RVing with Pets

[Linda&Charles]

I am new here and I bet this has been discussed - We will be driving from Alaska to Oregon in early summer 2014 on a move out. After a short stay in Oregon and store our belongings we will take off around the US. I'm thinking, depending on weather a southern route , up the east coast to NE, then back out west to Oregon seeing relatives and friends and sights. I would enjoy getting off the beaten trail since I have driven the main interstates so many times - been there seen that. We will be hauling a medium sized RV and looking at purchasing when we sell our home in the next couple of months.

We will have our 3 dogs. 2-9 yr old medium to large mixes (non-bull breeds though that whole restriction makes me pretty angry) and a young Lab. All are extensively trained, I am a trainer, though we have lived far from neighbors other than large wildlife, so on going training will prevail. I do know how to keep them quiet and under control at all times. I'm finding a lot of differences in places as far as restrictions. For the most part the most simple camp sights outside of metro areas will be fine. We are two 60 years old,no kids, and would not use a lot of amenities except on occasion to do laundry and relax. So we aren't looking for a place with a lot of "family activities".

The places we will want to visit are: From Oregon -Austin, Texas-Baton Rouge,La- Lancaster, Pa-Philadephia- Cape May NJ, upstate NY, Southern Ontario. Then we head back. Devils Tower, Wall Drug, Deadwood/Mt Rushmore are on the list. Then genealogical research in Eastern Oregon in the Baker area. And anything interesting in-between. We may also need to kennel the dogs if there is a ball game, car race, or metropolitan excursion we want to take.

I am an artist and I will be keeping a journal in photos, artwork and writing especially concentrating on traveling with our "pack". It should be interesting.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[KarenS144]

Sounds like you have quite the adventure planned! We travel with 2 boxers and have had no problems anywhere from private "resort" type CGs (which we try to avoid) to BLM & National Park CGs. Unfortunately, our furkids are getting older. Gypsy is 10 and Cody was 7 in Dec. but are in good health and still very active. Both are well trained and DO NOT BARK while in camp which is the main complaint about camping with dogs. We've been next to & near people who apparently can't hear their own dogs bark since they just let them bark. Another huge deal is picking up poo! I carry the poo bags on both sets of leashes (the flexi & the 6') and pick up every pile that is deposited by my pups. We also follow the rules and do not take the dogs places where they are not supposed to be. Most NPs do not let dogs anywhere but CGs & parking lots and require them to be on 6' leashes. State parks are more lenient but we follow the rules there too.

We have left our boxers in the Moho for a few hours while we do some non-doggy things like supper out or museums or shopping. I always ask our neighbors upon our return if our dogs barked. Most people didn't know they were in the Moho and those that did said they just sat in the front seats and looked out the window. I do pull the privacy curtain across the front window but generally leave the side windows open. Sometimes, I leave a TV on but if the A/C is on, it's so darn loud that one can't hear anything outside anyway. I have researched kennels along our routes but just don't feel comfortable leaving them anywhere. If you do want to kennel them at times, check the types of vaccines required.

There is SO much to see no matter where you travel depending on your route. Will you be towing another vehicle? If so, you'll have a lot more choices of what you can see & do. We did the Mt. Rushmore/Devil's Tower tour last year on our Glacier/Yellowstone trip. We stayed in the Grace Coolidge CG in Custer State Park and drove the Needles Highway in our jeep but that was on the way home. We stopped at Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota on our way to Glacier and loved it. There are no hookups in the park but nice sites and LOTS of wildlife. A great place to overnight or stay a couple of nights is the Spring Creek CG and Trout Stream in Big Timber, MT if you're looking for a place with hookups & laundry. Very nice CG. In Missoula, we stayed at Jim & Mary's which was nice. Small sites but all we did was sleep there anyway which is the case most of the time.

When we left Glacier, we went to Bozeman, MT and visited the Museum of the Rockies. Then dropped south to a National Forest CG along the Gallatin River and hung out some in Big Sky before we went to Yellowstone. If you're anywhere near Cody, WY and want to avoid the parking lot "resorts", stay at Buffalo Bill State Park. The Irma Hotel, the nightly rodeo & the Buffalo Bill Museum should be on your to do list. Also, if you have an extra day or so and another vehicle, drive the Beartooth Highway & Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. That was a highlight of our trip but NOT for RVs.

If you do get to Wall's Drugs, you are really close to the Badlands and can drive through it easily from either direction. In Murdo, SD, there is the Pioneer Auto Museum which is an amazing collection of anything with a motor and wheels. Well worth the stop and there is a decent CG next to it. Nothing fancy but easy on/off.

One of the most useful publications I have found is "The Next Exit". It lists what is at every exit along every interstate. I can't tell you how handy that is. Another useful pub is the "Mountain Directory West". There is also one for the East. It lists areas on roads that could be a challenge to travel in a larger vehicle by state. We like the "red roads" too and will leave the interstate when we can.

I finally finished our photo journal of the trip we made last year and am almost done with the DVD! I still print a lot of pics. There is something about being able to study a photo rather than just see it for a few seconds in a slide show presentation. One really cool addition we had this year was a Go-Pro cam. My DH fly fishes and used it to get some fantastic shots. It's cool to have it on walks/hikes too. I had an Olympus DLS that I loved but sadly, it developed focusing issues and I replaced it with a Canon SL1. I'm excited about using it on our next trip. I take a ton of pics while on the road with a little Canon P&S and then there are the cell phone pics. LOL! One can never have too many cams or take too many pics.

Have fun planning your trip!