First trip out west from FL.... need help
Well, we retired. :) DW and I haven't been out west and we have a 26' tt and a F150 We've been in the Smokies and WV but not out west. As this is our first trip out west and we want to take 2 ...
Forum Discussion
I don't think you'll be able to leave your tt hooked up in the lodge parking lot at the N Rim. You should be able though to find places to leave it. The suggestion to ask to leave it at the NP cg is a good one. Whatever inconvenience this might be to you, the N. Rim, IMO, is well worth it. So much quieter and less touristy than the S. Rim. Enjoy your drive from Sedona to Jacobs Lake. The Vermillion Cliffs along the way on 89A are stunning. Zion will be a place that you tour via a park bus so I'm not so sure that staying "at Zion" is a must. I've done both and actually enjoyed a day trip into Zion. I stayed south of Carmel and east of the Park at the intersection of highway 9 and 89. Decent shaded park with a running stream behind the sites.
Route back: I'd head north a bit on 89 to America's Scenic Highway 12 (southern Utah). A dozen or so miles east on 12 will take you to Bryce Canyon NP. This is a great park for an RVer to 'explore'. You can do it while towing your tt. There are many many turnoffs with adequate parking for your rig. The views and hoodoos are spectacular. I would then continue east on Rt 12. It is a beautiful route - about 120 miles. There are many climbs, descents, and turns but with all your FL experience with mountains ( :) ) you should be able to handle it. Along the way is the Grand Staircase (Escalante). There's a nice RV park in Torrey and if you stay, there is a really great indoor/outdoor restaurant about a half mile west of town (Cafe Diable) with a fabulous menu. From Torrey you can take Rt 24 to Interstate 70. Having gone west that far from Florida and with what appears to be a somewhat open schedule, be sure to drop down to Moab UT. You are so close that it would be a shame to miss it (even if you have to short Sedona by a couple of days). At Moab, Arches NP is a great drive through park. Also at Moab are Canyonlands NP, another great drive through park as well as Dead Horse State Park. It's almost criminal that the south half of a state should have so many beautiful national parks connected by some of the most scenic roads around.
If you continue east on I70/I76/I80, I would also suggest a stop at North Platte, NE. A must see IMO (and I'm not a museum enthusiast) is the N Platte Historical Museum (I think that's the name). A great archive of major USO activity during WWII. Also in N. Platte is the country's largest rail switching yard and Scouts Rest - Buffalo Bill's home. Nearby are migration grounds for hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes but it will be the wrong time of year for that.
Further east on I80, near Kearney, is the Great Platte River Archway which spans I80. It is a diorama of the pioneer migration west along the G Platte River Road and is quite interesting both in displays and the view of cars and truck roaring below you on I80.
A short distance further east on I-80 and 29 miles south in Minden, NE is the Harold Warp Pioneer Village. Plan on at least a full day to see it all (there is a FHU campground within the Village). It is an amazing and ENORMOUS collection of everything Americana exceeding Henry Ford's Greenfield Village if you're familiar with that.
Again, if I were taking your trip, I'd then meander towards Memphis for some great ribs and Beale St music. While there, I'd stay at Tom Sawyer's RV Park (West Memphis, AR) for a Mississippi River front campsite and enjoy watching the boat and barge traffic along one of this country's original and still going interstate byways - great views and if you go don't be discouraged by the entry roads to the park. It is a great place. From there you should be able to find your way home :)
Route back: I'd head north a bit on 89 to America's Scenic Highway 12 (southern Utah). A dozen or so miles east on 12 will take you to Bryce Canyon NP. This is a great park for an RVer to 'explore'. You can do it while towing your tt. There are many many turnoffs with adequate parking for your rig. The views and hoodoos are spectacular. I would then continue east on Rt 12. It is a beautiful route - about 120 miles. There are many climbs, descents, and turns but with all your FL experience with mountains ( :) ) you should be able to handle it. Along the way is the Grand Staircase (Escalante). There's a nice RV park in Torrey and if you stay, there is a really great indoor/outdoor restaurant about a half mile west of town (Cafe Diable) with a fabulous menu. From Torrey you can take Rt 24 to Interstate 70. Having gone west that far from Florida and with what appears to be a somewhat open schedule, be sure to drop down to Moab UT. You are so close that it would be a shame to miss it (even if you have to short Sedona by a couple of days). At Moab, Arches NP is a great drive through park. Also at Moab are Canyonlands NP, another great drive through park as well as Dead Horse State Park. It's almost criminal that the south half of a state should have so many beautiful national parks connected by some of the most scenic roads around.
If you continue east on I70/I76/I80, I would also suggest a stop at North Platte, NE. A must see IMO (and I'm not a museum enthusiast) is the N Platte Historical Museum (I think that's the name). A great archive of major USO activity during WWII. Also in N. Platte is the country's largest rail switching yard and Scouts Rest - Buffalo Bill's home. Nearby are migration grounds for hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes but it will be the wrong time of year for that.
Further east on I80, near Kearney, is the Great Platte River Archway which spans I80. It is a diorama of the pioneer migration west along the G Platte River Road and is quite interesting both in displays and the view of cars and truck roaring below you on I80.
A short distance further east on I-80 and 29 miles south in Minden, NE is the Harold Warp Pioneer Village. Plan on at least a full day to see it all (there is a FHU campground within the Village). It is an amazing and ENORMOUS collection of everything Americana exceeding Henry Ford's Greenfield Village if you're familiar with that.
Again, if I were taking your trip, I'd then meander towards Memphis for some great ribs and Beale St music. While there, I'd stay at Tom Sawyer's RV Park (West Memphis, AR) for a Mississippi River front campsite and enjoy watching the boat and barge traffic along one of this country's original and still going interstate byways - great views and if you go don't be discouraged by the entry roads to the park. It is a great place. From there you should be able to find your way home :)
