Newbie needing advice

Skip CANADA to Detroit as the 401 is not that great scenery wise. Also U.S. customs at Detroit can be backed up for 2-3 hours; plus you need health certificate for Dog and with the food items being allowed cross border changing sometimes at the whim of the customs agent it is a hassle you can live without.

You state "It's been my dream to take the kids and dog cross country by RV, and I think we can swing it this year." BUT IS IT THE CHILDREN'S DREAM? Nothing like 2 unhappy kids for 2-3 months in an RV

First, many rental companies don't allow dogs in the RVs. In addition, dogs aren't allowed on trails, etc., in the National Parks. It will be hot during your trip, so if you are able to leave the dog unattended in the RV, you'll likely need to run the AC while you're gone. If you choose to bring the dog against the rental company's policy, just remember how much mess a wet retriever can make - getting caught out in one summer rain could create a WHOLE LOT of cleaning afterwards.

Second, while a 28-30ft class C will give you plenty of space in the RV, are you sure you need that much space? It sounds like, outside of drive time and sleeping, you won't be spending that much time IN the RV - you'll be visiting family, going to ballgames, and sightseeing. If you got a 24ft rental, you'd have the overcab bunk for the boys and the lower bed for you and your husband. With the awning and some chairs and a folding table, you could even sit out on a warm rainy evening.

If you can swing the finances, it could well be cheaper to buy a used RV and then sell it afterwards. Of course, you do also run the risk of needing some expensive repair that both throws off your schedule and costs as much as any savings—which can to some extent be prevented by buying carefully and checking thoroughly before you go.

Driving a class C is not all that difficult, though it certainly is different than driving a car and requires somewhat of a different mindset at times. I find it's kind of like driving a U-Haul, except that my class C is more comfortable and has better visibility because of windows in the house section. Length makes relatively little difference for how hard it is to drive on the highway (though a longer unit is more cumbersome in parking lots and gas stations and similar tight quarters). You do have to give yourself more space to brake and accelerate and anticipate possible difficulties somewhat further ahead, as stands to reason with any fairly large and heavy vehicle.

The itinerary sounds doable to me. You're averaging somewhere in the vicinity of three hours of travel time per day over a five week period. Obviously, some days will be longer and some shorter, but that's not at all an unreasonable pace in my opinion.

I would very much suggest that you try a quick trip with an RV before setting out and probably before finally deciding to set out. While travel by motorhome is wonderful, you might find that it's more comfortable for you to tent camp and/or stay in motels rather than deal with driving a big RV or handling all the various systems. It would also help you see how well your dog adapts to RV travel, and maybe gauge how likely it is to bark incessantly if you leave it alone in the RV.

If it were me, I would very much consider leaving the dog behind for the trip. Many places (not so much campgrounds, but attractions) are not especially welcoming of pets, and so it would probably spend a lot of time cooped up in the RV.

Whew! What an itinerary! I get exhausted traveling the 2,000 miles down from Wisconsin to Florida for the winter!

Seriously that's a lot of time on the road to get to where you all want to go and way too many places to be in such a short time. And especially for someone who has never driven an RV.

5, 6 weeks 'sounds' like a lot of time but it really is not. Stopping to eat, fueling up, rest stops etc. all add up and eat into time on the road. It sure would not be fun for you doing all that power driving just to get to all those places.

Just saying, you won't get that much time on the road to cover all that. No one wants to be on the road all day and pull into a CG with night falling just to crash in bed to get up at the crack of dawn to hit the road again.

Reality is pulling off the road around 2:00 and pulling into a CG and having a nice picnic dinner and some family time before turning in.

If it were me and have never driven an RV like yourself, nor do you have one at this time. I would plan ONE 'short' trip just around the South for a week or so first. Lots of stuff to see and do, beautiful country and you won't have to drive thousands of miles to get back home! :C

Well Mom, your plan has a good basis, but you need to do something tomorrow. I could easily tell you everything you should need to know, but that won't happen tonight or my fingers will go out on over heat and the forum will choke on the file size. You can contact me when you come up for air.....

Are you planning to travel with a laptop and a smartphone? If not, add that to your plan right now. In addition, you will need a copy of Street Atlas with the GPS puck, and a little inverter (150~200 watt) to run the laptop on coach power. You would also do well to get a GPS. It does not need to be fancy, but it does need to work. A smart phone would be good to have also.

As to the coach. You have the size about right, don't go much larger, unless it is a real good deal (like a family/friend offer). If you can stay less than 10 years old, that might be a better choice. I can't help more than that because I have always come on what I wanted advantageously.

First, acquire the aforementioned list as soon as you can. It will take time to learn how to use them all. Put the GPS in your car and use it all the time - even when you know where you are going. You need to learn how it "thinks". Then, load Street Atlas and run the tutorials. It can tell you:
1 - Where to look for fuel.
2 - Where to plan to overnight. Walmart, Cabels, Cracker barrel and highway rest stops.
3 - It can direct you to the stops you want to make

How this works:
Between you and the 12yo (at least - my kids started with computers before that) you can do the navigating with little difficulty. Every days starts with the dash GPS loaded with the day's plan. The laptop is running all the time and someone is watching.

