I hope to leave Florida around June 15 for a scenic road trip to Vancouver. I have no idea the best route. In the past I've camped with my husband in the National Forests in an RV. Now I will be tent camping with minimal equipment and my Chihuahua in my Honda Odyssey. Where do I begin? Any suggestions or hints you can give will be very much appreciated. BTW I recently bought an iphone so that I can search out information and stay in touch with friends and family. Does the iPhone work when you are off the beaten trail?

Many thanks, AJ with Annie

Hi Annie, First of all I want to congratulate you on your spirit of adventure in taking off on a trip like this. I'm sure you will do fine and have a great time. You say you have no idea about the best route...well that's understandable because there is no best route for everyone. There is so much to see and do in this great country that you'll probably have a wonderful time whichever road you take.
However, here's a few ideas about tailoring the trip to make it the best for YOU. Consider your interests: Do you have any hobbies that you can work into the schedule? e.g if you are a coin collector, you might be interested in visiting a mint; if you are a birder you would probably want to visit one of the major sanctuaries and flyways (I think that's the right word). Maybe you are a history buff...there are many wonderful museums, and not only in major cities.
Make a list of the places that you have always wanted to visit...then mark them on a map and see how many of them you can manage and still end up getting to your destination when you need to.
Another idea for a starting point...make a list of National Parks and National Monuments...using the same idea, mark them on a map and
connect the dots...see if a likely route shows up. (I'm not advocating that you necessarily camp in the NP's..there are many National Forest campgrounds that are within easy distance of the National Parks)
You can also look up State offices of Tourism on the Internet and pick from them the places you would like to visit.
This all probably sounds like a lot of work, but I have found that I get a lot more enjoyment out of visiting a place if I have done some homework and know some of the things to look for. If you don't. it's too easy to get home in the Fall and realize you were within a few miles of a particular spot and didn't get to see it!
Hope this helps a little....have a great trip!

Ed

I agree with Ed. Two cross country trips have yielded me some awesome sightseeing and side trips to scenic, historic, and just plain great places. Draw a line on the map between Florida and Vancouver, and see what's close to either side of it - and see what alternate routes will still get you there. Maybe folks in the Forum will offer up some of their favorites? Be glad to share some of mine, if you are interested.

Thank you, Ed and Mark. Yes, I am interested in anything you can tell me about great places to visit. I love to hike and have a front pack to carry Annie the Chihuahua. I also like the "blue highways." Since I will be traveling alone my concern is to keep both of us safe. One stupid question - I've always heard that you should not take down a wet tent. Is that true? What's the harm if you are going to put it up in 8 hours. What do you do when it rains? Again, thanks for your encouragement.

I'm not really familiar with the term "Blue Highways", but looking at my atlas I see that the Interstate Highways are blue, so I assume that's what you are saying. My feeling is that the Interstate Highway System is great for someone who wants to get a long way in a hurry....but it's not the way to see America! I hear your concern about safety, but you will find that the US Highways and most State Routes are just as well maintained
(In some cases better) than IHS. As far as personal safety is concerned, these highways are well-travelled and there are a lot more places to stop than the Interstates offer. You will have a lot more fulfilling journey by taking the slightly slower but almost always more scenic routes.
As far as the wet tent is concerned, I think that goes back to the days of canvas tents (that seem to triple in weight when wet and mildewed easily.)
The saying ought to be "Don't put up a wet tent"...it will leak more readily because the surface tension of the water droplets is broken (that's why you need a fly sheet).

Ed

Ed, sorry to mislead you. Blue Highways was the title of a book written by William Least Heat-Moon who traveled the US on the least traveled road, not the interstates. I agree with you. I would much rather see our small towns and stay away from the interstates when possible. Thank you for the tent information. I remember the canvas tents as a kid and we were forbidden to touch them when it was raining because the rain would come through. I have a three person dome tent with a rain fly, propane stove, sleeping bag, cooler, and self-inflating air mattress. Do I need a small folding table or do most of the campsites have tables?

