68 days, 7300 miles, 18 states - STAY FLEXIBLE

ajg617

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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
 
Sounds like a nice trip.

After almost 4 years of ownership we had the MorRyde IS put on last October; should have done it years ago. Also switched to a long bed and gooseneck. A bit more worry free now.

We've been on the road since June 30th, should get home on Nov 13th.... not even going to count the days....

It's like you sort of said - every campground has a story... Lots of fun for sure!

Safe travels.
 
Sounds like a nice trip.

After almost 4 years of ownership we had the MorRyde IS put on last October; should have done it years ago. Also switched to a long bed and gooseneck. A bit more worry free now.

We've been on the road since June 30th, should get home on Nov 13th.... not even going to count the days....

It's like you sort of said - every campground has a story... Lots of fun for sure!

Safe travels.

Forgot to add that from Chattanooga on, the Garmin tried to re-route me to way points that had been deleted or back to originating departure destination. Luckily I knew the route and for the last 1K miles turned it off. No Idea what it had in its head.....
 
A successful trip! I love long roadtrips and haven't had a chance to do one in a couple years. (yes I'm whining)

So where you going next summer!

On your Vernors discovery (I grew up on Vernors
:p) You can try either a float or cooler by mixing it with Chocolate ice cream for the best summer treat!! Most mix it with vanilla and it's just ok but a game changer with Chocolate.
 
A successful trip! I love long roadtrips and haven't had a chance to do one in a couple years. (yes I'm whining)

So where you going next summer!

On your Vernors discovery (I grew up on Vernors
:p) You can try either a float or cooler by mixing it with Chocolate ice cream for the best summer treat!! Most mix it with vanilla and it's just ok but a game changer with Chocolate.

Haven't gotten that far yet - still trying to recover from this one:D DW mentioned Utah but we both want to go back to Custer and Yellowstone plus spend more time in Michigan. I don't know if I'll try a long trip unless I have Morryde IS installed - my confidence in the 8K axles connected to the standard LCI frame hangers is not where it should be and doubt GD would cover the repairs a 2nd time.

One of the pleasures of going to visit the family farm near Akron as a kid was Vernors but I never heard of it in float or cooler! Guess my cousins were hiding that secret from me. Believe it or not, it was not easy to find in Michigan or Ohio. Finally cleaned out 4 packs at the store in Mackinac.
 
One of the pleasures of going to visit the family farm near Akron as a kid was Vernors but I never heard of it in float or cooler! Guess my cousins were hiding that secret from me. Believe it or not, it was not easy to find in Michigan or Ohio. Finally cleaned out 4 packs at the store in Mackinac.

I grew up not to many miles from the origonal birth place of Vernors. Just walked by a 6 ft stack of 6 packs at the market. It's now owned and produced by 7up. It's still my go to drink when I don't feel well.
Any market in the South part of the state should have plenty in stock.

Another Vernors trick is to mix it with a bit (sorry I don't measure) of your favorite bbq sauce...best guess is about half a cup or so and use it as a base for pot roast. Be sure to add onions and carrots.

Ok cooking class is done for today :hippie:
 
A successful trip! I love long roadtrips and haven't had a chance to do one in a couple years. (yes I'm whining)

So where you going next summer!

On your Vernors discovery (I grew up on Vernors
:p) You can try either a float or cooler by mixing it with Chocolate ice cream for the best summer treat!! Most mix it with vanilla and it's just ok but a game changer with Chocolate.

In addition to Vernors, DW found this while we were in Chattanooga

pup.jpg
pup2.jpg
 
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Lots of us have travelled tens of thousands of miles without the huge cost of IS. Don't let that hold you back.
Sounds like a great trip was had. We too liked Cody and the museum and the three C show. We got to go to the rodeo as well.

Almost 20K on it, but nearly losing an axle inbound to Glacier still nags at me, especially since there were two of us there with 8K upgrades with the same problem. Root cause is still unknown and Lippert says it's the poor condition of the roads. Not a confidence building statement. GD came through for us this time - even sent us six springs? - but if it happens again? Had to be about a $4K repair and IS is $5500 since I ordered the 8K with discs with original intent of upgrading to IS from the get go. Just that it pulled so well for the first season, didn't feel the need. Something to chew on over the winter anyway.
 
The sinking feeling and looking in the mirror will stick with you for a good part of next season, it took a while for the fear of loosing the axle , it does slip away. Thats when something else will go wrong and you forget all about the hanger falling off. But for us the 2nd fail was the spring bolt falling out. We're Looking forward to a 2nd trip to FL with no failures... Relax over the winter and enjoy that cute puppy, training will keep you occupied and plan that next roadtrip ! Don't let fear ruin the fun.
 
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We were in Glacier in mid July and Yellowstone in mid August.
We road the Red Bus Tour and let the tour guide do the driving.

53058720955_b9207dab26_c.jpg


Yellowstone was nice. It seems to be changing. We have been there 3 or 4 other times in the past. There seems to be an animal shortage.
Old Faithful is still doing her thing.
53117804023_ed53bf8e4a_c.jpg


And Old Faithful Inn is still as glorious as ever.
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We have not had a "extra excitement" during our travels. We did do the IS in late June 2022 so that we would not have any of the suspension problem that others are having. We have a triple axle Solitude and the back hangers get a lot of twisting.

We headed back to Oregon earlier than planned because diesel just keeps going up.

Safe travel, KEN

Oregon Coast
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Maybe I'm a bit misinformed, I had seen people posting the cost at around $8800. Not that $5500 is cheap, but it is cheaper than I was thinking.

Nope you are correct - discount if your rig comes with 8K disc brakes since they will re-use them.
 
