Learned to take the good with the bad on this trip and still have an enjoyable time despite major RV breakdowns. On the plus side, saw beautiful states and National Parks that I had never had the chance to visit before. Glacier and Yellowstone were beautiful. Cody was fun as was Cheyenne but we missed Grand Tetons and Coeur d'Alene. On the negative side, suffered three trailer breakdowns costing us 8 nights and two routes that we wanted to take and also decided to replace the TV tires when I had to put the TV in 4WD to get up a gravel incline to a site. Quick summary.
NH to OH - Three consecutive nights at Harvest Hosts and discovered that the water heater wouldn't work on gas after getting the rig back from dealer warranty service
MI - Upper Michigan is beautiful and we and we will be going back - just scratched the surface. Mackinac was a nice day trip but very touristy. Found Vernors Ginger Ale FINALLY.
OH - New style Goosebox manifold replacing the leaking original manifold design exploded pulling out of a truck fuel stop - and it was finally holding air.....(HINT - bring old parts with you - I was able to replace the broken one with the original and continue trip)
ND to MT - Very odd but hundreds of miles where I could not set my TV side view mirrors to NOT see the entire left side of the rig (see below). I don't normally recommend an HH location but 4e winery was the best stay we had. Owner's and staff kept us engaged 4 hours past their closing time. Cooked fresh Okra and veggies for us, kept feeding us, and gave us a sample of the new Port wine they were making but hadn't released yet. Wonderful stay - didn't want to leave
East Glacier early-Aug - Great time, terrible road going into Glacier (no RV) and wife torquing the lugs while I watched only to see the left rear wheel move forward half a foot when when she applied pressure on a lug - wet bolt missing and spring disconnected - long story but a local Native American shop was able to find a 9/16 head bolt to put in the spring and hanger which allowed me to get to West Glacier where a mobile tech would come out
West Glacier early-Aug - Stuck needing all new springs, wet bolts, u-bolts, bushings, and two rear hangers needing replacement. GD came through, re-routed a tech on his way to the national rally (he replaced the hangers and some wet bolts that allowed us to travel to an independent shop and have the springs replaced), and sent the parts though we had to stay in West Glacier for an extra week. This caused us to lose our Idaho and GNP routes but in the end we were able to make it home with repairs, all the campgrounds refunded completely, and GD covered the costs. That week in West Glacier was tense with all of the forest fires locally. Go and get a sandwich at Polebridge Mercantile - worth the drive. Evacuation readiness orders were given for everyone across the highway from us and the smoke was terrible and it was a tense time. But I did fix the water heater - replaced main control panel, dealer tech forgot to plug in one wire
Yellowstone mid-Aug - Repaired under carriage and left West Glacier for cooler weather south! Snow/sleet in mid-August as we drove through the higher elevations of Yellowstone. BEAUTIFUL PLACE. Two places we want to go back to are Custer in SD and Yellowstone. Just gorgeous and so very much to explore.
Cody - Wish we hadn't missed the rodeo by a day. The museum is excellent and so expansive, it's a day in itself. Cody Cattle company show was great. At our table, we had other campers from NC, TN(2), NY, PA. It was a very enjoyable evening with the mix of folks we could chat with.
Cheyenne - Festival at the old RR museum - didn't get to see the Big Boy as it was in the shop for maintenance/repair there but a good time.
Salina - Great zoo but it was empty of humans. Hope is stays in business as it has a great venue location. The Topeka zoo was better and more well attended.
KY Lake - Great birthday dinner for DW at Pattie's 1800 Settlement Restaurant at Kentucky Lake.
Chattanooga - DW found a puppy and we drove BACK to Kentucky Lake to pick him up on Monday after a vet check. I have bite scars all over my hands and ankles. YIKES what did I do? Missed our itineraries due to this unforeseen event
NC - Two nights of wind gusts and pouring rain from Ophelia. Original Goosebox manifold broke while pulling into site and bladder deflated completely and wouldn't hold air. Found a big rig truck repair shop that helped with a temporary patch to get us going again. Decided on replacing the TV tires - too little tread left for my comfort level. All good as we were visiting daughter and SIL but pup didn't want to be cooped up in a rocking RV
Port Jervis to Sturbridge (we stay there at end of year to dump all tanks in prep for winterization) - Probably the worst rain and weather I've towed in. Visibility was nil the whole drive and we had to get the trailer set up in pouring rain - worse than Ophelia. I was drenched and really appreciated the heat pump and furnace!
