Is our summer trip out West too ambitious?
We are taking out first big trip in our Four Winds 25C motorhome this summer and have planned the following trip... Leaving June 28th from Milwaukee, WI area, returning July 14th My family of 4 (2...
Forum Discussion
What you have mapped out is a driving 'sampler platter' vacation. You hurry along and skim the surface of as great a variety of places as humanly possible in the time available. Now to be fair, for some people this might be their idea of fun. And if that is what you want, you can do it.
I have done some trips like that, and in later years I find myself saying, ok there's so much more to see here, I want to go back and spend more time in just this one place. Example: 5 years ago I zipped into Yosemite one day and zipped out the next (and felt underwhelmed by the park); this summer, I'm going back and camping in Yosemite for at least a week at one of the first-come-first-served CGs (no reservations). Might spend close to 2 weeks in the park, or might spend the extra days just east or south of the park (but still in the vicinity). Boy I can hardly wait, too.
With a totally regimented, tightly scheduled trip you have to ask yourself: what if you hit bad weather one day and can't do any of the sightseeing you planned for that day? What if the vehicle requires service? Or if someone feels carsick or otherwise ill? Or if you find something that you just would love to go see, but it wasn't in your itinerary?
Ok, here's what I think you should do. You can go with your existing plan, but allow yourself total flexibility to change the plan on the fly. No reservations anywhere. At each general location, have in mind several CG candidates as well as a couple of boondock locations just in case. Then take things as the whim strikes you each and every day of your vacation (well, up until the time when you must return home!). If you get up in the morning and everyone says, gee it would be great if we could do XYZ today, then do XYZ and never mind whatever else you were thinking of doing. It's a vacation, for pete's sake, so job 1 is to relax and enjoy! And the funny thing is, when you have that mindset and have chosen that flexibility, you can do a long drive on some days and still feel relaxed about it. It's a funny thing, how the mind works. Depending on your and your family's likes & dislikes, you just may get all the way around your route... or you may not... but either way, you'll have fun.
I have done some trips like that, and in later years I find myself saying, ok there's so much more to see here, I want to go back and spend more time in just this one place. Example: 5 years ago I zipped into Yosemite one day and zipped out the next (and felt underwhelmed by the park); this summer, I'm going back and camping in Yosemite for at least a week at one of the first-come-first-served CGs (no reservations). Might spend close to 2 weeks in the park, or might spend the extra days just east or south of the park (but still in the vicinity). Boy I can hardly wait, too.
With a totally regimented, tightly scheduled trip you have to ask yourself: what if you hit bad weather one day and can't do any of the sightseeing you planned for that day? What if the vehicle requires service? Or if someone feels carsick or otherwise ill? Or if you find something that you just would love to go see, but it wasn't in your itinerary?
Ok, here's what I think you should do. You can go with your existing plan, but allow yourself total flexibility to change the plan on the fly. No reservations anywhere. At each general location, have in mind several CG candidates as well as a couple of boondock locations just in case. Then take things as the whim strikes you each and every day of your vacation (well, up until the time when you must return home!). If you get up in the morning and everyone says, gee it would be great if we could do XYZ today, then do XYZ and never mind whatever else you were thinking of doing. It's a vacation, for pete's sake, so job 1 is to relax and enjoy! And the funny thing is, when you have that mindset and have chosen that flexibility, you can do a long drive on some days and still feel relaxed about it. It's a funny thing, how the mind works. Depending on your and your family's likes & dislikes, you just may get all the way around your route... or you may not... but either way, you'll have fun.
