New to RV'ing - Big Trip - Would LOVE some thoughts!!

Wow , you have an extremely ambitious agenda planned?
May I ask a couple of questions?
Is this intended to be a "trip of a lifetime?
Is this supposed to be a vacation?
Do you intend to take 30-60 day trips anually?
My point is you look like your setting a schedule that will take the "vacation" part away. You have some 500+ mile days, and thats ok, but they arent relaxing. 8-10 hours driving, then setting up overnight and having to break in the morning to go for 8-10 more driving hours is stressful, especially with kids.
If you hit 2/3 of those places, and give yourself a couple of family days to unwind, you may find that you will all enjoy it more.

kerrlakeroo wrote:
Wow , you have an extremely ambitious agenda planned?
May I ask a couple of questions?
Is this intended to be a "trip of a lifetime?
Is this supposed to be a vacation?
Do you intend to take 30-60 day trips anually?
My point is you look like your setting a schedule that will take the "vacation" part away. You have some 500+ mile days, and thats ok, but they arent relaxing. 8-10 hours driving, then setting up overnight and having to break in the morning to go for 8-10 more driving hours is stressful, especially with kids.
If you hit 2/3 of those places, and give yourself a couple of family days to unwind, you may find that you will all enjoy it more.

My thoughts exactly when I saw several days over 400 miles. That is too much for kids, regardless of how good travelers they are. It also is not much of a vacation for you and your wife. Driving a MH with a toad is more stressful than just taking the family auto and takes longer.

We have been traveling for 50 years and I always felt it was better to see a few places really well rather than see lots of places not so well. I recommend you cut down on the long driving days, take your time and stop and smell the roses along the way. Enjoy more time at fewer places and spend time hiking, swimming, sightseeing and relaxing. Everyone needs down time and you don't have to be doing something regimented every day.

You obviously are still young - leave some destinations for another time. If this trip is too much for your kids, they will not want to do another.

X3 on the ambitious schedule. Some of those days include a lot of driving. Are you considering any mechanical problems, flat tires or major traffic jams?
That can throw a wrench into your schedule.

You may want take another look at the schedule with your family and discuss options.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

Just like everyone else has said, you are trying to do too much in too little time. When you get a more realistic itinerary make reservations! There are rv campgrounds inside several national parks but they fill fast for the summer. And the rv parks just outside the national parks are almost as bad.

How do you know how long you might want to stay in one place? Either throw out the schedule or put a few free days in. A 10 hrs day is OK now and then but the next day you won't do much site seeing.

There are some long days in there, for sure, but you probably know better than I do how well you will or will not handle them. It would be very, very helpful if you had more than one driver on some of the long days, even if it's only for an hour or two once or twice during the day. (I would not suggest the eight or ten year old as the backup driver, though. ;))

I'd give myself an extra day between Teddy Roosevelt and Mackinaw; two ten hour plus days back-to-back, especially at the end of the trip when you are somewhat likely to be rather tired already, is quite a bit. Three seven hour days is less stressful.

I would add Hoover Dam (one day, probably not quite a full day); it's a fascinating tour. I would also suggest adding the St Louis City Museum, which is worth a pretty full day if your a child or young at heart.

I'd also suggest not setting the entire itinerary in stone to begin with, but be willing to adjust as you see how things go. Reservations fairly far in advance would be advisable for Yellowstone and maybe a few of the other more popular parks, but much of the rest could likely be done with at most a few days advance reservation, especially if you're a little flexible about what sort of campsites you accept.

Mountain driving mostly means being willing to go at a slower pace up and down, primarily using engine braking on the down side. I'm guessing this is a gas motorhome with a Ford chassis; the tow/haul mode would help a lot going down. With appropriate caution, it's not really that much harder or more challenging than driving on flat ground. (Without appropriate caution, it can of course quickly become deadly--as can any driving, but the margin for error is somewhat smaller especially when descending a grade.)

Two Hands wrote:
Just like everyone else has said, you are trying to do too much in too little time. When you get a more realistic itinerary make reservations! There are rv campgrounds inside several national parks but they fill fast for the summer. And the rv parks just outside the national parks are almost as bad.

Yep if you want a divorce and the kids to hate you for years stick to the plan - otherwise shorten the trip so you all can actually have some fun

jeepin911 wrote:
Hello,

Have read a ton on here, but first post. I am new to RV'ing but got the last minute chance to take a two month trip - so heading out for a June/July trip west. My goal is to visit quite a few of the National parks and a few other places. I certainly realize we won't be able to get into the parks to stay but hoping we can stay nearby and drive in for the days.

I am driving a 35' class A and pulling a 4-door Jeep and traveling with wife and 2 kids (8 & 10). I feel pretty comfortable with everything in our shakedown trips, but still a little nervous about mountain driving with RV and TOAD.

