2014 Family Road Trip

[T-Rey1]

This year I took my wife and 3 year old son on a 9 day trip with 2 other couples. We drove my wifes 2013 4Runner along with my Ruger trailer
Here is a link to my trailer build http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/129992-T-Rey-s-Expedition-Trailer-Build
Here are the stats from the trip:
3,200 miles
60 hours of driving
6 states
3 time zones
Max Altitude of 9,200'
Min Altitude of 835'
Temperatures from 40 degrees to 108 degrees
6 National Land Marks
3 National Parks
1 State Park

DAY 1
We left on a Saturday morning from San Antonio and headed to CaprockState Park. Bison roam free here and we were lucky enough to see them in the morning
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/caprock-canyons







DAY 2

Sunday morning we left Caprock and headed to Bandilier National Monument
http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm

Quick stop at the cadillac ranch before leaving Texas
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220









DAY 3

Monday morning we left Bandilier and headed to Lake Powell
http://www.lakepowell.com/

Quick stop at 4 Corners National Monument
http://www.navajonationparks.org/htm/fourcorners.htm

 

[T-Rey1]

DAY 3-4 Continued

We rented a boat for a couple of hours at the lake and found a nice place for a swim









DAY 5-6 We left Lake Powell headed to Grand Canyon National Park. The campgrouind was very nice with lots of trees and shade
http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

 

[Wilbah]

Looks like a great trip.....thanks for sharing....looking forward to seeing more!

 

[T-Rey1]

Looks like a great trip.....thanks for sharing....looking forward to seeing more!

This takes a long time to do all the detail, but I want to share as much as I can

 

[T-Rey1]

DAY 7

On day 7 we left Grand Canyon headed to Flagstaff, but not without maknig a stop at Hoover Dam on the way. Here is where we saw the 108 degree tempature. We took the tour below and got the see the generators and inlet pipes. Very neat to see. We actually stayed at a hotel in Flagstaff since it was a quick overnighter. this is the only night we did not camp under the stars and make a fire.
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

 

[T-Rey1]

DAY 8

On day 8 we are headed back to New Mexico, but more things to see. We made the first stop at Meteor Crater. This was amazing cause the crater does not seem that deep till you see it in person and get a visual of how deep it really is. Worth stopping at if you go by that way and always wondered about it.
http://meteorcrater.com/









The next stop was the petrified forrest. At first you do not think much of it, but when you get up close and can touch it really changes your thoughts. Amazing what time and pressure can do to wood. The petrified wood is laying around everywhere. Small pieces to large pieces.
http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

 

[28.]

Almost same trip we did last year.. was a blast. That crater was impressive. You guys watch the little movie they show there?

 

[roverrocks]

Cool trip. Nice photos.

 

[T-Rey1]

DAY 9 And 10 ( Drive Home)

We made it to New Mexico around 9PM local time. We stayed at Camp Of The Tall Pines. This is In Lincoln National Forrest and near the town of Mayhill. This is the 3rd year we have stayed here. Very nice and quiet. On Day 9 we went into Cloudcroft for lunch and ice cream. They were having outhouse haces down Main Street. After that we went into Alamogordo to go to the Pistacio farms and a trip to Whitesands National Monument
http://camptallpines.com/
http://www.pistachioland.com/
http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

Hanging out


Outhouse races


My son holding the worlds biggest pistacio


Getting ready for dinner


Dinner is served

 

[T-Rey1]

For this trip I used an app called Backcountry Navigator on Android OS. I purchased the full app and downloaded the states we were going to so I could use it offline. The app is very good and many options to it. I an adding a link of my trip that uses google maps. If you click it and it does not work it may be because it does not keep after so many days. I will also add the link that uses the track file. Do not know how to upload the track file into the OP

App info
http://backcountrynavigator.com/

Web site
http://geo.gillcouto.com/upload.cgi

My tracks
http://geo.gillcouto.com/uploads/540dd944ea/

For this being a long trip and traveling with a 3 year old it was a fun time. Drives were a little long for my son, but he loves being outdoors and helpiing me set up camp. I have plenty more pics and will be updating the thread as i go with it. Thanks for viewing and let me know if you have any questions or want some info

 

[cobra_4]

Very cool trip! I'm hoping when my son gets 3 or 4 we can start doing a trip like this each summer!

 

[Willman]

You covered some nice track! Thanks for sharing

 

[T-Rey1]

My pleasure. Could not wait to share and give details

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Nice trip.

 

[fireball]

Awesome trip!