Simple Tips To Survive Epic Adventures

My husband, myself, and our daughter

The three of us recently returned from an absolutely epic adventure. This trip was a bucket list item and a great way to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary.  My hubby, 13 year old daughter and myself would be driving to Yellowstone National Park, a mere 1300 miles +/- from our MO home and spend two weeks traveling from one beautiful place to another.

 Having purchased a new Subaru Outback in March we couldn't think of a better way to break it in. We also invested in the Sandpiper style ROOFNEST, a great investment in what we do. Check out their website, they have several different models. Jim and I would sleep on top of the car and our teen would sleep in the Subaru (She would be sleeping like a princess... on a puffy air mattress, two pillows, and several fleece blankets).  We purchased a portable dehumidifier pack to keep condensation off the windows and slipped an air freshener under the seat to try to preserve the new car smell.

First time upstairs

Trial run the week before

Every day we were on the road, 14 total, we learned something new about traveling efficiently, we learned some things the hard way...from our mistakes.  In no special order....except this one...


IF YOU SEE A SOUVENIR/STICKER/SHIRT THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE BUY IT IMMEDIATELY.  YOU MAY NOT SEE IT AGAIN.  (lesson learned as we chased a sticker for hundreds of miles to never be found. Grr)


1.  Travel with your own coffee cups, water cups, and straws.  This will cut down on trash in your vehicle and keep your drinks accessible at all times. We carried 4 gallon jugs of water and refilled often. No meals were eaten while in the car.  There are plenty of pull offs with scenic views to stop and grab a bite.

Snacks with a mountain view 

2.  Pack a variety of easy to prepare foods and snacks. I planned enough food for 6 days knowing we would be resupplying during our trip. Each family member had their own Camelbak including a water bladder and was responsible for filling it each day. Food inside Yellowstone Park is very limited and  quite expensive. Some campgrounds had small stores that were open 8am-8pm. Plan your meals wisely so that nothing spoils. And don't bring milk, buy it on the way, ours exploded after we left CO.  You can cook a few meals beforehand that are easy to heat up by campfire. Reynolds Wrap heavy duty aluminum foil works best for reheating food. For breakfast we ate oatmeal out of freezer bags, worked great! There were no dishes to clean up, quick and easy and we were on our way.

Put all food in the bear box

3.  When you are out in the middle of nowhere it is a good idea to top off your gas often.  You will notice very few gas stations are available and they are not open 24/7.  Within the park we drove 100-200 miles daily. Gas stations are a great place to grab snacks, get fresh water and ice, and freshen up. Most mornings we made coffee with our Jetboil and a reusable pour over coffeemaker, similar to this one. Coffee was ready in less than 3 minutes. The best coffee was being served at Sinclair stations, the finest coffee ever was found in Mammoth Springs. Coffee is $3.50 per cup but, only $1.75 refill.

My barista. Perfect coffee every morning.

4.  Bug spray!  We did have some "buggy" situations. Pack more bug spray than you think you will need.  Investing in a few Cutter Backyard Outdoor Bug Control Foggers is recommended.  One particular spot the mosquitos just showed up, all of a sudden, like a bus dropped them off. We had to organize the car and leave in a hurry as the mosquitos were hangry.  Jim sprayed the fogger and we quickly loaded the car before it filled with insects.

5.  Bring your fitness, lungs (altitude changes), sunscreen and body lotion.  We are very fortunate that we are able-bodied and healthy.  Most people would not have enjoyed our pace nor could they have covered 8-12 miles on foot, especially at altitude. Wear sturdy shoes, especially for hiking. We also brought our Fitkicks, awesome minimalist shoes.  Sunscreen is a must, the sun is super bright and will dry your skin out.  Reapply often.

Blue skies, bright sun.

6. Having a daily plan is highly recommended. Throwing that plan out the window at any time is optional. Use your time wisely, don't wing it. Try not to over schedule your day, it will catch up with you or others in your group. Be prepared to add extra time for situations beyond your control, such as sitting in traffic waiting for a bear jam to clear or waiting for a bison to finish his morning walk. The earlier you start your day the better and will help you stay ahead of the traffic as you see the sights.  Early to rise may present the opportunity to see animals waking up and moving about. One early rise on our way to watch the wolves in Lamar Valley we saw a porcupine and a silver fox. Wow. The speed limit is 45mph in most areas and 35mph at night.  Bison and elk cross the road when they feel like it, drive with caution.

