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Old 11-29-2011, 01:15 PM   #1
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Help us plan our dream RV trip

I would post this on a different forum except that I know that many of my fellow Alpine owners are Pacific Northwest residents with local info and lots of local trip experience - so help us plan our dream RV trip to your area.
- Two months in July & Aug
- Starting in Seattle and ending in Salt Lake City
- We have already been to Victoria, Seattle, Vancouver and the Olympic Peninsula so we can skip these this trip
- We like to park at a campground for a week and explore in our toad so about 8-10 places over 2 months
- Alpines prefer 50-amp hookups in the hot summer months
- We like to hike, bike, kayak and enjoy local food
- We need to plug it in and leave it for several weeks at each end of this trip to fly home and take care of business
There are so many possible places and so many mountain roads, deserts and tunnels that planning this our on our own looks daunting. So what is your favorite route, campground and area? Cascades, Mt Ranier, Wallowa Lake, Columbia Gorge, Oregon coast, Crater Lake, Yosemite????
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Old 11-29-2011, 01:33 PM   #2
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I know there are different opinions about Thousand Trails but for your planned trip you might consider a yearly Zone Pass. TT has some great parks in the locations you are planning on traveling to. They are also having a sale right now of buy 1 zone & get another free. Look at the locations & do the math to see if this works for you.
We have spent 90+ days in TT since July. We LOVE the TT along the Oregon coast.

PS - No, I'm not staff but would be happy to give you our member # for you to use as a referral.

On another note...Don't miss Southern Oregon for great recreation. Check out the Jackson County Parks for camping.
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Old 11-29-2011, 02:03 PM   #3
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Snuggery,
The city park in Chelan would be a great place to start. This gives you access to Lake Chelan itself, Wenatchee and Levenworth, and the south central part of BC. Great wineries in and around Chelan as well as BC. This is an area where you could easily spend 5 to 7 days.
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Old 11-29-2011, 04:41 PM   #4
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Interesting thread!
We enjoy the NE Oregon area. The Wallowa area, Imnaha, Enterprise and Joseph, you will need some time to see the remote areas.
Going to Imnaha for lunch or dinner is a unique experience. We stayed at the motel there (4 units) and had our meals at the 'tavern/cafe/grocerystore/motel office'. Great steaks and really good sesrvice. The road to the Hat Point or the trail out to Snake River requires a 4 wheel drive for sure. Take a camera, wildlife is everywhere in the cool of the evening.
We were headed that way this last October till our plans got derailed. Maybe in 2012...
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Old 11-29-2011, 05:12 PM   #5
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All - Agree with Frantz about TT, cheap camping with the zone pass, check it out at thousandtrails.com. Or if you think you would like more, find a used membership on the net. The level of membership you want is Platinum or Platinum Plus level, anything less won’t give you the time at each location, you don’t need higher unless you want cruise’s and condo’s. Platinum or Plus give you 3 weeks in each park, then you move to the next one without having “out days”. Some parks have dry storage for RV’s so you could leave it at one park, do you home thing, fly back, pick it up and move on to the next place.

If it was me, and money was not an issue, my dream trip would be to Alaska, but I would count on at least 90 days for the whole thing. They have great hiking, some wonderful streams to kayak in, great fishing, you could find gold. The scenery I have seen pictures of it better than awesome. Otherwise, check hiking, and or kayaking clubs in the Pacific NW for best places to do that stuff. Central Oregon has lots of both; those months are usually warm, so carrying lots of water is the thing. The Oregon Coast again is great during the summer. Three parks in TT membership plan would allow you to spend the summer along the coast if you like that idea.
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Old 11-29-2011, 05:21 PM   #6
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Lake Havasu has everything you're looking for!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...wgloy7LEqo0f-A
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Old 11-29-2011, 05:23 PM   #7
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Sorry- try this

Official Website of Lake Havasu City
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Old 11-30-2011, 12:46 AM   #8
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Hello Snuggery, for a dream trip 2 months is a pretty limited time, at least for the trip I'll suggest. If you like the PNW, you'd probably like the Canadian Maritime Provinces, especially Newfoundland. If you want to see most of Newfoundland, all the little fishing villages, World Heritage sites (Gros Morne, by boat, similar to the sheer bluffs of Yosemite), places like the Burnt Cape, St Anthony where Erik the Red settled, St John where the first Trans Atlantic radio contact was made, and where they make Icelandic Vodka from Ice Bergs, take a day trip to Labrador, and more, go to Newfoundland. On the way, spend time in New Brunswick, see Peggy's Cove and listen to the Irish Fiddlers in Nova Scotia, visit Prince Edward Island and cross one of the engineering wonders of the world, the Confederation Bridge.

