Fly or Drive?: 2500 miles from NW to Carolina's in June

Crowe wrote:
ake the RV, otherwise having the RV is a waste of money.

Disagree. When we RVd we also did fly vacations. I would have not have seen WY, TX, AZ, AK, FL, AB, BC, Iceland, Denmark, or be able to do my upcoming trip to WA if I only planned on using my RV. RVing and flying vacations are not mutually exclusive.

For those that think RVing in the south in June shouldn't be a concern, let me explain why it could be. If you get stuck in traffic even on a moderately warm day, sometimes it's necessary to shut the a/c off in order to keep the engine from overheating. To a person who is heat sensitive such as me or the OP's DW, this is the kiss of death. Large windshields magnify the sun. I will probably never own a Class A for that reason. Not enjoying a vacation is far more wasteful than a unit sitting in a driveway for a few weeks. They are retired. It will get used later.

Again, for the distance you need to drive I would fly. Assuming you are comfortable flying and staying in hotels, IMHO more time to investigate where you may retire is the most mitigating factor.

We certainly view the OP's situation differently and that is OK.
The OP is not talking a resort vacation. While the OP can certainly make a vacation of it. The OP's desire is to explore the region for potential relocation.
What better way to explore the area,than to stay there in a RV.
If the OP really wants to consider living there he should experience the heat for himself.
An RV will give the OP a chance to experience the full flavor of the region vs. being more secluded and pampered in a hotel. The OP is also not traveling during July and August when the heat is at its worst.
Sure the OP could get stuck in traffic, but the A/C could fail at the hotel or in a rental car. There are lots of doomsday scenarios that we could dream up but it is not irrational to travel by RV in the Carolina's in June. We are not talking about a trip across the Sahara. desert.
I cannot think of a better way to check out an area for relocation than to live in the area for awhile in an RV.
This does not have to be a survival mission but can be very enjoyable trip exploring the region. The OP is retired and has all the time in the world to just hang out.
The RV allows the OP to have no set schedule. The OP can stay in an area as long as they feel comfortable without any limits or schedule.
Assuming the RV is roadworthy I see no reason not to take it. If the RV is not roadworthy I see no reason to have it.
Roadworthy means mechanically sound,adequate A/C etc.
Finally if the OP is that sensitive to heat the South is probably not a good idea but the RV gives the OP a chance to experience the region first hand and figure it out at their leisure

fly and drive

this isn't a camping trip. I would focus solely on your mission.
just use hotels and explore easily and quickly.

if you 'have alot of time' I would then RV this trip. but if time is important and you have alot of areas to explore, fly and drive.

I live in Columbia and work in both North & South Carolina. I spend a lot of time in my 5ver when not at the house. The summers are not that bad except for the latter part of July and August in South Carolina. Along the coast it's more humid but you do get the breeze off the Atlantic.

The climate and scenery in Upper South Carolina around Greenville is great. If I didn't want to be in the mountains this would be my choice. The weather around Asheville will be cooler but you have harsher winters with snow etc.

Bring the MH and enjoy yourself. You won't regret it.

ake the RV, otherwise having the RV is a waste of money.

Disagree. When we RVd we also did fly vacations. I would have not have seen WY, TX, AZ, AK, FL, AB, BC, Iceland, Denmark, or be able to do my upcoming trip to WA if I only planned on using my RV. RVing and flying vacations are not mutually exclusive.

For those that think RVing in the south in June shouldn't be a concern, let me explain why it could be. If you get stuck in traffic even on a moderately warm day, sometimes it's necessary to shut the a/c off in order to keep the engine from overheating. To a person who is heat sensitive such as me or the OP's DW, this is the kiss of death. Large windshields magnify the sun. I will probably never own a Class A for that reason. Not enjoying a vacation is far more wasteful than a unit sitting in a driveway for a few weeks. They are retired. It will get used later.

Again, for the distance you need to drive I would fly. Assuming you are comfortable flying and staying in hotels, IMHO more time to investigate where you may retire is the most mitigating factor.

I'm puzzled by the concern of RV'ng in the South....if that concept is "bad" then why would you want to move to the South? If you're retired and have time, why not take an enjoyable drive to the South?...and possibly see some places other than the Carolinas to retire to?