Use the smartphone running "Gas Buddy" to find the good prices along the route. Sometimes you will buy fuel in advance of need. Like when you are at the west end of Indiana, buy before Illinois. Remember to update Street Atlas to the next fuel stop is properly predicted.

You should expect to stop about every four hours for a "Grass Stop". The dog will tell you all about that. Always provision at least three days in advance. Watch water and the black/gray tanks. You will have to learn to dump those. Most Iowa rest areas have a dump. Other than that, except to need to dump every third or forth day. You will have to hammer on the kids that they are not on a city water and sewer. (You don't leave the water running when scrubbing teeth - etc.)

About the route. Don't go north of Lake Erie, it will be a waste of fuel and time. DO NOT try to negotiate NYC... Set a target on the Tappen Zee Bridge. There may be some foolishness there hooking up with I-80 to go west because the RV may not be allowed on either GSP or NJTP and I can't remember which. Other than that.

Things to see on the way:
At Erie is their maritime museum.
Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
If you have the time to detour up into Michigan. The Henry Ford Museum complex is bound to dazzle the boys. (if you can make that, contact me for the stop.)

Well Mom, this is enough to get you started. If you need me, I am here a lot.

Matt

That's really an ambitious amount of miles and places for the amount of time you have.
You'll need more than 1 or two days for Yellowstone.
I've found that our average speed for a days travel will be about 50 mph with fuel stops, lunch and breaks.
Try setting your plan to paper figuring how many days you want to spend in each place as you go and including travel days. In doing that you will begin to get an idea how much you can really do.
If you try to do too much you'll all be too tired to enjoy it.
further in this forum is a section "Travelling in Canada and Alaska" in there you will find links for requirement for travelling with the dog. You won't need a health certificate, that's for commercial purposes, you will need proof of rabies and some other vaccines and current license.
I hope you can do this and have a safe and enjoyable trip.
Milt

DrewE wrote:
The itinerary sounds doable to me. You're averaging somewhere in the vicinity of three hours of travel time per day over a five week period. Obviously, some days will be longer and some shorter, but that's not at all an unreasonable pace in my opinion.

The average hours/day only matters if you're going to be driving each day. The OP needs to consider how much of the 5 weeks will be spent STOPPED at the planned locations and how many hours she wants to drive max per driving day.

For example, say I'm planning a trip with 5 identified stops and a max driving time of 5 hours (250 miles) per day and a total of 5,000 miles over 30 days:

On first glance, it looks doable because 5,000 miles over 30 days is only 166 miles/day of driving.

However, I want to spend 2 full days (no driving at all) for 3 of the stops, 4 full days for 1 stop, and 5 full days for 1 stop. That means 15 days are no longer in the equation for driving. So now, it's 5,000 miles in 15 days - or 333.33 miles (6.67 hours) per day.

But wait, the distance between each stop don't equate to 5 or 6.67 hours. That means I have to add additional days to the trip to keep my mileage per day down to my max.


Now, I know many will say I'm making things way too complicated. But, it doesn't take much thought to look at the OP's plan and realize that Arizona to Annapolis is going to take a good chunk out of the 5 weeks - and there are no desired stops in that distance, so it will be a day's drive, crash, a day's drive, crash, and so on until FINALLY you get somewhere you want to be.

What I recommend is to simply identify how many days you want to spend in each location, how far you want to drive per travel day, and then map out your plan including overnight stops on travel days. Are you spending more time on overnight stops than you are on your chosen stops? Then rethink your plan.

i don't think the OP has any idea how BIG the West is!
you'll spend most of your time driving, instead of enjoying the places to see and stop at.

i would go to Glacier and Yellowstone and turn around and head back.
drop the other places west of that.

You can look at this from various positions. Don't RV it. Stay with family and friends during those spots you mentioned, if you can. Stay in a hotel or cabin elsewhere. Or you could purchase an older Class C and try it. Just remember that when you buy something older like that, that you inherit any issues it may have. Do you want to spend your time having it repaired? Also, you will have to drive that class c everywhere, unless you outrig a car to two (another couple thousand). And a rental won't allow you to tow.

What kind of vehicle do you have that you can tow with? Perhaps look at a small travel trailer or pop up. Much cheaper and you will not have to worry about the engine part of it...just your vehicle you already have.

For what you are wanting to do, I would consider a $5000 used pop up or a travel traielr that cost s less than $10k....don't look at it as I'm gonna buy and then sell. Look at it at that I'm gonna buy and love and want to keep it...

TOOO many miles, too difficult, too tiring, too inexperienced.
First, buy a tow vehicle that can tow a pop-up camper and the kids can have some room,
Second, buy a used pop-up camper. If you make a mistake the lost will be minimized.
Third, go camping near-by and find out what you need to take with you.
Fourth, go camping again, get to know your equipment very, very well, you will need the knowledge,
Fifth, cut the trip in half,
and last have fun! the boys will remember the trip and the problems encountered forever.

Please pay attention to the folks,that have suggested that you reduce the scope and distance of travel.
PaPa!