30 days across the country...

[erklep]

My girlfriend and I have been planning a move from Southern NJ to Southern California in the last year. We decided to sell off most of our belongings and whatever fit into my rig was what was coming out with us. Both of us grew up in camp families and are huge campers so we decided, what better way to make the trip out West? We took a full month and drove the Northern route across our beautiful country. Camping out in a bunch of state and national parks and a few sketchy areas as well!
6000 miles from start to finish.
Feel free to check out our IG hashtag for more photos #FeAndEcrosscountry

I built a simple sleeper bed for the back. all our camp gear and food was stored under the bed and we each had about 3-4 bags/suitcases full of clothing which was kept on top of the riser bed while driving. The majority of our nights were spent in our Marmot Limelight but on occasion(snow on the ground, too tired to set up camp, bear sightings etc) we slept in the truck. We would just take out bags and toss them in the front seats and we had plenty of room to spread out in the back atop the sleeper bed and our REI camp mats.




HF Cargo carrier with a Coleman Xtreme to keep our perishables(and beer!) in


Gutter guards make great ventilation for the sleeper bed nights.

Loaded up and ready to go. Lots of weight in the rear really caused an unexpected rear sag. Wish I had done a dry run a few weeks earlier so I had time to order some airbags.

 

[erklep]

Our first stop was the Finger Lakes in NY. Unfortunatly we hit a ton of traffic and got there super late so we just pulled in to a campground, threw our bags in the front seats and slept on the bed. Didnt get a chance to do any hiking or exploring. The next morning we headed to Niagara Falls, NY.


From Niagara to Stow, Ohio. Gorgeous night in an open field park and friendly camp neighbors.


From Ohio to Huntington, Indiana. It poured all night long! We made the best of it inside the tent with a book and some beverages.


The morning was picture perfect on the lake in Huntington.


We packed up and headed out to Chicago, a city neither of us had been. Ive seen enough cornfields in Indiana to last me a lifetime!


When in Rome...Chicago... The Bean. Great cocktails at Remmington's


Hung out in Wrigley square for a bit on a nice brisk fall night in Chicago in front of the Prudential.


Explored some bat caves at Maquoketa State Park


Camped out in Bellvue state park in Iowa overlooking the Upper Mississippi.


More cornfields and lots of dirtroads to our camp in Sioux county, Iowa

 

[erklep]

Enroute to the Badlands, South Dakota we saw some smoke off in the distance so we pulled off at this scenic overlook. Some locals told us there was a few hundred acre wildfire a few miles from us and they were closing the freeway through to the Badlands. We hopped in the runner and blasted down the highway to try and beat the bloackage. Made it through clouds of smoke where we couldnt see 3 feet in front of us, passed the wildfire on the shoulder of the road less than 5 feet from the truck. Super scary situation.


We made it to the Badlands and took a 16 miles dirt road down to Sage Creek campground down in the valley where we had to wait for bison to clear our path to get through. We were surrounded by prarie dogs and coyotes howling all night. This place was unreal!




From the Badlands you know we had to check out Mt Rushmore.


A quick couple photos and we were off to camp at the base of Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We slept in the truck this night as well due to frost and snow. It dropped to 17*!




After Devil's Tower we went through Bighorn National Forest. A small GPS glitch took us about 12 miles up a dirtroad cliffside until we started hitting lots of ice and snow. Sliding down a mountain toward giant trees as your ABS is locked up is not a plesent experience!
We headed back down the dirt road and finally found some cell service and put us on the PAVED road into Bighorn. Bighorn was by far my favorite park on this trip. Wyoming doesnt get enough credit. Gorgeous terrain changing every few miles. Bighorn to Shoshone to Teton to Yellowstone... Unreal!

 

[erklep]

Sadly half of Yellowstone was closed due to snow and icy roads but we were able to spend a full day in the park and see a ton of wildlife up, close and personal.

 

[erklep]

Yellowstone to Idaho Falls, Idaho. I have never been able to go 5 miles on my cruise control without hitting my brakes in NJ. Here I was able to go 120miles at 80mph on cruise and never touched my brakes! I was a few red tail hawks, coyotes, a bunch of deer, cows, horses, a few elk and bison and a single grey wolf at about 5 am. This guy was easily 80 pounds


We had some friends in Portland OR who offered us a hot shower and a bed to sleep in for a couple days so we shot out toward their place. We exited Yellowstone via West Yellowstone, touched in to Montana for a bit and then drove all day long through Caribou-Targhee, Salmon-Challis, Nez- Perce Clearwater, Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests. Back on to 90 through Missoula and Coeur D' Alene and Spokane and finally landed in Ellensburg WA which overlooks the Columbia River and the Ginko Petrified Forest.


Drove in to Seattle for the day and did some sight seeing. Had dinner at a great spot called Cactus. Crashed, woke and sent to breakfast and then hit Pikes Market.

From Seattle, down through Tacoma and Olympia we headed out to Paradise Point State Park where we spent the night.

We stayed in the Pearl District of Portland and hit up Bridgeport Brewery to carb up. the next morning we did a neat 5-mile hike up to Pittock Mansion to see the mountains on a very rare clear day in Portland. Went to Pine State biscuts for brunch and then took a much needed nap!
Went to Ecliptic Brewery and Storm Breaker this night and binged some street food.


