Roundtrip PA to CA in the fall??
We're visiting family on the Central Coast of CA, starting in Harrisburg area of PA. Have 5 weeks to make the round trip. Figure 2 weeks to get there, 1 week stay, 2 weeks to return. Traveling in a...
Forum Discussion
No experience in the Rockies or west that time of year, but 30+ years of holiday trips from Oklahoma to Michigan have made me wary about late fall travel on the Great Plains and across the Corn Belt and into the Great Lakes states, it is not unusual for the first big winter storm to fall around Thanksgiving. Anywhere from I-70 north it might be snowing, to the extent of blizzard whiteout conditions, and from I-40 north ice storms can be on the menu that early. South of that, usually just severe thunderstorm systems, Texas to Georgia.
This is from the same set of conditions that make the region "Tornado Alley" in warmer weather, Arctic air masses pushing at warm, wet air from the Gulf of Mexico.
Or it could be clear and dry, or these storms might be thunderstorms with lots of rain, or even late season tornadoes. You need flexibility in your schedule in case you need wait out a storm system or move slowly behind it as it moves west to east across the middle of the country.
What experience I have earlier in the fall, across the Rockies and Colorado Plateau, is that campgrounds and even some commercial RV parks start closing for the season, as snowbird volunteer staffing, and park owners, head south in late September to the end of October. You should still find places open, but choices narrow.
This is from the same set of conditions that make the region "Tornado Alley" in warmer weather, Arctic air masses pushing at warm, wet air from the Gulf of Mexico.
Or it could be clear and dry, or these storms might be thunderstorms with lots of rain, or even late season tornadoes. You need flexibility in your schedule in case you need wait out a storm system or move slowly behind it as it moves west to east across the middle of the country.
What experience I have earlier in the fall, across the Rockies and Colorado Plateau, is that campgrounds and even some commercial RV parks start closing for the season, as snowbird volunteer staffing, and park owners, head south in late September to the end of October. You should still find places open, but choices narrow.
