First extended trip help

We hit Roswell during their UFO Festival last summer on our way from San Antonio to Albuquerque. We didn't bring our 5er as we only had a few days to visit with DH's brother on the 4th of July and he had a room for us.

They had the main streets blocked off and we had to detour, but it was okay, since our motel was on the north side of town. We ate well at Cattle Baron Restaurant and got our T-shirts when we filled up with fuel, but otherwise didn't want to wait in line or try to find a parking place for the dually. On the return trip, festival was over, and we only stopped at McD's for breakfast and didn't have a problem parking. We spent more time at the West of the Pecos Museum in Pecos, TX than siteseeing in Roswell.

From their website: "This year the UFO Festival is scheduled for July 5-7, 2013. But plan to stay the whole week from June 28 through the Festival because Roswell has a lot going on that week."

The route was good from Fort Stockton to Albuquerque. Mostly 2 lanes, but then it changed to 4 and was smooth sailing.

I wanted to see Roswell.... and we almost skipped Carlsbad Caverns. Instead we skipped Roswell and got tickets for the 1-1/2 hour tour through Kings Palace in Carlsbad. Out of a six month trip... I'd put Carlsbad Caverns as one of the top three places. Make reservations for the tour.

There's an Escapees campground between Roswell and Carlsbad. We almost skipped that and opted to stay over closer to the caverns. Instead we changed our mind and stayed at the SKP's cg. Loved it. Loved the people. Felt like we'd come home to someplace we'd never been before. Stayed two nights.

On the 2nd night I commented how nice it was that everyone put lights under their rigs... to make it easier to see at night. But I was told that it's to keep the pack rats from getting into the wiring and doing serious damage at night. I'd never heard of such a thing. (So Pack some rope lights along. They can be strung up in the awning or laid down on the ground either under the rig or around it...even as a walkway.

Don't make an iron clad itinerary with a time table that will wear you out. AND keep an eye out for weather. Sometimes you can hold up or speed up to keep a storm front from getting a direct hit.

This is the weather / trip planner that should help you a bit.
Weather Underground
http://www.wunderground.com/roadtrip/

As far as surviving the trip...
Don't get in a huff or a hurry.
Be sure to tell your wife how beautiful she is and
Thank the Lord for her every now and then.... out loud while holding her hand.

Here's a couple of tips you might find useful.
Figure out the states you'll be in and even passing thru. Before leaving on your trip, do a google search on "(state name) tourism" for each one. Most states are proud of what they have to offer tourists. Also, when I enter a new state, I stop at the first rest stop. Most have a room full of free maps and brochures on things to see and do. Also a good time to stretch your legs and maybe hit the restrooms.
Remember that Google is your friend when traveling.

Museum in Roswell was interesting but not sure you need a full day in the area. However a day or so lets you start to meet some of the locals in restaurants and hear their stories.

2hams wrote:
We really enjoy finding farmer's markets and local foods. Ever since the trip to Kentucky, I like to see what good places there are to buy bourbon :)

On one trip, we actually detoured to go through Kentucky. I'm not a bourbon fan, but the Bourbon Trail was too strong a pull!

Our last trip to FL and back, we planned our route back to enjoy the local foods - shrimp and grits (GA), lo'boys (SC), etc. I think half the fun of longer trips is definitely finding regional food and drinks. I advise to stay away from blueberry 'wine' though (Maine). It really wasn't good. The maple syrup (NH) however was divine. Every state has its own flavors. Half the fun of exploring the country is tasting it.

Depending on what your interests are, many of those places are best seen by staying OUTSIDE of the big cities :) If your USA tour means metro areas, then you're on the right track. Have a great trip. There really is no difference between an extended trip and a short one except you just keep doing it longer.
Good luck / Skip

A 1000 mile trip is like 5 - 200 miles trips...
Suggest you do a Google search for the state,city,area you are interested in and put the word `tourism' after it. Read what the experts say about their area. For example `chicago tourism', etc.

I use rvparkreviews to check out campgrounds. When traveling, we have found that Passport America will pay for itself in just a couple of nights. Your costs will vary depending on how much you eat out, how much you drive, etc. Despite this, over the past 5 years we have generally averaged about $100/day (that is including groceries) with an average of $30/night for campgrounds. The latter will get skewed quickly when you stay at an expensive spot.

Several years ago I read about the "rule of 3s" on this forum. Great advice - don't drive over 300 miles a day, stop by 3pm, and stay at least two nights every third day.

We generally have reservations at major destinations, such as Yellowstone, then plan the route and have tentative campgrounds identified. We call ahead midday for reservations.

As for how your wife should survive this trip (I am the wife part here) - be sure to plan some things you both want to do, and to do some things you haven't planned. We really enjoy finding farmer's markets and local foods. Ever since the trip to Kentucky, I like to see what good places there are to buy bourbon :)

www.mapquest.com is what we use for routing. It will also calculate your fuel costs. We average about $30 per night for RV parks. Some are cheaper and some more but that has been our average for the last 4 years. It does take some doing to keep it below $30. KOA's are nice but more expensive. Food is the same you spend at home if you cook in the RV or grill out. We splurge once a week on a restaurant. We find that our food costs actually went down because we cook smaller portions because of storage space.
In New Orleans, The National World War II Museum is awesome. There are 2 nice parks in that area. French Quarter and Lake Ponchatrain.
We use www.woodalls.com to locate a few campgrounds in the area we stop and use www.rvparkreviews to narrow it to the best bargain.
If you go back thru Mississipppi, we like River View RV Park in Vidalia Louisiana on the Mississippi River, across from Natchez MS.

Getting some good information.
Thanks to everyone sofar.
William Moore