What ups guys? My girlfriend and I are talking a road trip from CT out to Seattle, down the entire PNW/W coast to San Diego then back. We are taking my Jeep Patriot and I was wondering if you guys can give me any tips I may need? I am going to change all the fluids before leaving. Any other tips or accessories for the vehicle that would make it a better/easier trip? Any destinations we should be sure to visit? Any tips about anything would be great. Neither of us have done a trip of this size so we are trying to get all the info we can. Thanks in advance!
Road trip!
- Thread starter zackp762
- Start date
EVP
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Justincredible
Adventurer
You're going to be on the road a long time, so Pre-plan your hotel stops. 1,000 miles per day may be OK for a long weekend trip, but after a few days you will get fatigued and you'll miss a lot of sights, so plan reasonable distances.
Also, you can save tens or even hundreds of dollars per night by staying at a hotel just a few miles outside of major cities like Seattle, San Francisco, etc... then just driving in to see the sights.
Also, you can save tens or even hundreds of dollars per night by staying at a hotel just a few miles outside of major cities like Seattle, San Francisco, etc... then just driving in to see the sights.
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Tip- Always gas up before venturing off the beaten path. take a jerry can if doing anything extended.
To-do's - everything. Go slow. stay off the freeway when possible. If youve seen it on postcard or in guide book, its probably worth stopping. Talk to people, while not easy for everybody it will come during the miles. National Parks.
Have fun! Stay happy, make sure you BOTH stay happy. you will yell and scream at each other at some point and thats okay...usually.
To-do's - everything. Go slow. stay off the freeway when possible. If youve seen it on postcard or in guide book, its probably worth stopping. Talk to people, while not easy for everybody it will come during the miles. National Parks.
Have fun! Stay happy, make sure you BOTH stay happy. you will yell and scream at each other at some point and thats okay...usually.
DisGRUNTled0311
New member
You are in for an adventure! My friend and I did a 10,000 Mile road trip across the United States on our motorcycles when we both got out of the service back in June 2015. We started off in southern California and ended the trip in Northern Virginia. We went along the west coast heading Northward.Then went up and down the United States and along the gulf coast and east coast. It would have been a longer trip, however with no income and the wear on the bike showing, we decided to end it in Washington D.C. We are planning on doing another adventure across all of North America in the coming years. But this time we are going to build Expedition vehicles, as long trips on a bike are daunting. So once that happens we will be posting our builds and trip into this forum. So that others can enjoy the pictures as well as give and get information on the trip. Along the way we either camped out on our bikes, or were fortunate enough to stay at our friends places along the way. "Who would have known that being in the military for 5 years would accumulate friendships nationwide." And we only stayed at a hotel twice when the weather beat us into submission.
I would say if you want to stay for free, that you may want to look into getting a Park Pass. It cost a fee, but the money you would save in the long run is worth it. Not to mention you can rest and check out the National park and what it has to offer. And if you are military, then the pass is free and last for a yea! Also for food i would say pack snacks to enjoy between meals. It will keep you awake and aware while you are traveling. If money is not a big problem then you wont need to load boxes of MRE's and will help you to reduce the weight on your vehicle as well as space. Which could make room for spare fuel, water, and even an indoor sleeping area if camping in tents is not your thing. I would however suggest you mount the fuel outside of the vehicle due to fumes and spillage. And if you want to catch food to cook, I would say you could bring a fishing pole as well.
Well that is all I have for that. I wish you both the best of luck on your adventure across America! I'm sure everyone will be glued to the monitor in anticipation for your photos. Also check out Pinterest, they have travel guides and places to check out in North America! And make sure to keep family and friends posted on the route you may take on the trip. So that if anything unfortunate happens and you don't check in. That they have a baseline to search from. Hope that was somewhat helpful and once again best of luck!
P.S. Mount St. Helens is awesome!
