Duke Family Adventure

[luke duke 6420]

On the 4th of July I decided that my family needed to get out of the house for a while. We’ve got a travel trailer and my wife and I have a little extra vacation this year since we really haven’t used any yet.

 

The plan is to leave Dallas on 7/10 and return on 7/25.

 

The itinerary includes Mt Rushmore, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP and Rocky Mountain NP. In spite of virtually zero advanced planning, I am able to secure campsites prior to departure at every location. It’s a lot for 17 days, but I think we can pull it off. The biggest risk is my truck (2003 Excursion 6.0L) or my travel trailer having issues.

 

* I meant to start this thread a couple of weeks ago so I’ll be writing my first few posts a week or two “late”.

[DalTxHornFan 3122]

12 minutes ago, luke duke said:

The plan is to leave Dallas on 7/10 and return on 7/25.

 

[Dr Fear 1269]

On the 4th of July I decided that my family needed to get out of the house for a while. We’ve got a travel trailer and my wife and I have a little extra vacation this year since we really haven’t used any yet.
 
The plan is to leave Dallas on 7/10 and return on 7/25.
 
The itinerary includes Mt Rushmore, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP and Rocky Mountain NP. In spite of virtually zero advanced planning, I am able to secure campsites prior to departure at every location. It’s a lot for 17 days, but I think we can pull it off. The biggest risk is my truck (2003 Excursion 6.0L) or my travel trailer having issues.
 
* I meant to start this thread a couple of weeks ago so I’ll be writing my first few posts a week or two “late”.

Is the travel trailer painted like the General Lee?

[mdmost 43294]

Dear Mr. Luke Duke,

For your vacation...

Were you able to secure the sites because you booked them for July 2021?

Edited July 21, 2020 by mdmost

[tx 3 putt 77920]

soooooooooooooooo, he's 5 days from finishing ?

rocky mountain np and the surrounding area are very nice. try to stay in jackson hole. good luck 

[Hank_Hill 18994]

You and WuLaw should meet up in a Walmart parking lot

[Continental Op 3934]

If you and your wife are great big fat people please leave out all the fucking parts so I don't have to think about your ugly bodies smashing together. 

[Hank_Hill 18994]

I smell a parking lot tent swingers soiree in the future

[Updawg 2301]

I smell a parking lot tent swingers soiree in the future

Everyone throws the gas caps of their generators in a bucket instead of keys

[luke duke 6420]

Leave Dallas and arrive in bumfuck Nebraska on 7/10. Did you know that Nebraska has a National Forest? Well you do now. It actually seems like a decent place if you have a 4 wheeler, dirt bike or horse.

Drove through a torrential downpour in Oklahoma. During which a piece of my travel trailer decided to come loose and drag behind me. Had to pull over on the shoulder on I35 in the rain with 18 wheelers passing about 4 feet away from me while I reattached the trim piece. Fortunately I had some self tapping screws.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

With this sort of on-the-fly trip planning, @luke duke can spot a Klose on Craigslist anywhere in the US and then just pack up the camper and head that way the same day.

[TwiceHorn 31677]

5 hours ago, luke duke said:

 Fortunately I had some self tapping screws.

Said Wulaw Horn never.

[MontereyMX 886]

did Randolph go with you?

[luke duke 6420]

7/11 drive to Mount Rushmore and camp at Custer State Park. I had no real desire to see Mount Rushmore, but it was the right distance from our last stop to make sense. Mount Rushmore always a bit meh, but the kids enjoyed it. Their favorite part was the scoop of ice cream at the end.

The unexpected main attraction was Custer State Park in South Dakota. This place was great. We could have easily spent 4 nights there and not gotten bored.

Had sex with the wife in the RV spot next to the shitter in the Blue Bell campground at Custer State Park.

7/12 drove to Billings, MT and stayed at the KOA campground. The basic ($60) campsites suck. Pay the extra $20 for the upgraded site. The swimming pool was packed so we avoided that, but the putt putt course was decent. The kids got some s’mores so they were happy.

