The Way to Chilliwack - Escape Trailer Owners Community
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Escape Trailer Owners Community > Camping | Places, Gear and Planning > Trips and Travel Planning
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-30-2013, 04:00 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
The Way to Chilliwack

Our scheduled completion date is 5/7. But due to other commitments, we won’t be able to get away until the 5th. We’re thinking of taking a 7-day drive from northern Maryland to Chilliwack. Our intended route will take us into a few areas that prompt the need for local knowledge.

First, we’re thinking of taking The Great River Road from La Claire, IA to Winona, MN. If the Mississippi floods next spring, is it likely that TGRR will be passable in early May?

Second, if the Mississippi and/or the Missouri floods substantially next spring, is it likely that I 90 will be closed at any point in early May?

Third, we assume that US 12 from Butte to Lewiston will be clear. But is there much chance of a closure in the passes due to late snows?

Fourth, we’re thinking of heading northwest out of Spokane and entering Canada at Osoyoos. Is there much chance of late snows btw Osoyoos and Chilliwack that would cause us difficulty?

Our planned route is below. Any thoughts/guidance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your insights.

5/5 Leave Maryland, MD and drive to Gary, IN via I 83, I 76, I 80, and I 90. (680 miles/10 hrs, 40 min)

5/6 Leave Gary, IN and drive to Rochester, MN via I 80 to La Claire, IA and then via The Great River Road to Winona, MN and then to Rochester via I 90. (466 miles/9 hrs, 38 min.)

5/7 Leave Rochester, MN and drive to Rapid City, SD via I 90. Visit The Badlands via The Badlands Loop Road (SD 240 (Exit 131)(explore Door Trail, Window Trail, Cliff Shelf, and Fossil Exhibit Trail (593 miles / 9 hours, 3 mins, plus time for walking the 4 trails.)

5/8 Leave Rapid City and drive to Cody WY. Visit Mt. Rushmore. Drive though the Black Hills (via Needles Highway & Rt 16). Continue to Cody, WY via US 16 and I 90 and US 16. (424 miles / 8 hours, 8 minutes, plus time at Mt. Rushmore)

5/9 Leave Cody, WY and drive to Butte, MT. Enter Yellowstone and drive the Grand Loop Road southwest to West Thumb & Old Faithful, then northwest to Tower Junction, then loop back to the west entrance; continue to Butte, MT via US 287 and I 90. (393 miles / 9 hours, 49 minutes, plus stops in Yellowstone)

5/10 Leave Butte, MT and drive to Spokane, WA via the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. Leave Butte via I 90, then US 12 to Lewiston, ID (the NPSB), then US 95 and US 195 to Spokane. (441 miles; 8 hours 6 minutes)

5/11 Leave Spokane, WA and drive to Chilliwack, BC via US 2, WA 21, WA 174, WA 155, US 97/ CA 97, CA 3, and CA 1. (373 miles / 7 hours, 29 minutes)
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 04:39 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Vermilye's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Oswego, New York
Trailer: 2017 Escape 21C, 2018 Ford F150
Posts: 5,363
Here is a link to my 8 day drive from Oswego, NY to Chilliwack starting about 3 weeks earlier than you in 2011. There is a map of my intended route at the bottom of the index page. Because of snow in the passes, I switched to I90 for much of the western part of the trip.

I did run into some snow, some of it pretty heavy, but only in the passes & nothing that stopped me. I should note that I live in the Lake Ontario snow belt that gets between 150" & 200" of snow each season, so I'm used to driving in it.

Had a great time on the rest of the trip, only running into a bit of snow after hooking up the trailer.

Have a great trip!
__________________
Jon Vermilye My Travel Blog
Travel and Photo Web Page ... My Collection of RV Blogs 2018 F150 3.5EB, 2017 21
Vermilye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 04:42 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
cpaharley2008's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
Badlands is spectacular, stop at Wall Drug on the way (it is the "South of the Border" of the west) as is Mt Rushmore and do not forget Devil's Tower, not too far away from Rushmore. Needles Highway in and around Rushmore is a pretty drive. Yellowstone was ok, but take BearTooth Highway, from RedLodge, Mt to Yellowstone's Northern entrance, probably the prettiest drive I've ever seen. Chief Joseph's highway in Wyoming near Cody is also really nice. KOA in Cody is clean as is the BadLands KOA.
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
cpaharley2008 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 06:34 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vermilye View Post
Here is a link to my 8 day drive from Oswego, NY to Chilliwack starting about 3 weeks earlier than you in 2011. There is a map of my intended route at the bottom of the index page. Because of snow in the passes, I switched to I90 for much of the western part of the trip.

