u/callmemaeb

Talk to me about food and bear safety and just how are we doing this correctly (yes, of course we will get bear spray…I’m talking about overnight storage and daytime trailhead parking and in everyone’s backpacks food storage).

Flying in from the east coast for a two week trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier. Will have a rental minivan and two kids who are big snackers, especially on hikes and long car rides. We are staying in a ton of different places, including some motels, some airbnbs, and some nights inside the national parks in a cabin (never camping though). As we typically do on trips, planning to swing through Costco and load up on all sorts of snacks and food to stretch our budget farther and reduce the whining from kids. All of that we have down pat, no biggie. EXCEPT, have not done this out west. Do not usually need to factor in bears!

So tell me, how are you people doing this? Especially when flying in? Are you buying all sorts of coolers and canisters upon arrival? If so, what foods do you like buying to supplement meals? Are you limiting your hunger to towns outside the parks? I’ve seen things about having a locked cooler and hiding food with blankets, but again, flying in and we try to travel light (as in, carry on only). So how do we do this without wasting money or resources?

Trying to finalize my bookings for our two week trip to Glacier/Yellowstone/Grand Teton via flights in and out of Bozeman. It’s a lot of 1-2 nights everywhere we go along the way, which is okay, but I wondered if I should cut down on at least one of those or keep the pattern going as we go from place to place.

Currently double booked for three nights in Mountain Pine Motel in East Glacier Park and now, as of last week, got a reservation for the same three nights at Thronson’s in Babb this summer. Before that we’ll have one night in Helena and after that, two nights in Coram and then a few more one-off stays so on. Me and my spouse and elementary age kids will be packing up constantly just because that’s how things worked out. We’ve done several road trips like this before so it’s not terrible to move around but don’t want to overcomplicate things either. The question is, should I keep one night at Mountain Pine Motel to start out closer to Two Medicine before two nights in Babb to be closer to Many Glacier? Or do all three nights in Babb? We’ll have a minivan to keep stuff in and only bring carry-ons but trying to simplify where I can …and can’t decide which is simpler: one place for three nights in a row or less backtracking with long drives.

Edit to add: have boat tickets booked for Many Glacier, which is why I was thinking at least two of the nights in Babb for before and after that day to cut down on drive time between that and wherever we sleep. Was interested in a day of hiking near Two Medicine.

Thinking of going to Disneyland for the first time (went to DW this past year and our whole family felt the magic) next spring. Has anyone combined it with a trip to Joshua Tree or Channel Islands National Park? What did your itinerary look like?

Thinking of booking a hotel now on points and just feel like I should plot it out a bit. Maybe just spending one day at Disneyland (I know, but it adds up, right?!) and then some additional time to round out the trip with a few other features of California for this east coast fam of four (elementary age kids). Would love to hear how you’ve done it and split the time and/or nearby locations to stay and visit!