My summer travel plans: please tell me if I'm insane

[ironflange]

We want to drive from Calgary to Vegas, with a stopover at Yellowstone. In July. We'll spend a few days there, then return by way of the Grand Canyon. We will be pulling a trailer. Question is, are we going to roast on this trip? We weathered the 105 degree weather in central OR and WA last summer, but is this going to be a whole new ball game? We will put an air conditioner on the trailer, and the van is a real trouper, shouldn't be a problem there. What's more, Mrs. Ironflange and yokoixi (our daughter) want to see Death Valley. I hear it gets a little warm there.

[Lars39]

1. Make campground reservations now!

Sounds like a fun trip. :)

[ironflange]

3. You're right, I'd better book now

We don't like following a strict itinerary, but we had better make an exception. There's a new KOA in Vegas, right on the Strip, and it's affiliated with Circus Circus, so you get to use their facilities. Sounds good!

[izzie]

2. Sounds like fun for you, I done that stuff.

Put I sure liked doing it all, at one time.

[joeybee12]

4. Sounds great--here's what your weather will be like...

...Vegas and the Grand Canyon will be roasting--Death Valley is beyond hot. However, going through Yellowstone in July--it will still be cool there--they never really get a summer. I would assume that you'llbe going through Montana, Wyoming, Utah to get to Vegas. It should be too hot in most of those places until you cross over into Nevada--the climate change between Utah and Nevada is very noticeable. Have fun!

[ironflange]

5. Yup, straight down the I-15 the whole way

The trailer is an easy pull, we can make really good time on Interstates. Does Vegas get cool at night? I know Grand Canyon Village area does. Central Oregon is cool at night, that's what saved us. I'm sure not going down there without an AC on the trailer, but we'll prolly pick one up on the way. They are MUCH cheaper in the US, and the good exchange rate helps even more.

[joeybee12]

6. Vegas will NOT cool down at night--summers there really are

miserable. But hey, you're not there for the natural scenery, but for all the phony stuff, so you'll mainly be inside.

Which side of the canyon will you be on? The North Rim is much less visited in case you want to avoid the hordes of tourists.

[ellie]

7. No, you are not insane,

or I am insane. I camped in the desert in August a couple of years back. It's hot, but it's a dry heat. Definitely check out the North Rim. Hey! Maybe I will see you there! We are planning on hiking down into the canyon from the north rim this summer, although I don't know when yet.

A piece of advice: If you are going to drive on the gravel forest roads, be sure you have spare tires for your car and trailer. One sharp rock and you will be changing your tire in the middle of nowhere, hoping the donut holds up till Freedonia. Not that it happened to me or anything!

[ironflange]

8. I think we'll be sticking to pavement

At least with the trailer attached. We actually love to hit the back roads, last summer we did a day trip from Kalmath Falls, OR, through the bird refuge, the Lava Beds, and from there down the gravel past Medicine Lake and from there all the way around Mt. Shasta. Fun trip, and the war memorial park was very moving. We left a hubcap behind somewhere between the Lava Beds and the I-5.