47 days, 16 states, 11 national parks, 8739 miles in our rockwood!

[RoyalFrog2]

It was 8739 miles in the truck, probably about 6600 on the trailer) We just got back from “Our Big Trip Out West.” I could fill a dozen pages with pictures and information but I won’t. Here’s the condensed version. If you want more info we’ll be at the Goshen rally (as FROGS and also Vendors selling our camping signs) and the Eclipse rally in Sweetwater and the Amana Rally. We left St. Joseph, Mi. on May 18th.
1. 370 Lakeside Park, St. Peters, Mo. 4 nights. A beautiful, relatively new city park with FHU on a small lake. We chose to stay there because we were visiting friends who live in St. Charles and Olivette and St. Louis. We didn’t do the tourist things but spent time with them, mostly at wineries and at their homes.
2. Table Rock State Park, Branson, Mo. 4 nights.FHU, lovely park, some trails were still flooded due to the heavy spring rains this year. Visited with DH’s uncle and aunt whom we don’t see often and we did The Branson Scenic railway (thumbs down) and saw The Million Dollar Quartet, (thumbs up) and took a cruise on the Branson Belle, also good.
3. Cloud Nine RV Park, Hot Springs Nat’l Park, AR. 4 nights. FHU, challenging entrance road to the park but all good. Spent time with some long time friends from our previous neighborhood (Park Ridge, Ill.) who retired to Hot Springs Village. Also spent time in the NP, took duck boat tour, did a few easy hikes, drove up to top of West Mountain.
4. Now headed to Grand Canyon with just overnight stays. Catfish RoundUp RV Camp, Seminole, OK. $20, FHU and met our needs for the night, No complaints.
5. Oasis RV Resort, Amarillo, Tx. Nice break, FHU, enjoyed their pool and saw the 10 Cadillacs stuffed in the ground before we continued our journey.
6. Sky City RV Park/Casino.Acoma, NM. (Try to find that one on your google map!) FHU, $19.80 for the night, No, we did not go into the casino but they offered a free shuttle from the campground.
7. We were ahead of schedule so we did a quick drive through The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Did not camp there.
8. Grand Canyon KOA, Williams, AZ., 4 nights. CG was fine, Only W/E and the usual amenities including a pool which we did not use. This CG was still about a 40 minute drive to Grand Canyon but it was the best I could find at the time. We took a 45 minute helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. ****I highly recommend it.***The Grand Canyon is so-o-o-o huge it’s the only way you can see it and grasp the enormity. It was well worth the $525 we paid for both of us. We also did a couple of hikes, one with our dog on a paved trail.
9. Zion River RV Resort, Virgin, UT.4 nights Beautiful park, Good Sam park so we got the discount. We had a great site backed up to a berm next to a creek (not the Virgin River side.) FHU, nice pool we used twice, scheduled activities each day, daily e-mail notices about what was going on the park. A little pricey but worth it and we appreciated the “oasis” in the middle of our long trip. Zion Nat’l Park was a short drive and the Shuttle Bus system in Zion is awesome. We did a different hike each day, did not do Angel’s Landing. That one might have been too challenging for us under normal circumstances but the temps were in high 90’s that week so we let that be our excuse to not do that hike(mountain climb?).
10. Kodachrome Basin State Park, Cannonville, UT. 3 nights. Fabulous Park and we got one of the few FHU sites. Had to book as soon as available and if I remember correctly that was 4 months prior to your arrival date. Their website warned “There is no cell service in this park” and they were right, No cell, no internet, no cable, no TV – we were off the grid for 3 days. The trails and views in the park rivaled those of the National Parks and we could take the dog walking with us. The weather was crazy: Hot during the day and cold at night. The drive to Bryce Canyon NP was about 30 mins. We did some amazing hikes at Bryce. They have an efficient shuttle system too but we didn’t seem to ever need it. On our last excursion into Bryce when we started to head back to camp, traffic was stopped. The sheriff walked down the line of cars and advised a fire had closed the highway, expect a 2-3 hour delay! We asked about another way to get to Kodachrome and he advised there was but it would take 2-3 hours. So we went back to Bryce and had a late lunch and used cell service to catch up with the outside world.
This last day it had cooled off so we left windows slightly open for our cat and dog (and the A/C on just in case it heated up) But the wind was howling that day. I feared we might get blown off the edge of one of the trails. When we got back to camp everything in the trailer was covered with red sandy dust!! The next morning packing up to leave was still cold in the morning so DH has to wrestle with the water hose which was a distraction from the routine (so he said) which caused him to leave our $150 water regulator on the spigot. (No one ever did that before did they? LOL!) As soon as we got to our next site, which was in Moab, UT we called the state park and the very kind park manager, Jon Wikan, found the regulator, packed and shipped it to us USPS express, charged $13.50 to our credit card and we had it back in 2 days. Thank you Jon!
