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gthunts · 07-16-2014, 10:25 PM

Just an update on some roads we traveled on our way to Grand Canyon. By far the roughest road was I-20 in Jackson MS and Shreveport LA. Road construction is causing delays on I-40 west bound between Flagstaff and Williams. Mountains were not a problem for this flatlander.

gacamp · 07-17-2014, 06:50 AM

I-20 west from Jackson to Vicksburg and I-55 north and south from Jackson have been roller coasters almost since the day they were completed.

TinCanTee · 07-17-2014, 06:58 AM

Subscribing to this thread as we're planning the same trip in the spring (Tampa to GC and on to Yellowstone and then back to Tampa). Interested in hearing about your trip and your adventures on the road. Safe travels to you.

gthunts · 07-17-2014, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinCanTee

Subscribing to this thread as we're planning the same trip in the spring (Tampa to GC and on to Yellowstone and then back to Tampa). Interested in hearing about your trip and your adventures on the road. Safe travels to you.

TinCanTee. Its a long drive. We live in N FL so you have even farther. We stayed at Roosevelt State Park in MS for 3 nights. Great place. Also stayed at Tyler SP in Tyler TX. Pretty nice. Stayed at Amarillo Ranch in Amarillo TX. Basically a gravel parking lot but everything worked. Stayed at American RV Park in Albuquerque. Nice park. Spend some time in Albuquerque if you can. Don't miss Trailer Village in Grand Canyon Park. Ride around the Park late in the evening and see the elk and mule deer

gthunts · 07-17-2014, 10:54 AM

Make your reservation now for Trailer Village. If you can't get in keep trying even after you get here. They have cancellations almost every day. I have scouted most of the other parks around Williams/Flagstaff so contact me if you need info

TinCanTee · 07-17-2014, 12:21 PM

Yes, gthunts, we have made ressies at Trailer Village and now trying to decide between Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone or staying in the town of West Yellowstone. If you don't mind me pestering you, did you have ressies all along your route or did you just wing it? This is my first long trip with so much time and distance on the road. We do plan on having a couple of nights ressies at Conchas Lake SP in NM.

gthunts · 07-17-2014, 08:42 PM

We made resides mainly because we were travelling around July 4. We actually arrived at Grand Canyon on July10 and have been in the area since then. We had 6 nights here without ressies so we could have some flexibility but ended up not being able to get in at Circle Pines KOA so had to settle for Canyon Gateway for a few nights until our ressies at Canyon Railway start on the 19th. Don't recommend Canyon Gateway. They are building a new Love's Truck Stop right next door. We are staying in the area to meet up with our daughter or we would have left earlier. Honestly if you are just here for the Canyon you should have it covered in a few days at Trailer Village. I liked having ressies along the route because it gave me a destination to shoot for and the confidence to know I had a spot when I got there. You are not bugging me at all. I hope I can be of some help

gthunts · 07-17-2014, 08:45 PM

I will pick you for Yellowstone info when you are done. That's on our list for another trip

jimbo2013 · 07-17-2014, 09:58 PM

finished similar, stayed at the railway canyon very nice well run place, did the s rim from there.

then went to N Rim, stayed at Jacob lake state park, then N to Baurs RV in Glendale Ut did both Zion & Bryce from that base point.

Now at the Gran Tetons, staying at Gros Ventre, fantastic place wakeup looking at the Tetons 350 sites always room.

50 miles to Yellowstone all scenic with wildlife, so we are doing both the Tetons & YS from this base point. Staying at least 2 weeks, 10 minutes to Jackson hole, great town plenty to do

TinCanTee · 07-18-2014, 08:13 AM

Thanks GTHunts and Jimbo for valuable info. I feel the same way about ressies on the road, giving me a "target" for the day. So far, I've plotted a route as far as Yellowstone in legs of about 300 miles per day. Now, I'm looking at campsites at each stop as I don't really like the idea of WM parking lots. We will not have a toad, so that affects where we stop and where we spend time. Plan on using the shuttle service in GC and renting a car at Yellowstone. Thinking of spending a couple of nights in town and a couple of nights at Fishing Bridge. After Yellowstone, thinking of Mt Rushmore area and after that have no idea. I've done a similiar trip before years and years ago in an auto but this is a first time effort in a RV. I'm thinking I might blog the trip for my own documentation of the trip and for anyone else that might be interested. Still have lots of time before starting out but I'm a retired accountant...I make spreadsheets for everything !

reubenray · 07-19-2014, 05:21 AM

I will be paying attention to this thread also. I am researching a trip in September/October of next year to coincide with the Alburquerque Balloon Festival. I plan on taking the southern I-10 route instead of the I-20 route.

JohnBoyToo · 07-19-2014, 06:08 AM

you are right about the HORRIBLE roads along 20 - LEFT the road at 55 one time.

The Balloon Festival !!!!!!!!!!!!! was wonderful

Carlsbad was STUNNING ! touristy, but still something.
The tours of all the volcanic peaks along the southern NM border was stunning !
Waking up IN the Grand Canyon in August to a quiet rv without the ac's on that was 45 degrees from the nite time temps !

Great memories - thanks for bringing that memory back up !

On our last trip from dfw to Savannah, we used this site for our pre-planning and printed it out with optional rv parks about 2 hours on either side of where we THOUGHT we would be...

We didn't make reservations on the way there and back if they were just for 'rest stops', would just call ahead to one of the parks about noon...
but if we wanted to linger, we would do more research with google maps, etc. to 'see' the surroundings... put all our sites in campgroundreviews.com

gthunts · 07-19-2014, 10:37 AM

Reubenray
I saw all the ads for the Balloon Fest. Looks like fun. I would definitely take the I-10 route if it works for you. We really wanted to camp at Roosevelt SP in MS or I would have bypassed I-20. We really enjoyed our 3 day stop in Albuquerque. Safe travels to you