Would welcome ANY advice on routes to take (less mountains the better since i'm new at this), places to go (not even the parks are set in stone at this point), and places to stay from this experienced group. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!!!

Cincinnati St. Louis (1 night) 370 Miles
St Louis Hutchenson, KS (1 night) 461 miles
Hutchenson, KS to Colorado Springs (1 night) 449 miles
Colorado Springs to RMNP (3 nights) 168 Miles
RMNP to Great Sand Dunes (1 night) 258 miles
Great Sand Dunes to Durango (3 nights) 167 Miles
Durango to MOAB/ARCHES (3 nights) 161 Miles
MOAB/ARCHES to BRYCE Canyon (4 nights) 283 Miles
BRYCE Canyon to Vegas (1 night) 268 Miles
Vegas to Yosemite (4 nights) 409 Miles
Yosemite to Sonoma (3 nights) 240 Miles
Sonoma to Redwood NP (3 nights) 258 Miles
Redwood NP to Crater Lake NP (3 nights) 256 Miles
Crater Lake NP to North Cascades NP (4 nights) 542 Miles
North Cascades NP to Glacier NP (4 nights) 535 Miles
Glacier NP to Yellowstone NP (5 nights) 426 Miles
Yellowstone NP to Devils Tower NP (2 nights) 361 miles
Devils Tower NP to Teddy Rosevelt NP (3 nights) 228 miles
Teddy Rosevelt NP to Minneapolis (1 night) 570 miles
Minneapolis to Mackinaw, MI (3 nights) 510 miles
Mackinaw, MI to Cincinnati, OH

Sorry, but did you even look at the Map?

This just makes no sense, no logic at all on this trip you are just bouncing all over the place spending way too much time on the road, let's at least try to not just bounce around but rather put everything into a logical order.

35 foot gas coach
Jeep
60 days
2 kids 8 and 10
Want to see it all
Start in Cincinnati
Colorado
Utah
California
Washington
Montana
Wyoming
North and South Dakota
Then Home

First BIG TRIP!

First off - too much on your PLATE - your EYE's are Bigger than your Stomach.

Can you drive to all theses places in 60 days - Sure - Will you have fun ? - ? - That might be the bigger question.

What do the Kids ENJOY doing?
What do you Enjoy doing?
What did the Kids do Last Summer?
What do you normally Do?
Is this a vacation or a Marathon?

See where I'm going - this needs to be about what you do, not about can you see it.

Mission?

Sorry but if you want help you need to have a plan, a Mission, if you do then we can give you some direction.

Hike?
Bike?
Swim?
Fish?
4X4?
Hot?
Cool?
Boats?
Wild life?
History?
Dino's?
Rocks?
Mountains?
Lakes?
Rivers?

Give us some direction and we can give you some advice.

So slow down, figure out what you are trying to do - Write It Down - the Mission - then try to stick to it.

If it's just to say you've been to all these places (BUT Missed even more that you never mentioned) or to Hike - Explore - Educate - Touch - Experience - ...............


An example would be Colorado - RMNP - Great Sand Dunes NP - Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP - Browns Canyon NM - Dinosaur NM - The Collegiates - the San Juan's - Crested Butte - Marble - Maroon Bells - Silverton - Grand Lake - Lake City - Ouray - Telluride - Dunton - Trout Lake - Alpine Loop - Engineers Pass - Independence Pass - Steamboat Springs - Golden - Estes............. to just name a few so we have a full month and we have only started - Utah the same - California - the same, just with a millions of your new best friends - ..............

Here is a family that did a trip every year. You can learn from them.
A Photo Album to help you decide Look this over for just a few places to visit.

Sorry to be the Rain (SNOW) on your parade but you need a lot more time and effort into the Mission so we don't just spit into the wind.

Give us more and we can help out,

JMHO,

All I can say is WOW! After that trip you will need another two months to unwind and get your nerves back in shape. That is way too much! Several times you pan on driving over 500 miles (one time almost 600 miles) in one day. That is possible only if you want to drive 15 plus hours! Driving towing a motorhome towing a toad is not like driving your sedan! You need to rethink your plans and only plan on about 350 miles a day.

Thoughts? Stop and smell the roses. Most RVers average 50 mph when you figure in stops, etc. That gives you multiple 10-11 hour days-with NO traffic. Your request indicates "less mountains". How stressed are you going to get after driving for 10 hours over potentially steep routes or additional time to avoid them? Please understand no one here is trying to burst your bubble but in all honesty I think you need a reality check. You've got 3 weeks of just DRIVING-no fun. And you've got no buffers if you encounter traffic, someone gets sick or you have a MH issue. I covered 7500 miles in 3 weeks, in a car, no kids. Would never do it again.

Yep if you want a divorce and the kids to hate you for years stick to the plan - otherwise shorten the trip so you all can actually have some fun

Absolutely.