swalker
Very helpful member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
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- DX MND
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- 07/2014
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- Vail
Well, this has sure taken a long time to do! I planned to put up a post about our fall trip to Yellowstone National Park, but things became so busy that I never got around to it. I am starting to catch up on a few things, so time to share with you our fun in Yellowstone!
It was an interesting trip.
This was our first trip in our new-to-us motorhome. It is a 38 foot long diesel pusher, which is quite a step up in size and complexity from what we have used before. I prefer to backpack! So much simpler. But, we realized that the trailer we were using was not sufficient for our needs, so we decided to buy a motorhome so that we can continue to camp.
We were not even completely certain that large of a motorhome would fit in the campsite we had reserved. After way too much work (thanks Greg!) getting the motorhome set up for our needs we embarked on our great adventure.
I drove the motorhome and my wife drove the wheelchair van (it is not set up yet to tow behind the motorhome...good thing I can still drive). The motorhome is 104 inches wide, not including mirrors, awning housings, and such. There was road construction enroute that had 10 foot load restrictions. 104 inches is 8 feet, 8 inches, meaning I had about 8 inches of clearance on each side of the motorhome through these stretches. Quite the challenge for a new motorhome driver!
We spent the first night in a wonderful accessible room at a hotel in Pinedale, Wyoming. We got up the next morning and continued on our journey.
Most of the route from our house to Yellowstone consists of driving on two lane highways. There is a total of about 110 miles of four lane interstate. The remaining 500 miles are twisting, winding, narrow, two lane roads. Probably the worst section is from the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park to Grant Village. It is only about 20 miles, but has some very narrow spots. Since we were travelling this road in fall, we were sure to encounter large trucks hauling boats out of Yellowstone Lake south for winter storage. There was one in particular that was a hauling a very large boat. We met at one of the narrowest parts of the road with a 1000 foot drop off the right side. I don't know how we made it past each other, but we did.
It was snowing as we pulled into the campground. We checked in and filled up the motorhome's water tank and then headed to our campsite. I am sure we were quite the spectacle as my wife guided while I wiggled the motorhome into the spot. There was a lot of backing up, going forward, and then backing up again, but, it fit, and that was all that mattered! Heck, I think there were several inches to spare all the way around!
We were looking forward to spending a warm night in the motorhome. The trailer we had used on previous trips had a propane heater. It used quite a bit of propane. To keep us from refilling the propane too many times, we would keep the trailer relatively cool in the evenings. I need warm! The motorhome uses a diesel heater and we had 105 gallons of diesel. I figured we would be good for the duration of the trip.
Unfortunately, the heater also uses a lot of electrical power. The campsite did not have electrical hookups, so we were running the generator during the day (allowed from 8AM to 8PM) and then using batteries at night.
Before we bought the motorhome, we had it thoroughly inspected. During this inspection, the batteries tested out fine. Unfortunately, we found on our first night the batteries would not make it through a night of moderate temperatures (just slightly below freezing). After several days of testing things out, I became convinced the batteries needed to be replaced. We also discovered that both the diesel generator and diesel engine were leaking coolant.
We discovered there were no batteries available locally. After doing a lot of research, we decided to go with a different battery configuration and ordered batteries to be delivered to and installed by Camping World in Idaho Falls, which was about a 2.5 hour drive away. We arrived early, as they requested and discovered the batteries were not due to be delivered until the afternoon.
They did not finish installing the batteries that day and offered to hook our motorhome up to power and let us spend the night in their parking lot (they are well set up for this). Unfortunately, the power was not tested and it was not turned on at their end. We did not find this out until after they had closed for the day.
We spent yet another night trying to keep the motorhome above freezing so the pipes would not burst. We succeeded and the next day the batteries were replaced in the morning. While we were waiting, they fixed the coolant leak in the generator, which required replacing the coolant and putting thread sealant on the drain plug.
