cross country in small tt

The first time we went to California from the east it took us 2 months, the next time we did it we didn't go so fast. Take your time and talk to the locals, they might know what to see where you are. Don't plan to much and remember your not at work, you don't need a time clock.

I agree with not trying to get there too fast - take your time. I recommend taking one route going and a different route returning, so that you can see more things.

not all the way, but have made large portion of the trip... my advice is to plan travel days... start early enough that you can make a decent distance before dark. do not try to stop and set up in the dark.. too stressful going into a strange park and set up in the dark.

Don't take 10 - get off the super highway and take roads that go through towns. Find Old Route 66 and try that for a while. You see a lot more when you aren't funneled through...

Try local food and stay away from fast food at highway exit ramps. (trip advisor and yelp both have apps for this).

Use roadsideamerica.com and other such websites to find interesting stops to break up your day along the way. (I saw the world's largest Pistachio yesterday!)

Good luck and have fun!

The biggest thing is to stop early with enough light to set up and relax a bit before the sun goes down.

That is a bad habit for me as I always push to hard and I am tired from putting in to many miles and having to setup in the dark is way less than optimal.

We did the west coast trip beginning the last week in February 2015. We went from Virginia to LA and back. Returned in April.

I had been planning that trip from before I retired. There were some absolute Bucket List items for me, and believe it or not, downtown LA was one of them. Death Valley NP was another one. The Alamo was also on that list.

Once I got the big points settled I looked at the various routes to do that and what other national parts, etc would fall along or near the chosen routes. Then I'd add those to my list of places to stop.

As other's have mentioned, take your time. I tried to limit my daily runs to 300 to 350 miles. There were a few times when I stretched it, because there weren't any reasonable places to stop before hand, or it was logical to stop. For example, if it were 400 miles between points of interest I'd just drive the full 400 miles.

Also, I recommend getting off the interstates as much as possible. I suspect 70% of my drive was on the blue highways. It's a much better way to travel, more relaxing, and much more to see. This especially true once you cross the Mississippi. Even when we were crossing Mississippi along I-20, we'd jump off and drive the blue highway that mostly paralleled I-20.

In LA there had been things I'd wanted to see since childhood/teen years, such as the La Brea Tar Pits, Mullholland Drive, tour a major studio, etc. So we stayed in LA for 6 days. Stayed at Dockwieller Campground on the beach in LA for 2 nights and at Balboa RV Park at Van Nuys for 4 nights.

PM me if you would like any more information.

Take your time if time is not a factor. Now that I have time when traveling I try to limit the hours I drive each day. By doing this it keeps me relaxed and able to enjoy more of what I see. I also like to take more US highways rather than the Interstate. JMO

getcoles wrote:
My wife and I are about to head to Southern California from South Carolina via interstate 10.
The TV and TT are both serviced and in good condition

My request is from those whom have made cross country trips like this.

What do you remember most, that you would do differently, if you did it again?

Thanks for your input

The first time we went across country there were no super highways, RV parks, or trip planers, we just looked at a map and went..

best trip we have ever made.

Write a blog with pictures to document your trip. Use Blogger - you will need a Google account and a name for your blog.

Just Google "Blogger"

Another thing to think about is entertainment on a long drive. There are long stretches with nothing good on the radio. Some folks use audio books or an ipod. We have had great success with Pandora streamed through an iphone, except that there are some places out west where there is no cell service.