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Old 05-31-2009, 08:43 AM   #1
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Well we took our first major, major trip by treking 900 miles to Yellowstone for 2 weeks. We did 3 nites in Jackson, West Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge RV - inside the park, and Gardiner. This type of trip was perfect for the trailer, as we could dump it off for a few days and use it as a base camp. Yellowstone in May is very pretty, but you have to contend with snow (at Fishing Bridge we were wedged between 2 melting snow banks) and road/trail closures, but other than Memorial weekend, the park was very lightly attended. We did Wal-mart camping on the trip out, and found a parking place to allow the dining and bedroom slides to come out, which made it very comfortable.



The Kingston did fine, we had a few items fall from the large rear cabinets on some rough roads (many of the roads were suffering from water damage or the start of construction projects) - We used a rubber band to keep the doors closed after that. Being early season we used the furnace and our addedelectric heater quite a bit(we have the fireplace but found the heater portion is too small to do much good). The propane usage of the trailer still impresses me, we filled up one of our tanks about halfway through (which was still on its original loading back in August). We also had a strange problem with one of the Fantastic fan thermos, which had vibrated itself off the set screw.



We should have listened to the RV net posts about replacing the cheap plastic access door holders with metal ones, as the basement door holder to the connection panel broke early on, and there are no RV shops around. We also had the door frame for the generator panel (front of trailer) start to pop out, and one of the basement doors sticking.



We had quite a few people with trailer envy of our rear electric jacks, they really paid for themselves in making it easy to move every few days. My biggest complaint on setup/takedown is that our sewer connection is too low on the frame, we had several parks that raise their sewer access about 6 inches off the ground and that is about how high our sewer access is. I noticed most others (including a couple of cruisers we saw, have a much higher access point).



After two weeks, I can say that I was not really looking forward to getting home and getting out of the trailer, it is such a comfortable trailer. The only compromise we made was avoiding the regular Yellowstone campgrounds, since they have such limited space for a 32' 5th with a large pickup. But in return, we got full hookups every night.



Gas milage for me was interesting, towing around Yellowstone I got about 12mpg (45mph), smaller highways about 10-11, and down to 8.5 mpg through Nevada where wedid 72mph which seemed to be asfast as the rig felt comfortable doing without much vibration (Diesels hate to go 72mph, but we hated to spend any more time than necessary to get through Nevada). The Nevada speed limit is 75. The biggest problem with my rig, is that you tend to forget you have a 11k lb trailer behind you!



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Old 05-31-2009, 09:58 AM   #2
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Sounds like you had a great time. We loved Yellowstone over Labor Day. Glad it all worked well.
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Old 05-31-2009, 09:58 AM   #3
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Nice report. Sounds like minor issues and a great time!
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Old 05-31-2009, 12:41 PM   #4
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Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. We have done Yellowstone numerous times. Never this early tho. The best time there was after Labor Day for us.

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Old 06-01-2009, 12:58 PM   #5
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What's Yellowstone like in early July ?

Anybody been there that time of year ?
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Old 06-02-2009, 11:49 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClassicHammond
What's Yellowstone like in early July ?

Anybody been there that time of year ?
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Old 06-03-2009, 12:25 AM   #7
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We are heading to Yellowstone last week in June and first week of July,was wondering if the park is pet friendly ?
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Old 06-03-2009, 02:55 AM   #8
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We were in the park the second week of July of 2007 and the park was not crowded. It had been dry for several months prior to that time and the gysers and pools were not as pretty as they were when we were there previously. However, it is a great place to seeunder any condition.



With fuel prices being lessthan they were in 2007 there may be more people deciding to explore the park this year.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:16 PM   #9
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What are the temps like in July?
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Old 06-03-2009, 02:45 PM   #10
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Me and Susan will be at Yellowstone June 21 thru 28. Parked at the west side, at a place called Lionshead resort. In the neighborhood, give us a shout.
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Old 06-03-2009, 03:03 PM   #11
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We will be at Livingston MT KOA camping with day-trips into Yellowstone on June 23, 24, &25.

National Enduro in Upton WY on June 21 and in Cascade MT on June 28 - both my children and my older brother are competing this year.

Then to Marquette MI on Aug 08 for next National Enduro.
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Old 06-04-2009, 08:05 AM   #12
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national parks are very pet unfriendly. they are allowed in campgrounds and only 100 ft off the road. Fortunately, early in the year means very few rangers out patrolling.

what surprised me is that at the gate, the ranger gave our dog a biscuit.


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Old 06-08-2009, 01:24 AM   #13
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Ronkat, we are going to be in West Yellowstone, at RV Grizzley park on July 7 to 13. We are pulling a CT31RL trailer with a Chevy Truck. We are Leaving Kansas City on June 16 and going to SFO via highway I-40 then to Salt Lake to Yellowstone. Anyone headed our way at this time. Robbie
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Old 06-08-2009, 05:11 AM   #14
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Robbie we are going to just miss you,be there July 1 -6. Staying in Hebglen lake area.Ron
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Old 06-09-2009, 02:29 AM   #15
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Will you be at Red Rocks RV Park by any chance? Stayed there last year and am dying to go back. Their motto "Ssh...It's quiet out here" sure was true.
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Old 06-09-2009, 07:57 AM   #16
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No, wer'e staying at Yellowstone Holiday RV Park on the lake, friends of our stayed there and said it was so peaceful being that it is a ways from thepark and not so much hustle and bustle.Ron.
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Old 07-24-2009, 12:20 PM   #17
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I have to ask, how was you guys trip to Yellowstone? If it was half as good as ours, that would mean you had a fantastic time. The trip up there was a BLAST! We had a caravan of eight campers, all of us had CB radios, and was it ever fun, with zero problems with any of the rigs or trucks. The trip home was by ourselves, as everyone else split up and went various directions, but still had no problems. This was me and Susan's first trip to Yellowstone, and I have to say, I have never seen such a beautiful place. Very hard to leave and come back to the ole grind.
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Old 07-24-2009, 02:01 PM   #18
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Glad to hear you had a good time Mark. How were the crowds? We're heading to Yellowstone for 3 days on Aug 14th, then off to Rushmore to meet up with the inlaws for 4 days. I just made reservations at Bridge Bay CG in Yellowstone today Man I can't wait to get there.
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Old 07-24-2009, 02:09 PM   #19
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Arlyn, we were there from June 21 thru 28, and the crowds were not bad at all at that time. We stayed at a place called Lionshead Resort, about 5 miles outside the west entrance. Man are you in for a treat!!! That is some place! The first day we were there, the high temp was 49 degrees! When we left Wichita, it was 105, talk about a drastic temp change. You will love your visit there. You have a great time!!
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Old 07-26-2009, 10:39 AM   #20
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We wer'e down there July 1-July 6,weather was fantastic.Crowds wer'e not to bad ,but there was the odd time wer'e the waits could be fairly long but hey wer'e on holidays.Our campsite at Hebgen Lake ,allbiet 12 miles out of West Yellowstone was a good choice for us away from the crowds.We met a lot of new people from Maine to Calif. and everywhere in between.You have a fantastic country and people down there never take it for granted.Ron.
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