Novel Fly/Drive Vacation Ideas...

"Newps" wrote in message
...
Forget Yellowstone, Glacier and the Tetons in the Summer. Those parks are
absolutely wrecked in June, July and August. I have already made it quite
clear to my relatives in Minnesota that should they ever decide to come
out here we would not ever consider joining them in going to those parks.
If you're going to go, go in September or October. By far the best
months.


Changing of the Aspen.

The best drive ever is the Beartooth Pass road between Red Lodge and
Cooke City, MT. They just opened it up last Sunday for the season.
You'll have places on the road where the snow is 30' deep on either side
of the road. A cool little store near the top, the "Top of the World
Store". It's also cool to fly the area.

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/byway/mt_beart.htm



Jay Honeck wrote:

When I was a kid, my dad would take 3 weeks off every summer, and we
would go on long, meandering road trips around the American West and
Southwest. These make up some of my best childhood memories.

We'd like to do that with our kids, but always run up against the
inevitable time constraints. There is just no way to get away from the
hotel for that long, but we're running out of time with out kid (my
son turns 17 this summer) -- so we're brainstorming some novel
vacation ideas.

For example, we would like to show the kids Yellowstone, Estes Park,
Colorado, and all of the beautiful scenery in the mountains. The best
way to do this is by car (or motorcycle), but we just don't have
time.

One possible solution: Fly Atlas to Denver, CO, and pick up a big ol'
rental RV. It seems you can rent one for around $600 per week (not
counting gas), and that would give us the "feeling" of a road trip
without the zillion hours spent getting there.

Anyone ever rented an RV? Are they a pain to drive? (I've driven
trucks, but never a motor home.) Anyone ever tried combining a flying
vacation with a road trip?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
When I was a kid, my dad would take 3 weeks off every summer, and we
would go on long, meandering road trips around the American West and
Southwest.

We never did it in an RV, but my parents did the same thing. Most of
the time we drove the whole trip, but once we flew commercial and rented
a car; eastern Kansas to Seattle was a bit far to drive.

One possible solution: Fly Atlas to Denver, CO, and pick up a big ol'
rental RV.

Having driven one a very little bit, I've got a couple of suggestions:

1) Get some "dual" locally before you go.

It doesn't have to be exactly the same model as what you're going to
rent, but at least approximately the same size. IMHO, the main
difference between most large RVs and other vehicles is that the front
wheels are at best under your butt and at worst a few feet behind you,
which necessitates a different technique at street intersections. It's
not hard, just different. If you know somebody that has an RV, it's
probably worth buying them a couple dozen dollars' worth of fuel (or
giving them some bucks off of a night at the hotel, or whatever) and
driving around with them for an afternoon, both in town and out on the
freeway.

2) Get a good briefing on how all of the gadgets work.

It seems to me that even a big RV with all the toys is a lot like an
airplane - there are only a few controls that are absolutely critical
to making it go and stop (stick/rudder/throttle, steering/brakes/gas),
but a lot of other stuff that you have to know how to operate to have a
safe and enjoyable trip. On an RV, this is stuff like the dual battery
system, propane tank, fresh and waste water tanks, HVAC, kitchen
appliances, etc. Again, most of it is simple, but it's nice to have
somebody that _knows_ show you how to do it. You can learn some of this
locally, but ask when you pick it up for the specifics of the one you're
getting.

There is one argument for renting a car vs. renting an RV. Renting a
car means that you need to tent-camp or stay in a hotel, but since you
know the secret handshake, you can get hotel rooms for like $10 a night,
right? On the other hand, staying in somebody else's hotel, for
you, might be like some of the small-plane pilots I know that hate to
fly commercial - not because of the money or the hassle, but because
_they_ aren't in the left seat.

Matt Roberds

2) Get a good briefing on how all of the gadgets work.

Good idea. I've seen some of these RVs, and it takes a Masters'
Degree to understand half the stuff on board...

There is one argument for renting a car vs. renting an RV. Renting a
car means that you need to tent-camp or stay in a hotel, but since you
know the secret handshake, you can get hotel rooms for like $10 a night,
right?

Yeah, we might just do that, although it would take away some of the
"coolness" of the trip. The kids have camped in our pop-up, and in
tents, but never in an RV.

As for the "secret handshake", strangely there isn't a "clearing
house" for hoteliers to swap rooms. I've thought about starting one
on-line, but don't have time to mess with it.

With many thousands of hotels in America, it would be a simple thing
to set up, so that hotel owners/managers could go on-line and swap
hotel nights with each other.

It would work great, and could be a pretty profitable little venture
on its own...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article . com,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Yeah, we might just do that, although it would take away some of the
"coolness" of the trip. The kids have camped in our pop-up, and in
tents, but never in an RV.

As a kid, my parents took us on a two trips in rented RVs. It was
a great experience. One of the biggest benefits of an RV over car
camping or hoteling it is that as soon as you or Mary wakes up,
you can start driving for the next destination. You can be hundreds
of miles down the road by the time the kids wake up.

