RV rental company spotlight

Pierce RV in Billings, Montana is the newest RV supplier joining the Tracks & Trails team of RV partners. We use them primarily for a beautiful trip via the Beartooth Highway to Yellowstone & the Grand Teton National Parks (here's a link to the trip on our website if you want to read more Beartooth Highway to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons). Although it adds some miles traveling to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons from Billings rather than Jackson Hole, the scenic Beartooth Highway is worth it according to many of our clients. Charles Kurault called it “America’s most beautiful highway.” Some of our adventurers were also able to include Cody, Wyoming in their itineraries and enjoyed the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which includes 5 museums.

Pierce RV's location in Billings is also a great starting point for heading up to Glacier National Park (see Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks). Pierce RV provides the best RV’s and top notch service to all of our Tracks and Trails patrons who have chosen these routes in Montana and Wyoming.

Terry Larson is the rental manager for Pierce RV in Billings, Montana. Terry is in his 9th season in the rental department. His attention to detail and his “First Class” customer service is unsurpassed. We have the utmost confidence of his care for our clients and know that each family that begin their RV adventure in Billings, are going to enjoy some true western hospitality.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting with Terry and India, his “gal Friday” last week while I was in Billings. At Tracks and Trails we like to get to know the suppliers and outfitters we partner with so that we can assure our clients a great experience for their family vacation.

Going fast vs. Going slow

We hear many of our clients talk about how they need to be very active during their vacations. Does this sound like something you've thought of or said:

• "My kids want to do everything - hike, bike, fish, climb, swim..."
• "We are very athletic and we want to do at least two activities every day."
• "We love driving. We can drive 500 miles a day."

Not that there isn't anything wrong with doing a ton of stuff on your vacation and we don't doubt that you could drive 500 miles a day. The question is, "Would you really want to if you don't have to?". We find that listening to you makes a big difference when it comes to understanding what you expect from your trip. Most of our clients have never been to the great expanse called the West and have a variety of expectations about what can realistically be done in a 1-week or 2-week self-guided, driving vacation.

We take a philosophy that slower is better. With many of the National and state parks our clients are visiting, we like to plan at least 2 days (and sometimes 3 days) in each major destination. Also, with the idea of going slower, we feel that driving less is also better. Typically most days would include an average of 100 miles of driving (or less), with time to sightsee, stop for lunch, take in an activity and get to the campground for the evening. And those evenings include getting dinner ready, setting up a campfire, listening to a ranger talk or just staring at the stars. We are firm believers that this is your vacation - a time to relax as well as a time to enjoy what the outdoors have to offer.

So, we would vote for going slower when it comes to planning vacations. That said, we have planned very active vacations for our clients. Most times though, we get feedback that they wished they had gone a little slower or felt they missed some key sight that was on their "must-see" list. We know that most everyone has a very busy "real life" and we hope that your vacation will be a break from those hectic days - with time to reconnect with each other and with the beautiful destinations you'll be visiting. Let us know how Tracks & Trails can help.

New itineraries and travel modes

You'll want to keep checking back here in the next few months as we unveil new itineraries and new modes of travel in our online catalog. We have been looking very closely at the economy, fuel prices and the prospect of higher airfares in looking at how to offer new travel options in our travel catalog. While we'll continue to have our many popular itineraries, we plan to offer even more choices to new regions and with new ways to get there. Sorry that this is just a tease, but we need more time to complete the background work needed before we introduce the updates to our catalog.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about RV travel or travel to the National Parks in the western United States and Canada, give Tracks & Trails a call at 800-247-0970 and a trip consultant will answer all of your questions!

When's the best time to travel?

Boy, if I had a nickel for every time we get asked this question, hmmm...

We keep our eye on many factors when helping to plan a trip. Since most of our clients are families with school-age children, we know that we are working with the timeframe between Memorial Day and Labor Day for most folks. And depending on the school district, it sometimes is between mid-June and mid-August.

We also do our best to prepare everyone for the type of weather conditions and the number of other travelers that they'll come across on their road trip. While the US Southwest is very hot in July and August, afternoon thunderstorms can give a cooling affect. The California coastline can be shrouded in fog for much of the summer, leaving September and October the best months for good weather. Yellowstone's weather is most summer-like in July and August and yet that's when their park attendance is highest. Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula can be wet and warmer in the summer. We've seen temperatures in Jasper, Alberta over 90 much of the summer and yet have a freak snow storm in July.

