Preparing for a 5 week road trip in about 2 weeks
Yes, you read the title correctly, I planned my road trip mostly in two weeks. I had been thinking about it for weeks and did plan out the itinerary about 5 weeks out so I knew how much time to ask off for, but my boss had been on vacation so I wasn't able to ask far out in advance and then work had to figure out if I could disappear for 5 weeks. I wasn't willing to start planning the trip until I had permission to go since that would just make me sad if they said no. Once I got approval, I finished my itinerary, had to find a trailer my car would pull, start booking camp sites, and figure out everything else I needed to be gone for 5 weeks.
Itinerary:
This was the fun part. My only restriction was leaving on 21 September (after a work conference) and getting to Portland on 6 October to hang out with my friends before our friends' wedding on the 10th. I wanted to see friends across country when possible and hit plenty of National Parks. So I came up with this.
21 Sept- Drive from DC to Chicago: 12 hours
Itinerary:
This was the fun part. My only restriction was leaving on 21 September (after a work conference) and getting to Portland on 6 October to hang out with my friends before our friends' wedding on the 10th. I wanted to see friends across country when possible and hit plenty of National Parks. So I came up with this.
21 Sept- Drive from DC to Chicago: 12 hours
· 21-24 Sept- Enjoy Chicago
· 25 Sep- Drive from Chicago to Badlands: 11.5 hours
· 26 Sep- ½ day hike through Badlands and drive to Little Bighorn: 5 hours
· 27 Sep- Quick explore of Little Bighorn and drive to Great Falls, MT: 4.5 hours
o Little Bighorn: short stop only
· 28 Sep- Explore Great Falls, drive to Glacier National Park: 2.5 hours
o Great Falls, MT: some nice views
o Glacier National Park: 2-4 days of hiking and beautiful scenery. Dogs allowed in campsite and paved roads…no trails.
· 29-30: Glacier National Park and enjoy
· 30 Sept- 2 October: Drive from Glacier National Park to Banff through Calgary and enjoy : 4.5 hours
o Banff: Incredibly dog friendly. Can go on hikes and many accommodations welcome dogs. Breath taking views
· 3 October- Drive from Banff to Vancouver and dinner in Vancouver: 9 hours
· 4-5 October: Drive from Vancouver to Seattle and hang out with Cherrie and Grandma: 2.5 hours
· 6 October- Drive from Seattle to Portland and meet friends: 2.5 hours
· 6-10 October: Explore Portland and wedding
· 11 October- Drive from Portland to Crater Lake/Klamath Falls through Eugene: 4.5 hours
o Crater Lake/Klamath Falls- wonderful hikes, rim drive, possible swim. Dogs allowed on some hikes and rim road
· 11-12 October: Enjoy Crater Lake/Klamath Falls
· 13 October- Drive to Redwoods National Park: 5 hours
o Redwood NP: 1 day…no dogs on hiking trails..beautiful to drive through
· 14 October- Drive to Napa: 6 hours
· 15-16 October- Napa/San Francisco, meet friends, possible bike ride
o Napa- enough said. Stay as long as you want and enjoy wineries and food. Many dog friendly wineries
· 17-18 October- Drive to Yosemite (4.5 hours) and hike
o Yosemite: Hikes, views, beautiful. Dogs not allowed on trails
· 19 October: Drive to Sequoia NP (3.5 hours) and explore
o Sequoia NP: Hikes, viewpoints. Dogs not allowed on trails, but ok in campgrounds
· 20 October- Drive from Sequoia to Zion: 8.5 hours
· 21-23 October: Explore Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches
o Zion to Bryce Canyon: 1.5 hours
o Bryce to Capitol Reef: 2.5 hours
o Capitol Reef to Canyonlands: 2.5 hours
o Canyonlands to Arches: 30 min
· 24 October- Drive to Boulder: 5.5 hours
· 25 October- Drive to Colorado Springs: 1.5 hours
· 26 October- Drive to Kansas City: 8.5 hours
· 27 October- Drive to Louisville: 8 hours
· 28 October- Hang with Corey and Bethany
· 29 October- Drive to DC: 9 hours
This schedule has already changed since I added Yellowstone since my mom wanted to visit and car troubles has changed other aspects (keep reading for this).