If the RV can't handle the heat, time to reconsider RVng in retirement if you're certain about living in the South. When I had my series of 3 RV's in Houston, criteria #1 was always whether the combination of insulation and A/C could handle the heat and humidity.

Why have the RV if you don't use it. If this is not an opportunity to use the RV than what is. Fly and driving while the RV sits idle seems silly.
The only reason to fly is to save time, but your retired so what is the rush? What are you saving time for? Are you hurrying back home to be retired?
Take the RV, otherwise having the RV is a waste of money.
The only way to get value out of any RV regardless of type or price paid is to use it. Want more value? Use it more! No brainer for me.

For me I guess it would depend on how big of a deal it would be to take 5 days out and 5 days back, is it spent vacation time? I think for me I'd look at the cost to fly / rent a car vs RV and then decide. I'm thinking fly just for the sake of ease and just rent a car, no worries of mechanical issues to the rv that could hinder your search. If time was no big deal and wife was going with me I still would consider the road trip. Good luck to you, North Carolina is a very nice state.

I don't think a hurry/scurry trip will be a good one to convince the wife that RVing is the thing of the future. check out a town, move/unhook/rehookup, and repeat day after day. I think a nice leisurely excursion to the shore, the mountains, a lake, etc. with the real "camping" experience would be more conducive to selling it.
your hop,skip,jump trip will be more like my vacation sight seeing trips, not a leisurely full time event.
bumpy

we would drive. We love having our own beds and the ability to eat in the RV or picnic outside. Hate hotels. If you are near the coast it shouldn't be too bad in the shade. In the south you get used to going out in the morning or evening when it's cooler and go inside and take a nap during the heat of the day.

Enjoyable or miserable? Depends on how you deal with hot and humid. Whether or not you do it in a RV, you will find out about early summer outdoor life in that part of the country. June is a pretty good time to go. July and August days don't get much hotter, they just have more hot days and fewer cool days as the Gulf Stream moves in toward shore, and by August we would just be getting tired of it.

Although from Southern Michigan where "hot" is anything over 80F and humid is a regular thing, I've lived much for the past 45 years in places that get just as humid, some that get a little bit warmer and stay warm longer (Coastal Carolina, Central Florida) and places that get a whole lot hotter (highs over 100F for two to three months) and are considered humid when a 70F to 80F dewpoint puts a floor under night temperatures in the summer.

I go further south into Texas and the Gulf Coast for summer RVing. I think the RV can be kept comfortable if it can be parked in shade and the air conditioner kept running full time (that's why my motorhome has its own generator). But my frame of reference is that I keep my own house no more than 20-25 F cooler than outside temperatures, thus 80-85 inside most of the summer. If I can pull the inside of the motorhome down to 90 F, I'm happy, because the air blowing from the vents is coming out a cool 70 or so.

For you, that might be hot. You might not want to ever go outside.

The hottest part of the trip will be driving across the Great Plains in June. If you want to interest your wife in full-time RVing, I would not take her across the plains in a RV at that time of year.

The most humid part of the trip will be going across the Middle South to get to North Carolina, as hot wet Gulf air masses will already be pushing as far north as the Great Lakes states. The Piedmont will be getting pretty warm in June, the Atlantic coast will usually be a little cooler with air blowing in from the ocean, but quite humid. In the good old days the folks who owned the tobacco plantations on the coastal plains would already be in their mountain retreats by June (that's why their school year ends in early to middle May). Those who stayed behind would be sitting in the shade waiting for harvest.

Your NC destinations are mostly in the Piedmont and lower part of the mountains, not as muggy as the coast, but still a long hot summer. Piedmont elevations in the Piedmont are not high enough to get any useful adiabatic cooling effect. Wilmington gets cooled by the sea air, warmed by air blowing off the Piedmont; at least it is not too far from the beach.

Savannah and Charleston are best appreciated in autumn and early winter, I found them oppressive in the summer, but that was also the first place I lived and worked after leaving Michigan, and cars back then did not have air conditioning unless they were luxury cars sold in Texas or the Deep South.

There are two sides to a mild climate, not too hot and not too cold. East of your Pacific coastal range, most places that do not get long, cold winters get long, hot summers instead. That would be the Atlantic Coast. All the rest of the country most places that don't get below freezing and snowy gets long hot summers; in the middle, even the places that get long cold winters will get quite hot summers.