Our families 8 week RV Trip

[TurboJeep]

So here is our first BIG family trip. We bought a 2011 38' Fleetwood Expedition 38B last Oct. We are pulling a Jeep Wrangler as a toad. Going will be me(the driver), my wife, and 3 boys (ages 12,11, and 8). We've done a few trips now with it with complete success. Longest trip so far has been a week. Have driven it from Jax, Fl. to NJ and back too in a few days.

My wife has planned this trip since last summer. What do the experts(y'all) think about this trip? We leave June 22nd and come back Aug. 10th. We have some concerns about the trip. I feel like we may be just driving the whole time is my biggest one. Anyone willing to chime in. There are a few possible changes we may make. We can't extend the trip due to school for the kids. All reservations are made but still have time to change them. Thanks for any advice....





Day 1 Leave Jax, Fl. and drive to Gulf Shores, AL.

Day 2 Leave Gulf Shores, AL and drive to Henderson, LA.

Day 3 Leave Henderson and drive to Houston, TX.

Day 4-5 Sightsee in Houston

Day 6 Leave Houston and drive to San Antonio, TX.

Day 7 Sightsee in San Antonio

Day 8 Leave San Antonio and drive to Carlsbad, NM.

Day 9 Sightsee in Carlsbad

Day 10 Leave Carlsbad and drive to Tucson, AZ.

Day 11 Sightsee in Tucson

Day 12 Leave Tucson and drive to San Diego, CA.

Day 13-14 Sightsee in San Diego, CA.

Day 15 Leave San Diego and drive to Yosemite NP
Not sure yet. Is Yosemite worth only one night?

Day 16 Leave Yosemite and drive to San Francisco

Day 17-18 Sightsee in SF.

Day 19 Leave SF and drive to Ave. of the Giants

Day 20 Leave Ave. of the Giants and drive to Crater Lake, OR.

Day 21 Leave Crater Lake and drive to Seattle, WA.

Day 22-23 Sightsee in Seattle

Day 24 Leave Seattle and drive to Coeur D' Alene, ID.

Day 25 Leave Coeur D' Alene and drive to Missoula, MT.

Day 26 Sightsee in Missoula
side trip to Glacier National Park

Day 27 Leave Missoula and drive to Yellowstone NP.

Day 28-30 Sightsee Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

Day 31 Leave Yellowstone and drive to Salt Lake City, UT.

Day 32 Leave Salt Lake City and drive to Moab, UT.

Day 33 sightsee in Moab

Day 34 Leave Moab and drive to Grand Canyon

Day 35-37 Sightsee Grand Canyon

Day 38 Leave Grand Canyon and drive to Las Vegas, NV.

Day 39 Sightsee in Vegas

Day 40 Leave Las Vegas and drive to Sedona, AZ.

Day 41 Leave Sedona and drive to Albuquerque, NM.

Day 42 Leave Albuquerque and drive to Amarillo, TX.

Day 43 Leave Amarillo and drive to Oklahoma City, OK.

Day 44 Leave OK City and drive to Little Rock, AK.

Day 45 Leave Little Rock and drive to Meridian, MS.

Day 46 Leave Meridian and drive to Perry, Ga.

Day 47-50 Party at the South Eastern ShinDig

Day 51 Drive home to Jacksonville, Fl.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

toedtoes wrote:

TurboJeep wrote:
Damn do I wish I had posted this sooner. Now our heads are spinning.

That's part of the fun of planning a trip. 🙂

I really recommend making a list of all the places you want to see. Then, have each family member rate them 1 to 4. Any place that gets all ones is non-negotiable - you're going to see it. Any place that gets all fours is dropped - it isn't that important to any of you. Each person should have at least one of their top-rated places in the mix.

The ones with the mixed ratings are where you start looking at logistics of driving, etc. If you have have a place that is out of the way logistically to your top-rated places, then put it on the "potentially cut" list; if it's convenient to your top-rated places, then put it on the "potentially retained" list. Then, looking at the time frames, add as many "potentially retained" as possible. If you can fit them all in and have additional time, start adding in "potentially cut" places.

