Road trip camping with a large family

[begreen]

Gorgeous location. It's a visual delight.

 

[EbS-P]

We had a great stay in Bryce. Family consensus is it’s better than the Grand Canyon. A near by wild fire kept us out the pool this PM but wasn’t much of an issue inside the park. We made a day trip to Zion.

I think we’re at about 3400 miles and I need to add 2.5 gallons of DEF for the second time. You start getting the nagging warnings once you get below half full. Looks like I have used some oil but it’s a digital oil gauge so it’s not like reading a dip stick. Maybe 1/2 qt. At any rate it was at the max line after the oil change 4200 miles ago now it right in the middle. Let’s call it a qt per 10k miles. Well within spec. (Spec allows a qt every 1000 miles).

I attribute the oil consumption to 100+ degree days at 80 mph. If I didn’t have a schedules I would not push it that hard.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Looks like a great vacation!

 

[begreen]

That's covering a lot of miles. Will you be making it up to the Enchantments?

 

[EbS-P]

That's covering a lot of miles. Will you be making it up to the Enchantments?

No. Arches and then Mesa Verde. It’s like 103 here today! At the park entrance by 8:20. Trail head by 9: and off by 11:45 and it was 97! Took a neat drive outside of Moab on BLM road just to have the opportunity to sit in some AC.

 

[EbS-P]

Mesa Verde!

 

[EbS-P]

Great Sand Dune NP today. Yesterday 0% chance of rain between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. But….. somehow a the tent with out a rain fly ended up being a pond! Live and lean. Cut the camping one night short. We packed up wet sleeping bags and headed to a hotel.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The unplanned makes the best stories afterwards!

 

[EbS-P]

Sunset on the family home stead.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Sunset on the family home stead.

Thank you for taking the time to document your trip. You have a lovely family. I will look forward to your next trip.

 

[EbS-P]

And… WE ARE HOME! 7000 miles! 29 days! 2k since Tuesday!

I will post a recap in a day or four.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Time to go back to work and rest!

 

[Whitenuckler]

And… WE ARE HOME! 7000 miles! 29 days! 2k since Tuesday!

I will post a recap in a day or four.

Grand Canyon Lodge destroyed by wildfire: Here's what we know at the moment

The historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim was destroyed by a wildfire on July 13, park officials said. Here's what we know.

www.usatoday.com

Bad news. I've never been there, but the picture is stunning. I hope you saw the lodge?

 

[EbS-P]

Grand Canyon Lodge destroyed by wildfire: Here's what we know at the moment

The historic Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim was destroyed by a wildfire on July 13, park officials said. Here's what we know.

www.usatoday.com

Bad news. I've never been there, but the picture is stunning. I hope you saw the lodge?

Sadly no. We were on the south rim.

 

[EbS-P]

I’m almost recovered enough to be back to normal. Only half the van is unpacked. But here are my thoughts and or recommendations.

The big van was the absolute best choice. Is a Mercedes the best van? I don’t know yet. It’s good. Is a Transit better? I’d love to have one for next years vacation to do a side by side comparison.

Why the big van was the right decision. Future capacity/options. Any mini van wouldn’t have the GVWR to tow anything other than the smallest cargo trailer once we get our selves coolers and daily necessities in the van. (A suburban isn’t much better let’s call it 250 pounds more. That’s right a suburban only can haul the equivalent of one American uncle Jack than). The sprinter has a 3000 pound payload).

Not towing a trailer was the right call. I knew it was going to be a long trip. We’re were 490 miles away from the Pacific Ocean and started 3 miles away from the Atlantic! Going west we had along second day due the detour to Poverty Point and a long third day to get to Albuquerque. A trailer would have added nearly two hours to the third day. All in it would have slowed us down and added two days to the trip.

Best decision I made was getting and eco flow portable battery inverter and eco flow alternator charger. Electric hot water while camping is a game changer. The charger can charge up he battery from dead in about 2 hours of driving (it never went below 25%). Kids loved noodle cups for breakfast (way easier clean up than oatmeal or cream of wheat) and lunch.

second best decision was a 12V cooler. I could run over night off the battery and kept drinks cold. It was hot! Cold drinks are a must. A 5 gallon water cooler with 20# of ice would last us 2.5 days. And was worth the space.

Laundry is available almost everywhere. The plan was to place 7 days of clothes. Some kids did great packing themselves, I didn’t. I way over packed. It was cold and hot (in the same day) and was a bit rushed. More socks and less past an and shorts next time.

The van needs a better way to separate clothes from camping gear. I’ll work on that for next year. The pullout tray floor needs bolts not screws and straps so you can really pull on it while holding the latch open. The package shelf needs D rings or L track we used the cargo net on the way out and back but it’s to much of a pain to bother for short drives. Both were purchased before we left I just ran out of time.

Camping cots are uncomfortable. I half deflated camping pandas better than a cot if you’re not sleeping on a rock. But the do work to contain wild sleepers who are on the ground under or beside them. A second or larger tent will be needed next year.

I brought two Dutch ovens. Didn’t use the small one. The big one wasn’t worth the weight/soace. I just need a bigger lighter pot.

I got an adapter hose to hook up the grill and stove to a 10 pound bottle that gave me problems all trip. I could never the the regulators screwed in far enough to open the valve fully on the hose. PITA! Bought 1 pound bottles (such waste).

I packed three booked that never got cracked open thinking I was going on vacation! I’ll know better next time.

