2014 Big Truck across the NW, Trip Summary

HOME! Day 20 was an 18.5hr odyssey, but again we arrived home safe and sound. A bit weary, but safe and once again, fairly trouble-free.

Before I get into the stats, huge thank you to all who helped make this possible. Specifically, 

• The Takas family - thanks for putting up with Reggie for 3 weeks! I think he is mad at us this time.
• Everyone for reading, following on various forms of social media, and keeping us in your thoughts & prayers
• All who gave suggestions on locations, lodging, routes, sights, etc
• Mother nature for keeping Marne dry enough that our lawn isn't 2 feet tall
• Jordan and Kimberly for listening to approximately 120hrs (not kidding) of sports talk radio during drive time

Stats time - if you don't care, don't read on. If you're ever thinking of doing something like this, there may be some relevant info here.

Our sweet gas mileage log.

We shattered some records, albeit much too late to make a significant impact. By experimenting with highway speeds, we could get as low as 6.4mpg (68mph), and as high as 8.8mpg (58mph). 6 of the final 8 tanks were above 8mpg by setting the cruise around 58-59mpg.  Simply upping it to 60mph dropped mileage to 7.2. Ok, no one cares.

Trip route

Notable stats

• 6772 total miles (6193 with the full rig, the rest solo in the Jeep)
• Avg gas price $3.69/gal (OR and WA were consistently around $4)
• Avg mileage 7.8mpg (new towing record)

• States visited
• 9, bringing our running tally to 44 (36 with the Big Truck)
• National Parks visited
• 9, bringing our running tally to 34
• Microbreweries/Distilleries visited
• 7, keep 'em coming...

• Mechanical issues/breakdowns
• Jeep transfer case linkage came loose at Porcupine Mtg dump station - 5 minute fix
• Had to rotate the Jeep tires in Murdo, SD
• Big Truck drivers side mirror vs tree in Bend, OR
• Incidents -
• A full panic girlish scream when a certain driver, focused on completing hour 18.5 of the return trip, had a moth fly across the inside of the windshield at 5am
• Jeep death wobble requiring high-tech towing shims
• Enraged Chicago toll booth operator demanding a quarter back after repeatedly asking if the Jeep connected to the rear of our RV was 'with us'
• Austin Powers-like event in driveway of Port of Newport RV park
• Keystone, SD intersection that launched all internal contents of the Big Truck skyward
• Jordan falling asleep and rolling off the couch during a highway session in mid Idaho

Overall, an incredible experience - amazing scenery, great people (thank you to every kid that played with Jordan on the various playgrounds, you have no idea how much she appreciated you), cool locations, fun drives/rides/hikes, and lots of exploring.

As is customary, we close this trip's session with a look toward the next one.  Not sure yet where that will be, maybe the central south (?) of New Mexico, Texas, OK, etc, or possibly north into the Canadian Rockies.  Either way I'm sure we will have a great time. Thanks again to everyone who helped along the way.

2014 Big Truck across the NW, Day 19

Day 19 - eating up some miles on the way home, 1 stop on the agenda. The fairer Beutes had not seen Mt Rushmore (or at least not since early childhood), so we had our destination.

As we were leaving the campground, we saw a lot of this.  I could go on another Harley discourse about getting all costumed up after trailering your bike to another gathering of trailered bikes (Live to Trailer, Trailer to Live?), but that would be belaboring a point, so instead I'll let Forbes do it.

A quote in case you're too lazy to click the link:

And Harley’s macho image was eroding as weekend warriors–accountants, doctors and other professionals playing a dress-up fantasy for a few hours a week–came to make up more and more of its ridership.

Once we got on the road, we saw more of this and it was tough to leave.

Then we got close to Granite Pass, driving along the Bighorn Scenic Byway.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Then I saw this, and the map did not include the rain.

There were a few white knuckle moments, so the E350 may be getting some upgrades in the future.

I did manage to grab a few moments of incab footage, things got a little hairy in spots.

Next up - 'Merica.

One of us found our state,

we got the obligatory family shot in front of the mountain,

Kimberly found a fantastic spot for an uber-patriotic photo-op,

recalling this image of George being George, because that's how he would have wanted it.

After double digit hours on the road, the news that there were no more showings of the informational video (thus rendering the Junior Ranger questionnaire incomplete) was crushing.  A few comforting moments under the watchful gaze of these famous leaders, 

and it was back to business as usual.

Back on the road, we found a non-descript, right-next-to-the-highway campground that would serve as the starting point for the final leg of the trip. Staring down a 1020 mile day, things got quiet in here in a hurry.

Tomorrow - this.

2014 Big Truck across the NW, Day 18

Whatever day this is (completely lost track at this point, there is no differentiation between weekdays and weekend days) started with a somewhat limited playground session, but since we were still in Idaho, it was time to pay one last homage...

Leaving Arco, we got to see Numbers Hill in the daylight. Turns out every year since the 20s the graduating class of the local high school climbs up and paints their year on the rocks.

We learned a lot of other things about Arco and the surrounding area, some of which you can find here. Arco's decor has a lot of nuclear tie-ins, and brags of being the world's first town powered by nuclear energy. Now we understood why there were a lot of INEL (Idaho Nuclear Engineering Laboratory) sites in the absolute middle of nowhere.  Driving through terrain like this,

then seeing all manner of 'Keep out, classified, government clearance required' signage made us feel like we were in an episode of X Files. 

It was even weirder when we found out that the world's first fatal nuclear accident occurred here in the '60s. If you were looking to find a very isolated area of the country (Atomic City has a population of 29 - in the Holland/Zeeland area, that's considered a family), this would be an ideal spot to see if a nuclear plant worked. 

Safely out of Idaho (although we believe we passed through the lawless section referred to earlier in the blog), we were approaching the west entrance of Yellowstone when we ran into yet another construction stoppage.

This was made all the more frustrating as we watched these guys passing us, jumping off the road and onto 2 tracks at will. Next year we may have to add one of these to the arsenal and tow it behind the Jeep.

Once inside Yellowstone, we were greeted by surprisingly few giant motorhomes (our gameplan to use the less frequented West Entrance paid off - if just briefly) and lots of scenery like this.

While we were headed back to the parking lot, I stumbled across this Jeep a few parking spaces away. It was sitting on 40s (not these 40s) compared to our 37s, 

and immediately conjured up childhood images of these

It also allowed me to take the position of 'yeah, 40" tires are ridiculous, that's why I went the conservative, responsible route with 37s' with Kimberly. It was not convincing.

Next up - Old Faithful.  This was difficult for me, because on one hand it is everything I love - a unique, fascinating, beautiful natural feature, seen here between eruptions.

On the other hand, 

Yeah. Luckily the payoff was well worth it.

Afterward, we headed in to check out some more exhibits

then embarked on a mission to go see some bison. Unsuccessful on the south end of the park, we headed up past the east entrance where supposedly a herd of 1500 hung out.

We found them. I got close enough for this, 

Kimberly got close enough for this,

Then this guy let me know that my time was up.

He then decided to let everyone know who runs Bartertown, stopping traffic for a good 10 minutes.

As we exited Yellowstone, we were treated to some crazy imagery, but the fading light and our eagerness to get to our campsite kept the photos in check.

Driving through this also kept things interesting.

Arriving at our campsite just outside Cody, WY, we had this view from our site.

It reminded me of this scene - then it was time for dinner & bed.

Tomorrow - driving most of the day, with a stop at Mt. Rushmore.

2014 Big Truck across the NW, Day 17

Day 17 marked our plan to head from Crater Lake to Craters of the Moon - portions of Oregon and Idaho we had never seen. We started with this sunrise over the east rim of the crater, all excited to begin our 13hr drive.

A couple minutes later, we sat in a construction stoppage for another 20 minutes. Not a great start to the day. We then drove through a downpour with some brief hail, saw the state's largest DO NOT ENTER sign,

and made a brief stop (literally 10 minutes) at the Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR. Also, as quaint as all of those trees may look, the Big Truck took an Amazon Piranha Bite (1 of you may get this reference)

to the mirror and upper driver's side from a low hanging branch. Revenge shall be swift and severe - the next time we are in Bend. 

The stop was just long enough for me to run in, check it out, ask a few dumb questions, grab a hat and one of these for later

Inside, they had an impressive brewing setup, and a considerable amount of inventory in the barrel aging process.  Lots of activity going on, and the gift shop was a busy place for 9am on a school day.

  Back to the road, and a whole lot of this,

and this,

and this poor guy. Driving rainstorm, and he's chilling in the truck bed at 55mph just getting pelted. At least his buddy had the sense to lay down. Eastern Oregon, nothing is given.

After I stretched a tank of gas further than we ever had (just to get into Idaho and avoid another round of meaningless banter with the service attendant, not to mention the extra 9 cents a gallon), I checked on the results of our multi-hour 58mph experiment.

Success! All time towing record of 8.04mpg. Then we got on the highway outside Boise and immediately saw this.  

Perhaps the first time ever that I intentionally set the cruise at 20mph below the speed limit. I wanted to kick my own ass.

As we got closer to Craters of the Moon, we started to see this creeping up from the southeast.


A quick check of the weather confirmed it - we're the blue dot just outside Fairfield.

For the next half hour or so, we hit wind, rain, and a fairly spectacular lightning show from 3 different directions.

Then, during a brief break in the weather, we started to see patches of black along the sides of the road. We were officially in the Craters of the Moon. This historical marker explained some of the history (as they are wont to do), and also served as a spot to try to squeeze a few pics out of the last moments of daylight.

Big patch of lava rock.

the remnants of liquid hot magma.

Sunset, alien abduction, volcanic eruption, or some combination of the 3.

Quick buzzing of the tower of the Visitor Center (closed because it was dark)

then we were on our way to the friendly confines of Arco, ID. The KOA that would serve as our digs for approximately 11 hours also happened to be on a dirt road. That along with our earlier storm basically had our rig looking like this (not ours, too dark to take a pic)

and me fully expecting this.

Instead, the Triton V10 did this, and we were home free.

Tomorrow - somewhere near Cody, WY via Yellowstone NP.