That's a great idea - but I would add to set a limit of 1's, 2's, and 3's. This is a great teaching opportunity as well becuase I use both time and money in discussion with my kids about opportunity costs - what is the second best choice you would have spent your money/time on if you didn't do this?

And on SD from earlier, I love SD and hate to see it skipped but I'm starting to think it doesn't fit this trip and one day isn't enough given the hassles it creates getting to Yosemite. I will put Yosemite over SD and a half day is better than nothing.

I lived south of Fresno and did a world wind tour for my Dad when he made a quick visit and it was better than nothing. Up to Yosemite for a day and a half. Over to SF for a half a day and then down to Monterey for an overnight. Pacific Coast Highway to Cambria/Paso Robles and then back to Central Valley. Not ideal for a four day trip but by no means a waste of time.

[OldFogie]

From Missoula to Glacier and back will leave you only about an hour or two for viewing the sights of Glacier and will still make for a long day. Just driving from Missoula, through Glacier (without stopping) and back to Missoula will be about an 8 hour day or longer.

As others have said I believe that you are trying to see too much in the timeframe you have and will end up seeing nothing. To see everything you have outlined you should add a couple months to your trip.

[MarkTwain]

4runnerguy wrote:
You posted this while I was posting my comments. My responses in red.

TurboJeep wrote:
Thanks for your responses. I understand what everyone is saying. I know my family though and we aren't the type to sit at a campground for a week. This isn't about sitting at a CG for a week. One can spend a week at places like Yosemite and Glacier and only be at the campsite long enough to sleep. These are BIG parks with LOTS to see. When we say sightseeing.... we are talking about going to Kennedy Space Center, kids want to see the Space Needle in Seattle, going to the Carlsbad Caverns, San Diego Zoo, and other places. The kids were very much a part of the planning and that is why some of these things such as Seattle have made it to our list. I don't know how the kids can make an informed decision if they've never been to places like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Glacier, Mt. St. Helens. I've given you recommendations based on years (oops, decades) of travelling in the west. I've been to all the places you've listed multiple times. When we have company come visit with kids, the kids go home saying it's the most fun they've ever had. The Space Needle is just a tall building. It pales in comparison to the sights that nature provides.

We were trying to find a balance between the national parks and seeing some new to us cities. Cities are cities. Glacier, Canyonlands, Arches, the Oregon Coast -- these are wonders far greater than any city.We are planning stays in some state parks in some of the stop overs such as Catalina SP in Tucson, Dead Horse SP in Moab and Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores. We will also take a break from the RV in Vegas and stay at Circus Circus. Again, there are so many much, much, much better places than Las Vegas for kids.

Las Vegas . Circus Circus RV Park is just 1 big black top:( When you are there the temp will between 110 to 120 deg.:( Las Vegas is a Disneyland for adults----Gamble & Drink!



Your availability of Yosemite reservations does not surprise me at that time of the year. It is a beautiful site to see. Not quite the same, but buy your kids a DVD of Yosemite. Have you considered South Lake Tahoe instead of Yosemite. Many more activities for the kids and the adults can get a night of Gambling/dinner as well. Great biking and walking trails , fishing throughout South Lake Tahoe for parents and kids. Tahoe Lake is beautiful and the kids will love it. There are campgrounds close to the lake. Campground by the Lake RV park is right across the street from the lake. A big difference is the temp. at 5000 ft. sunny but not blistering hot especially at night.

If any have suggestions of ways to make slight changes to itinerary(alternate routes) so that we could add a day or two more to Moab, a day for Glacier we would love your suggestions. I'm afraid I can't give slight changes as it will take some significant rearranging to make this trip something I'd want to do.

We do realize that some of the stretches a driving are long. We are young and frequent road travels. I am used to driving 9-15 hours pulling a 48 ft trailer with a Topkick 6 times a year over the course of usually 3-4 days turnaround for racing. It's not fun and we wouldn't want to do it everyday but we figured we could handle a few longer stretches here and there to see more of the country. What I'm saying is see more of the country and less of the cities!

Thanks again for all your input!