I did run into some snow, some of it pretty heavy, but only in the passes & nothing that stopped me. I should note that I live in the Lake Ontario snow belt that gets between 150" & 200" of snow each season, so I'm used to driving in it.

Had a great time on the rest of the trip, only running into a bit of snow after hooking up the trailer.

Have a great trip!
Thanks Jon. I'll check out your 8-day link.
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 06:37 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Badlands is spectacular, stop at Wall Drug on the way (it is the "South of the Border" of the west) as is Mt Rushmore and do not forget Devil's Tower, not too far away from Rushmore. Needles Highway in and around Rushmore is a pretty drive. Yellowstone was ok, but take BearTooth Highway, from RedLodge, Mt to Yellowstone's Northern entrance, probably the prettiest drive I've ever seen. Chief Joseph's highway in Wyoming near Cody is also really nice. KOA in Cody is clean as is the BadLands KOA.
Thanks Jim. I'll be looking to recalculate. Gotta do Ystone, though, as we've seen it only in winter.
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 09:19 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
fudge_brownie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Janesville, WI, Wisconsin
Trailer: Escape 19 (sold) Escape 21 2014
Posts: 1,879
5/6 Great River Road - that is a lot of river. I think that stretch you are considering is a full day trip in itself. The road is extremely curvy and full of hills, plus each of the small towns take a great deal of time. Starting in Dubuque does not save much. How about LaCrosse to Winona, at Winona cross over to the Wis side to the Twin Cities? Or just the stretch to Winona, that is a neat river town, then back south to 90.
__________________
Paul and Janet Braun
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 now 2012 Toyota Sequoia V8
Escape 19' 2010 now 2014 Escape 21'
fudge_brownie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-30-2013, 10:14 PM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Boise, Idaho
Trailer: 2014 17B
Posts: 49
You might consider more time in Idaho departing from West Yellowstone you could then go to Craters of the Moon on 20 then up the 75 to Sun Valley and Stanley then pass through McCall and then take 95 north to Spokane. There are amazing mountains and lakes along the route. The passes will have snow, but will all be clear in May. Hwy 12 is scenic but the 75 in between Sun Valley and Stanley is even better.

We get our trailer in April!
smilycook is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 05:01 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by fudge_brownie View Post
5/6 Great River Road - that is a lot of river. I think that stretch you are considering is a full day trip in itself. The road is extremely curvy and full of hills, plus each of the small towns take a great deal of time. Starting in Dubuque does not save much. How about LaCrosse to Winona, at Winona cross over to the Wis side to the Twin Cities? Or just the stretch to Winona, that is a neat river town, then back south to 90.
Thanks fudgebrownie. I was wondering whether that was a reasonable day drive. Is the section btw La Crosse and Winona, or any particular subsection, especially scenic?

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 05:06 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by smilycook View Post
You might consider more time in Idaho departing from West Yellowstone you could then go to Craters of the Moon on 20 then up the 75 to Sun Valley and Stanley then pass through McCall and then take 95 north to Spokane. There are amazing mountains and lakes along the route. The passes will have snow, but will all be clear in May. Hwy 12 is scenic but the 75 in between Sun Valley and Stanley is even better.

We get our trailer in April!
Thanks for the tip smileycook. Better is better. Recalculating. . . .

Congratulations on your trailer!

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 05:46 AM   #10
Site Team
 
Donna D.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Portland, Oregon
Trailer: 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 11,023
WOW! You're driving all the way across the country and will be within days of a egg gathering! Consider, after your pickup joining us at 2014, May 16-18: Maryhill (SP) in May
Safe travels!
Donna D. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 05:53 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D. View Post
WOW! You're driving all the way across the country and will be within days of a egg gathering! Consider, after your pickup joining us at 2014, May 16-18: Maryhill (SP) in May
Safe travels!
Thanks Donna. We'll keep that in mind as our plans firm up. Would be nice to meet you.

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 06:39 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
brain's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cowtown, Texas
Trailer: Casita ... for now ...
Posts: 113
Hi Glenn,
Congrats on your new Escape. I wish you well on your trip.
You might be underestimating the amount of time each leg will take. Mountain
roads, small town traffic, meals and breaks, pilot cars as you wait
on road construction, rainy roads, darkness ...

Just driving from the East entrance of YNP all the way to the west could take
you 3-4 hours what with road construction delays, bison
delays, and photography delays!

Just plan for unforeseen delays...

Best wishes.
__________________
brian
Texas
@coolcampcreations
brain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 03:31 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by brain View Post
Hi Glenn,
Congrats on your new Escape. I wish you well on your trip.
You might be underestimating the amount of time each leg will take. Mountain
roads, small town traffic, meals and breaks, pilot cars as you wait
on road construction, rainy roads, darkness ...

