marvelousmouse

Finally have hammered out a rough itinerary, and I'm fairly sure about lodging everywhere except Ouray which is over July 4- I have a feeling I'll be taking whatever I can get there.

So I'd like to know if you see any glaring problems in terms of roads or drive times. I can drive maybe 7 hours on freeway, but due to ankle problems, that's more like 4 hours on twisty roads and in the mountains. I've google mapped everything but I'm aware that's not always accurate. Also, if there are any places I've really shortchanged, please let me know. My companion and I are somewhat limited by time frame and also by the fact that I want to go to Santa Fe Opera, so need to be there July 8th. And Vegas in midweek because I don't want to camp there but weekends hotels are pricy.

Would love to hear about what you consider can't misses in each area. Also food recs are always welcome! Especially local specialties or cheap options. I have never been to the southwest of Colorado before so everything is new


Leave twin falls, camp south of SLC, June 30
Rifle gap state park July 1, 2
3/4 Ouray
5, 6, Durango (Mesa verde first day, train next day)
7, 8, 9 Santa Fe (should we go to Taos?)
10, 11, GC
12 13 Las Vegas (Hoover dam on the 11th)
14, 15, 16 mammoth lakes (appears to be a good stopping point between Manzanar and bodie, but open to other ideas)
17 winnemucca
21 twin falls


Thanks!

tomfuller

See if you can make it to Green River State Park on June 30.
http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/green-river/
There is also a KOA on the east side of the river but is not as nice IMO.

marvelousmouse

Tomfuller, you, sir, are AWESOME. That is indeed in my driving range, puts us much closer to Rifle than Slc would, and I'll take a great state park over a Koa any day. Now I just have to convince my friend that she really wants to go golfing well, maybe I can at least convince her on disc golf!

Where's your big train adventure to, anyway? I think you said on another thread you had a long one coming up and I was curious about the route.

DebitNM

Yes, do a day trip to Taos.

What is your price range for hotels in Durango and Ouray? Do you need 2 beds?

Re: the train -- it takes the entire day almost if you go by train both ways. You can take the train in one direction and a bus in the other direction - this can be done either train up or train back.
taking the bus 1 way frees time in Durango.

If you take the train to Silverton, sit on the right side; if you take the train to Durango, sit on the left.

I listed some Ouray restaurants on your other thread.

What do you consider cheap eats?

RVvagabond

Green River
Have a beer/burger at Ray's Tavern

And, if time, visit their Powell museum by the river

Vaga

marvelousmouse

I know the train takes up pretty much the whole day. I'm good with that unless my friend decides she really wants to hike or something. I'm guessing Durango is a pretty typical mountain town and really only worth a few a hours of window shopping. I kind of would like another night there, though, but it throws off Vegas or cuts off a day in Santa Fe. Thanks for the tips on the train! I'd wondered about that!

Durango is a KOA almost certainly. And I have a few camping options for Ouray but I can't check availibility of my first choice til Monday. The only hotels are probably Santa Fe and Winnemucca. We both enjoy camping.

The food...the trouble is that I don't have many ideas there. My friend and I are very different. I don't mind splurging and anyway I don't really eat much usually, so an appetizer at a fancy place is fine. But my friend prefers quantity over quality and she's definitely more of a roadside diner or taco truck person. So something along those lines for the most part, and a few special places thrown in, hopefully. I physically can't eat greasy food more than a few times a week, so places with good salads or healthy options would be preferable. And good barbeque or pizza or Asian would be great- nothing makes her happier than a plate of meat or pizza so strict vegetarian places aren't an option, either, really. The food is usually the only issue when we travel.

DebitNM

Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe. Nice location; good breakfast and afternoon snack. Book sooner rather than later.

tomfuller

I'll start a new thread in March about my May trip.
I'm driving from home (central Oregon) to Winnemucca.
I have a geocacher friend that has a place for my car.
We board the CZ early evening (roomette all the way to CHI).
We have several hours in Chicago before getting on the Lake Shore Limited in business class to Erie, PA (morning).
If we are on time we have breakfast near the Enterprise lot.
We have the car for 11 days and will find geocaches in the 6 states east of New York.
After CT, we go to Wellsboro PA for my 50th HS reunion.
After Wellsboro we go to central PA where I worked for 35+ years. We turn in the car about midnight in Erie (key drop) and get back on the LSL about 1:48AM to Chicago.
Several parts of the trip we are doing on Amtrak Guest Rewards points.
We get back to WNN in the morning on June 3 and drive back home.
If you are looking for something unique, drive down the dirt road SE of Green River to see Crystal Geyser which is a cold water geyser (Earthcache).

marvelousmouse

Sounds like an adventure! Have you done the transfer in Chicago before? On my wish list is a cross country train trip, and one of the snags is that I've heard the trains to Chicago can run quite late...so I was wondering if it was wide to build a few days into the trip between Chicago and the next train. After Chicago, there are a number of routes that work for my interests and budget.

And how do the points work? Do you find that you can travel cheaper by train than by airplane? Or do you break even? Or- as I know you love trains- are you just willing to pay a premium for train travel?

marvelousmouse

Debitnm- thanks for the Inn rec. Too expensive for me in the summer, but it looks like nice place, so I'm bookmarking it for future reference

tomfuller

On my last big train trip in March '15, I only went to Gslesburg IL and rented from Enterprise. I got 50 AGR points/day on my 7 day rental. I drove about 3200 miles in 7 days and drove in 20 states by my count. I found geocaches in 11 states that I had never found a cache in before.
I did fly to Alaska last June. See my trip report.
Train travel is no cheaper than flying but if you are in no hurry to get to your destination, I like seeing the scenery instead of flying over it.
The connection in Chicago is guaranteed. Depending on how many people are connecting, Amtrak sometimes holds a departing train to complete the connection. If you do miss your connection, Amtrak will pay for a hotel voucher and put you on the next days train.
Many of my online purchases earn me from 2 up to 10 AGR points per $. All paid Amtrak travel earns 2 points/$.
Joining Amtrak Guest Rewards is free.

marvelousmouse

Helpful, thanks, Tom! Didn't know the connection was guaranteed- that's great. Figured train travel wasn't cheaper- I've priced it out a few times, because I hate flying, and it's usually is too expensive to consider. If you've travelled without getting a roomette- have you felt like your belongings are secure? I can pretty much sleep anywhere, but I was a little concerned my laptop or or purse might walk off if I dosed off.

tomfuller

I'm guessing it would be quite expensive to fly from Winnemucca Nevada to Erie PA if it was possible.
I once accidently left my laptop on the Empire Builder.
I realized I didn't have it when I was in Chicago and I got a call from a Conductor that he had it in MSP.
I had him send it to Chicago where they put it on the Capitol Limited and I picked it up at Union Station Washington DC.
Take your purse with you if you go to the sightseer lounge or the dining car.
One of my best purchases in 2015 was a pair of Sorel boots from Shoebuy dot com at 10 points per dollar.
I also bought a dryer and refrigerator from Sears that I got points for.