On one three week trip, we left from NY, stopped to visit friends
near Chicago, and then went out to Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Teton,
Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and many smaller stops along the way.
Other then Yellowstone, which we just spend the day in to watch
the geysers and then drove over to Teton, we spend several days in
each location. I still remember paddling like mad to get the canoe
back to the dock as a storm rolled in across the lake in Grand
Teton NP. My dad and I also hiked down to the Colorado River at
Grand Canyon NP.

The RVs we rented were fairly new, and we didn't have any problems
with them, except for the fact that they burnt a lot of oil. This
was in the late 80s, so I don't know if RVs today have better power
to weight ratios. Probably not, with all the extra gadgets they've
added.

There were five of us in the RV, and it was the type on a van
chassis, not the bigger custom chassis or bus conversions. It
was close quarters, but much better then road trips in the car.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
2) Get a good briefing on how all of the gadgets work.

Good idea. I've seen some of these RVs, and it takes a Masters'
Degree to understand half the stuff on board...

There is one argument for renting a car vs. renting an RV. Renting a
car means that you need to tent-camp or stay in a hotel, but since you
know the secret handshake, you can get hotel rooms for like $10 a night,
right?

Yeah, we might just do that, although it would take away some of the
"coolness" of the trip. The kids have camped in our pop-up, and in
tents, but never in an RV.

Rent an SUV or van and take your gear with you.

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
Anyone ever rented an RV? Are they a pain to drive? (I've driven trucks,
but never a motor home.) Anyone ever tried combining a flying vacation
with a road trip?


I'm thinking....


Montblack

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...

One possible solution: Fly Atlas to Denver, CO, and pick up a big ol'
rental RV. It seems you can rent one for around $600 per week (not
counting gas), and that would give us the "feeling" of a road trip
without the zillion hours spent getting there.

Anyone ever rented an RV? Are they a pain to drive? (I've driven
trucks, but never a motor home.)

They're not hard, but they take some getting used to. I would NOT recommend
driving one in the Colorado Rockies if you're what we mountain folk call
"Prarie Chickens" (those who are used to flatlands, then come to the
mountains and PANIC!!!!)

Anyone ever tried combining a flying
vacation with a road trip?

Yeah! It was easy, but it was drving in the flatlands of Texas, not the
Rockies.

You mentioned Estes park, so I assume you're going to Rocky Mountain
National Park. That would mean a trip up Trail Ridge Road. That, my friend,
is not for the faint of heart in a car, much less a motor home.

Rent a SUV or just a nice car. See RMNP, then take a trip out Highway 24
down to HW50 through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Montrose, then head
into Ouray. From there, if you want a "white-knuckle" drive, take the
Million Dollar Highway to Silverton. From there take the NGR to Durango and
back again.

If you take the Million Dollar highway, don't expect the driver to see very
much sceanery...only the roadway. :~)


--
Matt Barrow
Performace Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

Matt Barrow wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...

One possible solution: Fly Atlas to Denver, CO, and pick up a big ol'
rental RV. It seems you can rent one for around $600 per week (not
counting gas), and that would give us the "feeling" of a road trip
without the zillion hours spent getting there.

SNIP

Rent a SUV or just a nice car. See RMNP, then take a trip out Highway 24
down to HW50 through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Montrose, then head
into Ouray. From there, if you want a "white-knuckle" drive, take the
Million Dollar Highway to Silverton. From there take the NGR to Durango and
back again.

If you take the Million Dollar highway, don't expect the driver to see very
much sceanery...only the roadway. :~)



That is a beautiful drive. One year we stayed in Ouray, rented a Jeep,
and drove all over the Jeep trails there. Again, most beautiful. We
stayed at the Best Western there.
--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

"Ross" wrote in message
...
Matt Barrow wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...

One possible solution: Fly Atlas to Denver, CO, and pick up a big ol'
rental RV. It seems you can rent one for around $600 per week (not
counting gas), and that would give us the "feeling" of a road trip
without the zillion hours spent getting there.

SNIP

Rent a SUV or just a nice car. See RMNP, then take a trip out Highway 24
down to HW50 through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Montrose, then
head into Ouray. From there, if you want a "white-knuckle" drive, take
the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton. From there take the NGR to
Durango and back again.

If you take the Million Dollar highway, don't expect the driver to see
very much sceanery...only the roadway. :~)



That is a beautiful drive. One year we stayed in Ouray, rented a Jeep, and
drove all over the Jeep trails there.

Did you "do" the $Million Highway (550)?

Again, most beautiful. We stayed at the Best Western there.

If there really is a "God's Country", that's it.

We (wife and I) recently moved from Montrose (35 miles away) after living
there for eleven years and we hated to do it, but now that we're empty
nesters, we couldn't justify it anymore.

Hope Jay can get all through that part.

--
Matt Barrow
Performace Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY