The open highway yawned ahead of us for as far as the eye could see without a
car, person or even cow to break up the view of farmland and brush. By the
third hour, it wasn't the only thing yawning.
Driving across Wyoming in a 25 foot long camper van, the five of us had
revelled in the sheer size and majesty of the landscape and the fact that
such long, open roads were so easy to navigate.
But having come from the splendour of Denver's Rocky Mountains on our way to
the truly breathtaking Yellowstone Park, there is an awful lot of flat
scenery in between.
We had flown to Denver to pick up our RV – Recreational Vehicle - which looked
enormous, considering we don't usually drive around in anything bigger than
a Renault Megane.
But 10 days of campsites soon made us realise we were driving a Mini compared
to the 45 foot monsters the Americans favour for their holidays and, in many
cases, where they live full time.
Think of a Greyhound coach converted into a motorhome but with added "slideouts"
where the sides of the vehicle extend to create four separate bedrooms. Then
imagine the coach towing a 4x4 everywhere it goes and you can see why we
started to get an inferiority complex.
We drove from Denver to the nearby Rocky Mountains and then a long, 450 mile
drive to Yellowstone Park, through to the neighbouring - and even more
spectacular - Grand Teton National Park and then back to Denver.
The scenery is breathtaking - literally so in some cases where the elevation
goes up to two miles high and the air gets thin.
But it is worth the extra wheezing. Views are superb, there hundreds of
geysers including Old Faithful and the opportunity to see wildlife is a
nature lover's dream.
We saw ospreys nesting with young, bald eagles and red tailed hawks, bison,
moose, elk and deer and even wolves which were only reintroduced to
Yellowstone a decade or so ago.
And best of all we saw bears – well sort of. My son got a glimpse of a grizzly
and my wife and daughters saw a black bear swimming ahead of them as they
canoed on Lake Jackson. Yours truly missed out.
Driving an RV seems daunting but with the open roads easy to navigate. Most
campsites come with “full hook ups” which means you plug in electricity,
water and sewage but as most had on-site showers and rest rooms, we tended
to use those.
My wife and I did almost exactly the same trip as the one described above, but with a car and a tent instead of an RV. We spent 3 of the 8 nights in motels and 5 camping. The trip was incredible, and camping was a cost effective way of doing it. Bear in mind the cold nights in the mountains, though!
Ben, San Jose, CA, USA
We have just done almost exactly the same trip as Mark and his family, only in a convertible, staying mainly in lodges in the National Parks. Met loads of very friendly people, lots of them retired and doing the RV thing full time. One couple in particular asked us for advice re Rving in Europe so we would really like to see an article on this subject too,
Barbara Thatcher, Bristol,
Congrats on finding a method of travel that's often under-rated. But a mere 1500 miles in 11 days in a place the size of the US - must be all the empty space. We typically manage 2500+ in two weeks and frequently top the 3000 mark.
To give balance, you should get an article written up on using an RV in Europe - far different from the UK's paltry services. In most of France and Germany and a lot of Italy campsites aren't even needed since all the facilities are available right in the town and village centres.
And for the green brigade, once you add in the car hire, flight and hotel/resturant, a ferry crossing and taking a decent RV is not much different in carbon footprint per mile. The sense of freedom is fantastic.
KR, Stockport,