Heading from Maine to Montana and then back via pickup truck. Any advice?

Our plans:

- We'll be taking my 2015 GMC Denali Sierra pickup (winter picture), plenty of power, lots of space inside and in the backseat, Fold-A-Cover on the back and will put some items in totes due to dust. It's not 100% waterproof, but about 95%. Me and the wife and twins all together. Wifi will be on, GPS, traffic, weather via SiriusXM and will schedule some baseball games to pass the time. Want to test out E85 gas when we get out west. Will be hitting a Geocache in each state I don't currently have, hope to find some GRC's (Guard Rail Cache) to make it quick.

- Girls are going to keep a log book and help me with the atlas, figuring out where we are, etc.

- 11 day drip, heading from Maine on Thursday night to Niagra Falls (will get there in the week hours of Friday), hang out there Friday morning, then hit the road.

- Will try to get from Niagra to Gary Indiana, or South West of Chicago and stay over.

- Next day to Fargo, ND, heading out through ND, back through SD (more sights to see, from what I read).

- Going to hit Teddy Roosevelt Park on the way out of ND, hammer down and get as close to Missoula as possible. Finish it the next day or whatever.

- Couple days with my sister at her house in Missoula, MT.

- Head out after a couple days, Little Bighorn, Devil's Tower, head over to Deadwood if possible in one day's trip.

- Crash (not literally of course), head out the next day to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands Scenic Byway and get as far as we can, maybe to the Corn Palace.

- Next day Lewis and Clark Rest Area, World's largest six pack, etc.

- Sissy the Cow, maybe Lake Shore Drive in Cleveland.

- From there, hammer down and try to rip back to Maine.

Any advice? Last major roadtrip was when we went to Bristol, Charlotte, Martinsville back in the late 90's and early 2000's when we used to rip overnight to go to the Nascar races, then hammer back after the race.

Wish me luck and any advice on cool things to see, please let me know. I have my 2016 Rand McNally Road Atlas all ready to rock with the routes and will have waypoints in the GPS in the Denali. EZ Pass will work until Illinois, not sure how many tolls past that?

Plan on packing a 5 gallon gas can in a tote in the back of the truck, is that over-thinking it? Any other needs? I have my truck pretty much stocked with the regular air compressor, first aid kits, etc.

I have Choice Hotels and Best Western Rewards ready to go, we'll figure out how far I can drive and start calling on reservations based on the AAA hotel ratings.

I had a friend tell me in an 80mph stretch, don't go 5-8 over like I do in Maine, if you go over 82mph they will pull you over, is this true? Gas milage must stink bigtime at this speed?

Hoping my wife and I don't have a major meltdown, there are occasions when we fight in the truck, not crazy, but she's not the most natural co-pilot.

Wish me luck...

Welcome to RTA!

Some advice - don't overextend yourselves, traveling with children you are best off getting an early start in the morning, then get off the road and into a hotel by dinnertime. Do NOT try to drive overnight, you will screw up your body clock and become tired and unsafe. If you are just trying to get from point A to point B on Interstates, limit your daily drive to 600 miles. You are not going to be able to get to Missoula and back in 11 days, either add more time or cut back the scale of the trip. It's 5 full days each way via fastest route with no detours or diversions for sightseeing.

Do not pack a gas can. There's nowhere in the country where you won't find gas within 50 miles except on I-70 in Utah and on state highways in Nevada. If you use E-85, expect to lose about 30% gas mileage.

You would be best off keeping the speed down to no more than 5 mph over the limit. When I travel, I set the cruise at 3 over.

EZ-Pass works all the way through Illinois, there are no tolls west of there unless you go through Kansas or around Denver, and EZ-Pass doesn't work there.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm sorry, but when I see your plan, I see a disaster waiting to happen. You're just trying to do too much with too little time, especially on a family trip. When I hear people say they hate doing road trips, it's usually because they either have done - or been forced to go along - a trip like you've laid out here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cravenfan

- 11 day drip, heading from Maine on Thursday night to Niagra Falls (will get there in the week hours of Friday), hang out there Friday morning, then hit the road.

---

You're starting your trip out in the worst possible way. Your home in Maine to Niagara Falls is a full day drive all by itself. Presumably you're leaving at night because you'll have already been at work, or doing other things all day long. Not only is that uncomfortable, but it's incredibly unsafe. A professional driver would be required to have a full night of rest before setting out on a trip of this distance, and then be required to have another full night of rest afterwards.

But you're planning to double down on the danger. After pulling into a hotel at 4 or 5 am, you are barely giving yourself enough time for a couple hours of napping (and your kids will likely be waking up just as you start to fall asleep), before trying to see a major attraction, and then head out on the road for another 10 to 12 hours of driving.