11. OK RV Park, Moab, UT. 5 nights. This is a Passport America Park so we got a reduced rate. The park was a short drive from Arches Nat’l Park and off the highway so not noisy. FHU but no pool and it was in the 90’s while we were there so we were wishing for a pool. Sites were a little close to each other but not a problem. In addition to some hikes in Arches, we did the hike (mountain climb?) to the Corona Arch just outside Moab. What a hike that was! We also went to Dead Horse Point State Park for a day; amazing views down into the Colorado river valley where we saw some vehicles driving on a gravel road. So of course DH had to find that road and do it! Went to Canyonlands National Park, found “The Shaeffer /Potash trail. OMG! 2 ½ hrs of switch back mountain edge roads which were two way but not really. More breathtaking views and sometimes “breath-holding” views. During the 2 ½ hour drive we only saw 6 other vehicles which tells you about how many other people are as crazy as DH. We also drove the scenic Kane Creek road and it was scenic for a while but then turned rough and too “off-road” for us so we turned around and went back the same way. All part of the adventure, I guess. Had dinner one night at The Cowboy Grill at Red Cliffs Lodge. Excellent! DH had Elk medallions. And again the views are beautiful.
12. Salt Lake City KOA. 2 nights. We needed a stop over between Moab and the Tetons so we chose SLC KOA. Went to SLC Lake but no one in the lake and beach didn’t look appealing so we went back to camp and used their pool. Left early and headed for- -
13. Grand Teton National Park, Headwaters Lodge/Cabins/RV park at Flagg ranch Moran, WY.. 5 nights. DO NOT TRUST YOUR GPS. When I asked the camp for an address we could use in GPS they said “1 Grassy Lake Road, Moran, WY” so that’s what I programmed in and we took off. But I like to follow along on one of those old-fashioned paper maps and I did not like what I was seeing. We stopped in St. Anthony, Idaho for gas and asked about it and a young lady said “OH, NO Grassy Lake Road is still closed with snow. (This is on June 20th!) We’ve had to tow people out of there almost every day.!” She said head for Jackson WY then put Flagg ranch in your GPS. Fortunately we only had to back-track about 7 miles. We ended up doing the 10% grade up and down thru Teton Pass but DH and his truck loved it. We managed to get a FHU site at which we thought was in Grand Teton NP. But it apparently was on the “fringe”. Still haven’t figured that out. Campsites were very nice but DH was annoyed that there was no cell/Wifi/TV/cable anything and he thought there was. And although we were “in” the NP it took half an hour to get anywhere. Did several hikes. Took the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake then hiked the lake trail back around to base. One day drove down to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village and took the aerial tram up the mountain. Still lots of snow around. Four of the most extreme ski slopes in the US were off that mountain top. I would need a parachute before skiing down. Because we were on the northern side of Tetons, we were close to Yellowstone NP so we spent a day up there. The rivers and waterfalls were stunning. So much snow this past winter and it was still melting.
14. Last scheduled stop, Columbia Falls RV park, Columbia Falls, MT. Very nice park with FHU and all amenities except no pool and no campfires allowed. Unfortunately we were put on one of the smaller spots in the older section and units were way too close. When I put our awning out I almost hit the Class A next to us, and had to move the picnic table away so we could get to the steps of our trailer. We would stay there again but would insist on one of the larger sites near the front of the park. Yes, I had given them details about the type of unit we have. Glacier National Park was only 12 miles away. When we arrived on June 26th the “Going-To-The-Sun-Road” was still not open! Lucky for us it did open on June 29th so we drove it. Logan Pass!! Still 4 feet of snow around. What a trip! Then went on up to Many Glacier area which was not as impressive. After that it was a 3 hour drive back to camp. I’m still stunned about how vast these national parks are.
We left Glacier and started for home on June 30th. First night stop was at Mountain Range RV Park, Columbus, MT.(just so-so, met our needs) Second night we stayed at American RV Park, Murdo, SD. (not impressed) And third night we stayed at Lazy Acres RV park in Urbana, Iowa. Good Sam Park, under new owners but still rated 10/10/10. Very nice place. At this point we were anxious to get home and we did on July 3.