The Maritimes are one of our favorite places to visit, but you have to plan ahead (reservations in Provincial Parks especially), and of course reservations on the Ferry from North Sidney to Argentia (16 hours going), and Port a Basques to North Sidney (6 hours returning). No problem taking the Alpine on the ferry, and if you have a pet, they have an on board kennel. You can't make the trip IN the MH, you must travel on the passenger decks. You can reserve a "stateroom" (a couple of bunks) for a reasonable price.

We spent 6 weeks in Newfoundland, drove 5000 miles, covering most of the accessible villages, ports, tourist and historic sites, starting at the SE end of the island and finishing at the SW end of the island at Port a Basques where you will want to visit the Rose Blance Lighthouse.

If you research tourism in Newfoundland you will probably come across some discussion about Gander, NF and the role that Gander and the people there played as a result of 9-11. They became hosts for thousands of people who were stranded there as a result of the air traffic shutdown, and their hospitality and generous nature has resulted in a growing tourism industry because the people are coming back to visit, and bringing their friends with them. I've personally never met a more generous and friendly bunch of people as we met there on our visit. We've visited New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island numerous times, but Newfoundland only once. We hope to return at a future date. Hope you consider it for your dream trip.
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Old 12-03-2011, 02:36 PM   #9
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Any comments on driving a 40-foot Alpine towing from Lewiston, WA down to Wallowa Lake, OR and then up to Spokane? Maybe we shoule just stay in Lewiston and drive down to Wallowa for the day.
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Old 12-03-2011, 03:07 PM   #10
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Two publications which will help you plan any rv trip are the following:

1. The Rand McNally Truckers Atlas Large Print Edition. Buy it on Amazon.com. This book is spiral bound, and has very heavy duty paper so it will last a long time. Why - it shows which routes big trucks are allowed to take for their vehicle type, which would then include a Motorhome. So if the truck can take it, you would be able to take the MH on that same road. It also lists low overpasses, and bridges or overpasses which are weight restricted, information you need to know so you don't go under something which is too short, or over something where you are in excess of it's designed weight.

2. The Mountain Pass Book for the western half of the US. It gives great information about any hills you will have to cross (go over or up) and the associated downhill information necessary to drive the Mh safely. Camping world sometimes has this book, they have not had the truckers atlas as I have found.

One other piece of equipment you might want is either the new Rand McNally RV GPS or the Magellan RV GPS, both of which have much of the trucker’s information in them, and won't let you for the most part take your MH where it should not go.

That being said, you should always either check your route via a good map, or pre drive areas you are not familiar with so you don't get surprised like a friend of mine.

That little trip costs him close to 2000 dollars in new paint and body work on this storage bay doors. Had he check his map before he used the GPS to get to this casino, he would not have had that money outlay.

And last, you did a good thing asking advice here, it would have helped however, if you had given proposed highway numbers for the planned trip, then folks would know which route you planned on taking, and they then could offer alternatives. Some of the roads get mighty narrow and windy in that part of the state.
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Old 12-04-2011, 09:53 AM   #11
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WA Rte-129 & OR Rte-3 the OR Rte-82 to Wallawa Lake
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Old 12-07-2011, 09:28 AM   #12
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Your route should work fine.
We stayed at this campground. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...YkSfRtWlk8TxXg
Next time will plan on traveling on thru to highway 86 south of Lake Wallowa. Anyone with information on the road south of Enterprise area?
The road to Imnaha is paved but uncertain about rv parking there.
We hope to be in this area agin this coming summer.
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Old 12-07-2011, 09:29 AM   #13
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OK, the Mountain Directory West suggest that these two roads named the "Rattlesnake Grade" and the "Buford Grade" for their 6% grades and many narrow switchbacks might not be the most enjoyable to drive in a 40-footer with tow! I think I will just stay in Clarkston. Wallowa can be a day-trip.

Where is the best place around SeaTac airport to leave your RV while you take an Alaska cruise for a few weeks?
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Old 12-19-2011, 10:42 AM   #14
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Snuggerly:
If you are heading for the southern part of the Oregon Coast, a great campground is Sea Perch in Yachats it is a great place to watch whales through the winshield of your coach. Upon our arrival at the campround fellow rvers stopped me from hooking up so that I wouldn't miss the whales right in front of us, apparently it is a nightly event. It was one of the highlights of our 5 month trip, and the first time we had ever parked right on the beach.
Also we spent a week at the Marina campground in Newport and that was a great spot from which to explore the the Central Coast.
Mount St Helana was an amazing one day side trip from our home base in Salem OR.
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