Straight from Portland to the Oregon coast... beauty lies here. Route 101 is amazing



From Port Orford on the coast to the Redwoods, Ca. We drove through and stayed in the Jedediah Smith Park. These trees are massive!!!



We continued down the California coast and spent another night in the Redwood National Forest near Klamath where we saw this Emu



Stayed the night in San Francisco to let our gear dry out after all the rain we had in the Redwoods.

We wanted to take the coast most of the way down California since we had the time. We camped out in Carmel by the Sea bc there was a giant forest fire in Big Sur and they closed the entire route through. We managed to find a public dirtroad that took us up a mountain and through some of the forest and then back down and out. It was pretty upsetting to see the damage from the fire. Here is the iconic Bixby Bridge on the Big Sur coastline.

 

[erklep]

We went from Big Sur out to Yosemite National forest. We drove most of what was open at this time of year. We saw Bridal Veil Falls and El Capitain as well as the historic Yosemite Hotel.




From Yosemite through tons and tons of vineyards to Visalia, CA. We camped out at a nice park that had hot showers and we met a nice couple from France who were here on a 5 month "holiday" as they call it, traveling the coast. And I thought our 30 day trip was a long venture!

The next morning we packed up and headed in to Seqouia National forest. Now, I thought the Redwoods were huge but they honestly have nothing on Sequoias! The base of these monsters is unfathomable.

 

[erklep]

Got lost on another 30 mile mountainside dirt road but it led us to this before setting up camp...


From Seqouia we went directly West again to see as much of the coast as possible.We stayed in Pismo Beach at a hot spring campground.

In the morning we hit San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, through Los Padres National forest to Santa Barbara and hopped on 101 to Ventura to Malibu. 17* a week ago in Wyoming and now we are camping out overlooking the Pacific Ocean and its 77*. We met a really nice couple from Dana Point, CA who welcomed us with open arms to Southern California. We sat out under the stars and got to know each other, sharing stories until the morning.





We tried to avoid LA as best we could. Stopped in Venice for brunch at Gjelina cafe. We took the 1 down through Long Beach, Huntington, and Newport and set up camp at Crystal Cove RV park. Ran out for dinner and ate at Bear Flag Fish Co... Great poke' and grilled artichoke! Again, overlooking the ocean and falling asleep to the waves crashing. We woke up to a small rabbit right outside our tent vestibule where we hand-fed him some grapes while we made ourselves breakfast.
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We continued down the coast and of course we had to stop in Dana Point and see the town our friends lived in and loved so much. We had some really good cold brew and pastries at a place called Crank and Grind which is a coffee shop/bike shop. I window shopped around for a new mountain bike and we hit the road heading toward our final destination, San Diego. We took the 1 to the 5 and then jumped back off on to 101 where we hit all the beach towns down the coast. We stayed in a hotel for the night and woke up the next day to sign our lease in Mission Valley.

The 4runner did great in all conditions and excelled in fuel mileage. I spent just under $1000 on fuel, $75 in parking, $50 in tolls, and about $500 on the campgrounds an hotels. Just under $1500 in camp supplies and misc items to prep for the trip. So somewhere in the ballpark of $3500 with all our food expenses included. Not bad for the trip of a lifetime!

 

[S p a r k y]

Freaking awesome! Super Jealous!

 

[erklep]

and some misc shots of the truck and scenery for you guys.

 

[erklep]

 

[Giarc1234]

Looks amazing. I am jealous. I cant wait to get out in my rig.

 

[sportsbriefcase]

Man, you are living the dream. Thanks for sharing. Further testament that we live in a great country and it is what you make of it.


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[ZebRuaj]

Heck of a trip with unforgettable memories. I'm a bit jelly.

 

[Timberland]

Incredible trip. Really nice photos too. How many miles are on your Runner?

 

[erklep]

Freaking awesome! Super Jealous!

Thank you!

Looks amazing. I am jealous. I cant wait to get out in my rig.

Do it! and please share your photos and experiences

Man, you are living the dream. Thanks for sharing. Further testament that we live in a great country and it is what you make of it.

That it is! Ive always wondered why people vacation to Mexico or the Carribean resorts year after year when our country has so much to offer


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Heck of a trip with unforgettable memories. I'm a bit jelly.

Absolutely! We had a blast

Incredible trip. Really nice photos too. How many miles are on your Runner?

Thank you, Sir. All shot on my Galaxy :-D
Currently 108k... still a baby

 

[madeinhb]

You drove right through my hometown of Huntington Beach. Sadly I'm in Denver now. HB and SoCal for that matter has become too expensive

 

[Bluesky 07]

What a remarkable trip. Thanks for taking the time to share your pics & observations.

My dream is to drive my 'Runner from home here in Atlanta out west through many of the places you visited & to continue on the Alaska Highway up through Canada. Hope to do that in the next few years.

 

[BillyBoost]

Great trip, I also left New Jersey on 11/10/16, but we did the cannon ball run to Colorado 27 hour straight thru drive time. It is so nice to be done with NJ!!!

Bill

 

[rickashay]

Awesome trip! Thanks for sharing. Thats one of the things I love about the US.. the diversity in the geography and terrain is mind blowing.

 

[dta1984]

Wow awesome stuff! Thanks for sharing! :rockon: