Overlandmom
www.overland4moms.com/blo
My husband (droverrover) and I have finally embarked on our maiden overlanding voyage. We have our Land Rover Discovery II, Conqueror Basecamp Expo Trailer with RTT, our 1 year old daughter, and our 2 dogs. In addition, we have a ton (probably) of baby gear, food, and car recovery equipment you would need to overland through Africa even though we aren't leaving the lower 48. We debated about where to put this thread as most portal members post international expeditions here, but I couldn't find a better location for our trip so I apologize if our trip report belongs elsewhere.
Our plan is to travel to the following locations -
Vermont to Ohio
Ohio to Chicago
Chicago to Des Moines, IA (or South of there)
Des Moines, IA to Colorado Springs, CO (or West of there)
Colorado Springs, CO to Moab (via gateway)
Moab – Arches - DHSP - Canyonlands - Mexican Hat
Mexican Hat to Canyon de Chellis to ?
? to Mormon Lake
Mormon Lake to Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree to LA
LA to ? AZ
?AZ to Golden, NM
Golden, NH to OK
Ok to Chicago
Chicago to Home
We have a lot of unknown stops for two reasons (1) my husband hates to plan and (2) our baby is unpredictable and we both agree that driving with a screaming child is miserable and if she really is done we stop. But, our basic plan is to hit Moab and camp in Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park and travel southwest from there until we are in Mormon Lake for the Expo and then travel West until we are in LA for a family party.
So, that is our “plan”…. Here is our trip report after 2 days…
We left Vermont at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday and traveled 685 miles to Ontario, OH. We arrived at 8:15 pm that same day. We spent $283.00 on gas and $25.00 on tolls. About 2 1/2 hours into our trip when we were in Lake George, NY and we had already used two tanks of gas we began to wonder what was weighing us down to reduce our mpg. Our D2 generally drives 18 mpg, and we were averaging 8 mpg. We realized that the 40 gallon water tank in the Conqueror was full, thanks to our friends helping us pack. We appreciate the thought, but had no intention of driving across the country with that filled. We emptied the tank, and began our journey anew. Our mpg increased to 10, and we realized the items on the roof rack must come off in Chicago before we head further West.
Wednesday night we stayed in Ontario, OH so my hubby could grab some beautiful African Safari chairs and table from the only dealer in the States. The gentleman was so nice and met us at our hotel while I put our daughter to bed in our room. Great service and great product! Thanks!
Thursday we woke up at 7 and were on the road by 8:30. We had a short drive of 311 miles to grandma's house outside of Chicago where we will leave our dogs while we vacation. The trip was much nicer than Wednesday. On Wednesday we drove I90East for the majority of the trip, and the car was working hard. In Cleveland we hit a bad accident that caused traffic to stop on 90 before the 80 interchange, and we were happy we decided to go South rather than continue along the northern top of the state. We were also happy that we had a CB Radio on our vehicle so we were aware of what was causing the traffic and how to avoid getting stuck. Thursday we decided to stick to smaller roads since we only has 311 miles to go, we drove along 30W until we were in Northern Indiana. It was a lovely drive along farms and small towns. We met 2 guys from the portal who knew my hubby from his car. I was never able to ******** chat because every stop consists of lots of baby duties, but my hubby loved seeing them and saying hi.
We ended our drive today at Cabela's in Hammond, IN and the whole family enjoyed the store. It is like every Cabela's with tons of merchandise plus family focused attractions. This store had a huge Aquarium and I walked behind our daughter as she ran and pointed and touched everything. We jumped back into the car and drove less than an hour and were at grandmas. We are all tucked into our beds here and ready to enjoy a peaceful slumber before we rearrange our gear and make some decisions about our route tomorrow. We will leave Chicago tomorrow afternoon and plan to avoid interstates if we can. I am not sure what road we will take, I am about to research that now. I am looking forward to seeing the country a bit, and enjoying the ride. Our pics so far aren't that thrilling - welcome signs for each state and lots of goofy baby pictures (which are adorable). Will post pics once we are actually overlanding.
Our plan is to travel to the following locations -
Vermont to Ohio
Ohio to Chicago
Chicago to Des Moines, IA (or South of there)
Des Moines, IA to Colorado Springs, CO (or West of there)
Colorado Springs, CO to Moab (via gateway)
Moab – Arches - DHSP - Canyonlands - Mexican Hat
Mexican Hat to Canyon de Chellis to ?
? to Mormon Lake
Mormon Lake to Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree to LA
LA to ? AZ
?AZ to Golden, NM
Golden, NH to OK
Ok to Chicago
Chicago to Home
We have a lot of unknown stops for two reasons (1) my husband hates to plan and (2) our baby is unpredictable and we both agree that driving with a screaming child is miserable and if she really is done we stop. But, our basic plan is to hit Moab and camp in Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park and travel southwest from there until we are in Mormon Lake for the Expo and then travel West until we are in LA for a family party.
So, that is our “plan”…. Here is our trip report after 2 days…
We left Vermont at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday and traveled 685 miles to Ontario, OH. We arrived at 8:15 pm that same day. We spent $283.00 on gas and $25.00 on tolls. About 2 1/2 hours into our trip when we were in Lake George, NY and we had already used two tanks of gas we began to wonder what was weighing us down to reduce our mpg. Our D2 generally drives 18 mpg, and we were averaging 8 mpg. We realized that the 40 gallon water tank in the Conqueror was full, thanks to our friends helping us pack. We appreciate the thought, but had no intention of driving across the country with that filled. We emptied the tank, and began our journey anew. Our mpg increased to 10, and we realized the items on the roof rack must come off in Chicago before we head further West.
Wednesday night we stayed in Ontario, OH so my hubby could grab some beautiful African Safari chairs and table from the only dealer in the States. The gentleman was so nice and met us at our hotel while I put our daughter to bed in our room. Great service and great product! Thanks!
Thursday we woke up at 7 and were on the road by 8:30. We had a short drive of 311 miles to grandma's house outside of Chicago where we will leave our dogs while we vacation. The trip was much nicer than Wednesday. On Wednesday we drove I90East for the majority of the trip, and the car was working hard. In Cleveland we hit a bad accident that caused traffic to stop on 90 before the 80 interchange, and we were happy we decided to go South rather than continue along the northern top of the state. We were also happy that we had a CB Radio on our vehicle so we were aware of what was causing the traffic and how to avoid getting stuck. Thursday we decided to stick to smaller roads since we only has 311 miles to go, we drove along 30W until we were in Northern Indiana. It was a lovely drive along farms and small towns. We met 2 guys from the portal who knew my hubby from his car. I was never able to ******** chat because every stop consists of lots of baby duties, but my hubby loved seeing them and saying hi.
We ended our drive today at Cabela's in Hammond, IN and the whole family enjoyed the store. It is like every Cabela's with tons of merchandise plus family focused attractions. This store had a huge Aquarium and I walked behind our daughter as she ran and pointed and touched everything. We jumped back into the car and drove less than an hour and were at grandmas. We are all tucked into our beds here and ready to enjoy a peaceful slumber before we rearrange our gear and make some decisions about our route tomorrow. We will leave Chicago tomorrow afternoon and plan to avoid interstates if we can. I am not sure what road we will take, I am about to research that now. I am looking forward to seeing the country a bit, and enjoying the ride. Our pics so far aren't that thrilling - welcome signs for each state and lots of goofy baby pictures (which are adorable). Will post pics once we are actually overlanding.
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