Year Long Road Trip

DrewE wrote:
Your route planning looks not unreasonable for the cities you're wanting to get to. I'll avoid the temptation to gripe about the choice of cities or the factors that did or did not go into the selection process for the list...as it's not very relevant to the discussion.

If you leave in February, it looks like you're getting up towards New England around late March or April or so. That's an iffy time of year for the weather—it could be beautiful and warm, or it could be blizzards, possibly all in the same week. I might suggest leaving a bit later, aiming for Boston around May. Maybe think about swinging through the central plains cities and the Denver area ones on the way west rather than the way back to Florida, which it would be the dead of winter. That would leave working down the west coast for the fall and winter, and a rather long final leg of the drive across the south.

Thank you for the advice!!

I have seen several lists of "Best Cities" and "Best Small Towns" and agree with above; not a clue how some are on there and others are missed.

Not only that but your times, day after day, of AVERAGING near max speed limits?????

Ho boy!

It is an interesting collection of cities.

It will likely still be winter when you get to the Northeast. It might even be winter weather at the places you are visiting in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic. You might be arriving at Mackinac before the Grand Hotel usually opens for the season, but the ice should be gone and the ferries running out to the island. I last stayed at the Grand Hotel in early June 2013, it had just opened for the season.

I've planned several road trips in this much detail, have found that I'm usually off schedule by the third day, can be more than a day off in less than a week, but that's because when I find something interesting that I did not plan, I stop to do it.

Some of your driving days are well over 300 miles, a few more than 400. I find those exhausting, and certainly would not want to be doing two or more back to back.

Whatever the criteria for livability, why visit cities where the climate is not what you might want to endure? For what it is worth, this summer and earlier this fall my sister in law and husband celebrated her retirement with a 8000 mile trip visiting cities on a list of places ideal for retirement, didn't find any place compelling them to move from where they are now, which is Detroit. Across the Midwest, down the West Coast, back through the Southwest into the South (which your list seems to be avoiding, but might be the least expensive places to live and have the least expensive labor, and room for market growth).

Your route planning looks not unreasonable for the cities you're wanting to get to. I'll avoid the temptation to gripe about the choice of cities or the factors that did or did not go into the selection process for the list...as it's not very relevant to the discussion.

If you leave in February, it looks like you're getting up towards New England around late March or April or so. That's an iffy time of year for the weather—it could be beautiful and warm, or it could be blizzards, possibly all in the same week. I might suggest leaving a bit later, aiming for Boston around May. Maybe think about swinging through the central plains cities and the Denver area ones on the way west rather than the way back to Florida, which it would be the dead of winter. That would leave working down the west coast for the fall and winter, and a rather long final leg of the drive across the south.

X2 on what GMandJM said. What might be best to you may not appeal to those of us that rv.

Roughly six months ago I saw a story online somewhere about a computer programmer that came up with a route to hit all 48 state capitals in the shortest possible driving distance. Not that it would help you with your planned journey perhaps but it would be interesting at least a starting point.

I think you need a map with all the northern states in blue where you don't want to be in the winter time and all the deep southern states where you don't want to be in the summer time perhaps in red. Then color the spring and fall weather States some other way. But the Pacific coast could have an extended seasons for you so maybe some special consideration there.

Sounds like the heck of a way to spend a year but if it is nose to the grindstone work then perhaps not.

But anyway, have fun.

Does weather count in the ratings? Does number of foggy days count in the ratings? Does number of cloudy days count in the ratings? Does number of hazy days count in the ratings? Does number of high humidity days count in the ratings?

One wouldn't want to live in many of them at all if maximum number of clear blue skies combined with warm weather are important. Perhaps way more interesting, would be a list of the best "places" to live in the U.S., instead of the best U.S. "cities" (of any size) to live in. i.e. We've traveled through many wonderful places to live, often with no small or large city anywhere close.

GMandJM wrote:
Iowa City, IA and Rockville, MD. Really? And Cedar Rapids???

Just curious, if you're staying in hotels and are researching the hotel business, why are you posting on an RV site?

Is there an RV connection to this trip somewhere?

Yes, we are more likely to have traveled to these areas. How many hotel forums are there? :B

Sounds like a very expensive trip! Get an RV.

Iowa City, IA and Rockville, MD. Really? And Cedar Rapids???

Just curious, if you're staying in hotels and are researching the hotel business, why are you posting on an RV site?

Is there an RV connection to this trip somewhere?