Bison on the road!

7. Internet service is very hit and miss, Hoorray!  That said check in with family or FB when you can to let them know you are still alive and well.  It was the best experience being phone/tv/computer free. No noise. Being free from interruptions we were able to focus on each other and have fun. Not having internet was a huge gift and allowed us to connect with each other on another level.  Having peace and quiet, beautiful views, and time with my favorite peeps was absolutely priceless. Very grateful for the experience and clarity I gained. Worth mentioning, I thought I knew everything about my husband. Nope.  It's funny the things you talk about when you have to stay awake and drive nearly 800 miles.

8.  Take the Sticker Tour if you are able to.  These tourism stops along the way have tons of literature and real live folks ready to share information and answer questions. The stickers are awesome!  We met a fella in Cody WY who gave us great tips on watching wildlife, which scenic byways/hi-ways to take and the exact spot to stand and watch Old Faithful erupt.  His information was gold. As soon as Old Faithful blows take your family to the Cafeteria, there is a variety of food/ice cream to choose from.

Photo taken from website

9.  Pack your car wisely.  We each had a bag of clothes and a backpack of essentials, which meant six bags of various sizes. ( Next time we will use clear sturdy totes with latches, all same size.) We had a kitchen box, two additional food boxes,  which were all same size and stack-able.(very helpful except for the fact they were the same color and had to be opened to see the contents, very frustrating. For future trips there will be a short list taped to each box) Two additional tote bags held charcoal, a grill, more food, an electronics bag, bedding and three pillows. We used one cooler for drinks and a larger cooler for food. (Highly recommend using separate coolers)  Add in a small table, small cooking stove and three Camelbaks. Whew.  (Another clear tote will be purchased to keep misc. items together) Our Outback was filled to the brim and then some, our lawn chairs and outdoor floor mats were strapped on top. Every box/bag had to be put in a certain way or the hatch would not close. Then it was similar to playing Jenga to get to the bag we needed. Packing and unpacking the car had to be learned by doing it, over and over.  By Day 4 we were pros and packed the car perfectly without any issues.


10.  To hold ice for the food cooler I used two large rubbermaid storage containers. Added water, replaced lids and froze them solid before leaving. These two containers were placed on the bottom, food placed on top. Extra ice in freezer bags was used in-between layers of food. Worked perfectly!  We did not experience a leaky cooler or soggy food.

Crazy Creek overnight

11. Check the weather often. Mother Nature can surprise you and change the weather at any time.   The very first day of our trip we were supposed to sleep overnight in Kansas. The Weather Channel said it was going to hit 103 degrees and it did.  There was no way we are starting out like that so we made Trip adjustment #1: Will drive 12+hours to CO.  Stay in a sweet hotel.  (Which turned out to be a great change to make as it put us one day ahead on driving)

Surprise torrential downpour. 

Seriously?

12.  Bring extra charging cords and batteries.  Make sure all batteries work and are charged before you leave.  On our trip we found out that two of our backup batteries were junk, luckily we had three others to choose from.

13. Six days passed before we enjoyed our first shower. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. We found out that not all campgrounds have showers. Do some research ahead of time if daily showers are important to you.  One campground had figured two showers per day into their price, they handed out a shower voucher ticket, don't lose it. You are able to purchase additional showers if needed. What to do in-between showers?  Carry a package of baby wipes and a bottle of Doc Bronners.  The laundry mat also had a freezer full of ice cream, bring detergent and quarters. Laundry cost $9 in three machines and two dryers, not bad at all. (We all packed too much clothing. Next time would pack about half of what we did and plan laundry stops)

I miss sleeping in the middle of nowhere

14. Purchase at least one outdoor floor mat, the plastic kind that roll up.  We had one 3'x5' (should have had two) and one smaller size.  These mats helped keep a lot of dirt out of our car and beds and were great to throw down when we had to organize the car.

15. Want to camp for FREE and off the grid?  Try this website/app... https://freecampsites.net/?fbclid=IwAR3-vHhq_F9fmmeXVVzPTtJwKHjl-la3-F0ZnrYi_M1mHUxOOS-rgruA5bk#!(-1.23037,+-140.44922).  These free sites are first come first served and most have good information on where they are located, if they have a firepit, scenic views, or blood thirsty mosquitos.


I hope these tips are helpful.  If you have any questions please reach out.  You can reach me by email at sheridebikes321@gmail or send me a FB message.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned. Trip itinerary in the works.


Wendy