First trip with the family. Trip Report.

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Enthusiast I

231
Eastern Washington
First Name
Dustin
Last Name
Guenthner
Member #

0

Took our '00 wj out to McCroskey Park in Idaho and then along the Skyline Drive we veered off into St. Joes National. Here's the run down and what we learned with 2 dogs and 2 kids.

3 miles out of Colfax the harmonic balancer dislodged and came off. Had to get a tow to my parent's house. Had a hell of a time fixing it. It was towed at 4pm on Friday and finished up Saturday at 5pm. We just couldn't get it to seat right. We finally left.

We didn't bring enough water. Apparently never under-estimate how much a 7 and 10 year will drink. We forgot our cooking grate. No table to set our little propane grill on either. On top of that we somehow ended up not repacking some of our food from the fridge at home. We also forgot one of the heavy blankets for the wife and I so we froze all night. Kids luckily slept in the jeep and were nice and toasty.

The Good- We went. My youngest saw a Moose. I was able to de-compress from my high stress job. I now know I can go almost 72 hours with very little sleep. My kids enjoyed playing in the trees ( we live in an apartment). We were able to add sticker number 4 to our jeep ( every "adventure" we go on we add a sticker). My kids learned how to start a fire in the rain.

Here's what we learned and what we remedied: 1- Check lists for days and two people checking inventory. 2- We bought more water containers as well as talked to our kids about wasting water and rationing on trips. 3- the cooking grate now has a permanent home in the back of the jeep. 4- We bought a big 2 person sleeping bag rated for 20 degrees. 5- Cases for everything that are labeled. 6- and most importantly I bought an insulated coffee cup so my coffee doesn't get cold.


In all it was a disaster. BUT we learned from it and my family enjoyed it.
 

MMc

Rank V

Influencer II

1,749
San Dimas, Ca.
First Name
Mike
Last Name
McMullen
Member #

18647

You are learning. We all do it. I have a list to take, and check it twice. My friends laugh at me but I don't forget much.
 

Enthusiast I

231
Eastern Washington
First Name
Dustin
Last Name
Guenthner
Member #

0

When I was growing up camping with my family we always always had beef and bannock at one dinner. Literally just a chunk of roast on a stick over the fire and bannock bread.

I was sleep deprived and that's all I wanted and all I wanted to share with my family and we forgot it. We almost packed up and went back.
 

Gabriel Bozeman

Rank V
Launch Member

Traveler II

2,902
Oak Harbor, WA, USA
First Name
Gabriel
Last Name
Bozeman
Member #

16950

Took our '00 wj out to McCroskey Park in Idaho and then along the Skyline Drive we veered off into St. Joes National. Here's the run down and what we learned with 2 dogs and 2 kids.

3 miles out of Colfax the harmonic balancer dislodged and came off. Had to get a tow to my parent's house. Had a hell of a time fixing it. It was towed at 4pm on Friday and finished up Saturday at 5pm. We just couldn't get it to seat right. We finally left.

We didn't bring enough water. Apparently never under-estimate how much a 7 and 10 year will drink. We forgot our cooking grate. No table to set our little propane grill on either. On top of that we somehow ended up not repacking some of our food from the fridge at home. We also forgot one of the heavy blankets for the wife and I so we froze all night. Kids luckily slept in the jeep and were nice and toasty.

The Good- We went. My youngest saw a Moose. I was able to de-compress from my high stress job. I now know I can go almost 72 hours with very little sleep. My kids enjoyed playing in the trees ( we live in an apartment). We were able to add sticker number 4 to our jeep ( every "adventure" we go on we add a sticker). My kids learned how to start a fire in the rain.

Here's what we learned and what we remedied: 1- Check lists for days and two people checking inventory. 2- We bought more water containers as well as talked to our kids about wasting water and rationing on trips. 3- the cooking grate now has a permanent home in the back of the jeep. 4- We bought a big 2 person sleeping bag rated for 20 degrees. 5- Cases for everything that are labeled. 6- and most importantly I bought an insulated coffee cup so my coffee doesn't get cold.


In all it was a disaster. BUT we learned from it and my family enjoyed it.
Enjoying it is all that matters. Plus, now you know what to do next time.
 
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Merk

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

2,229
Renton, WA
Member #

5001

Water storage can always be a pain, when traveling with a lot of people. If your route is in the vicinity of a good water source (snow, river, stream, etc) packing some type of water filtration system can be super handy :sunglasses: We have a gravity fed system
And we never skip an oppurtunity to fill up supply on route, most campgrounds and and parks have pottable water
 
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Enthusiast I

231
Eastern Washington
First Name
Dustin
Last Name
Guenthner
Member #

0

Enjoying it is all that matters. Plus, now you know what to do next time.
We ended up going back to the Park just this last weekend. We added some water containers and a table and a couple other things. Much more enjoyable...not as cold... Going to stick to one or two day trips this year then next year plan on the WABDR.
 
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Gabriel Bozeman

Rank V
Launch Member

Traveler II

2,902
Oak Harbor, WA, USA
First Name
Gabriel
Last Name
Bozeman
Member #

16950

We ended up going back to the Park just this last weekend. We added some water containers and a table and a couple other things. Much more enjoyable...not as cold... Going to stick to one or two day trips this year then next year plan on the WABDR.
Let me know when you do the WABDR (if you want company), because I might be interested!