Like the title says, I am planning a 4 month long road trip around the US with 4 of my kids. The plan is to leave at the beginning of August 2014 and travel Route 66 from Hesperia, CA to Chicago. Then shoot up to the start of the Great River Road and follow that to New Orleans. We then plan to head across the southern states down into Florida to the Atlantic coast and take that up to Maine. We want to follow the fall color down the Appalachian Trail to Georgia. After that we just plan to meander back through the southern states to our home in Southern California. My husband will meet up with us with our 2 other kids as his vacation time and their racing schedules will allow. If all goes well we will do another 4 month trip in the spring.
We will be taking my 1986 4Runner that has been modified for heavy off road use, although we don't plan to run any extreme trails. I just want to be sure we can comfortably access the dispersed campsites on BLM lands.
As far as gear goes, I'm getting us hennessy hammocks, some decent sleeping bags, CCF pads, and backpacks. For the most part we will be car camping, but I would like to have the option to hike out if we want to do some exploring for a day or two. I will throw our cheap Walmart tent in the truck, just in case we get to a spot where we absolutely cannot set up hammocks. Other items I am thinking about bringing are a portable potty and shower (with 4 young kids, this is kind of a necessity), camp stove/grill, chairs and maybe a bucket and clothesline to wash clothes with so we don't have to stop at the laundromat so much. I'm trying to keep it simple and light. By nature we are a no frills family so I have no doubt the kiddos will do well with a minimalist approach to camping.
I have already started acquiring some of our gear. I purchased a HH Exped Asym zip a few weeks ago. It has already been used 7 times (6 of those overnight) by either me or the kids. I think we have officially left our ground dwelling days behind us. The kids will be getting HH Scouts for Christmas. This spring we will test extensively in the San Bernardino Mtns.
We are all pretty excited about this trip. I look forward to hearing any advice you can give us about gear set up, tips for hammocking with kids, good places to hang, etc. Thanks for having us here!
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