Heading west

I asked this over on the "other" forum, maybe some better response here?

Planning a trip west departing May 14th and first stop is the Dayton KOA for the weekend attending the Dayton Hamvention (Amateur radio ex. and giant flee market). From there I'm thinking of heading up IS 70, 74, 80 & 90 to the Mt Rushmore/Bad Lands area in SD for 5 days or so. Then continue onto Seattle and north to Vancouver, BC. OR just stay on IS 80, 84 and make our way to Portland.

The 1st choice to Seattle is probably shorter which would be a little easier on the pocket book! This new '08 F350 tows like a champ but it's really hard on the fuel mileage. Seems it's because of the new Diesel Partial Filter (DPF).

On our way back we'll take the Trans Canada (Hwy 1) back to the cottage near Kenora, ON.

Any ideas or suggestions on CG's, the route, good local beer or whatever?

Hi DX,

We stayed at the Mt. Rushmore/Hill City KOA and the Bad Lands KOA. Mt Rushmore is a resort, so they are a little pricey. Bad Lands was nice, you have to go through the Bad Lands National Park to get to the CG. Mt. Rushmore KOA has all you can eat pancakes for $2.00 every morning, YUM!!!!!!!

Be sure to stop at WALL DRUGS. We didn't get to go to Custer State park, but its suppose to be really nice too.

Once you leave Mt Rushmore, here are some ideas:

*Head west for a few hours and spend the night near Devils Tower, WY.

*I-80 does not have a lot to offer, but when you get to western WY you could head north. Star Valley is really nice. Jackson, Grand Teton and Yellowstone are not to far to the north, but beware of heavy tourist load (May might not be too bad).

*From the Star Valley/Jackson area, head west over the mountains to Idaho Falls, pick up I-15 down to I-86 then westbound until you pick up I-84.

*From Twin Falls, take a heading to the north and visit the Stanley area. Head from there into Boise to pick up I-84 again.

*Baker, Oregon. Take time to see the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center; a museum dedicated to the Oregon Trail.

*Continue on I-84 down the beautiful Columbia River gorge and into Portland. Blow past Portland without stopping.

*Proceed to the Oregon coast at Astoria. Head south. Enjoy the drive on the coast.

*Visit the Redwoods in California.

Got any vacation left?

I have a campground rez at Horsethief lake campground in June. Spot number 17 is right on the lake. 2 miles to Mt. Rushmore. Swing up I-15 and say hello here in Helena. Lots of great places around here to camp.

Tnx for the ideas guys!

oldelmer.... Was thinking of the White River KOA for a few nites then the Big Pine CG in the Rushmore area for a few more. Looked at the Hill City KOA, but your right, just too much $$$'$! Generally KOA's are pricey everywhere but they are good. The KOA in Dayton is almost $50 per! It's up about 5% for that wknd because of the Hamvention and there's a 4 day min stay!! Everything else is booked solid and this just happed to become available. Someone must have canceled.

scottz.... Over looked Yellowstone and that looks doable. We could then work our way north from Idaho Falls and looks like we could pickup IS 82 from 84 and get onto 90. The Columbia Valley is beautiful as I've seen it in BC many times and along IS 90. What's 82 like? Would love to get to CA but my vacation is running out just thinking about all this! :bounce:

CATinMT... Tnx for the invite but looks like our paths won't cross. :| It will be towards the end of May when we're there, actually we should be in Vancouver, BC by then.

Any thoughts about CG's along the TC for the ride home?

Scott... what's the road like going threw Yellowstone off I90- Ranchester to West Yellowstone or the roads to the south of Yellowstone?

DXprowler wrote:Scott... what's the road like going threw Yellowstone off I90- Ranchester to West Yellowstone or the roads to the south of Yellowstone?

I-82 is the best way to get to Seattle from central Oregon; fine road. The highways between the interstates leading to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Idaho Falls are all 2-lane highways. They are good roads, you won't have any problems. Traffic in May (before school gets out) might not be too bad, but Yellowstone is always crowded. I've been around West Yellowstone and Cody a number of times, all are good 2 lane roads. I have not been on that road from Ranchester, it kind of looks like a malaria worm (as CW McCall would say), but I'm sure it will be fine, just don't get in a hurry.

If you decide to go to Yellowstone, let us know, that will be another topic, he have lots of tips. If you want to camp in Yellowstone, make reservations now; but it may already be too late. Don't overlook Grand Teton, it is beautiful.

Tnx for the help Scott! I'm going to phone the Park reservation system today and see if I can get 4 or 5 nites booked at the Fishing Bridge CG. If they're full than there's always the West Yellowstone KOA, which at the moment, appears to be wide open. Will let you know what happens!

We also stayed at West Yellowstone KOA, only complaint is the sites are not really level. As a matter of fact, the camper behind us had 4 of the lego blocks under both his tires on 1 side.

Other than that, nice place, and only 6 miles from the park entrance.

Made reservations for 6 nites at Fishing Bridge, May 26th to June 1st!

I've been playing with Streets and Trips setting up the route with travel times, fuel mileage and rest stops. At 10 mpg (if I'm lucky), the program estimates $2182.47 for fuel costs (from Aurora, ON to Kenora, ON) and never mind the fuel needed for side trips!! Camping fees are up as well! Oh well, what's a guy going to do?? :cyclops: But looks like we'll see a lot, total driving distance is 4849.3 miles.

It sounds like you are going to have a great trip. You are doing about half of what we are doing. We are leaving California tomorrow for Florida, Maine, and all the states in between and back. About 10,000 miles. We get 12 to 14 mpg pulling the WC, but with side trips, we are budgeting $5,000 for fuel.
Life is short, and we don't want to let high fuel prices spoil our fun, so whatever it costs, is ok.

Maxtor wrote:Life is short, and we don't want to let high fuel prices spoil our fun, so whatever it costs, is ok.

That's the way I'm looking at it! Better do it NOW 'cause you never know what one of life's curves can throw you whether it's a health issue or fuel prices getting out of sight!

12-14 mpg towing is exceptional, wish I could get that! Even the previous '05 F250 PSD did 10-11! I don't expect to do much better especially with the new '08 because of the DPF. But that's the new emissions laws for you, just burn more fuel to save the environment. Doesn't make sense?? (end rant)

The 6.0 PSD gets a little better mpg than the 6.4 engines do. We also have the manual transmission, that does a little better than the automatic. On flat ground with no headwind, we have done 14.2 mpg pulling our WC. In the hills we did 12.7 mpg. The worst we got was 11.5 going into a strong headwind. I think the crew cabs are a little heavier than the super cabs. I am very pleased with our mpg. At 70 mph, empty, at 2000 rpm we average 18.5 mpg. At 55-60 mph, we have got a best of 21 mpg.

Fishing Bridge is probably the best in Yellowstone. I think it is the only one with full hookups, so you did good. They pack you in pretty tight, but that's Yellowstone. 5 days will be plenty and you should be able to see everything. My favorite is Fountain Paint Pots. Are you going to have kids with you? If so, they will enjoy going for a swim at Firehole River. It is a great swimming hole where you can jump in the river and let it carry you through some narrows into the big pools.

Someday we'll be heading up to Mt Rushmore and points west. There are so many places we want to see.

Scottz - I liked your suggested trip plan above. I decided to save it in Word (calling the file Route Planning) for future reference. I'd like to see more of that in here.