fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Hi all! So it's been about 3 years since my last trip report documenting our trip Disney World. A lot has happened since then. We've been blessed with another sweet boy and blessed with an awesome camper that we got in May. This trip report is documenting our camping trip out west. We traveled for 15 nights and went 4,500 miles. Three boys ages 9, 5, and 3 in a truck pulling a 35 foot camper. It was an epic trip. So much fun! So so so worth it! I'm sure it will take me for ever to do this report. So bear with me. But the pictures will be worth following me for! :) I will be having surgery in about a month. So hopefully then I can get a lot done. Hope you enjoy it! And many many people have asked how we did this trip with kids so young. I'm a stellar planner, so I'd love to share, just ask! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rtguy007 74 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm in! Looking forward to your TR! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Following along. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Looking forward to reading about your trip. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm in too. Looking forward to good reading. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Looking forward to reading along!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 150 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 The shirt that your 5 y/o son has on in the 2nd picture has snagged me... I can't wait to hear more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Wow, what an awesome trip! I can't wait to hear all about it. Bring it on! TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cortezcapt (Derek) 156 Posted September 13, 2016 Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm in, excited to see and hear about your trip. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted September 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'll start this one off with some introductions. I'm Tiffany, hubby is B and the kids are F1, F2, and F3. (Yes their names all start with F) They are 9, 5, and 3 years old and all have July birthdays. We homeschool the big two and the littlest goes to a preschool for hard of hearing kids and we will be homeschooling him too hopefully starting with Kindergarten. Okay so I thought I'd start at the beginning when we first got this crazy idea in our heads. So about this time last year we made the decision that we would some how some way go see my sister in Colorado. She and her husband have lived there for almost 3 years and we had never been to visit, mostly because of the adoption of our sweet boy. During the adoption process of course we couldn't afford it and after it took a long time for him to be ready (and we still couldn't afford it!). The trip planning began. The plan was to fly to Denver and visit for a week. Well then I started pricing out everything. $2000 for flights for 5 people. $1500 if we were lucky. Somewhere close to her to stay for a week, the only hotels close were really expensive or borderline scary. Then eating out for 5 people for a week. Don't forget rental car, and we can't rent a normal car we'd have to rent a giant car that was going to be about $2000 for the week. And on and on. Then we said "Oh well Yellowstone is only 8 hours away, we have to do it too". So I priced camper rentals from AL to Colorado. Renting one here and taking it there was insane because of mileage fees. Flying there then renting a car we could tow with then a camper was a lot too, plus flights. We had this really really old not so nice camper that we'd been given a few years before and we'd fixed it up some. But it was way too small for us. It had a queen bed and then just a small couch to sleep on for the boys. And it really wasn't trustworthy enough to make that trip. My husband spoke up and offered up the idea to sell our camper and get a nicer newer bigger one and take it and do Yellowstone and Colorado. And make it two weeks. Of course I was game. Now we had to figured out how to pay for it. I went ahead and reserved our campsite at Yellowstone without a camper. I know that is crazy, but we'd only loose $50 if we canceled and they book up so fast. Then we ended up having to put a new roof on the house so we thought the trip was out. But it ended up being less than we thought and we decided to look at campers and see what kind of deals we could get. We tried out one place with tons and tons of campers and they were too expensive and really didn't have what we wanted. We wanted either 4 bunks in the back or an outdoor kitchen and 3 bunks. We thought we wanted a fifth wheel but quickly learned that was out. And really I'm so glad we didn't get one. We found at a smaller local camper dealership a 2012 Jayco Jayflight. It was in pretty much perfect condition and had all the bells and whistles. It was a good deal and they gave us a great loan. We even paid more to get a warranty. It has 4 bunks in the back and we LOVE it! We went on 2 week long trips to a campground close to us to make sure we knew how everything worked and what all we needed to make the trip easy. Here's the camper... On our first little trip to test it out, we figured out that we had to have a high chair for the little guy and this is what we chose. http://www.target.com/p/summer-infant-pop-n-sit-portable-highchair/-/A-51420876?