Sounds like a nice trip.

After almost 4 years of ownership we had the MorRyde IS put on last October; should have done it years ago. Also switched to a long bed and gooseneck. A bit more worry free now.

We've been on the road since June 30th, should get home on Nov 13th.... not even going to count the days....

It's like you sort of said - every campground has a story... Lots of fun for sure!

Safe travels.

How do you manage such long trips? This one was very long for us and we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked in areas we were passing through - not that the destinations weren't worth it. Guess that's one of the disadvantages of living on the east coast and wanting to spend time in the western half. A lot of travel time to/from and I was flat out tired after this trip but I want to go back!
 
How do you manage such long trips? This one was very long for us and we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked in areas we were passing through - not that the destinations weren't worth it. Guess that's one of the disadvantages of living on the east coast and wanting to spend time in the western half. A lot of travel time to/from and I was flat out tired after this trip but I want to go back!

haha....
The planning takes months and most locations are reserved in advance. We've been doing this for a LOT of years. Some places we continually return to, some are new. The trip out west takes at least 6 or 7 days.

Our feeling is that the trip is soooo long to get out West we spend a lot of time seeing what we want to see. We're done with the major National Parks so we find out of the way spots to explore (although this year we returned to Moab to cover a few bucket list items in Arches NP and Canyonlands.

It does get long after a while but between meeting up with friends and family along the way it is fun. But it is always nice to get back home (to plan the next year).... :cool:
 
haha....
The planning takes months and most locations are reserved in advance. We've been doing this for a LOT of years. Some places we continually return to, some are new. The trip out west takes at least 6 or 7 days.

Our feeling is that the trip is soooo long to get out West we spend a lot of time seeing what we want to see. We're done with the major National Parks so we find out of the way spots to explore (although this year we returned to Moab to cover a few bucket list items in Arches NP and Canyonlands.

It does get long after a while but between meeting up with friends and family along the way it is fun. But it is always nice to get back home (to plan the next year).... :cool:
This is one reason why we decided to full-time. Our kids are scattered across the US and we wanted to visit a while list of places. We plan "as we go" about 6 months in advance right now, as long stay places are harder to get on shorter notice. Since I work full-time, staying somewhere for a month gives us the best price and gives me less of a headache breaking down my computers and setting them back up.

We usually spend the weekend sight seeing, unless it makes more sense visiting somewhere during the week, then I'll take a day off.

So far, after a little over a year, it's worked great. And yes, STAY FLEXIBLE!
 
We also plan ahead. Never used to until one yr (first roadtrip with the 303) our first stop was full so had to keep going. Plan ever since then.

Most roadtrips we take are about 3 months or longer. We prefer State or National parks or forests for our stays. I like to seek out unusual things to see along the path or in the destination area. Usually find them by doing a radius search on the roadtrip apps or even just google maps can bring up things to see and do along the way. If we find something we think we'll like to spend a day I'll plan a couple nights stop so we have the day to play along the way. Otherwise the minimum stay at a destination is 1 week , more depending on the attraction. For example we spent 10 days at Yellowstone and 8 in Glacier, which could have been longer. We do allow time for down days and the unexpected attraction that pops up in the area.

To me nothing is more tiring than a bunch of one nighters in a row so if our first destination is further than that we stop and relax for a day along the way. We try to keep the driving days no longer than 6 hours..long gone are the 10 hr driving days.
 
We also plan ahead. Never used to until one yr (first roadtrip with the 303) our first stop was full so had to keep going. Plan ever since then.

Most roadtrips we take are about 3 months or longer. We prefer State or National parks or forests for our stays. I like to seek out unusual things to see along the path or in the destination area. Usually find them by doing a radius search on the roadtrip apps or even just google maps can bring up things to see and do along the way. If we find something we think we'll like to spend a day I'll plan a couple nights stop so we have the day to play along the way. Otherwise the minimum stay at a destination is 1 week , more depending on the attraction. For example we spent 10 days at Yellowstone and 8 in Glacier, which could have been longer. We do allow time for down days and the unexpected attraction that pops up in the area.

To me nothing is more tiring than a bunch of one nighters in a row so if our first destination is further than that we stop and relax for a day along the way. We try to keep the driving days no longer than 6 hours..long gone are the 10 hr driving days.
400 miles or 6 hours is my limit. Plus the fuel tank in the truck gets me about 450 miles, so that's a good stopping point!
 
We spent 3 nights in Mackinaw and 3 nights in Duluth before 15 nights (due to breakdown) at Glacier and 9 nights at Yellowstone (would have liked more). Most of the time at Glacier was on the phone or email with GD arranging for their tech to weld new hangers and for shipment of replacement parts and then looking for a place to have new springs installed. Just seemed like every one or two night stop was in an area that we could also have spent more time in. This was a destination trip really - just took a long time to get there and back but I still felt rushed. Maybe just a combination - we spent 3 nights in Chattanooga and didn't see anything because of the new puppy and never did get to Grand Tetons or Idaho due to breakdown. I find myself wanting to go back to the same places to see what we missed (a lot).
 
I find myself wanting to go back to the same places to see what we missed (a lot).


I want to go back to Yellowstone too. 10 days and feel like we barely scratched the surface. Also had to cut a big leg off that trip due to a neice getting married ( I was her florist) so we missed the Tetons, Colorado and Utah. That could be the next one and maybe add going into Canada to see Jasper and the surrounding area.

You definately met the RV challenges this trip but over all from our vantage point you handled it well . Don't let that experience stop you, things happen from time to time when you RV..frustrating , yes but just keep going and enjoy the trip once it's done
 

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