On edit, I posted this while you were posting your most recent posts. Glad to see you are considering some changes!! 😉

[toedtoes]

TurboJeep wrote:
Damn do I wish I had posted this sooner. Now our heads are spinning.

That's part of the fun of planning a trip. 🙂

I really recommend making a list of all the places you want to see. Then, have each family member rate them 1 to 4. Any place that gets all ones is non-negotiable - you're going to see it. Any place that gets all fours is dropped - it isn't that important to any of you. Each person should have at least one of their top-rated places in the mix.

The ones with the mixed ratings are where you start looking at logistics of driving, etc. If you have have a place that is out of the way logistically to your top-rated places, then put it on the "potentially cut" list; if it's convenient to your top-rated places, then put it on the "potentially retained" list. Then, looking at the time frames, add as many "potentially retained" as possible. If you can fit them all in and have additional time, start adding in "potentially cut" places.

[Drbolasky]

TurboJeep:

I'm not going to give you any specifics on "skip this and see that instead." As others have said, "to each his own." We did three cross-country trips of 32 days or more from 2004 to 2009, at 6300, 4200 and 8300 miles respectively with our kids when they were between 9/12 and 14/17 years of age (they are grown & out now, even though they're in my sig! 🙂 ) so I feel qualified to offer my perspective.

What I can tell you up front is for every one neat thing you want to see, you'll need to pass up 10 others. It's just a function of the vastness of our country and how much there is to see and do. I'll also tell you most of us easterners seriously underestimate how huge the western states are. That said, I love driving out there because you don't have the traffic congestion we do here (except for animal jams in the national parks.......) but they are big. VERY big.

As you can see from the mileage, the final trip was the most ambitious - 8300 miles in 35 days. Like you, we had some very specific goals in mind for the trip, and lengthening the time frame was not an option. We spent no more than 2 nights in any one CG; most of them were one night. Compared to the first two trips, the '09 voyage was more like a drive-by shooting. Don't misunderstand, I don't regret one moment of that trip and we saw LOTS of stuff. Our kids don't regret it, either. It was, however, a tight schedule and thankfully we had no emergencies or contingencies to throw off our schedule.

Your schedule is ambitious, but I think it's "do-able." Would I do it? No. Here's why.

For a moment, consider this question - what do you want your children to remember about this trip? Since we began serious trips around the country in 2001 we've visited hundreds of destinations & points of interest; national parks & monuments, state parks, amusement parks, historical sites, archeological sites and geological sites......you get the idea. But when we think back to those times there is almost ALWAYS an anecdote about something we or the kids did in a CG just hanging out. Or sometimes we'd discover something along the way that was really too cool to pass up and it turned out to be a phenomenal time. My point is this - allow your kids time to be kids. If that means taking a day to simply splash in a pool, play on the playground or just dig in the dirt, let them do it! Having a great time doesn't mean that every moment has to be structured and organized. Trust me on that.

Remember, the point of this trip should be to relieve stress, not induce it. Family time, as the credit card commercial says, is priceless.

Whatever you choose, enjoy & safe travels.

[toedtoes]

I agree with you. I had read at least one comment that said "it's a waste of time" and I always cringe at those words. 🙂

I also think some places need time to really appreciate. I had enough time at NF that first trip so that I could spend some time just watching the water pouring over the edge - a half day wouldn't have allowed for that at all. Just experiencing that was enough to turn a "tacky tourist trap" into an amazing place. This was mentioned by several on a thread about how much time was needed in Yellowstone - you can do a flyby hit of all the high-points, but to really get Yellowstone, you need to give it time to sink in.

I totally agree about the driving, especially the SD to Yosemite. And I agree, it might be best to skip SD because of that due to the pace of the trip in general. However, it could also be argued to skip something else and spend more time in SD so that the drive to Yosemite isn't as big an issue. It's up to the OP to determine which places are non-negotiable.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

I think it's all relative to time. Is a half day at Niagara better than nothing? Absolutely. Ditto Yosemite. We're just giving our opinion relative to the other options. The more we post why we did or did not like a spot, the more informed the OP is to decide what is best for his family.

But there is general agreement this is very aggressive schedule and I'm more aggressive than most on grand trips. The back end needs some relief built in so something has to get cut. And the time/speed/distance simply doesn't work for SD to Yosemite. There is 100 miles of city driving on that route that becomes a parking lot every day if you don't plan appropriately. And if you do plan appropriately, leaving SD around 9:00 AM, you will still have a 9-10 hour drive ahead of you to get to Yosemite without factoring stops. You're in CA so I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

The alternative, is hit all those spots and add two weeks - but he has a festival at the end which will drive the return date. I don't think the question is whether a half day is enough but rather a half day better than nothing?

[toedtoes]

I remember planning a trip to Ontario Canada. I read all the advice to "just spend half a day in Niagara Falls - do the boat tour and go behind the falls, then get out and go to Niagara on the Lake". I scheduled myself so I arrived around 3 p.m. on day one and left around noon on day two. As I was driving away, I cried. Unlike all the folks who advised me, I LOVED Niagara Falls. I LOVED the tacky carnivalish Clifton Hill and I could spend forever gazing into the falls. Niagara on the Lake was a very boring place for me - it had the same overpriced tourist shops (although different merchandise) as NF, but had none of the electricity. My next trip I stayed 4 days, and on the drive out, I promised to come back for at least 7 days next time.

My point is that only the OP knows what is "worth seeing". What person A thinks is the most wonderful spot in the world, person B will think is a waste of time. To me, there is no place that is "a waste of time" - there are only places that don't interest me. While I will happily spout off the wonders of Niagara Falls, I will leave comments regarding Disneyland to those that can do it justice. That allows the OP to make choices best suited for his family.

[TurboJeep]

Damn do I wish I had posted this sooner. Now our heads are spinning.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

CORRECTIONS:

- I haven't been to Crater either so defer to others who say you need more time. No surprise.

- Skip Vegas. Drive through, look at the window, next.

- I could see the advice to skip San Diego because it would make your drive so much easier and you could fly to SD from JAX for another trip. The San Diego Zoo is worth it, doesn't exist in FL, and you will forget you are in a city. BUT: If you ditch SD, you don't have to drive through LA. You can take I-15 to 99 to 41 to Yosemite. Get to Yosemite early in the morning the day of your reservation. Spend the entire day. Camp. Spend the entire next day. Do not skip Yosemite. Again, while not ideal, the valley is small enought that you can hit the main spots in 1-2 days. Glacier Point is a must in my book but you'll need two days to have time for the drive up. Take the toad for that so you'll have to plan accordingly.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

I'm going to dissent from most and say it's doable with kids with some caveats. I've made two crosscountry trips in pop-up with kids 7 & 10 for first trip and 12 and 15 for second trip. We didn't have to make return trip because they were associated with moves. I've also been to every place on your list except Glacier - it got cut to add sanity to our last trip.

1. I haven't checked your mileages to see if your drives are doable. I know sections well enough to know you are fine but others not as much. Factor 55 mph and no more than 10 hours on the road counting stops. And that's aggressive.

2. You have a maneageble tempo upfront. If kids are road warriors, you can handle 2-3 days hard driving without a stop. The back end is going to be painful so you need to make concessions to add stops there for safety and sanity.

3. Skip Houston. It's close enough to Jax, FL to see another day and is an attrocious place for an RV. Go straight to San Antonio. You can get to San Antonio from Henderson, LA in a day. You do need a stop by this point so at least pick one of the two.

4. Are you camping outside cities and using toad? You don't want to sight see in any of those cities in an RV.

5. My take: Add a day in San Diego and drop Seattle. You have to ask if going to needle is enough? San Diego you need to go to the zoo and La Jolla at least. Zoo is a day. Skip Sea World. You live in FL. Go to USS MIDWAY and walk Gas Lamp District.

6. Yes, Yosemite is worth it even for a day but you only have a half day with your drives. San Diego to Yosemite is 9 hours with perfect traffic. I'd cut Grand Canyon to one day and add a day to Yosemite and a day to Moab. You can see Yosemite Valley in a day and half if you don't do longer hikes like Vernal Falls or Mirror Lake, which unfortunately are probaby dry anyway. Not ideal to doable.

