Mid-West Trip Advice and Equipment

Hi Lifers,

I'm planning on doing a Dallas to Minneapolis trip to visit some friends and deciding to make a trip out of it. I have about 7-8 days of travel i can do and wanted some recommendations on "Must visit" locations along the way or nearby. Some of the cities and states i'll be near include:

- Oklahoma
- Kansas City and Kansas
- Iowa, West Nebraska
- Maybe Chicago?
- Dakotas
- Wisconsin
- Anything good in Ontario, Canada?

I'm looking for anything urban, off-road, sightseeing or touristy.

My other question has to do with gear. I'm fairly well equipment for most scenic and mild trails so that's not a concern, but i would like to make sleeping in the jeep easier and more comfortable.

I've tried the queen size air mattress and it's not working for me. Anyone know of custom sized mattresses of any type or products that helps sleeping in the jeep easier? I've been eyeballing the ursa minor J30, but at the price i don't think i'm ready to jump into that. Might as well just get 100 nights worth of motels compared to paying 6k to sleep on my roof.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: it'll be late May if that changes anything!

There are many other options for a roof top tent, if your looking to go that route, but you would need a roof rack to mount one.

Make a stop at Southern Missouri Off Road Park (SMORR), Seymour, MO. Great off road park. I saw something not to long ago that said it was ranked the best park in the US.

I'd just get myself a good hammock for sleeping arrangements outside. Then you won't have much invested and you don't have to empty out the contents of your Jeep to sleep inside it. As far as sights to see, I'm not much help, but I'd at least stop through Kansas City for some BBQ binging!

JK_Dave said:

I'd just get myself a good hammock for sleeping arrangements outside. Then you won't have much invested and you don't have to empty out the contents of your Jeep to sleep inside it. As far as sights to see, I'm not much help, but I'd at least stop through Kansas City for some BBQ binging!

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Thanks for the advice! I was going to checkout the interactive map for diners, drive-ins and dives for some good advice! Hear Kansas city bbq is great though!

shadowpaige64507 said:

Make a stop at Southern Missouri Off Road Park (SMORR), Seymour, MO. Great off road park. I saw something not to long ago that said it was ranked the best park in the US.

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Will check it out, i've never gone to an offroad park before, usually prefer the scenic trails. But will definitely check it out!

hinrichs said:

There are many other options for a roof top tent, if your looking to go that route, but you would need a roof rack to mount one.

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I have a rain gutter/hardtop mounted half roof rack so no tent options w/o forking out a lot more money I wonder what the most cheapest value combo would be...

redex said:

Will check it out, i've never gone to an offroad park before, usually prefer the scenic trails. But will definitely check it out!

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There's a few guys on here from that part of Missouri. I'm sure they would meet you there if it worked in their schedule. Always smart to have someone else while trail riding.