We then took it to a diesel/motorhome specialist (who was not able to get the batteries we wanted) and they investigated the coolant leak in the main engine. They confirmed my suspicion that it was a minor issue that would not be too expensive (by motorhome standards) to fix, but that they would need to order the parts.
We scheduled to have that work done on our way home after our 4 week trip to Yellowstone.
As we left Idaho Falls, a major winter storm was rolling in. We were really trying to get back to the campground before the roads became impassable. There was construction on the way, and we pulled in just as it was getting dark and wiggled the motorhome back into our campsite.
At this point, we figured we would be spending a warm night in the motorhome, but we were wrong. It turns out that not only did we need new batteries, but that the heater had not been serviced in many years (the inspection also missed this important fact). We spent the rest of the trip with a very inefficient heater that used much more battery power than it should. We could keep the motorhome above 50 degrees F on most night, but it was quite chilly for me.
The expected snowstorm hit and we discovered that the front slide out leaked. We had to retract it, but discovered that it would not retract all the way. Even with it retracted, it still leaked. My poor wife spent a lot of time blotting water out of the carpet!
I will tell you about the excitement of the motorhome in future installments, but I think I have relayed enough to give you an idea of just how exciting it was.
The trip was magnificent. We saw many friends. Our friends Vic and Christy visited us for a few days and were a joy. We also got to spend time with our friends John and Cathy, who were working that summer in Yellowstone. We saw many of our geyser gazer friends and just had a wonderful time.
Even though the weather was pretty rough for most of the trip (worst weather I have experienced in Yellowstone), we had a wonderful time. My wife finally got to see a Steamboat Geyser eruption from the beginning, which was a treat for her (I was there as well for my 6th full eruption of Steamboat). We got to go on many trails and see wonderful sights.
I will wrap this installment up with a few pictures from the trip.
Steve
Our giant motorhome in our front yard. My friend Greg is on top working on the roof.
Our giant motorhome parked at our campsite in Yellowstone after a bit of snow
Steamboat geyser erupting
Lori and me in front of an erupting Steamboat geyser
Beehive geyser erupting with a double rainbow
It was an interesting trip.
This was our first trip in our new-to-us motorhome. It is a 38 foot long diesel pusher, which is quite a step up in size and complexity from what we have used before. I prefer to backpack! So much simpler. But, we realized that the trailer we were using was not sufficient for our needs, so we decided to buy a motorhome so that we can continue to camp.
We were not even completely certain that large of a motorhome would fit in the campsite we had reserved. After way too much work (thanks Greg!) getting the motorhome set up for our needs we embarked on our great adventure.
I drove the motorhome and my wife drove the wheelchair van (it is not set up yet to tow behind the motorhome...good thing I can still drive). The motorhome is 104 inches wide, not including mirrors, awning housings, and such. There was road construction enroute that had 10 foot load restrictions. 104 inches is 8 feet, 8 inches, meaning I had about 8 inches of clearance on each side of the motorhome through these stretches. Quite the challenge for a new motorhome driver!
We spent the first night in a wonderful accessible room at a hotel in Pinedale, Wyoming. We got up the next morning and continued on our journey.
Most of the route from our house to Yellowstone consists of driving on two lane highways. There is a total of about 110 miles of four lane interstate. The remaining 500 miles are twisting, winding, narrow, two lane roads. Probably the worst section is from the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park to Grant Village. It is only about 20 miles, but has some very narrow spots. Since we were travelling this road in fall, we were sure to encounter large trucks hauling boats out of Yellowstone Lake south for winter storage. There was one in particular that was a hauling a very large boat. We met at one of the narrowest parts of the road with a 1000 foot drop off the right side. I don't know how we made it past each other, but we did.
It was snowing as we pulled into the campground. We checked in and filled up the motorhome's water tank and then headed to our campsite. I am sure we were quite the spectacle as my wife guided while I wiggled the motorhome into the spot. There was a lot of backing up, going forward, and then backing up again, but, it fit, and that was all that mattered! Heck, I think there were several inches to spare all the way around!