7. LA has perfect traffic about seven hours per week - and that means five lanes of traffic at 70 mph instead of a traffic jam. You have to really watch your time through LA. My best luck driving SD to Central CA is to go through LA between 1000 and 1500 but there is still a lunch slowdown. Lot's of opinions on how to get through but I just choose my timing very carefully and stay on the 5.

8. Categorically do not drive into SF with an RV. I can't see your agenda right now but 3 hours in SF is plenty with trade offs you have to make. Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and go up to the lookout on the NW side. Spend a couple hours at Fisherman's Wharf and ride a street car. Next. You must get clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl. That is worth the trip. I don't know the area outside SF well enough. Maybe you could stay north of the city and come in south over Golden Gate Bridge and spend the evening at Fisherman's Wharf. If you want to do Alcatraz, it sells out way in advance so plan accordingly and big factor time.

9. Again, I'd consider cutting Seattle and maybe Glacier to add some stops on your route home. Having made 4 week trips, 3 days straight on the road is max before everyone is tapped out.

10. Whoever mentioned laundry day is dead on. Once a week you need a day to recover with only light sightseeing.

11. Last one, is other than booking National Parks, we like flexing on intermediate stops so we don't have to press if things went wrong driving or just extra tired. Reverse was also true where we hate to stop due to overnight reservations if we feel we can safely cover another 100 miles.

Have fun!

[lbrjet]

This is your trip planned planned by your family. Don't let the naysayers get to you.

[4runnerguy]

You posted this while I was posting my comments. My responses in red.

TurboJeep wrote:
Thanks for your responses. I understand what everyone is saying. I know my family though and we aren't the type to sit at a campground for a week. This isn't about sitting at a CG for a week. One can spend a week at places like Yosemite and Glacier and only be at the campsite long enough to sleep. These are BIG parks with LOTS to see. When we say sightseeing.... we are talking about going to Kennedy Space Center, kids want to see the Space Needle in Seattle, going to the Carlsbad Caverns, San Diego Zoo, and other places. The kids were very much a part of the planning and that is why some of these things such as Seattle have made it to our list. I don't know how the kids can make an informed decision if they've never been to places like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Glacier, Mt. St. Helens. I've given you recommendations based on years (oops, decades) of travelling in the west. I've been to all the places you've listed multiple times. When we have company come visit with kids, the kids go home saying it's the most fun they've ever had. The Space Needle is just a tall building. It pales in comparison to the sights that nature provides.

We were trying to find a balance between the national parks and seeing some new to us cities. Cities are cities. Glacier, Canyonlands, Arches, the Oregon Coast -- these are wonders far greater than any city.We are planning stays in some state parks in some of the stop overs such as Catalina SP in Tucson, Dead Horse SP in Moab and Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores. We will also take a break from the RV in Vegas and stay at Circus Circus. Again, there are so many much, much, much better places than Las Vegas for kids.

We had hoped for more time in Yosemite but when the reservation window opened we were only able to get one night. We are still debating if we should make the stop on our way to San Francisco or just bypass and move onto to SF so that we can add another day in possibly Glacier or Moab as many have mentioned.

If any have suggestions of ways to make slight changes to itinerary(alternate routes) so that we could add a day or two more to Moab, a day for Glacier we would love your suggestions. I'm afraid I can't give slight changes as it will take some significant rearranging to make this trip something I'd want to do.

We do realize that some of the stretches a driving are long. We are young and frequent road travels. I am used to driving 9-15 hours pulling a 48 ft trailer with a Topkick 6 times a year over the course of usually 3-4 days turnaround for racing. It's not fun and we wouldn't want to do it everyday but we figured we could handle a few longer stretches here and there to see more of the country. What I'm saying is see more of the country and less of the cities!

Thanks again for all your input!

On edit, I posted this while you were posting your most recent posts. Glad to see you are considering some changes!! 😉

[TurboJeep]

I guess the main issue we have right now is readjusting our route to throw more National Parks in b/c of reservation availability. Grrrrr.... We are starting to look at rearranging our trip a little bit right now. Let's see what we can come up with.

[TurboJeep]

Understandable Toedtoes.