I can't emphasize enough how dangerous that is. There is simply no way that you or your wife will be getting nearly enough rest to be a safe driver. Fatigued driving is every bit as dangerous as drunk driving, and if you wouldn't ever consider driving drunk with your kids in the car, then you shouldn't consider doing what you laid out here.

Quote:

---

Hoping my wife and I don't have a major meltdown, there are occasions when we fight in the truck, not crazy, but she's not the most natural co-pilot

---

Even if you want to dismiss the dangers of your plan, I can guarantee that you and your family will be at each others throats long before your trip is done. Rest is essential not only for safety, but to also be able to enjoy your trip. By the time you arrive near Chicago, you'll have been up for well over 30 hours, with at most a couple hours of sleep in between. That's going to cause a level of fatigue that you simply can't recover from - especially when the rest of your trip, while not nearly as bad as the start, is still a very aggressive plan.

Quote:

---

- From there, hammer down and try to rip back to Maine.

---

The number of times you had to write "hammer down" should itself be a warning, but it's worth noting that your plan heading home could be even more dangerous. Cleveland to your home is about 750 miles - or more than 14 hours of real world travel time - it's also far beyond what is safe - and would be illegal for a professional driver. Doing it at the end of an exhausting trip simply increases the chances that you will run into danger - and you'll be even more likely to make bad decisions in the push to "get home."

Quote:

---

Any advice?Last major roadtrip was when we went to Bristol, Charlotte, Martinsville back in the late 90's and early 2000's when we used to rip overnight to go to the Nascar races, then hammer back after the race.

---

We've all done things in our younger days that weren't the safest or smartest thing (lord knows I did!). The thing is, as we get older, we should realize that we were also lucky that bad things didn't happen, and learn as we move forward - especially when you've got kids to think about.

Quote:

---

Wish me luck...

---

We do wish you luck, but we wish even more that you'll find some more time for this trip, so you don't need luck just to survive, without hurting yourself or the many people with whom you'll be sharing the road. 11 days is basically only enough time to drive to Missoula, spend 1 night there, and then turn around and come home. "Hammer down" the whole way. If you want to spend a couple days with your sister, you really need a full 2 weeks, and if you want to see your sister, and enjoy some of the places you mentioned along the way, then you need about a week more than the 11 days you are planning right now.

Extended the vacation by 1 day...now 12 days...still crazy?

As was stated, even with hard driving, leaving hardly any time for extra stops, you need at least 5 full days each way to do this safely.

So is forcing your family to spend 10 hard days in the car (about 12 hours each day) to spend 2 days with your sister crazy? I'd say so, but that's a decision you'll have to make.

As I also stated, I wouldn't do it without at least 2 full weeks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cravenfan

Extended the vacation by 1 day...now 12 days...still crazy?

---

Coast to coast is a full 5 days of driving. Hardly and time to stop and see anything.

Now you are going to Montana. So you will have 4 days of driving to get there and back, 8 days total. Two days at your sister's, now 10 days. Those extra 2 day's can give you up to 16 more hours to use on stops. Thus you the can make some stops on the way out and on the return.

Though you are going to put in a lot of time driving for such a short time at your sisters. So how about you get out to Montana as fast/direct as you can. Then spend at least an extra day to use your sister's as a base to make some short sightseeing trips from.

Then based on how much time you have left maybe you can fit in a sightseeing stop on the way home.

Quote:

---

So you will have 4 days of driving to get there and back, 8 days total.

---

No - it's 5 days each way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32vld

Coast to coast is a full 5 days of driving. Hardly and time to stop and see anything.

Now you are going to Montana. So you will have 4 days of driving to get there and back, 8 days total.

---

It's easy to think that if a coast to coast trip takes 5 days, then they could get to Montana in 4.

The problem is that Maine to western Montana is actually a longer distance than many coast to coast trips. Portland to Missoula is actually the same distance as a trip from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. That's why they really do need 5 full days each way - leaving hardly any time left in Montana.

Planning about 4.5 days out (first day is Thursday afternoon/night), 6 days back, 2 in between. We'll see how it goes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cravenfan

- Going to hit Teddy Roosevelt Park on the way out of ND,

---

I was just in the northern section of the Teddy Roosevelt NP last week. It is an awesome place, great scenery and interesting history. It would be a very long day to try and see much of the park and still make Missoula.

Mark

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cravenfan

Planning about 4.5 days out (first day is Thursday afternoon/night), 6 days back, 2 in between. We'll see how it goes.

---

if you're pretty restricted on your days you can take off from work(like me), an alternate plan that may work for you is to fly out to Missoula on a one-way ticket, spend a couple days with your sis and rent a one way vehicle(van or sedan) in that area for a much more(8-9 day maybe?) leisurely drive home with time to see some sights and enjoy the time with your family. Some of the extra costs this would incur would be made-up by the mileage(approx 5-6000) and wear & tear savings on your truck.

