See America Tour

Definitely Hwy 2 into Michigan.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Use secondary/back-roads as much as possible........leave Interstates and SEE the USA (we did for 7 yrs)

On travel day -- break campsite by 10AM and be setting up by 3PM

Relax enjoy and if you see something STOP/Explore

Have fun, be safe

X2 on everything. And since you're starting in MT, begin with US2. A great relaxing driving route with lots to see along the way.

GScottLockwood wrote:
...We typically only cover about 250 miles a day and often will spend two or three days in one location to see the sights. Anyone have route suggestions things to avoid or things to see along such a trip would be great...

Without knowing more about your preferred route and your interests, it is tough to make any recommendations. We also move about 250 miles a day or less. We usually have one or two major destinations in mind and then look at potential routes. We rarely have reservations in advance so when we stop for the night we ask what is in the area and then decide whether to stay more than a night. I also do some research on the area where we may end up. We have visited and enjoyed a number of locations listed in the book A Thousand Places to See Before You Die. Here are some websites I use to find things of interest to us:
National Parks,
National Wildlife Rufuges,
State Parks,
Scenic Byways,
National Historic Trails,
Legends of America,
Roadside America,
Ghost Towns,
Flea Markets,
Factory Tours,
Waterfalls,
Scenic Railroads,
State Fairs,
Lighthouses,
Breweries in the United States,
Wineries in the United States,
Trip Advisor,
State Tourism Websites,
Frommers Guide,
Fairs and Festivals,
More Fairs & Festivals,
Scenic USA,
Road Trippers.

It sounds like a grand trip!

What sorts of things are you interested in seeing and doing? What sorts of amenities do you look for when camping? Some general sorts of guidance (or even more specific ones) would be most helpful in providing useful suggestions.

A handful of general recommendations for most anyone would include The Henry Ford (outside of Detroit), Letchworth State Park (upstate NY), Watkins Glen State Park (also upstate NY), the Shelburne Museum (VT), the White Mountains of NH, Acadia NP (ME), and Skyline Drive and/or the Blue Ridge Parkway. Chicago, Boston, NYC, Philly, and especially Washington, DC all have some excellent city attractions, both historical and cultural.

I've stayed at Greenbelt NP outside of Washington and taken the Metro into the city from there; it's about a half hour walk (at a reasonably quick pace) from the campground to the College Park station from the D loop of the campground. If you don't mind dry camping and a little walking, it's an economical way to see the city.

Do be aware that many New England campgrounds close around the first half of October or so. Foliage tends to be the best (in Vermont, at least) around Columbus day or maybe a little bit before, though it varies from year to year, and progresses south as time goes on. Columbus day weekend is a busy tourist weekend; reservations for it are highly recommended. Labor day weekend is, of course, also a popular camping weekend.

I don't know from your profile whether you are old pros at RV travel, so I will assume otherwise. (Appologies if I'm wrong.) DW and I typically take an 8- or 9-week trip each year, and in 2015 did something like your planned trip in reverse, going from Mobile, AL, to Bar Harbor, Maine, hugging the coastline. We checked out Lancaster County, PA, and western Massachusetts along the way.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can suffer from burnout after days of uninterrupted touring, so we try to take a day off and just loaf once in a while.

Most of the places we visited were very well known, but there were a couple of surprises (for us). Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn., may be well-known in the northeast but was new to me They restore old sailing ships. I would love to go back again. The Clark Institute of Art in Williamstown in northwest Massachusetts had an amazing art collection that was a complete suprise to me.

For Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, it is possible to find RV camping close enough for a rail-trip into town. We skipped New York (having visited numerous other times) but made day trips into the other two.

I love to visit WWII ships, and so stopped for the USS Alabama in Mobile and the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC. (I skipped the USS New Jersey and USS Massachusetts - can't do it all.)

That's the bottom line: there are so many things to see that you can't possibly work them all in, even on the trip that you are about to take. So take your time, and enjoy what is bound to be a great trip.

Use secondary/back-roads as much as possible........leave Interstates and SEE the USA (we did for 7 yrs)

On travel day -- break campsite by 10AM and be setting up by 3PM

Relax enjoy and if you see something STOP/Explore

Have fun, be safe