[Baboontyme 2835]

Luke how old are your kids? I'm eyeing this but I don't want to drive 23 hours each way. Maybe a post Rona fly in to Denver or Bozeman and rent an RV thing. 

[luke duke 6420]

Luke how old are your kids? I'm eyeing this but I don't want to drive 23 hours each way. Maybe a post Rona fly in to Denver or Bozeman and rent an RV thing. 

12, 9 & 6

Flights are dirt cheap right now into Glacier National Airport in Kalispell, MT. I looked last week and I could have flown non-stop from Dallas for $218 RT. Might be worth the Rona risk.

[luke duke 6420]

7/13 Drove from Billings to Glacier NP got in late and noticed an oil leak under the truck. Figured that I would take a look in the morning.

Tuesday 7/14 the leak was massive and had to be dealt with before we could go to Yellowstone. Found one shop 35 minutes away that could look at it on 7/15. Everywhere else was 1-2 weeks away from being able to take a look at it. I guess the mechanic business is good near Glacier. Had it towed to their shop (thank you AAA). We also found the last rental car in the area, so we were good.

The shop led me to believe that there was a possibility that the truck could be ready by Friday 7/17. They were full of shit. It was ready on Tuesday 7/21 at closing time. So 4 nights in Glacier turned into 8. We were extremely lucky that we were able to find a rental car the whole time and that our campground was able to let us stay in our spot the whole time. The folks at North American RV were the nicest people that I could have asked for.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8916]

7/11 drive to Mount Rushmore and camp at Custer State Park. I had no real desire to see Mount Rushmore, but it was the right distance from our last stop to make sense. Mount Rushmore always a bit meh, but the kids enjoyed it. Their favorite part was the scoop of ice cream at the end.

The unexpected main attraction was Custer State Park in South Dakota. This place was great. We could have easily spent 4 nights there and not gotten bored.

Had sex with the wife in the RV spot next to the shitter in the Blue Bell campground at Custer State Park.

7/12 drove to Billings, MT and stayed at the KOA campground. The basic ($60) campsites suck. Pay the extra $20 for the upgraded site. The swimming pool was packed so we avoided that, but the putt putt course was decent. The kids got some s’mores so they were happy.

Ahh should’ve went to the ND badlands(Medora) instead of Billings

[luke duke 6420]

The days in Glacier kind of ran together after a while so I’ll hit the highlights.

This is basically the first thing that you see when you enter the park.


Going to the Sun Road is awesome. Plan on driving it at least twice. Once to stop everywhere and take pictures and then for specific destinations. We hiked to Baring Falls and to Sun Point. This was about 2 miles with a 200’ drop/rise. My wife and daughters bitched about it the whole time. My wife who does yoga, rides her bike and walks all over the neighborhood was somehow sore the next day from this.

Two days later I asked who wanted to go hiking and only my 6yo son wanted to go. So we woke up at 5:30 to get an early start on the hike. We hiked up to Avalanche Lake which was a 5.5 mile round trip with a 730’ gain/drop. My son was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time. I’ll post some pictures later when I get them off of my other phone.

We went to the zip line/ropes course place in town and found it to be a great place to kill an afternoon. It was great watching the kids gain more and more confidence each time the went through the course.

An unexpected find was the Polebridge Mercantile. They are known for their Huckleberry Bear Claw, but I think that I liked everything else I tried more than the bear claw. I had one of the best ham sandwiches that I’ve ever eaten. Next time I’m in the are I’m probably going to book 2 nights there just so I can eat 4 or 5 meals from the Mercantile and hang out at the bar.

[luke duke 6420]

Also went on a whitewater rafting trip on the Flathead River. I get put in a boat with my wife, 3 kids and another lady and her 2 kids. The other lady immediately starts complaining about her various physical ailments. Fortunately the guide took pity on me and swapped the other family with a husband and wife. Now I only had to do 40% of the paddling instead of 85%. The kids had a blast. I imagine that we’ll be doing more of this in the future.