Announcement New Raindrop Waiting To Be Picked Up!

It IS a nice map - have a safe trip. Look forward to the pictures.

 

Adding the extra miles is easy.

From point B visit the Georgia Guidestones
http://www.thegeorgiaguidestones.com/stones.htm

Point E to F, visit Homestead National Momument in Nebraska

Point G visit Pipestone National Momument in Pipestone, Minnesota and Itasca State Park, the headwaters of Mississippi.

Point H and I visit Devils Tower in Wyoming. And Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

Those extra trips will put your over the top in many ways.

Jean

 

Thanks for the suggestions Jean. I've actually always wanted to see Devil Tower (I blame that close encounters movie ).

It all comes down to time and me having to catch my plane back to work. I'm really not worried about the long haul thing, and I'd be surprised if we don't go over 5K in any case. The 4354 miles I quoted are all direct highway/interstate miles to the towns closest to the campgrounds where I planned to visit and not even all of them. I've read people estimate adding at least 10% on to their miles with side trips which will easily put us over by the time we add in all the extra miles I have left out. In any case if it comes down to an extra day of driving vs an extra day of hiking in the woods or exploring a cave I'd gladly forfeit the long haul badge. I've already been worried that I've added too many things to our trip home and won't get to spend as much time as I'd like in the badlands and black hills as I'd like already (gotta see that wind cave!).

 

Mewton, I highly recommend Teddy Roosevelt NP in North Dakata too - very much worth the time to get there. And even though you won't care about the badge much when you are doing the driving, you will care more about it later if you missed it by a few hundred miles. I would know...

 

I'm sure it's great Evan but I really don't have the time. I went over my itinerary and I don't have time for another detour. Besides, we are already stopping in Badlands NP and the Black Hills which are similar in geology to Teddy Roosevelt NP. I did however update my map with a more complete itinerary and came up with 4686 miles. This is still without any of the detours, wrong turns, and shopping trips and still is only to the town nearest the campgrounds we are staying at. I promise to take a couple of scenic routes when we have shorter driving days to take in some local color and that should put us over the top.

 

I bet you'll make it. Just don't forget to set your odometer when you leave Necedah.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about Bull Shoals - NW Arkansas is gorgeous - that's on our list of places to go when we get back that way. Having lived in Hot Springs for 17 yrs. we didn't vacation close to home - I was at Bull Shoals on vacation from Texas when I was a kid! But it's all improved since then and a very great area to visit. Mountain View, Arkansas also has a blue grass thing going on all summer with a village showing how soap is made, quilts, all kinds of things to enjoy...and then there's always Branson, Mo. they have campgrounds and Silver Dollar City is very much fun.

 

Just a quick update, we made it back, six weeks and 5954 miles with the trailer and over 7500 miles total. I'll be posting the whole trip with pictures under long haul when I get a chance.

 

5954! So, no trouble hitting 5k after all. I've got your pin ready to send... Also, if you update your profile I can give you a new nights badge. Welcome back!

 

Cant wait to see the long haul story.

 

Congrats!!!

 

Greg,
We are still waiting for our "pick-up" date for our 560 Ultra but believe it to be late August/early September and we intend to follow much of your route back to the west coast before turning south for Southern California (Carlsbad, Ca.). I will have questions for all regarding where to stop and what to see later but our first concern is is taking everything we need in our tow vehicle for the delivery. Is there anything you felt you should have taken and didn't? I guess I should differientiate (Evan, any way top include a spell checker for those of us that have totally forgotten how to spell on our own?)between "should have had" and "wished you had". Anything you should have thought of but didn't?
Jim & Mary Anne
560 Ultra (on order)
Carlsbad, Ca.

 

Nope. Mostly stuff we didn't forget and wished we had. (sorry, no spleechecker yet. But at least the grammar police haven't found this site - so no worries.)

 

Jim & Mary Anne,

I definitely would not have brought our camp chairs since they never were used but that may have been because we were chasing kids all the time. Other than that the only thing I can think of that I wished I had and didn't was a larger pot for boiling pasta. Remember you can always stop and buy the little things you forgot. We bought a clothesline and an extension water hose and several other things as we went along and realized we needed them. The one piece of gear we were really happy we brought was a dry bag for our shoes. I've seen people on the forum use a wide variety of things to store their shoes outside for the night but the dry bag worked great and isn't as bulky as a big plastic bin.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks Greg, hope you had a wonderful trip home.
Jim

 

Congrats!

The only thing of importance that we forgot was a extension cord, but like Jim and Mary Anne stated you can always pick up the little things you forgot. One thing that I did not forget was a toolbox with the usual assortment of screwdrivers, pliers, hammer and LED flashlights, etc.
Leo