I'm on here now and then and have done some insane trips - but your trip is way over the top; honestly, it's too ambitious, even for a professional driver just driving. You're not going to see anything out or back and your girls are going to revolt mid-way through the ordeal of attempting too many miles per day, day in day out.

The advice to fly out is good, but probably not cost effective for the whole family?

Could you wife and the kids start out ahead of you, by a week, or even a few days? Then you could fly to meet them along the way, or meet them in Missoula and drive back together?

My husband often flies in to meet me and the kids wherever we're vacationing due to the constraints of his work schedule. This year we're doing Montana and I'm leaving 10-days ahead of him so I the kids and I can stop and do a bunch of fun things along the way - he'll fly into Butte, where I should arrive 1 to 2 nights before he gets there (I like to have a buffer day just in case). He'll vacation with us, then fly home from Butte again (we're not staying in Butte though) and then I'll drive home in 4.5 days (which is really all we need to get home with some smaller, shorter stops.

Just an option to consider if you wife and kids don't mind doing part or all of the drive without you!

The other thing you could do is check skyscanner.com, see where the cheapest, closest flights are into Missoula from your area - fly to there, rent a car, return to that airport and fly back home. You may be able to find a decent airfare that flying for everyone isn't breaking the bank?

No problem...made it out in 3.5 days, while visiting Niagara Falls in NY, meeting up with a friend in St. Paul and the Teddy Roosevelt Park in North Dakota. Spent two days in Missoula and started back on Wednesday, home on Sunday night. On the way home we hit Little Bighorn Monument, Devil's Tower in WY, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Custer National Park loop road, including The Needles Highway in SD (you could spend two entire days here with all the sights). All awesome. Then hit the Lewis and Clark Rest Area and The Corn Palace. Lot's of fun in the truck with the kids. Got all the license plates except Arizona, Washington DC and New Mexico.

5800 miles round trip in 11 days...a bit tired today at home unwinding, but no worse for wear. 47 hours in the truck on the way back, essentially 3000 miles on the return leg, 2800 miles out. Once I have my info all documented, I'll update later today or tonight.

Welcome back. We're disappointed that you ignored our advice and decided to push yourself to distances that have been shown time and time again to be every bit as dangerous as driving drunk. We're glad you made it back safely, but hope you don't try pushing yourself so hard - at a level that would be illegal if you were a professional driver - in the future. You might not be so lucky next time.

The only thing I would have busted for in a breathalyzer test is Mountain Dew and PB M&M's.

We made sure that we each took turns driving, properly used rest stops to refresh and didn't drive over our heads at any time. We got 8-10 hours of sleep a night and had a blast. Driving my 2015 Denali Sierra is like sitting on the couch watching HD television. In no portions of our trip did we put anyone, including ourselves in danger. We also had Intellelink weather and road traffic and Waze kept us abreast of any traffic issues.

On our trip, we stopped to see the following:

Niagara Falls
Sissy the Cow
Pink Elephant
Lunch in St. Paul with a friend
National Buffalo Museum and the worlds biggest buffalo
Salem Sue
Teddy Roosevelt National Park and the Painted Canyon
Stayed in Missoula, MT
Garnet Ghost Town
Fort Missoula
Little Bighorn
Devil's Tower
Deadwood
Mount Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Needles Highway
Custer State Park Loop Road
Wall Drug
Badlands Loop Road
Worlds biggest Prairie Dog
Minute Man National Landmark
Lewis and Clark Rest Area
The Corn Palace
Stopped at a Kum & Go and filled up with E85 (which is awesome)
Got a bunch of geocaches

Had fun...sorry if some of you folks are offended by the miles we did...5800 in total in 11 days. It's doable if planned out correctly and you are up for it. Two weeks would have been better, but I'm not going to complain about the fun we had as a family.

If anyone wants more specific info on route, things we saw, etc, just send me a PM...

Some people will never accept the scientific fact that the human body can only safely operate a 2 ton machine at 75 mph for a limited number of hours each day. Of course you would have passed a breath test, because there is no breath test for fatigue - but just because it can't easily be measured by a machine doesn't mean the dangers aren't just as real. That's the very reason why a professional driver would be in danger of losing their license if they attempted to do what you did.

You very much put your lives in danger, and you put the lives of everyone else one the road in danger - and that's why people here are going to be offended by you doing what you did. Again we are very thankful that you survived without hurting yourself or anyone else - but much like it takes a drunk driver 100 or more times before they are caught or get into a crash, it doesn't mean the first 99 times were safe.

I'm sorry that it doesn't appear that anything anyone here can tell you will make you understand that, and you will probably have to learn the hard way. We hope very much that it is only you, and not an innocent bystander, who becomes a victim when that day comes.

Again, we're thankful that things turned out ok, this time....