6-8 week road trip....

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

So, the new lady friend and I are doing a long ass road trip before most likely settling in Bozeman for a bit. Leaving 3rd week of August (we already know we are going to miss the eclipse.....oh well).

NJ > Asheville, NC > Colorado (want to be there by Labor Day weekend since I already have Phish tickets.....if time allows we want to see some cool southern stuff on the way. Been through OH/MO/KS more times than anyone ever should) > NM to visit her dad who lives literally off the grid near Taos > AZ/UT (I drove from CO to UT tons of times and never ever went to Moab or any of the parks near there.....crazy I know.....been to Zion though) > OR/WA > MT

We are either going to hate each other or get married by the end of it lol. I will have my mountain bike. I may buy her a bike too, but she is a total noob so super mellow flow suggestions are welcome.

Good yoga studios? She is a yoga teacher and we want to do some more market research so to speak. She got me into that shit too. It's awesome.

Places to camp? Amazing local health food stores and restaurants?


Also, anyone ever use any of this kind of stuff on an Audi Wagon?

http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Awning-2...101-P3653.aspx

https://cascadiatents.com/product-category/awnings/

If the 4x4 versions weren't so fucking expensive I may consider ditching the Audi for a sprinter van. I will need my AWD by winter in MT though.

[stompinlines]

Who wears the yoga pants in the relationship

[Mazderati]

So, the new lady friend and I are doing a long ass road trip before most likely settling in Bozeman for a bit. Leaving 3rd week of August (we already know we are going to miss the eclipse.....oh well).

...

Good yoga studios? She is a yoga teacher and we want to do some more market research so to speak. She got me into that shit too. It's awesome.

Places to camp? Amazing local health food stores and restaurants?

Post 73 should get you started.

[TAFKALVS]

My town has multiple yoga studios, a small plate vegan restaurant and health food store filled with smug employees. You'll love it!

But for real, you should fly to Washington, buy a truck and then buy my Camper.

[Harry]

Good yoga studios? She is a yoga teacher and we want to do some more market research so to speak.

Well... There are already 58 million yoga studios in Bozeman...

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Other than not being rich, smug, or vegan I think we will do OK. Bozeman may not be the place for us long term. Have some friends and possible business there so it may just be temporary. The road trip is definitely all about seeing what else is out there.

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[hatchgreenchile]

Denver -> Taos, stop at Great Sand Dunes. Cool spot, very out of place, Sangre de Cristos are a very in your face range with big vertical. Great hiking up there and most people just concentrate at the NP visitor center.

[mall walker]

Moab rules. There is BLM land (free wilderness camping) all around, also you can take either 128 east or 279 west (roads that follow the Colorado river) from just north of town, dozens of gorgeous campsites along each. Apparently Moab is like MTB mecca too. Great hiking (Hidden Valley and Corona Arch, if you don't want to pay to get into the parks, are 2 killer free hikes within 20 mins of town), good food, the parks nearby are awesome. Lot of killer climbing if you do any of that. The La Sals will have good hiking too this time of year, roads are good up to almost 10k' even in the winter, should be bone dry by now.

If you end up tooling around in southern UT, heading either toward forest service camping in the Escalante area (Posey Lake CG for example) or up toward Goblin Valley are great options. There's a slot canyon hike on BLM land outside Goblin Valley called Little Wild Horse Canyon that is non-technical and super rad, if you haven't ever done a slot anyway. Joe's Valley has awesome bouldering too.

If you head north from UT toward OR there ain't much but the Flaming Gorge area is worth spending a day camping at if you have the time. Antelope Flats CG or Canyon Rim CG, with Lucerne being an easy fallback.

YMMV, we don't do any MTB so take my shit with a grain of salt.

[plugboots]

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail...lid=HGS400-071
http://www.yourhikeguide.com/categor...onal-monument/
And my fave:
http://utahadvjournal.com/index.php/...l-valley-gorge

That's just one tiny area. Use one of Buster's route's below. Have you eaten at Cucina 24 in Asheville? Get the tasting menu to start the trip out right.

[Buster Highmen]

From Taos, I'd take 64 up through Chama (watch for cops around town). I think it's prettier than the more direct 285. Once in Pagosa Springs, I'd check out Wolf Creek pass too.

From Durango, both 550 and 145 are really beautiful, but in different ways.

Both Telluride (for gondy biking) and Ouray (for hot springs) are musts.

If you have time to slice E. of Montrose, stop in Crested Butte, it's pretty.

Going further up 50, there's few access points into Escalante which is really worth seeing.

Also, as mentioned, taking 128 from Cisco down to Moab is another must see. Moab is full of health food stores and rainbow bookshops.

