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  1. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Cravenfan View Post
    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.

  2. #12

    Default

    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!

  3. #13

    Default

    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?

  4. #14

    Default

    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.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Green County, Wisconsin
    Posts
    13,832

    Default

    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.

  6. #16

    Default

    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...

  7. #17
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Green County, Wisconsin
    Posts
    13,832

    Default proving the point

    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....

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