60 replies to this topic

[hoyden]

Hiya!

 

Have you done a month-long trip?

What are you suggestions, recommendations, tips, tricks?

(I am not fond of campgrounds, so mostly boondocking, with some visits to friends is what I'm considering)

 

* How do you plan/get food if you are taking smaller back roads? 

 

* I'm looking at a 200-250 mile per day max. What is a realistic distance to cover so as not be burned out over the month entirity? Like would leaving Arizona, going up the Left Coast to Washington State, and back to Valley of the Gods, Utah be too ambitious?

    ( up: https://goo.gl/maps/ZkuNiSo3nMy   .:.  less detailed return: https://goo.gl/maps/8Lg7PDKsSYy )

 

* I don't know what other questions to ask! 

 

* thank you!

Edited by hoyden, 20 September 2016 - 05:38 PM.

[Alley-Kat]

You'll do OK.

We've seen you travel before.

 

Some smaller towns still have food stores, although the prices may be slightly inflated. Sometimes you can find a local source for plant perishables (like a Farmer's Market or fruit stand).

 

The main option I use is to make a food shopping list, adding what I want to the list, every day. Then when I get close to a regular sized town with a choice of food stores, I make my purchases. Even small back roads will come to a larger road every now and then.

 

I take it you have already been on Hwy 1 between Morro Bay and Monterey?

That drive is not to be missed, especially of where you are normally based and how close you will be on this trip.

Just my 2 cents.

[Cayuse]

200 miles/day means your going to come across some sort of grocery every day or two, even with the new gas can you'll still need to refuel periodically so there will be trips to civilization and you have a fridge.

 

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams

Edited by Cayuse, 20 September 2016 - 06:32 PM.

[ski3pin]

You will do fine. We plan our food for 5 to 7 days and will make stops for resupply - either planned or a good source pops up along the way - farmers market - food stand.. We have a reserve of a few days of freeze dried backpacking meals, powdered milk, etc., so getting food is never an emergency. Plan your water needs and do not miss an opportunity to top off your supply. And keep an eye on the propane as you start using the furnace.

 

Always have a Plan B and a Plan C. Relax, take breaks, change your schedule/plans if you find something along your route you want to spend more time at.

 

Time driving/distance traveled in a day - do want you find you are comfortable with. We always tend to stop early and have a choice of where to spend the night as opposed to pushing hard, driving into the dark, with no idea of what we'll find for dispersed sites.

 

Have fun. Be safe.

[hoyden]

Thanks all! 

 

Cayuse: I always have my towel!

 

Ooh, I didn't even think about water/propane needs. 

 

I am terrible with food. I get paranoid about stuff spoiling in the fridge, and I have a lot of canned stuff that I don't seem to use. I really need to work on the food part of the equation. 

 

Alley-Kat. It's been /years/ since I was on Hwy 1 and my last trip to LA had a little of the coast highway, but all I remember is that it was heavy traffic. 

 

It seems that the ease of finding camping in the SouthWest might not be so much on the Left Coast. Especially, on the Hwy 1. 

[Foy]

I see the loop you describe as having few, if any, intervals where a day's travel at 200-250 miles/day will not bring you close to most any sort of food, fuel, and supplies you may need.  Certainly laying in a couple or three days of nonperishable backup supplies is a good idea, as is missing few opportunities to top off the fuel tank, but from recent personal experience your general route from Spokane back to where you'd get off of I-70 in eastern Utah should be "no problem-o" as to food, fuel, and supplies. 

 

I think each has their own comfort level as to miles per day.  I start to "hit the wall" in terms of ability to focus and react well after 650-700 miles of fairly open Midwestern or Western US Interstate.  In the more congested East, I start falling off of my prime at 550-600.   For off-highway traverses, it depends a lot on how challenging the route is. Valley floor graded gravel county, BLM, or Forest Service roads normally allow me to run 40-45 mph unless washboarding is bad.  Routes ascending and descending ranges or within tight canyons are more demanding in terms of focus so the slower average travel speeds and low speed required of such routes may make 200 miles a stretch. 

 

Case in point:  In late July last year, we left the pavement west of Clark Canyon Reservoir (southwestern Montana) at around 11:00am.  First segment was 55 miles of mostly graded gravel road ascending to a divide at about mile 30, then down the opposite drainage along a more remote road with some narrow canyon segments.  That was followed by 30 miles of Interstate, then another 50 miles of gravel road.  The second gravel segment was wide open and mostly level--no passes or canyon segments, but it was badly washboarded in places.  On each segment we stopped often to take in the views and look at the Benchmark maps and other reference material such as Roadside Geology of Montana.  It was 6:30 pm by the time we reached our destination and I was seriously ready to get out of the truck.  We'd run about 150 miles of 2-lane state highways earlier in the morning that day for an overall 285 mile day. It was all we wanted, but it was a terrific day.  Point being there are many variables in play--so many it's hard to make generalizations.

 

Foy

[allanb]

I like to think of hi milage trips like those as broad overview trips. Good to get an idea of areas you haven't seen, places you may or may not want to go back to. Or your just going to one spot or "moms" and spending your time there. But hard to spend the time to really appreciate any given area.
Food is easy, yes freeze dried, and I always have a good supply of nuts, crackers, bars, cheeses etc. A few frozen things, a few cans, and your good for a while, until the ice cream craving kicks in

[longhorn1]

Hoyden,  all good comments and advice.  We haven't done a trip longer than 2 weeks.  We leave on an 18 day trip Friday.  I lay out a plan of where we are going and put an itinerary together.  My wife and I then plan out the meals for a week, planning on stopping to re-supply as needed.  Travel days might be yogurt and a muffin after we hit the road.  If there is a micro-brewery, we will try and make that lunch and head on to our campsite.  So far we have mixed in some restaurants, and maybe too many as the cost does add up.

 

For us the longer trips will come when I partially retire in a couple of years.  This year we did an 8 day spring trip, a nine day summer trip, and now the 18 day fall trip.

 

As far as driving goes, if we know we are going to stop at a motel, I will put 10 - 12 hours in knowing we have a guaranteed reservation.  However, travel days once we get there are kept to 100 - 200 +/- in a day, and take a little long on the way home to make it easy.

 

Have fun.  jd

[hoyden]

Yeah, I haven't fleshed out my return trip so it's just a big swath now. But I'd like to do the same 200-250 mile for that too. 

 

I've got friends in Berkeley, Oregon coast (Yachats), Seattle, Leavenworth/Spokane Wa. Then I'd like to visit the FWC in Jackson, Wy. As well, I've not spent time in Montana or Wyoming, but both states greatly appeal to me. The wide open spaces and giant skies. 

 

That's kind of why I'm feeling like I might be biting off more than I can chew. I gotta be at Valley of the Gods, UT by the 19th or 20th. 

 

I might need to re-learn how to fish for this trip 

[allanb]

Good analogy Foy. Lot depends on the terrain and road and view and mind set, [point a to b getting there, vs having time]
x2 on morro bay to monteray but only off season and during the week. Anymore, any other time its like a racetrack. Its definitely harder to find dispersed sites, and takes a while. And might not be left coast legal.
Ditto on marin county to arcata