4 weeks is our limit and the impromptu trip to the the Great Sand Dunes pushed me physically to my limit at the end of the trip. At 8200 feet hiking up and dunes with boards and a kid for two+ hours then having to walk 1/2” across the sand back to the car carrying Rosalie and 3 boards, 3 extra pairs of shoes and two empty took everything I had. It was worth it!

Reservations are made for a stay at the historic lodge in Glacier next year!

An abbreviated best of list in chronological order.

Best/most power historical site-Chaco canyon. It’s worthier the terrible roads, no cell service, heat and cold, no showers or vending machines or ice to wander through what is the most amazing preserved 1000+ year old site. Yeah they let you in and you get to wander around through the doors yourself.

Most magical place- Antelope canyon. It’s not cheap but wow! Worth every penny. Go around mid day for the best experience!

Best hike- Navajo loop in Bryce. Spectacular. A bit crowded but amazing.

Best natural wonder- Delicate arch. Simply amazing donut before it get hot out.

Most other worldly- Great sand dunes. I would have loved to have another 1/2 day to hike to the tallest dune. It you can’t see it all.

Best sunset-back at my childhood home in KS. It’s probably the last one I’ll see from there.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I’m almost recovered enough to be back to normal. Only half the van is unpacked. But here are my thoughts and or recommendations.

The big van was the absolute best choice. Is a Mercedes the best van? I don’t know yet. It’s good. Is a Transit better? I’d love to have one for next years vacation to do a side by side comparison.

Why the big van was the right decision. Future capacity/options. Any mini van wouldn’t have the GVWR to tow anything other than the smallest cargo trailer once we get our selves coolers and daily necessities in the van. (A suburban isn’t much better let’s call it 250 pounds more. That’s right a suburban only can haul the equivalent of one American uncle Jack than). The sprinter has a 3000 pound payload).

Not towing a trailer was the right call. I knew it was going to be a long trip. We’re were 490 miles away from the Pacific Ocean and started 3 miles away from the Atlantic! Going west we had along second day due the detour to Poverty Point and a long third day to get to Albuquerque. A trailer would have added nearly two hours to the third day. All in it would have slowed us down and added two days to the trip.

Best decision I made was getting and eco flow portable battery inverter and eco flow alternator charger. Electric hot water while camping is a game changer. The charger can charge up he battery from dead in about 2 hours of driving (it never went below 25%). Kids loved noodle cups for breakfast (way easier clean up than oatmeal or cream of wheat) and lunch.

second best decision was a 12V cooler. I could run over night off the battery and kept drinks cold. It was hot! Cold drinks are a must. A 5 gallon water cooler with 20# of ice would last us 2.5 days. And was worth the space.

Laundry is available almost everywhere. The plan was to place 7 days of clothes. Some kids did great packing themselves, I didn’t. I way over packed. It was cold and hot (in the same day) and was a bit rushed. More socks and less past an and shorts next time.

The van needs a better way to separate clothes from camping gear. I’ll work on that for next year. The pullout tray floor needs bolts not screws and straps so you can really pull on it while holding the latch open. The package shelf needs D rings or L track we used the cargo net on the way out and back but it’s to much of a pain to bother for short drives. Both were purchased before we left I just ran out of time.

Camping cots are uncomfortable. I half deflated camping pandas better than a cot if you’re not sleeping on a rock. But the do work to contain wild sleepers who are on the ground under or beside them. A second or larger tent will be needed next year.

I brought two Dutch ovens. Didn’t use the small one. The big one wasn’t worth the weight/soace. I just need a bigger lighter pot.

I got an adapter hose to hook up the grill and stove to a 10 pound bottle that gave me problems all trip. I could never the the regulators screwed in far enough to open the valve fully on the hose. PITA! Bought 1 pound bottles (such waste).

I packed three booked that never got cracked open thinking I was going on vacation! I’ll know better next time.

4 weeks is our limit and the impromptu trip to the the Great Sand Dunes pushed me physically to my limit at the end of the trip. At 8200 feet hiking up and dunes with boards and a kid for two+ hours then having to walk 1/2” across the sand back to the car carrying Rosalie and 3 boards, 3 extra pairs of shoes and two empty took everything I had. It was worth it!

Reservations are made for a stay at the historic lodge in Glacier next year!

An abbreviated best of list in chronological order.

Best/most power historical site-Chaco canyon. It’s worthier the terrible roads, no cell service, heat and cold, no showers or vending machines or ice to wander through what is the most amazing preserved 1000+ year old site. Yeah they let you in and you get to wander around through the doors yourself.

Most magical place- Antelope canyon. It’s not cheap but wow! Worth every penny. Go around mid day for the best experience!

Best hike- Navajo loop in Bryce. Spectacular. A bit crowded but amazing.

Best natural wonder- Delicate arch. Simply amazing donut before it get hot out.

Most other worldly- Great sand dunes. I would have loved to have another 1/2 day to hike to the tallest dune. It you can’t see it all.

Best sunset-back at my childhood home in KS. It’s probably the last one I’ll see from there.

Great job doing all that driving. Good summary of a great road trip. I might be trying something similar in the future. I have a 19ft RV trailer which was OK for short trips, but not great for longs ones with the tow vehicle I have now (V6 Pentastar). I am looking at tent camping too so I can travel faster, and with less risk. I learned lots from your notes. The only thing I could think of that could help is related to the propane. I also use propane for grills and stove tops. I have the 20lb tanks and the adapters ect. During all of this I started out with 1 # bottles. Later, I bought the fitting so I could refill them from a 20#. Sometimes the size of the 1#, is nice and would probably last a day.

 

[kborndale]

Vacations are great but nothing feels better than getting back home!