Long Haul to Yellowstone

[abccampinn]

Long Haul - 894.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 896.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 897.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 898.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 899.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 900.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 901.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 902.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

Long Haul - 903.jpg

• Admin
• May 28, 2016

May 22nd of 2010 we left Maine and headed for Yellowstone. Our first night we spent at Evangola State Park in New York on the shore of Lake Erie. The second night we were at an RV Park in Sycamore, Illinois. We don't usually camp at RV parks, but it was convenient, it actually was better than expected. The next day we made it to the factory in Necedah and dropped off our camper for some work and picked up the rental 550 Ultra. Most of this trip was done with the rental camper, however we did sleep in a Camp-Inn TD every night.
Craig suggested we check out the Mississippi River Lock and Dam, so we did that on our way to Myre Big Island State Park in Minnesota. From there we went to the Badlands of South Dakota and spent the night at White River KOA in Interior, SD(a very nice KOA).
We made it to Cody, Wyoming the next day and spent the night at Walmart because it was too late to make it to Yellowstone that day. We did stop at The Spam Museum, The Corn Palace and Wall Drug on our journey to Yellowstone.
We made it to Norris campground in Yellowstone and spent five nights there because we had such a nice site. The picture of the rainbow was from that site. We saw lots of wildlife. Yellowstone is a geologists dream and such a beautiful place. It snowed while we were there, some of the roads didn't open for the season until after we left. Our camper doesn't have a furnace but the rental camper did. Since there isn't electricity at Norris campground, The furnace was nice to have to take the chill off at night.
We spent two nights at Colter Bay in the Grand Tetons. One of those days we went to Jackson, which we enjoyed tremendously, especially the bison burger at one of the restaurants in Jackson.
We left Yellowstone on June 3rd and headed for Devils Tower,WY and spent the night at the KOA there.
From there we went to Mt. Rushmore(a must see), then made it back to Interior,SD, White River KOA.
We spent the next night in Minnesota, and the next night at Mill Bluffs State Park in Wisconsin.
We made it to the factory in Necedah on Monday and swapped campers. As always our camper was treated with utmost care and had some nice upgrades added( the new faucet and backsplash is very nice).
That night was spent in South Bend Indiana, the next night in New York State and then finally home on Wednesday. All told the mileage was just over 5600 miles, about 5300 of which was pulling a camper. 18 nights and 19 days.
We love traveling with our Camp-Inn! Thanks Craig & Cary for a great product!

 

[Evan]

Looks like a great trip, Charlie. As one of the first ten posters to claim an award Craig asked us to send you two pins instead of one! (Bernice gets one too ) Please PM me with your address and Lena will get them sent out.

 

[abccampinn]

Thanks Evan! It was a great trip. When you drive all that distance, you realize how large and beautiful our country is. When you fly , you miss everything in between. We love traveling with the Camp-Inn.
Charlie

 

[Theresa]

I've been lucky enough to visit Yellowstone twice. What a wonderful place it is. It's absolutely on our "gotta go again" list.

As for South Dakota, if you're in that area again, try to visit Custer State Park. Rivaling the national parks, it's quite a destination, and its claim to fame is BUFFALO. We took the buffalo safari and learned quite a bit about the beasts -- our guide also instilled in us a healthy respect for their bulk and strength.

When we visit Custer again, I'd like to make sure it's in September. That's when they drive the buffalo into the "September pasture", which is closed off and allowed to grow lots of delicious food all year long -- and then they brand the new calves and auction off a portion of the buffalo. The park can support 1000 buffalo (sorry if I don't have that number right -- it's been two years), so they cull the herd down to that number every September.

 

[abccampinn]

Theresa,
Thanks for the info on Custer State Park. We intend to make a trip to Glacier National Park in the not to distant future, so a visit to Custer SP would easy then. We didn't have enough time to do every thing we wanted to do on the Yellowstone trip. Yellowstone is quite amazing though! I could have spent more time there. I do hope you can get back there.
Charlie

 

[Theresa]

I promise -- you will not be disappointed with a visit to Custer State Park! I was there in July, so I saw summer weather, but I suspect it'd be equally nice in spring or fall. I personally perfer to stay indoors in real winter.

I stayed in the nearby town of Custer, and that was a mistake -- next time I'll definitely stay inside the park. Aside from the grocery store, the town had little for us. Do not eat at the used-to-be-a-bank restaurant: Overpriced and the food obviously came straight from the freezer. I could've done that myself for a whole lot less. Few stores to visit.

But, oh, there's so much in the area! In addition to Custer State Park, there's Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Park. We only visited Wind Cave, but it was fascinating. Mt. Rushmore and more.

 

[Mick'nSarah]

When we were in Custer in Oct, we ate at a place across from the 'used-to-be-a-bank' place. It was decent. It was a bakery and they had salads, breads and sandwiches, etc. We found them to be reasonable. The ice cream shop down the road was great too (always room and time for some ice cream).

Totally agree on the town. Not too much else there. The one thing I found hilarious was you could camp at the Flintstones campground. They even had houses there that looked like the ones Fred and Wilma had.

We LOVED Wind Cave and that area. I put a review in the campgrounds and parks section last week about it if you are interested.

 

[abccampinn]

Thanks Sarah.
I read your review and it does sound like a worthwhile place to visit. We will have to put it in our itinerary for our trip to Glacier NP.
Charlie

 

[Dave]

Guys,

When we were out there in 2009 we spent the day in Custer. It is a beautiful and interesting place. We saw a lot more buffalo there then we did in Yellowstone.

 

[Theresa]

Mick-and-Sarah, We'll look for that sandwich shop when we're there again! Sounds much better than used-to-be-a-bank place. We stayed at the Holiday Inn across from the Flintstones' campground. It looked like a hoot!

Dave S, I'm not a bit surprised that you saw more buffalo in Custer State Park! We saw a bigger variety of wildlife in Yellowstone, but buffalo are king in Custer!

 

[Mick'nSarah]

I heard the best food was actually down the road at this pie place (can't remember the name, but you can't miss it...the building is bright purple and I seem to remember a pig on the sign). Since we were there in the off season, they were only doing pie and ice cream, so they recommended the bakery. I heard their sandwiches and lunches are the best, when they are serving them! We will get back out that way at some point...it will probably be a while though.