Find Trailer and Get Hitch:
This ended up being the most difficult thing to do and almost convinced me to cancel the trip. I ran through several websites to find how much my Ford Escape can pull and even entered my VIN in one website and everyone told me that I can pull 3500 lbs. I tried to find this info on Ford' website to confirm (yes..my manual should have been my first stop, but that took going outside), but I couldn't find the right page on their maze of a website. So my parents and I started to look at trailers and my parents found one in Wisconsin that was nice. It had bunk beds and a queen bed, a full kitchen, tv hook ups, and a small bathroom. My parents were so excited about it and I quickly was too. I put money down for the down payment and had a trailer! I called Ford to arrange to have a hitch put on and wiring attached. My Ford dealership service rep seemed confused by the directions the RV salesman provided about the wiring and transmission cooling systems and took several days to reach a tech to get more information. He called back several days later saying that my car couldn't pull 3500 lbs but they could install a smaller hitch. I was surprised since my parents and I had done a lot of research. I finally went to the car to check and found that my model can only pull 2000 lbs (a huge difference!).
Instantly all of my plans were gone and I need to figure thing out. There were definitely tears and lots of sugar but then I became determined to ensure this trip would happen. I found that my car could pretty much only pull Aliner pop up campers. I needed a hard sided camper since Callie was coming with me and would probably have some solo time in it so it couldn't be easy for anyone to access (especially bears). It also needed heat and air conditioning. Aliners are very hard to find and I hit up about 4 dealers between DC and Chicago and around either city. I found one nearby but they didn't answer my emails. Another was in Columbus, Ohio but it wasn't in good enough shape. Finally I found a Ranger 12 model just outside Indianapolis so that was my new destination.
While doing this search two days before leaving, I also had to get a hitch and wiring installed since I would likely be getting the trailer in transit. I was annoyed with my Ford dealership for taking 3-4 days to figure out I couldn't pull the weight I told them, so I decided to go to uHaul (worst mistake ever). I got an appointment on Tuesday at 4, which was the night before leaving town. I get there and the mechanic had left for the day so they said to come at 7:30 the next morning and they would get it done asap. So I went home to finish packing and got it in at 7:30 on Wednesday. I went to the local Dunkin and noticed my car didn't get in until 8:45 (grrr) and walked back around 9:30 since they said it would take 2 hours. They weren't even close to being done and they said they didn't have the correct wiring despite them checking the night before. After 4.5 hours and much annoyance, they finally finished and with all the issues, gave it to me for free (I was just happy to finally leave). I had been calling around to different dealers this whole time trying to find a trailer and had just found the Indianapolis one. I went home and packed up the car and started for Indy.
I can not say enough good things about Mount Comfort RV in Greenfield, IN and Gerry. Gerry went out of his way to ensure my trailer would be ready and was super positive the whole time. I got there at 8am on Thursday morning to give them time to get the wiring correct for the trailer since they needed to install a brake controller. A couple of hours into the work, I was called back to look at my car (never a good sign). UHaul had done a horrible job on the wiring and actually caused damage to my car and all of the work needed to be redone. The wiring was actually breaking at sections and it was just a horrible job. They even left a tool under my hood. The technician was nice enough to point everything out to me and allow me to take pictures so I could contact uHaul and get them to pay for the damages. I spent the rest of the day calling uHaul, their insurance, and the Ford dealer at home to get my car fixed. I also took their rental to grab lunch and go to a local winery since I had some steam to blow off. Luckily the rest of this day went well, I got a beautiful Aliner Ranger 12 and successfully got it back to my parent's house in the Chicago suburbs. All of these issues made me think maybe these were signs that the trip shouldn't happen, but my stubbornness pushed ahead. I was hoping most of my troubles were behind me and I was good to go. Ford fixed my car and I was ready to go.
Rest of Planning:
The rest of the planning was mostly easy. I did my research on different RV sites at the different destinations and booked several. I packed for warm and cold weather and for hiking, casual, and wedding attire. I loaded my car with everything I needed to camp for 5 weeks! I arranged for friends to check in on my house and mow and got Callie in for her annual checkup a little earlier (since we would be gone in October which is when she normally goes). This part was easy compared to the car. Now it was time to go enjoy my vacation!