***A few notes: you can’t buy wine or liquor in Arkansas on Sunday or after 7 pm. You can’t buy wine or liquor anywhere in Utah except state owned/operated stores and there are few of those!
*** We loved all the places we went but only consider going back to Moab/Arches and Glacier.
***We are retired and travel with our cat and dog so we don’t like long days of driving between places.
***If you’re going to several national parks get the annual pass and if you are over 62 get it NOW. $10 but going up to $80 around Aug. 1, 2017 I think .
***I started planning this trip during the winter and made notes about things to do and places to stay that were mentioned in this forum. Thanks folks!

[spock123]

We stayed at Columbia Falls RV park last year and it was a nice park just a little tight. We drove Going to the Sun highway June the 29 and 30. It was the prettiest place we have ever been. We plan to go back next year, after the trip to Alaska

[Big1]

Wow, what a trip somebody is living the dream, awesome pics.

[Crusadernoob]

Sure am glad some are making the sacrifice for all of us to see!

[Harris85]

That is a lot of travel in 47 days. Looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing.

[Jakieboy]

We have done several similar trips over the years, with one lasting 6 weeks and 12,500 miles!! One of the keys to a happy trip is to camp at least 3-4 days at each major attraction. Rigging up and down and towing through busy traffic can take a lot of energy and joy out of a long vacation.


Now that I am retired, I am still trying to figure out how I ever had any time to work!!

[wfwilson]

Thanks for taking the time to share. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful.
Regards
Wayne

[oldsmasma]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like you all had fun.

[kennyairport]

AWESOME!

[elchilero53]

What great report! Glad you made it home safely. Yes the parks out west are huge just like the West itself - huge, breathtaking, sublime, overwhelming and very humbling.

Did you take a tour of Acoma Sky City while there? It is very interesting and very old.

[RoyalFrog2]

No we didn't do the Acoma Sky City tour. There were many things we didn't do. DH and I admitted to ourselves" We just can't do everything." I like your choice of words: huge, breathtaking, sublime, overwhelming and very humbling. While reporting to family through Facebook I was running out of adjectives: awesome, breathtaking, stunning, beautiful, and so on.

[Bikersarge]

WOW! what an awesome trip from reading, Someday we are going to do that. Thanks for sharing.

[Steeljag]

Sounds fun......thanks for posting !

[elchilero53]

Originally Posted by RoyalFrog2

No we didn't do the Acoma Sky City tour. There were many things we didn't do. DH and I admitted to ourselves" We just can't do everything." I like your choice of words: huge, breathtaking, sublime, overwhelming and very humbling. While reporting to family through Facebook I was running out of adjectives: awesome, breathtaking, stunning, beautiful, and so on.

I figured you hadn't but thought I would ask just the same.

Words to describe the West seldom really measure up to the task. Most of the time, there are no words, so you just try to absorb it and treasure it in your heart. I lived in New Mexico for more than a total of 28 years, 26 years in one place and all but 9 years of it with my wife, who still shares in the adventure! You had a great trip but there is so much more to see. We've spent 40 years traveling throughout the west and are still seeing it. So far, we have yet to be disappointed. I hope y'all will return and spend more time in a more focussed visit - perhaps even Acoma Sky City.

[aspengirl]

Great information and beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing!