norcal camper wrote:
Hello everyone! I'm a new member here from Fremont, Ca looking for tons of advice. I've got 3 kids (boy-6, girls 12 & 13) and would like to take them on a grand RV trip of the Western states before they are "too cool" to hang with mom and dad. Yellowstone was our main destination, but I'd like to do a loop that includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. I can probably get a month off work. Ideally I'd like to visit Yellowstone park and several of the parks in Utah as well as seeing the Grand Canyon. I've got to make a stop in Phoenix, AZ to visit family as well as Red Bluff, CA. I was first thinking of a clockwise route that started up highway 5 North through Oregon and Washington then went East towards Yellowstone. I realized that this would put the hottest, and driest portion of the trip at the end when everyone may be over the whole road trip thing and just wanting to get home. Therefore I thought maybe it would be better to head South on 5, hit Las Vegas for a night, then vistit in AZ, then on to the Grand Canyon and state parks in Utah before heading North to Yellowstone. A month sounds like a long time, but I realize I have a large wish list. I need you who have done a similar trip to help me realize what's really doable. Please help me 1st with the "must-see" things in each of these states. Then, we can discuss routes. Also, what is the best time of year for this? Keep in mind I have to do it when the kids are out of school(June-Aug). I was thinking immediately after school lets out so as to avoid the extreme heat and crowds of July and August?
Okay, let your thoughts and ideas flow! I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and helping to make this a trip of a lifetime.
P.S. - We will be towing a 24' travel trailer with our Toyota Tundra Crewmax pickup. 5.7L with a tow rating of 10,000 lbs. Trailer weight - approx. 5900 lbs.
After you leave Las Vegas go to Bryce,Zion and the north Grand Canyon, then South Grand Canyon( if you feel you need to), I like the North Side because it is not as crowded with visitors etc etc. Once you leave the Grand Canyon and start heading south towards Phoenix you are going to be in temps. like 105-115 hot hot. I would save Phoenix area for the winter months. From the Grand Canyon, I would head west to Bakersfield and then go west to Ocean. Great weather and your kids won't get as cranky:(:( I spend the months of Jan. Feb. and March in the Phoenix every year but always leave at the end of March.
