Key West or Out West

[woodtrucker]

Well, I have been on here before dreaming about a trip out west. I got VERY good feedback.
Didn't imagine I'd be trying to do it right now with COVID restrictions but here we are.
We are a family of 5. Kids are 15, 13, and 10 and we are ready for an adventure before our oldest is gone.
We have the time and money to actually take a trip out in our 5th wheel to either key west or out west. I prefer out west but a lot of things are closed due to covid so I'm apprehensive about going.

I also HATE to book something a year out. I'd love to book it right now and be able to go mid may time frame.
Any suggestions on where I should look right now?

[BarabooBob]

And this is one of the great reasons I love living in Wisconsin. We are 1000 miles from the east coast, northern Florida, New Orleans, Denver, the Big Horn Mtns. I can be at any of those places within 2 moderate days of driving. Being on either coast means much more driving.

[woodtrucker]

wowens79 wrote:
Alot depends on what they family likes to do, and how much you want to drive. The keys are a long haul, but out west is twice as far.
We've done the keys twice, and spent a week there. Both trips we spent one afternoon and evening in Key West. We like the water and to fish, so we snorkled from the beach and kayaks, and did a trip on a boat out to the reefs. We also fished from out kayaks and the beach, and also did a half day shark fishing trip that was a blast. Also central FL has some great springs to paddle and explore.
We are in GA, and have not gone west, but would really like to, but with limited time, I cant justify the drive/enjoy ratio 🙂

That's part of my struggle too. We'll be in transit much more than exploring the area that we intent to arrive at. And about 3 weeks is as long we could afford to be gone. We have grown in our camping experiences and our family situation to handle longer periods of time away from home but none of us are really excited about riding in the truck for 4 days to get there.
That's why the outer banks are looking better for us because we can stay a week and a half very easily and it is at least a place we've never been as a family.

[wowens79]

Alot depends on what they family likes to do, and how much you want to drive. The keys are a long haul, but out west is twice as far.
We've done the keys twice, and spent a week there. Both trips we spent one afternoon and evening in Key West. We like the water and to fish, so we snorkled from the beach and kayaks, and did a trip on a boat out to the reefs. We also fished from out kayaks and the beach, and also did a half day shark fishing trip that was a blast. Also central FL has some great springs to paddle and explore.
We are in GA, and have not gone west, but would really like to, but with limited time, I cant justify the drive/enjoy ratio 🙂

[Horsedoc]

woodtrucker wrote:
So do I need to pre book the trip? That’s really only thing west worries me about.
Other than that, I think we can burn 3 weeks but that’s about all the time we’ve got.

We never pre-book. Drive until we figure out where we will be at the end of the day. Pull out a well used campground directory and start looking at what is ahead. Phone them up and have a site ready when we get there.
If we drive late and want to get an early start, there are all sorts of parking lots and rest areas. We don't do truck stops - too noisy. We also don't do isolated pull-offs (obvious reasons)

[MarkTwain]

agesilaus wrote:

Make your reservations and cancel if you need to, be on the safe side. wrote:
And that is a major problem for RVer's. People with that attitude and the lack of financial pain for cancellations. Parks need to start charging people for cancelling at least within a couple of weeks of the date. Otherwise park spaces are denied to people who would really use them.

All California RV parks operate on some version of fees for cancellations. Another issue with reservations is Rver's that make reservations for just week ends which make it difficult for RVers that want to stay for weeks or longer through the weekends. It is a non intended conflict .

[Busskipper]

woodtrucker wrote:
Well, I have been on here before dreaming about a trip out west. I got VERY good feedback.
Didn't imagine I'd be trying to do it right now with COVID restrictions but here we are.
We are a family of 5. Kids are 15, 13, and 10 and we are ready for an adventure before our oldest is gone.
We have the time and money to actually take a trip out in our 5th wheel to either key west or out west. I prefer out west but a lot of things are closed due to covid so I'm apprehensive about going.

I also HATE to book something a year out. I'd love to book it right now and be able to go mid may time frame.
Any suggestions on where I should look right now?

Simple answer - WEST - we spent 12 weeks out in the Rockies last Summer and had no Issue - from Montana to Taos, NM - the West is open.

I did the trip with my two son's and 5 Granddaughter's a couple of their Cousins joined us with their Mom so our group totaled 14, with no Issues.

Our kids age group went from the 8 YO twins to a 21 YO cousin - For the most part we spent 1/2 our time in the Parks and 1/2 out - mostly on the Water - Lakes - Streams - Reservoirs, kids just love the water.

Think their favorite spot of the trip was Flaming Gorge on the Beach - On the Water.

IMHO you need to work up a Plan and roll on out to the Rockies.

