Prospective Itinerary for 2015 Road Trip

Starting Monday afternoon, the Vibe will be spending some days over at Hills Creek State Park. From Monday through Thursday Terry and I will be making ourselves familiar with the new travel trailer in preparation for our cross-country. Our concerns will be to familiarize ourselves with the operation of the stove, grill, fridge, etc. as well as making sure to stock the pantry and fridge for the first seven days of travel. At the end of seven days we plan on being in Portland, Oregon where we'll stay for almost a full week have an opportunity to restock while visiting with Rick, Sandy and Chelsea Rose.

I've worked out a "Plan" for our trip, but as always it is subject to change.

Prospective Itinerary for 2015 Road Trip:

Day 1 Friday, June 12 Depart Hills Creek State Park with Toledo, Ohio as our goal. This is merely a one night stand as we head west.  Approximately 440 miles.

Day 2 Saturday, June 13 Depart Toledo area for Cedar Rapids Iowa. Again a one night stand. Approximately 475 miles.

Day 3 Sunday, June 14 Depart Cedar Rapids for North Platte, Nebraska and another one night stand. Approximately 540 miles.

Day 4 Monday, June 15 Continue west from North Platte for Rock Springs, Wyoming and another one night layover. Approximately 475 miles.

Day 5 Tuesday, June 16 From Rock Springs we go to Brigham City, Utah where, after a relatively short day’s drive (approximately 200 miles) we’ll do some birding at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge.

Day 6 Wednesday, June 17 From Brigham City we head for Ontario, Oregon and another one night stop. Approximately 340 miles.

Day 7 Thursday, June 18 Departing Ontario we traverse the state of Oregon to arrive at Portland. Approximately 380 miles.

Days 8 Friday, June 19 through 13 Wednesday, June 24 are spent visiting with Rick, Sandy and Chelsea Rose as well as touring Portland.

Day 14 Thursday, June 25We’re back on the road as we depart Portland for Couer d’Alene, Idaho. Another one night stand. Approximately 385 miles.

Day 15 Friday, June 26 From Couer d’Alene we head to West Glacier, Montana. Approximately 240 miles.

Days 16 Saturday, June 27 and 17 Sunday, June 28 are spent sightseeing in and around Glacier National Park.

Day 18 Monday, June 29 We depart West Glacier for Billings, Montana and one more one night stand. Approximately 415 miles.

Day 19 Tuesday, June 30 From Billings we head for Rapid City, South Dakota. Approximately 320 miles.

Days 20 Wednesday, July 1 and 21 Thursday, July 2 are spent at Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park and, of course, Wall Drug.

Day 22 Friday, July 3 We head for Worthington, Minnesota—another one nighter. Approximately 400 miles.

Day 23 Saturday, July 4 From Worthington we head for the Caladonia/Racine area south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where we’ll be stopping for several days. Approximately 450 miles.

Days 24 Sunday, July 5 through 27 Wednesday, July 8 We visit with Brian and Vicki (Milwaukee, WI), tour Milwaukee and visit with John and Cindy (Long Grove, IL). Both are less than 30 miles from where we hope to camp.

Day 27 Thursday, July 9 We head for Toledo, Ohio and another one night stand. Approximately 320 miles.

Day 28 Friday, July 10 From Toledo we go to Presque Isle, PA to tour the state park. Approximately 210 miles.

Day 29 Saturday, July 11 We stay at Presque Isle.

Day 30 Sunday, July 11 Depart Presque Isle for home. Approximately 230 miles.

The total travel mileage is approximately 5800 miles. Of course touring and such will add more miles to the odometer.

Any number of things could affect our plans. But, considering the longest days are 540 miles (from Cedar Rapids,Iowa to North Platte, Nebraska) and a pair of 475 mile days (Toledo, Ohio to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and from North Platte, Nebraska to Rock Springs, Wyoming)--all three days in the middle of the first week when things should be mechanically fine--I'm hoping to have sufficient slack time to accommodate detours and--God forbid--breakdowns.

We only had one serious problem when we went to Alaska and that was even before we met up with the crew in Dawson Creek. The trailer's twin axles were misaligned and the tires worn badly. Luckily we had a couple of days built in and spent one of them touring Edmonton, Alberta while repairs were made and tires replaced. And, when we went to Mardi Gras in 2013, we had to lay over one day on our way down because of tornadoes along our route.