We were looking forward to spending a warm night in the motorhome. The trailer we had used on previous trips had a propane heater. It used quite a bit of propane. To keep us from refilling the propane too many times, we would keep the trailer relatively cool in the evenings. I need warm! The motorhome uses a diesel heater and we had 105 gallons of diesel. I figured we would be good for the duration of the trip.
Unfortunately, the heater also uses a lot of electrical power. The campsite did not have electrical hookups, so we were running the generator during the day (allowed from 8AM to 8PM) and then using batteries at night.
Before we bought the motorhome, we had it thoroughly inspected. During this inspection, the batteries tested out fine. Unfortunately, we found on our first night the batteries would not make it through a night of moderate temperatures (just slightly below freezing). After several days of testing things out, I became convinced the batteries needed to be replaced. We also discovered that both the diesel generator and diesel engine were leaking coolant.
We discovered there were no batteries available locally. After doing a lot of research, we decided to go with a different battery configuration and ordered batteries to be delivered to and installed by Camping World in Idaho Falls, which was about a 2.5 hour drive away. We arrived early, as they requested and discovered the batteries were not due to be delivered until the afternoon.
They did not finish installing the batteries that day and offered to hook our motorhome up to power and let us spend the night in their parking lot (they are well set up for this). Unfortunately, the power was not tested and it was not turned on at their end. We did not find this out until after they had closed for the day.
We spent yet another night trying to keep the motorhome above freezing so the pipes would not burst. We succeeded and the next day the batteries were replaced in the morning. While we were waiting, they fixed the coolant leak in the generator, which required replacing the coolant and putting thread sealant on the drain plug.
We then took it to a diesel/motorhome specialist (who was not able to get the batteries we wanted) and they investigated the coolant leak in the main engine. They confirmed my suspicion that it was a minor issue that would not be too expensive (by motorhome standards) to fix, but that they would need to order the parts.
We scheduled to have that work done on our way home after our 4 week trip to Yellowstone.
As we left Idaho Falls, a major winter storm was rolling in. We were really trying to get back to the campground before the roads became impassable. There was construction on the way, and we pulled in just as it was getting dark and wiggled the motorhome back into our campsite.
At this point, we figured we would be spending a warm night in the motorhome, but we were wrong. It turns out that not only did we need new batteries, but that the heater had not been serviced in many years (the inspection also missed this important fact). We spent the rest of the trip with a very inefficient heater that used much more battery power than it should. We could keep the motorhome above 50 degrees F on most night, but it was quite chilly for me.
The expected snowstorm hit and we discovered that the front slide out leaked. We had to retract it, but discovered that it would not retract all the way. Even with it retracted, it still leaked. My poor wife spent a lot of time blotting water out of the carpet!
I will tell you about the excitement of the motorhome in future installments, but I think I have relayed enough to give you an idea of just how exciting it was.
The trip was magnificent. We saw many friends. Our friends Vic and Christy visited us for a few days and were a joy. We also got to spend time with our friends John and Cathy, who were working that summer in Yellowstone. We saw many of our geyser gazer friends and just had a wonderful time.
Even though the weather was pretty rough for most of the trip (worst weather I have experienced in Yellowstone), we had a wonderful time. My wife finally got to see a Steamboat Geyser eruption from the beginning, which was a treat for her (I was there as well for my 6th full eruption of Steamboat). We got to go on many trails and see wonderful sights.
I will wrap this installment up with a few pictures from the trip.
Steve
Our giant motorhome in our front yard. My friend Greg is on top working on the roof.
Our giant motorhome parked at our campsite in Yellowstone after a bit of snow
Steamboat geyser erupting
Lori and me in front of an erupting Steamboat geyser
Beehive geyser erupting with a double rainbow
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