We are 2 60ish Ozzy tourists who are doing a Panama canal cruise in March next year 2014, we have another 3 weeks of unplanned touring round the central & western areas of USA. We are looking at departure from LA after the cruise ends & driving to Las Vegas & see a few shows & include a trip up to Area 51 , then across to Denver & up to Mt Rushmore then across to the west coast & back down the coast to LA before heading back to Oz . We are confident RVers having done the east coast about 10 years ago & 4 trips in Europe . We own a F250/2006 model with a crewcab & a slide in pop top on the back all set up for outback Australia. We are curious if what we have planned for 3 weeks is too ambitious or is quite achievable for a couple to manage . We are still deciding on how to do the trip , RV or car & motel. All replies gratefully received . Tom In Oz.

I went to Google maps and just did a quick plotting of a circle tour to the areas you described. Google maps says 3605 miles. Only you know if you can travel that far in three weeks. I could do it myself, but personally if I had three weeks, I'd cut it down a little. On the how to travel, again that's personal preference. I think it would probably be cheaper overall to do the car-hotel thing, but nothing beats the comfort of the RV for travel. I haven't rented an RV in a while, but I know they seem to have got pretty expensive. Not to mention they only give you a limited number of free miles per day and then charge a lot for miles over that. You would have to do the math.You are also talking traveling to some remotes areas (although nothing remote like the outback) so hotels could be sparce in some of these areas and depending on your taste in hotels you may not always easily find a place to stay. While at the same time the area you are traveling has lots of public lands and plenty of free places to pull off the side of the road and spend the night if you had an RV. If I could afford it, I personally would take the RV over hotels any day of the week for a trip of the west like that.

Also, I notice you say you are doing this in March. In March the weather in the Southwest region of the Country will likely be perfect for travel. But March is the tail end of winter so if you start getting up toward Denver and areas north, you may find yourself with winter weather still and snow. I would never take an RV to snow country on purpose myself.So back to my advice, now noticing you are traveling in March, I'd do the southwest. Hit Vegas, grand canyon, painted desert, New Mexico, Arizona, and that region.

I notice Kansas isn't on the itinerary...been there, done that, got the ruby slippers- right? :B

I suspect your Area 51 trip will be a let down unless you enjoy looking at a fence in the desert. As for the rest of your trip I'd say it's a bit too much for three weeks. It's a two day drive from Vegas to Denver and another 2 days up to Rushmore. Then 2 more days out to the west coast for example. And that's if the weather cooperates.You'd spend most of the time driving. At Las Vegas you are at the entrance of some of the most spectacular desert redrock landscape in the world. The Four Corners area has a lot of major national parks: Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands and Capital Reef are the major parks. And there are probably 20 to 30 smaller national and state parks in the same general area. And you are very near Death Valley NP at Vegas. And March is a great time to visit DV, with luck they will have had some winter rain and the wild flowers would be blooming.March is a little early for more northern parks like Rushmore (not that there is anything much to do there), Rocky Mountains National Park, outside Denver, will probably be at least party snowed in that early in the year. And you have a good chance of getting snow storms going across Colorado, and on mountain roads at that, and up in South Dakota. Early July is usually considered the safest early date at those parks. If you prefer mountain and tree type parks, I'd go across to Death Valley then north from there to King's Canyon/Sequoia NP and North to the west entrance of Yosemite NP. I personally think Yosemite is the crown jewel of the park system. There most likely will still be snow on the ground there and the east side of the park will probably be closed. You could continue north to Lassen Volcanic park and then across to Highway 101 on the coast at Redwood City where most of the giant Redwood parks are found. Depending on time you could explore up the Oregon coast on 101 or head south on 101 down to San Francisco and south back to LA.Just to give you an idea of the size of the American West. It would take you all day to drive south to north in Death Valley if you stop and walk out to some of the viewpoints. Like Badwater. It is a very big place: 13500 sq km almost the size of holland, and the other major parks aren't that much smaller.BK

3 weeks sounds ok to me. If you prefer RV over motel, I see nothing in your destinations that would preclude taking an RV. Enjoy the trip.

2 Ozzy tourists on the loose | Good Sam Community

msmith1199
Explorer II
Dec 12, 2013
Also, I notice you say you are doing this in March. In March the weather in the Southwest region of the Country will likely be perfect for travel. But March is the tail end of winter so if you start getting up toward Denver and areas north, you may find yourself with winter weather still and snow. I would never take an RV to snow country on purpose myself.

So back to my advice, now noticing you are traveling in March, I'd do the southwest. Hit Vegas, grand canyon, painted desert, New Mexico, Arizona, and that region.
msmith1199
Explorer II
Dec 12, 2013
I went to Google maps and just did a quick plotting of a circle tour to the areas you described. Google maps says 3605 miles. Only you know if you can travel that far in three weeks. I could do it myself, but personally if I had three weeks, I'd cut it down a little. On the how to travel, again that's personal preference. I think it would probably be cheaper overall to do the car-hotel thing, but nothing beats the comfort of the RV for travel. I haven't rented an RV in a while, but I know they seem to have got pretty expensive. Not to mention they only give you a limited number of free miles per day and then charge a lot for miles over that. You would have to do the math.

You are also talking traveling to some remotes areas (although nothing remote like the outback) so hotels could be sparce in some of these areas and depending on your taste in hotels you may not always easily find a place to stay. While at the same time the area you are traveling has lots of public lands and plenty of free places to pull off the side of the road and spend the night if you had an RV. If I could afford it, I personally would take the RV over hotels any day of the week for a trip of the west like that.

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