mix in a few new spots. The "mostly old stuff" will end at the mouth of Rock Creek, east of Missoula after which we'll complete a several hundred mile mostly gravel traverse from around Fort Benton, through the Breaks, up through the American Prairie Reserve, Fort Peck, follow the Little Missouri River upstream from Medora (just inside ND), and cut back into MT briefly before exiting at MT's far southeastern corner at Alzada on the 5th day out of Fort Benton.
This trip will be in one of our pickups (need to decide which one soon) towing our lightweight pop-up hardside A-Frame camper. It'll be the second trip to MT for the camper and the 5th North Carolina-to-Montana road trip since 2002, so we've developed some preferred stops for overnights along the way, and even some preferred fuel and food stops. So lots of the getting there and back is boiler plate. I generally won't tow at much > 67-70 mph unless it's really flat and the highway surface is very smooth. I just don't care to put too much strain on the auto transmission, cooling system, suspension, and tires so I park my tail in the right lane, keep the CB on to warn truck drivers of a "slow mover" when it looks like they're bearing down on me, keep some music going on low volume, and enjoy the scenery.
Within our East Coast states, and with having to traverse the Appalachians within 3 hours of leaving home, we look for about 600 miles/day. In less-thickly populated parts of the Midwest, we can comfortably cover 650-675 miles/day. Between the Missouri River and the Rockies, we'll push out to 700 miles/day at times At an average of 52-55 mph on a "beginning to end of day, including all stops" basis, these are obviously long days, but we start a little before dawn in order to stop long before dark and we do some walks at rest and fuel stops during the day and try to get in 20-40 minutes of walking in during the evening. We choose state and federal park campgrounds (not NPs, but Army COE and the like) which offer pull-throughs or level back-in sites so we can readily level without disconnecting, and 30 amp electric is a baseline requirement. Our camper has an A/C unit which throws ice cubes and we find that cool air and clean sheets go a long way towards getting to sleep quickly and sleeping restfully with campground and highway traffic noise well muffled by closed windows and the soft hum of the A/C.Then it's up at 0430-0500, press Go on the Mr.Coffee, go grab a shower at the bathhouse, a bowl of Cheerios with blueberries quickly downed, and we're wheels-up easily by 0600. The pop-up sets up and takes down in a couple or three minutes.
For the "in state" parts of this trip, we're looking at 2 to 5 nights at each of 4 places which are only around 2-3 hours' drive from one to the other. The Looooooong Traverse down the Missouri and up the Little Mo will run between 70 and 120 miles/day mostly on BLM and county gravel roads. That part will be just pull up to the stop, pop up, dine/shower/walkabout, and to bed. Morning coffee will take a few minutes longer on the Coleman stove.
So that's pretty much how we do it. I daresay there are no right or wrong answers. It just boils down to doing things in a manner you're comfortable with and used to, taking care to stop and smell the roses at most every opportunity.
Foy
Hey Foy, we plan on being in that part of Montana next September but arriving from the west. Maybe we will meet up. The road less traveled.
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