Just driving from the East entrance of YNP all the way to the west could take
you 3-4 hours what with road construction delays, bison
delays, and photography delays!

Just plan for unforeseen delays...

Best wishes.

Thanks Brian. Points taken. The miles/time notes are from MapQuest. Undoubtedly, it'll take more actual time, as we stop for all the usual reasons. I can easily do 13-14 hours in a day. My misgivings go to whether I can do plus-10-hour-days for 7 days straight. (I ain't a spring chicken no more.) Jon Vermilye did his NY to BC in 8 days, so I'm thinking of stretching our timeline out to match that while incorporating suggestions for alternative routing. Plotting the itinerary is as much fun as working on the build sheet. Thanks again.

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-01-2013, 07:53 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
soultrek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: New Meadows, Idaho
Trailer: 2008 Escape 17B
Posts: 206
Quote:
Originally Posted by smilycook View Post
You might consider more time in Idaho departing from West Yellowstone you could then go to Craters of the Moon on 20 then up the 75 to Sun Valley and Stanley then pass through McCall and then take 95 north to Spokane. There are amazing mountains and lakes along the route. The passes will have snow, but will all be clear in May. Hwy 12 is scenic but the 75 in between Sun Valley and Stanley is even better.

We get our trailer in April!
Glenn: I live in the McCall area and agree with the comments re the mountain scenery here and in the Stanley area. And if you were to exit Yellowstone to the south you would travel through the dramatic Teton NP area. The downside is that this route is not at all direct and it will probably add considerable time and mileage to your trip. Snow is generally not a closure issue in May, but significant storms do occur and most higher campgrounds are closed until Memorial Day. If you're circling back later with trailer in tow, Glacier NP is my absolute favorite for mountain scenery and southern Utah is other-worldly. PS for Chris and Jessica: glad to see you're Escaping and I hope seeing ours helped the process....Glenn.
soultrek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2013, 07:02 AM   #15
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by soultrek View Post
Glenn: I live in the McCall area and agree with the comments re the mountain scenery here and in the Stanley area. And if you were to exit Yellowstone to the south you would travel through the dramatic Teton NP area. The downside is that this route is not at all direct and it will probably add considerable time and mileage to your trip. Snow is generally not a closure issue in May, but significant storms do occur and most higher campgrounds are closed until Memorial Day. If you're circling back later with trailer in tow, Glacier NP is my absolute favorite for mountain scenery and southern Utah is other-worldly. PS for Chris and Jessica: glad to see you're Escaping and I hope seeing ours helped the process....Glenn.
Glenn,

Thanks for the additional thoughts. We're thinking of expanding the duration of the trip out, so the Grand Tetons may be a doable detour. As for the trip back, we're tentatively considering going down the coast (but will be detouring east for Yosemite, Sequoia, and other inland destinations) at least as far as Carmel/Monterey, then turning east to take in the Grand Canyon and southern Utah. We'll see how hot the weather is in June but I expect turn north no later than Albuquerque. It'll be a challenge to route the western part of the trip back so as to reduce having to double-back. With that itinerary in mind it may be difficult to do Glacier on the way back. Will have to cogitate. Thanks again.

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2013, 09:36 AM   #16
Senior Member
 
Vermilye's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Oswego, New York
Trailer: 2017 Escape 21C, 2018 Ford F150
Posts: 5,363
While there are so many wonderful places to see, if you are taking the time to see Yellowstone, heading south to see the Tetons is well worth the effort.
Attached Thumbnails
ASD_3077.jpg   ASD_3244.jpg  
__________________
Jon Vermilye My Travel Blog
Travel and Photo Web Page ... My Collection of RV Blogs 2018 F150 3.5EB, 2017 21
Vermilye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2013, 11:33 AM   #17
Senior Member
 
amirie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Trailer: 2008 17B Escape
Posts: 766
Okay---more trips in the future--we'll do Beartooth highway and the Grand Tetons next time we are in that area!!!

Nice views and pictures you guys are posting....

How many months until retirement?? LOL
__________________
Anna-Marie
amirie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2013, 01:09 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vermilye View Post
While there are so many wonderful places to see, if you are taking the time to see Yellowstone, heading south to see the Tetons is well worth the effort.
Thanks Jon. Nice images.

Glenn
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-02-2013, 01:11 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
abby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Northern, Maryland
Trailer: 2014 E21
Posts: 273
Quote:
Originally Posted by amirie View Post

How many months until retirement?? LOL
7. The 19 will be ready in 7 months, 7 days. Coincidence? I think not.
__________________
Vella, Glenn, and Abigail
Escape 21
abby is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Escape Trailer Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2023 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.