Would we do it again? YES but with Morryde IS hopefully. My comfort level in the 8K Dexter undercarriage is not high. My appreciation for GD covering the repairs and parts plus lost costs due to missed events/stays is high when LCI and Dexter would do nothing but state the roads are terrible
NH to OH - Three consecutive nights at Harvest Hosts and discovered that the water heater wouldn't work on gas after getting the rig back from dealer warranty service
MI - Upper Michigan is beautiful and we and we will be going back - just scratched the surface. Mackinac was a nice day trip but very touristy. Found Vernors Ginger Ale FINALLY.
OH - New style Goosebox manifold replacing the leaking original manifold design exploded pulling out of a truck fuel stop - and it was finally holding air.....(HINT - bring old parts with you - I was able to replace the broken one with the original and continue trip)
ND to MT - Very odd but hundreds of miles where I could not set my TV side view mirrors to NOT see the entire left side of the rig (see below). I don't normally recommend an HH location but 4e winery was the best stay we had. Owner's and staff kept us engaged 4 hours past their closing time. Cooked fresh Okra and veggies for us, kept feeding us, and gave us a sample of the new Port wine they were making but hadn't released yet. Wonderful stay - didn't want to leave
East Glacier early-Aug - Great time, terrible road going into Glacier (no RV) and wife torquing the lugs while I watched only to see the left rear wheel move forward half a foot when when she applied pressure on a lug - wet bolt missing and spring disconnected - long story but a local Native American shop was able to find a 9/16 head bolt to put in the spring and hanger which allowed me to get to West Glacier where a mobile tech would come out
West Glacier early-Aug - Stuck needing all new springs, wet bolts, u-bolts, bushings, and two rear hangers needing replacement. GD came through, re-routed a tech on his way to the national rally (he replaced the hangers and some wet bolts that allowed us to travel to an independent shop and have the springs replaced), and sent the parts though we had to stay in West Glacier for an extra week. This caused us to lose our Idaho and GNP routes but in the end we were able to make it home with repairs, all the campgrounds refunded completely, and GD covered the costs. That week in West Glacier was tense with all of the forest fires locally. Go and get a sandwich at Polebridge Mercantile - worth the drive. Evacuation readiness orders were given for everyone across the highway from us and the smoke was terrible and it was a tense time. But I did fix the water heater - replaced main control panel, dealer tech forgot to plug in one wire
Yellowstone mid-Aug - Repaired under carriage and left West Glacier for cooler weather south! Snow/sleet in mid-August as we drove through the higher elevations of Yellowstone. BEAUTIFUL PLACE. Two places we want to go back to are Custer in SD and Yellowstone. Just gorgeous and so very much to explore.
Cody - Wish we hadn't missed the rodeo by a day. The museum is excellent and so expansive, it's a day in itself. Cody Cattle company show was great. At our table, we had other campers from NC, TN(2), NY, PA. It was a very enjoyable evening with the mix of folks we could chat with.
Cheyenne - Festival at the old RR museum - didn't get to see the Big Boy as it was in the shop for maintenance/repair there but a good time.
Salina - Great zoo but it was empty of humans. Hope is stays in business as it has a great venue location. The Topeka zoo was better and more well attended.
KY Lake - Great birthday dinner for DW at Pattie's 1800 Settlement Restaurant at Kentucky Lake.
Chattanooga - DW found a puppy and we drove BACK to Kentucky Lake to pick him up on Monday after a vet check. I have bite scars all over my hands and ankles. YIKES what did I do? Missed our itineraries due to this unforeseen event
NC - Two nights of wind gusts and pouring rain from Ophelia. Original Goosebox manifold broke while pulling into site and bladder deflated completely and wouldn't hold air. Found a big rig truck repair shop that helped with a temporary patch to get us going again. Decided on replacing the TV tires - too little tread left for my comfort level. All good as we were visiting daughter and SIL but pup didn't want to be cooped up in a rocking RV
Port Jervis to Sturbridge (we stay there at end of year to dump all tanks in prep for winterization) - Probably the worst rain and weather I've towed in. Visibility was nil the whole drive and we had to get the trailer set up in pouring rain - worse than Ophelia. I was drenched and really appreciated the heat pump and furnace!
Would we do it again? YES but with Morryde IS hopefully. My comfort level in the 8K Dexter undercarriage is not high. My appreciation for GD covering the repairs and parts plus lost costs due to missed events/stays is high when LCI and Dexter would do nothing but state the roads are terrible