Planning a 4 month long road trip with kids

[Henny Jenny]

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!

[Nodust]

Sounds like a adventure. Be careful and enjoy

[GIHanger]

4 months with 4 kids! I have no advice for you... but I will pray.

[Nighthauk]

That sounds awesome. I wish I could something like that with my boys.

[nimbus37]

I would recommend going through Michigan when you leave Chicago and head to Itasca state park. The trip through the lower peninsula and then through the upper peninsula will be well worth it.

[Henny Jenny]

GIHanger: LOL we homeschool, so I am pretty used to being with the kids for long periods of time.

Back in July we went on a 10 day camping road trip to the Lost Coast. We had such a good time, we didn't want to come home. If we hadn't already had swim lessons scheduled, we would have extended our trip.

We tent and cowboy camped on that trip. Once I got home, I started the research for this new trip. I new I wanted something easier to set up than the big behemoth tent but more secure than just open air camping. I also wanted something as comfortable as my cot without having to actually lug a cot. Low and behold! The perfect option does exist! Hammocks! I just wish we had found out about them before the last trip.

[nothermark]

As you get east of the Mississippi dispersed car camping gets tougher so you will probably be doing more campgrounds. I'd plan on doing one roughly every 3 rd day anyway just for the shower and facilities. Passport America can be your friend there.

You might also try to figure out a reasonable way to hang without trees as you will encounter places where it is forbidden or just not available. There is are several threads about different ways to do it here.

I'd also pack a dining fly type tarp with a center pole and a way to anchor it off the roof so you can pitch it across the car overhanging the tailgate and put the kitchen in the back at the tail gate so you can open up and cook and/or pack up in the rain. I used to use one that had a piece of closet rod lashed to one side then roll the tarp around the rod. Tie the bundle to the roof rack for travel. The point is a gathering point and to be able to load up with the sky falling. If you do an equivalent of the turtle stand ideas with a beam to hang off of the beams can also be part of the bundle with the tarp.

Avoid some aggravation and get some tree straps made out of 2 in webbing. I think the Hennessy tree huggers fit the bill. You might also want to go to 1 in straps off the huggers connected to buckles or descender rings just off the hammock body. I would emphatically not fall into the whoopee sling trap with the kids. OTOH if you make stands right you can just clip the rings to the stands and you are done.

Keep up a running dialog and you will find a lot of folks with ideas. Use what makes sense to you. You will also find folks who will help with local area knowledge and maybe in other ways as you move through their area. That indicates you probably want internet access like a laptop, tablet, or phone in that order. I use a laptop with Delorme software so I can sit down and plot routes and travel times. There are other options but google maps is not always available. ;-) That will be quite a trip. Slow down and enjoy what you are going through. You will be going through a lot of places where you could spend a week and not see it all.

[GIHanger]

My wife and I are teachers and we leave home in late may and take our 2 boys across the country all summer. We usually go from Riverside to Wisconsin, making our first stop in St George UT, do Zion and Bryce and some dry camping in the mountains up there. Then we go to Colorado, Wyoming, the Black Hills, ect.

The main thing for us is to take our time. We have a trailer we pull and stop for lunch and dinner, I can count on one hand how many times we get fast food or go to a restaurant. That saves us major cash and keeps the calories in check.

I can also count on one hand how many times we pay to camp. Get yourself some books on places to dry camp (army corps of engineers, boon-docking, dry camping type books). There are also forums on the subject as well. They can literally save you a couple thousand dollars.

Gear wise...I dont know what expereince level is or what you already have, or what your philosophy on preparedness is, but always carry a 5 C's type pack. My day hike kit has a silnylon tarp, a space tarp, water filter, multiple ways of making fire, a stainless steel water battle (in case I need to boil water), whistle, poncho liner, fixed blade knife, cordage, snacks, a couple MRE entrees, cat can stove, headlamp, compass, ect. It's not as bad or as heavy as it seems. I probably will never use much of any of it, but if I do... I'll have it. Just food for thought.

[Outdoorsman]

Wow! I think that all of us are impressed with your ambitious plan. Based upon your experience and evident confidence I am sure that it will be a great and memorable trip for all.

Here are just a couple of suggestions;

1.) I know that you can get by with less "stuff" than most families could but I would think that your vehicle might be cramped. A car top carrier can alleviate much of the "stuff" inside and maybe make travelling more enjoyable. A cargo carrier that slides into a receiver hitch will also do the same.

2.) I have owned a commercially made porta-potty and think it was a waste of money. A 5 gallon bucket works better for a number of reasons IMO. A bucket is taller thus more comfortable. It has more volume also. You can get one with a sealable lid and there are toilet seats that fit these buckets. They also make disposable bags for them so that you don't have to clean the bucket itself.

3.) If your vehicle has a roof rack it may serve as attachment points for one or more hammocks. This may be more gear than you want to bring but personally I would probably construct turtledog stands and probably a box or something to put them in on the roof rack. This would keep your family closer together and probably allow you to hammock in some places that don't have suitable trees.

I wish that we could have done something like you are going to do but I still am pleased with the outdoor experiences that my 2 boys had and am so glad that they will backpack, fish, hunt, bike, kayak, etc. when they are on their own (one is another is still a HS sophomore).

I hope that you post trip reports or at least a post trip report here.

[Henny Jenny]

Nothermark: that is some great advice. I hadn't considered a dining fly before, but I will definitely be looking into constructing something that will work with the truck. I like the turtle stand idea, but I would need it to compact down small. Unfortunately with the number of kids, cargo space is limited. I plan to use a bumper mounted basket to gain some extra space, but it still won't be enough to store the materials for six 6ft poles. I did see a YouTube video of a guy who hung a hammock using his 4runner at one end and a wooden dowel with steel cable guy lines for the other. As soon as I get a chance, I will pick up the materials to make one.