Yellowstone dry camping

[2old2backpack]

[/FONT]I am planning a trip for six weeks.  I am heading out of Arizona with three children and a yorkie dog.  I have been a backpacker and know how to survive dry camping.  I wonder if my children can survive without playing xbox and watching movies?   Would I be better off leaving my dog home with my husband or taking him with us?   I never thought of dry camping as a challenge until faced with venturing out for the first time with a 9, 7 and 5 year old.  Wish me luck and any suggestions would be of great help.  I do have a Coleman 02 Bayside and a Surburban.  I was thinking of buying a 12ft aluminum flat bottom boat to have fun with the kids.  Would this be too much for the first time out?

[maromeo]

In Yellowstone you will be dry camping. Their are no hookups for PU. I would leave the dog behind with DH because the sites are small and some trails you are not permitted to take your pets on.  I would not leave him/her in the vehicle because it does get hot. Make sure you check with the park before you leave as to what entrances may be closed due to weather,fires or construction. Enjoy your time with your kids, they will remember this trip forever.

Take care.
Mary Romeo

[Campaholics]

Our kids were 5 and 7 when we started camping.  We didn't get a PU until after they were out of college.  During that time everybody had camp jobs to do, and everybody palyed.  With the hiking, sight seeing, campfires, and other things to do they didn't miss TV or Nintendo.  Leave that stuff home, they will be fine.

One thing that helps pass the time while driving was a game called My Father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells something that begins with...(name a letter)

Then everyone takes turns asking questions that can be answered with yes or no.  e.g.  Do we take it camping?  Only one question per round.

Good for fifty to seventy five miles easy.

Good luck on your trip.

Bob

[Kavoom]

We went the first week in Sept. this year and took our 60 lb lab.  We had a great time.  Actually though there is only one trail for dogs and that is down by the closed hospital in the Lake Village area keep going down by the old closed facilities.  

But it was great.  We had a good site and he was on a 20 ft. lead, but yes a lot of the sites are small, but so is a Yorkie...

And you can let em out a little at places like Sheepeaters rock down by the lake in the picnic grounds etc.  But if the dog goes nuts at seeing Buffalo etc., don't take it.  

And...if you got a husband at home you might just leave him.  If the kids are bored at Yellowstone, and want their tech toys, well, they are lost anyway...

[tlhdoc]

We have 2 dogs and I have only taken one of them camping 2 times.  She seems to like it and is well behaved.  She doesn't even bark when other dogs bark at her, but most trips we do a lot of sightseeing and the dogs stay home with my DH.  There should be plenty of things for your kids to do in the park.  We do have a DVD player in the TV and that helps for the really long days of driving.  National Parks have all sorts of programs for visitors to attend.  We love going to things like that and we all learn from them.  Do you plan on using a battery for the camper?  If so how do you plan to keep it charged?  6 weeks is a long time without power.  I would take a battery charger along and see if you can find some place to charge the battery during the trip.

[Fishin BC]

I am sooo envious!  I love Yellowstone.  What campgrounds do you plan to stay in?  We stayed a few nights at Canyon and the rest of the time up in the Lamar Valley so we could watch the wolves.  Pebble Creek is small and nice and so is Slough creek.  

We have two border collies that camp with us all the time.  But Yellowstone is the one place I will not take them.  Too many animals to herd, I would spend my days with a dog yelling at me "Mom look BIGGG sheep!"