Information On Recent Two Month Trip To Northern Parks In U.S. & Canada.

[Philip]

Hello Folks,

Last year I gave a rundown of my three month trip throught the southern parks in the U.S. The purpose was to share information I was always curious about relating to long term camping and travel.

This year I would like to share this information for my 2011 two month trip to the northern parks out west in the U.S. and Canada.

We left home(York, PA) on July 8, 2011 and headed northwest to our first destination of the Badlands NP in South Dakota. The trip continued, not mentioning minor stops, through the following locations: Mount Rushmore, Black Hills, Wind River, Devils Monument, Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Waterton Park(Canada), Banff(Canada), Lake Louise, Jasper, The Great Lakes(Canada shores) and back home through New York State. As you notice, we came back east through Canada.

Favorite areas: All were great but we loved Banff and Jasper- probably because it was out first time in these locations. A pleasant surprise were the beautiful shores of the great lakes(Superior, Huron and Ontario) - wonderfull camp sites.

Weather: Virtually perfect for the total trip.

Things we didn't like: Man is it expensive in Canada; food and fuel. Fuel varied from about $4.25 to $5.10/U.S. Gallon. Campsites in Canada are more than in the U.S. but you do generally get more services in the National Parks such as free showers(generally very nice), the option to pay a fixed fee for all the firewood you want(~$8.00/day), generally spectacular esthetic campsites as long as you don't get full hookups(sometimes you can get a beautiful site with electric only). National Park campsites in Canada generally run about $43.00 US/night. Private campgrounds are generally crummy much like in the US - like a parking lot. We only stay in private campgrounds when we have NO OTHER OPTIONS - maybe 5% of the time.

Trip Statistics:

9036 Total Miles(~ 4500 miles in Canada)
15.8 MPG overall mileage
Average daily campsite costs for 60 day trip: $30.10/day.
Total fuel cost: $2579
Average cost of fuel: $4.51/gallon
We also had the chance to weight the TM on a truck scale along the way. With the TM loaded and hooked up to the TV and the WDH connected weight on the TM wheels was: 3620 lbs.

What Worked: Since most often we stayed in a dry campsite(no services), by choice, we relied on our large battery upgrade(440 AH) and the ability to charge the batteries from our tow vehicle when needed. We can go about eight days before the batteries are down 50% and need a charge. Last year we installed heavy(#2) wires from the TV battery to a plug on the rear of the TV which plugs into a new plug on the TM which connects to the TM batteries with new heavy(#2) wire. This allows us to charge the TM batteries from the TV at ~ 30 amps with the TV at idle. The TV can be used as a generator. Running the TV for two to two and a half hours allows us to live off the batteries for another five days. Works great - no noise, no fuss, no additional equipment to maintain and lug around. We stayed 14 days at Yellowstone in a dry campsite with one charge from the TV.
We increased the tires size to 15" this year and balanced and alligned the new tires. The Goodyear Marathons gave us no trouble. The 14" marathons we had last year showed odd wear signes after just 14,000 miles.
One odd item that works absolutely perfectly is something that I don't understand why all couples with campers don't do! When I get to a campsite and need to back the trailor in, I turn over the wheel to my wife and get out and just tell her which way to turn the wheel and how much as she backs up slowly. NO SCREEMING, NO TENSION, NO PROBLEM - VERY EASY. I hear all these comments from others as how to accomplish backing up. None can compare to how we do it!!!

What didn't work: Not much. We really need more 12 volt outlets to charge various devices in the TM. Plan to put more in this year.

We love our TM!!

I hope I didn't bore you to tears but I always am interested in this type of travel information and find it hard to find. So - I wanted to share it with anyone interested. I hope it helps you all in some way.

Take care,

Phil & Susan