The trick is to be prepared with layers of clothes to add when the weather is not ideal and with a few pairs of shorts to take advantage of those perfect days. In our Adventure Kit, we help our clients prepare for their trips with checklists of what to bring and groceries to buy as well as other travel tips that can make a trip just that much more enjoyable.

If you have a more flexible schedule for travel, just let us know and we can help steer you in the right direction. Check out the seasons for travel on each trip in our Trip Catalog. Here's an example. This trip has a short season due to the high elevation of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Trip: Rocky Mountain National Park - Quick Getaway
Season: Jun 1 - Sep 15
Starts and ends in: Denver, Colorado
Primary destinations: Rocky Mountain National Park
Prices from: $1,325

The Wynne's blog of their trip

Some of our clients are pretty tech savvy and have created blogs detailing their trip adventures. The Wynne's trip started on July 25th and was 18 days long, 16 in the RV from Pierce RV out of Billings. Their custom trip took them to Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Devil's Tower, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. I won't even begin to describe their trip. You'll have to read the blog for yourself. It's pretty simple - they had a great time! (The picture on the right is from the last day.) Of course, we appreciate the mention of Tracks & Trails and how we helped design "the perfect family vacation". Here's the link - http://thewildwestadventure.blogspot.com/ If you have any questions about how to create your custom trip, just give us a ring at 800-247-0970.

Surveys and client feedback

Earlier I had talked a little about our staff and how valuable their experience is when helping to create your vacation. Another crucial component of our knowledge of the West and keeping up to date with everything that happens in the parks, on the road and in the campgrounds is the direct feedback we get from our clients. We include a survey in every Adventure Kit that is four pages long.

The survey is the most comprehensive tool we have to get a feel from our clients about their trip experience. We ask a variety of questions about the RV, campgrounds, excursions, what exceeded expectations, what disappointed, how they found us and their perception of value. We also have a freeform section where our clients can write anything they want. Many of our testimonials that we put on the website come from that information.

We also have had clients that have documented their trips on family blogs, including pictures and daily postings. And, of course, many clients simply call from the road to ask questions, get clarifications or ask for help.

We take all of this information very seriously and make changes to our itineraries, internal procedures and outfitters based on all of the feedback we get from our clients. We do this because we are always striving to make each client's experiences exceed their expectations.

So a big thank you to all of our clients from past years - you have helped make today's clients' vacations even better!

Travel this fall to Canada

Today we're seeing the best exchange rates between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar or the "loonie" that we've seen all year. Still not as good as last year but a far cry better than earlier in 2008. So what's that mean for anyone traveling from the US to Canada? While gasoline is still quite a bit more expensive north of the border, it means your US dollars go a little farther.

What's that mean for RV travel? We're still seeing some limited availability from our RV rental connections in mid- to late September. Yes, it will be a little chillier, but the summer crowds will definitely be gone and you'll have some of the world's most beautiful National parks and scenery nearly all to yourself. If you've been dreaming of seeing the stunning sites of Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, Victoria Island or Whistler, give us a call and we'll see what we can cook up for you! For that matter, there are many wonderful locations worth seeing in September (like California). See my earlier post on travel in the Fall!

Staff experience and how it pays off!

One thing that we want to tell you about when considering using Tracks & Trails - the vast experience of our staff. When you look at the area where we offer itineraries, it's pretty big.

Sometimes our clients have no idea how big it is. Just to give you a basic idea - from Seattle to San Diego is 1,255 miles, from San Francisco to Rapid City is 1,395 miles and Vancouver to Calgary is 970 kilometers (or about 600 miles). Now we usually recommend to keep daily travel to about 100 miles a day. This allows for plenty of time to sightsee, take an excursion, set up camp, maybe get in a hike, get your meals together and just have some time to relax - remember it's your vacation! When you have your list of "must-see's", it sure helps to get some assistance from our staff. If they haven't been there, someone in the office has. We've either camped there, driven through there or even lived in some of the places you'll visit. And the best part is that we listen to what you, your family or group want to do, see and experience before we make any recommendations. We'll probably start with some of the itineraries from our website and then customize it to meet your needs.

And we get all kinds of folks traveling the Tracks & Trails way - the traditional 2 adult families, older couples without kids, one parent families with children, multiple families, family reunions, friends traveling together and business people extending business trips to vacation with their families. All have the same idea in mind - get outdoors, see the National and state parks and enjoy great times together.

So, bottom line, take advantage of our personal experience along with all the experiences of our clients. Our vast knowledge will help you short-cut the planning and worry in planning a great vacation!