I would say if you want to stay for free, that you may want to look into getting a Park Pass. It cost a fee, but the money you would save in the long run is worth it. Not to mention you can rest and check out the National park and what it has to offer. And if you are military, then the pass is free and last for a yea! Also for food i would say pack snacks to enjoy between meals. It will keep you awake and aware while you are traveling. If money is not a big problem then you wont need to load boxes of MRE's and will help you to reduce the weight on your vehicle as well as space. Which could make room for spare fuel, water, and even an indoor sleeping area if camping in tents is not your thing. I would however suggest you mount the fuel outside of the vehicle due to fumes and spillage. And if you want to catch food to cook, I would say you could bring a fishing pole as well.
Well that is all I have for that. I wish you both the best of luck on your adventure across America! I'm sure everyone will be glued to the monitor in anticipation for your photos. Also check out Pinterest, they have travel guides and places to check out in North America! And make sure to keep family and friends posted on the route you may take on the trip. So that if anything unfortunate happens and you don't check in. That they have a baseline to search from. Hope that was somewhat helpful and once again best of luck!
P.S. Mount St. Helens is awesome!
If you have a smart phone, my wife and I use an APP called PDF maps. Its free for both I-phone and Android. Look for national forests along your route by going to this web site:
http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/ohv/ohv_maps.shtml .
You can search Motor Vehicle Usage Maps (MVUM) for the areas your going through. You can download most for Free with that PDF Maps app. You can also get paper copies of the maps at any of the ranger stations for any given area. Most of the national forest land is free to camp on. If there is a camp site location, the fee is small like $10 a night. Also, I second getting the National Parks year pass. Its like $80 but will pay for itself several times over. It gets you access to all the national parks AND you can get discounts on some state parks and various camp sites. Last Summer we took a 4,500 Mile 2 week trip. Our total cost of camping was around $100 cause we did a lot of national forest camping. We also probably saved somewhere around $300 for park passes and discounts by getting that $80 national park pass. Heck, that thing paid for itself just by going to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. The other 10 places we hit were essentially free.
Here's some more advice:
-Find stuff you both want to do. She puts up with your stuff, you put up with her stuff and keep an open mind.
-As someone said. You WILL argue at some point. When the argument is over... its over. whatever you argued about, let it go and move on, and dont bring it up again.
-Don't stress about getting lost. That's the best part and often when you find the coolest stuff.
-Keep an open schedule, Have ideas of what you want to see and do but don't make anything a MUST. The less of a time schedule you have the better things will be.
Finally, remember... If everything goes right. You'll have a story to tell.....If something goes wrong...you'll have a GREAT story to tell.
http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/ohv/ohv_maps.shtml .
You can search Motor Vehicle Usage Maps (MVUM) for the areas your going through. You can download most for Free with that PDF Maps app. You can also get paper copies of the maps at any of the ranger stations for any given area. Most of the national forest land is free to camp on. If there is a camp site location, the fee is small like $10 a night. Also, I second getting the National Parks year pass. Its like $80 but will pay for itself several times over. It gets you access to all the national parks AND you can get discounts on some state parks and various camp sites. Last Summer we took a 4,500 Mile 2 week trip. Our total cost of camping was around $100 cause we did a lot of national forest camping. We also probably saved somewhere around $300 for park passes and discounts by getting that $80 national park pass. Heck, that thing paid for itself just by going to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. The other 10 places we hit were essentially free.
Here's some more advice:
-Find stuff you both want to do. She puts up with your stuff, you put up with her stuff and keep an open mind.
-As someone said. You WILL argue at some point. When the argument is over... its over. whatever you argued about, let it go and move on, and dont bring it up again.
-Don't stress about getting lost. That's the best part and often when you find the coolest stuff.
-Keep an open schedule, Have ideas of what you want to see and do but don't make anything a MUST. The less of a time schedule you have the better things will be.
Finally, remember... If everything goes right. You'll have a story to tell.....If something goes wrong...you'll have a GREAT story to tell.