Road Trip this Summer form San Diego to East Coast

More great advice thanks!

I totally agree that Maine, Nova Scotia, Niagara Falls etc is a complete different trip!

The kids are veteran travelers now and have done a total of four 4-5 trips..

I'm happy to say that having done history in school my 14 year old daughter is very keen to see the historic sights!.. Her faced lit up when I suggested Gettysburg. Some other MUST see is DC, Capitol building, Smithsonian Air And Space museum, Phili Independence Hall etc..

We're very blessed with having pretty mature kids :-)

Thanks again.. please keep the advise coming!.. It really is useful!

Steve

We do a loop quite a few times. This year we are doing it also. We will take the 40 out and the 10 back (due to winter weather coming back). Our main place to end up is Florida to visit Son and family and take a few cruises before heading home. I also have family outside Memphis which we will visit also. Easy route to do but unlike you we have all the time we want to do it. No matter how much time you have you will have a great trip and wonderful memories for your kids. Travel safe!

Janet

That sounds a little more doable to me. Mind you, I did a 7500 mile trip in 3 weeks, but that was in a car and no kids.

In NY you've got the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Statue of Liberty for attractions. Many others, I'm sure, but those are the two I'm most familiar with. Boston-Fanueil Hall, Freedom Trail, Duck Boats, Museum of Science, maybe a trolley tour of the city. There's sailing and a jet boat called Codzilla, too. Oh, forgot the aquarium. There are garages that have spots for oversized vehicles-when they put the greenway in after taking down the El trains they took away all the outside parking. You can take PT into the city from some of the outlying campgrounds. Maine is a destination in itself. You've got mountains, coast, shopping, amusement parks, so much to mention. Acadia and Bar Harbor are must sees if you are going to come this far. Southern coastal Maine has many campgrounds and there's a lot of hustle and bustle in that area. Our favorite campground in NH is Danforth Bay. It's not on the coast, but it's a good spot for checking out the White Mountains. There are other campgrounds closer, but DB has a nice pool complex, lots of activities, and is very clean and well run. In RI there's the Newport area with all it's mansions and a nice waterfront area. Vermont is beautiful and more laid back. The Stowe area has a good amount of summer activities. Can't help with Connecticut, though. To us it's a "pass through" state.

Mount Rushmore is OK-I'd spend the time in Custer State Park and do day trips from there. Keystone, SD, is a kitshy, fun tourist trap. There's Badlands and Wind Cave National Park as well.

Your plan is very ambitious, so here's what I'd do. Sit down and prioritize what you feel you MUST do and then things that would be nice if you got there. Concentrate on the "must dos" and work from there. Go with the understanding you won't be able to do everything and if you find a place you want to spend more time in, even though it might mean missing something else DO IT. Be flexible, always have a Plan B and remember that if you don't see everything you want, it's not a failed vacation-it's an open door to come back again.

This is great feedback Thanks everyone!

Just to clarify that if you could draw a line from Glacier NP south to the border then everything West of that line is pretty well explored by previous trips. We have even traveled the I-20 before when we picked up our trailer from Holmans in Cincinnati. We've been to Oklahoma City, Dallas, Little Rock when we did that trip..

So my plan is to sort of gun it over on a southerly route heading more north through TN and into Virginia. Then to enjoy our time exploring the DC, Phily (See Independence Hall etc for the kids, NY, Boston and New England area.

Then to take a leisurely trip back via a northerly route and see some things like Mnt Rushmore etc and see some sights...

What do you think of that plan?

Get to I-40 and beat feet across to the east coast and then tour.... 20 and 10 are pretty beat up for being in a rush... Not sure how Oklahoma City 40 is have not traveled it in a couple years. But the rest of I-40 ain't to bad...

It's more of seeing the East coast than anything!

Then I agree with "gunning it" and getting here as fast as you can. Yes, it's tiring, but it will allow you much more time here, if that's what your goal is. It's going to take you roughly a week to get here and a week to get back, so I'd push for to take that 5th week. If you only have 4, then your timing is going to be very tight and you may spend way too much time in the truck. That said, I'd go straight to the Carolinas (Myrtle Beach and the Outer Banks), and head north from there. You can stay "coastal" all the way up the coast but I'd side-trip into Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, VA, then hit Gettysburg, PA and maybe Hershey Park, PA. Personally I'd skip VA beach but that's just my opinion. If I had to choose between Cape Cod and Maine, Maine would win. You can easily spend 2 weeks in Maine alone.

IMHO with only a month you are really pushing it. Flying here and renting an RV defeats the purpose of having the RV. I'd take the month and maybe go halfway across to slow down and enjoy the sights, and save the East Coast for when you have more time or the money/impetus to fly.

Find and plan at least one stay with an activity that is for the kids once a week. Get them involved asking them some of the things that they would like to do and speak up during the trip if they see something that interests them. and Some of the things of the things we planned were an afternoon on jet ski's, zip lines, cave exploration and when we had stayed next to a very large arcade with Go Karts an all day pass. Two of the things mentioned was the Doctor Pepper Museum and the Mammoth Site in South Dakota. Give them something to look forward to and gives Mom and Dad a break and some alone time

Boston is wonderful. We actually stayed out of town at the KOA in Middleboro. This was close to the train station which was fun to take into town. Once in Boston at the train station we did the hop-on hop-off trolly. Great time and don't forget to go to the "Cheers" bar. Wonderful hamburgers and a Boston Cream Pie to die for. By the way the pie was so big it would feed 3-4. Have a great time and travel safe.

Janet

Here is a route for you. Drive up to Sacramento. Get on Hwy 50east. You can now put the maps away & turn the GPS off. Stay on hwy 50east till it ends at a carpark. The carpark is right next to a beach. You are now in Ocean City,MD. & the water in front of you is the Atlantic Ocean.

Hwy 50 is one very scenic & interesting road. For the most part it is not very busy.

There is most certainly a beach in VA Beach. Go to the ocean, and just before your feet get wet, that's the beach. :).