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=&adgroup=&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9012469&gclid=CIbj6Z3lps8CFUk2gQodQa4NcA&gclsrc=aw.ds This is perfect for camping it folds up like a camping chair and has a hard plastic tray. It is great!! I got down to business on planning. We decided the Fishing Bridge campground would be best for Yellowstone. It is not the prettiest and doesn't have the best views. But it has full hookups and the others don't. I'm so glad we went with it. We were never at our campsite anyway, it ended up being beautiful, and we used our camper shower. (If you have 5 people in your family and use your camper shower you know you have to have sewage at your site). The campgrounds in Yellowstone are old and so the showers are all at the entrance to the various campgrounds. And you have to pay to shower (it's only $.50 and you get some free showers with your campground fee). But there was always a line when I was in the entrance for other reasons and it would have been a lot of trouble to load up three boys and get showers there. It was definitely the right decision. Then we had to decide on where to stay in Colorado. Hands down the number one campground near my sister was Clear Creek Campground in Golden. https://rec.cityofgolden.net/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/wbsplash.html?wbp=3 And we camped right on that river. (Pictures will come when we get there) You can't reserve a sight until 60 days before your stay so I called that day and got a great sight. It was probably the best campground we'd ever visited. It is owned by the city and right in town. And gorgeous. B was in charge of the route and the stops along the way. He was super nervous that we'd get behind so we didn't book any of those campgrounds. We just prayed really hard that it would all workout. And it did. We made it to each stop and there was always a site for us. B had to be out of town 3 days before we left and got home about 2 hours before we left. I was EXHAUSTED! But I got everything packed for 5 people, for 2 weeks, by myself! I organized everything really well and had all our meals planed out. We pulled our camper with B's four door F350 and yes all three boys sat side by side in the back. But baby brother can do no wrong in their minds so he was in the middle and the didn't fight any. (that I remember) And we were off, on Friday, August 12th at about 3 pm. Leaving from the Birmingham area and headed to our first stop, Paducah, Kentucky. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ependydad...Doug 176 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Good times! I'm looking forward to this report- going west is our plan for spring and I can't wait to get back! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TN22.....Brady 22 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'm in, as we are also talking about a trip out west. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'm in. Can't wait to read more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'm in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Awesome! That is one of my dreams to go out west with the camper :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'm in and taking notes. Would love to see the west. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caveat lector 181 Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 That camper is awesome. I have a 30ft bunkhouse and it is almost identical. You will love it. I'm wondering if you took hWY 70 through Western Kansas/ eastern Colorado. I just traveled there and could not believe the number and size of the giant windmills. They were awesome to see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted September 26, 2016 Report Share Posted September 26, 2016 I am enjoying the report. I admire how brave y'all were to load up the kids and drive all that way. I sure it's something that all of you will remember forever. Good job! TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted September 26, 2016 Report Share Posted September 26, 2016 Whoohoo for no fighting kids in the back!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sherryberry 35 Posted September 26, 2016 Report Share Posted September 26, 2016 I'm in! Your kids are beautiful! I hope your surgery goes well and you recover quickly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Northerngirl--Lori 5 Posted September 27, 2016 Report Share Posted September 27, 2016 Great start! Can't wait to hear more. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Memphis 105 Posted September 28, 2016 Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 Really great start. Looking forward to the rest of the report. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted September 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 On 9/23/2016 at 9:57 PM, ependydad...Doug said: Good times! I'm looking forward to this report- going west is our plan for spring and I can't wait to get back! It was so wonderful! On 9/24/2016 at 3:08 AM, TN22.....Brady said: I'm in, as we are also talking about a trip out west. I highly recommend it! On 9/24/2016 at 5:28 AM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said: I'm in. Can't wait to read more! Thanks!! On 9/24/2016 at 6:29 AM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: I'm in! Thanks!!! On 9/24/2016 at 8:15 AM, mouseketab.....Carol said: Awesome! That is one of my dreams to go out west with the camper :) Camping is the best way to do the Yellowstone area. There are campgrounds everywhere! On 9/24/2016 at 9:34 AM, fladogfan aka Gretchen said: I'm in and taking notes. Would love to see the west. Do it!! On 9/24/2016 at 1:27 PM, caveat lector said: That camper is awesome. I have a 30ft bunkhouse and it is almost identical. You will love it. I'm wondering if you took hWY 70 through Western Kansas/ eastern Colorado. I just traveled there and could not believe the number and size of the giant windmills. They were awesome to see. We love the camper. It is so perfect. Yes!! We did on our way home. It is crazy! We felt like we were in a movie! On 9/26/2016 at 8:59 AM, Tri-Circle-D said: I am enjoying the report. I admire how brave y'all were to load up the kids and drive all that way. I sure it's something that all of you will remember forever. Good job! TCD They are great little travelers. I hope they do. We plan on taking the other two when they are 9 or 10. On 9/26/2016 at 2:22 PM, Beckers said: Whoohoo for no fighting kids in the back!! I know! They were so good! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fowlandfishmommy 10 Posted September 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 On 9/26/2016 at 5:36 PM, sherryberry said: I'm in! Your kids are beautiful! I hope your surgery goes well and you recover quickly. Thanks! I hope so too! I'm hoping to making it the little one's Halloween party the week after. We shall see. On 9/27/2016 at 6:16 PM, Northerngirl--Lori said: Great start! Can't wait to hear more. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I'm so slow! :) On 9/28/2016 at 6:43 AM, Memphis said: Really great start. Looking forward to the rest of the report. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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