I've put the tent away damp, just shake as much as possible off it and take it back out of the bag asap. A couple of large cheap tarps aren't the worst idea, I found in a heavy rain (first trip with new tent) that the area around the rainfly leaked in a really heavy rain - extra tarps and stakes solved the problem on another trip with a night/day/night long rain.
Some things I've found handy are:
Folding canvas chair, most campgrounds do have picnic tables but this is just much more comfy and you can pull it up close to the fire
I plan to add a small folding table, like a tv table, for places without the picnic tables - non-campground camping; even for some places with tables it would have been handy to have something closer to the fire or wherever
One of those little 3-drawer plastic dresser things - holds a lot of the small stuff you need, I put kitchen stuff in it but could also use one for personal items-easier than digging in a box for silverware, etc.
Hanging bag for shower items-most have at least a hook or door this can hang on, some have limited seating or shelf area
Milk crates to put larger things in - pots and pans, etc.
Several butane 'matches', plus regular ones in case these run out
Large water jug - at least a gallon, maybe more than one, again necessary if camping away from campgrounds.
Fire starters-chemically enhanced things to get a good hot fire going - I found especially my last trip that campgrounds don't always understand about needing dry wood for a campfire, and these help get one going
I always take way too much stuff, but these are some of the things I found I used a lot.

Oh, and btw, I noticed my remarks are attributed to Mark, that's not me, that's my tag giving credit for the comment in my signature. Sorry to mislead you, I'm 'Meema'.

Thank you, Meema!

What wonderful suggestions! I have some preparing to do. Amy Jo[/code]

I think you will have a wonderful trip in front of you. Might as well hit Yellowstone / Tetons and Glacier NP's when you are pssing thru the neighborhoods.



Since you have an iPhone, your carrier is probably ATT Cellular. They have pretty decent coverage across the country. Coverage is better east of the Mississippi than west until you get to the west coast. You will have some cell drops when you are away from the interstates / main roads and bigger towns. Just a fact of life - there is a lot of area in the west with few people. It makes it hard to justify putting up lots of cell towers, although things are much better than 10 years ago! (I used to work for a mfg of cell phones / infrastructure). Go to the ATT cellular site and take a look at coverage along your planned route. It will give you a decent idea of where the holes are. Enjoy!

I have everything laid out on the garage floor ready to pack. My excitement is growing with the good suggestions I've received. One last worry remains. Since I am tent camping with a dog am I a target for bears? I am aware of the food restrictions and will be very, very careful to keep everything in the car closed up tight - but what about me in the tent? I have purchased an airhorn which a fellow shopper recommended.

If you see a silver Honda Odyssey with a black and white Chihuahua and a lady with white hair, please say hello!

Thanks!
Amy Jo

Perhaps this is overkill, but we normally advise people to avoid wearing after shave, perfume, deodorants, etc. especially when tent camping - no sweet-smelling odors in the tent . . . Fred

We've done a lot of camping in bear country, some of it with the dog. One more item I would like to add to Fred's comments - keep a clean campsite. I have had multiple occasions where bears have walked thru the campsite. Since there was nothing to really draw attention, they continue on thier way rather than dropping by for dinner.

One other trick.....Some people do everything except the obvious - putting the dog bowl in the car too.

Keep a clean campsite and no food / good smelling stuff in thye tent and everything should be fine.

At Yosemite they advised taking everything out of the car to put into a bear locker, including any cosmetics - many of those have sweet smells that would attract bears, and perhaps other critters. Definitely keep a clean campsite. And just because there are no bear notices, don't leave edible things out - I had to clean up a great big ol' mess at the free campground at Canyon de Chelly because I did not give a thought to critters; stray dogs got into things left out - they had a field day, strewing stuff for a long ways around! Never did find my tupperware container with the left-over spaghetti in it!