From Moab, cut up 191 through Wellington (watch for cops there too), up over Soldier Summit.

I'm a big advocate of Ogden as a cool place. The Common Ground coffeeshops have excellent coffee and usually good breakfast/lunch options.
Going N. through Idaho, there's a couple of worthy places like the City of Rocks and spots along the Snake, historic and scenic.

In Oregon, don't miss the Wallowas and Baker City areas (Phillips Reservoir, Sumpter).

If you take 82, consider cutting off 82 @ Yakima, follow 12, then 410 over Chinook Pass. There's a ton of great camping along the rivers and good mtb. Rainier is right there once West of Chinook and Sunrise is a great view.

[SkiCougar]

You guys are covering so much that it's hard to give something specific, but two places I would go to in Asheville are the old Edwards inn and visiting the wine bar or hummingbird lounge and see if you can grab a couple of drinks and sit out in front of the lodge cottages - http://www.oldedwardsinn.com/. I would also recommend spending a day in nearby highlands and also eating at the grove park inn restaurant - https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-parkand its famous view and would also recommend the Switzerland inn - https://switzerlandinn.com/.

heading out west, there is too much but if you coming thru Breckenridge the 2nd weekend of sept, i'll buy you a beer at their highly recommended Octoberfest; this will be my 3rd year going despite living 1,000 miles away.

[evdog]

...if you don't get her a bike you'd have a lil me time

and a shuttle driver...

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Thanks for the great info so far. Having lived in Summit/Eagle Counties CO for a while we will probably just breeze right though if we even pass that way at all. Oh, and we both don't drink at all, so not planning on hitting any breweries, etc.

Great Sand Dunes for sure. My favorite place.

Looking forward to seeing CB/Telluride/etc in summer. Have only ever been there in winter before.

and a shuttle driver...

You guys are smart. Plus, shuttling up and only riding the downhill = less time actually on the trail. Thats a win - win for not spending too much time away from the girlfriend.

[Timberridge]

Don't forget to stop at the house of mud.

[muted]

Yeah, get her to shuttle the 401 trail in CB.

[doebedoe]

Buffalo Creek is great flow stuff on your way out of Denver for her. Have her shuttle you on the Monarch Creste while she checks out Salida.

Camping is easy most anywhere out west. Just get on https://apps.fs.usda.gov/TravelAccess/ and find a spot in NF / BLM.

Get a national parks pass and hit them at off times.

Take her to some hot springs. Which ones depends on your route.

ARB awnings are nice. Mounting them will take a little creativity depending on your roof setup. Or you can get the walmart special that costs $22 and takes 4-5 minutes to setup/stake. It doesn't look quite as nice though. Good part is you can adjust fit to what you need tarp-wise and its easy to rig up away from your car if you need to around camp.



If you got the dough, one of these would be nice and sleek on your wagon for quick, easy, camp setups: https://roofnest.com/

[Viva]

Oh, and we both don't drink at all, so not planning on hitting any breweries,

Maybe you ought to post your call for travel suggestions on Epic Ski instead.

[MakersTeleMark]

Great Sand Dunes for sure. My favorite place.

Joyful journey hot springs.

[babybear]

Joyful journey hot springs.

just don't get any of the water in your mouth or nose
people say we take risks skiing/ recreating in avalanche/mountain lion country etc but hot springs are where I draw the line

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Maybe you ought to post your call for travel suggestions on Epic Ski instead.

Lol. Many maggots can vouch for me having done my fair share of drinking in years past. Enough to earn lifetime drunkard status.

Joyful journey hot springs.

Word. Thanks. Always open to hot spring suggestions. The more rustic the better.

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[Danno]

As your ideas take shape I may have more suggestions, but 2 good generic road trip suggestions are: 1, the app iexit, if you're on interstates, so you can peruse what is at the upcoming exits as far as food and gas (and if you pay a couple of bucks, it will link to gasbuddy and tell you the price of gas too). And 2, roadtrippers.com can help tell you what sights and restaurants and hotels and campsites are along a route that you set.

[MakersTeleMark]

For general purposes, this one is good too:

https://freecampsites.net/

[goldengatestinx]

Get a National Parks pass. Haven't bought one recently but it was $80 a couple years ago. Pays for itself in a few uses and definitely makes you want to stop some cool places.

[HansJob]

^^^still 80 bucks.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ahh yes. Free camping and NP pass is gold Jerry, gold. Thanks.

Can someone talk me out of trading in my Audi wagon for a sprinter van?

Only downside I can see is not having 4WD come winter.

Anyone have a sprinter van camper and want to trade for a 2012 Audi A4 avant S-line until November and then trade back?