JMHO,

[valhalla360]

woodtrucker wrote:
So do I need to pre book the trip? That’s really only thing west worries me about.
Other than that, I think we can burn 3 weeks but that’s about all the time we’ve got.

3 weeks in my mind rules out both options.
- Key West...even if you take your time 3-4 days down and 3-4 days back...that leaves you 2 full weeks. To do more than just sit on the beach for 2 weeks, it's going to get expensive doing boat trips, snorkling, etc..., each day...and even then it may get boring pretty quick. Problem is you are pinned down by the limited road system. Now if it's part of a larger Florida trip, that's different.
- Out west, there is plenty to see and do but it's likely going to be 4-6,000 miles. That's 200-300miles per day average...that's a lot of driving.

Of course, you haven't clarified what "out west" is.
- Spend 3 days hard driving to hit Denver, spend 2 weeks wandering Colorado and then 3 days hard driving home...More driving that we like but if you only have 3 weeks, it's doable and not hard to stay busy in the Colorado mountains for a couple weeks.
- If you are thinking Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, down into Utah Big 5, followed by Grand Canyon and then home...that would be an absolute miserable trip where you do nothing but drive.

I wouldn't worry about reservations except at key locations (like Yellowstone).

[ford_truck_guy]

JoeH wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:

woodtrucker wrote:
So do I need to pre book the trip? That’s really only thing west worries me about.
Other than that, I think we can burn 3 weeks but that’s about all the time we’ve got.

The answer to the need to "pre booking" will largely depend of where you want to RV and the time of the year. Areas that are popular will need reservations i.e. Calif. and Oregon ocean parks, summer and spring months. Make your reservations and cancel if you need to, be on the safe side.

I think this year is going to have challenges with getting reservations due to the huge increase in RV'ers. I made reservations for our July & August stay in Maine last year. I was looking at other places on the way up and then heading out west in late August and found many of the places we've stayed at in the past are already booked.

We were in Maine the last week of July last year and the campground was less than 1/2 full... we stayed 5 minutes from Bar Harbor in Trenton, Maine

[2_Retired]

I just finished planning our month-long 'voyage' South from Va yesterday. We have a 35'Class A. We start out from home (north of Richmond) and will be going to SC (Myrtle Beach to visit friends) then to Savannah (because we love it) then to Florida - both coasts- to visit with more friends. Back to Charleston, then home. Originally I wasn't looking into many reservations - like the ability to easily change plans. While checking on CGs in Florida, I discovered so many of them have absolutely nothing available for the time-frame of our trip (winter, so snow-birds!) or they had 2 week or 1 month minimum stays! Even the state parks (which we prefer) were full, only partially open, or sites were too small for our RV. It took me several days to even find a park that had a site available and that would allow a short-term stay! Each of them 'strongly suggested' a reservation - could not promise a site without one -. Fortunately, several of these had changed to a 'no penalty' policy for cancellations! We prefer state, federal or county parks, but none I looked at had anything at all - several were closed due to Covid. Our trip will now be a bit more 'planned' than we generally like, with the reservations, but at least I know we won't be boondocking! Not my favorite way to travel! Enjoy your trip and create some great all-time experiences for your children!!

[Crowe]

woodtrucker wrote:
JoeH,
That's exactly my concern with not prebooking. I feel like an extended stay at the outer banks might be a little more fun and less hectic. I can also book that right now for a late april/early may voyage as well.

Love OBX! Keep in mind, though, that a lot of the "fun" stuff might not be open due to April/May being early in the year plus COVID.

[2_Retired]

I second the idea that Key West is far more for adults than kids. We've been there twice, love it for a couple of days, but definitely would choose another destination if we had our grandkids with us. The town is all about bar-hopping, food and night-time fun. Yes, there are some things for a family to enjoy, and a trip to the Dry Tortugas would be a definite "must do" for the whole family, but Key West from our experience is a Mecca for party-seekers. The trip to get there is exhausting! Single-lane drive for the length of the keys (which is much longer than it looks on a map!) - both times we went with heavy, heavy traffic! Not enjoyable or relaxing at all! Seeing the ages of your children, I would "go West, young man!" You live on the East Coast, and can always enjoy that, but a trip West with the kids should create some "forever memories"! Just my thoughts.

[woodtrucker]

JoeH,
That's exactly my concern with not prebooking. I feel like an extended stay at the outer banks might be a little more fun and less hectic. I can also book that right now for a late april/early may voyage as well.

[JoeH]

MarkTwain wrote:

woodtrucker wrote:
So do I need to pre book the trip? That’s really only thing west worries me about.
Other than that, I think we can burn 3 weeks but that’s about all the time we’ve got.

The answer to the need to "pre booking" will largely depend of where you want to RV and the time of the year. Areas that are popular will need reservations i.e. Calif. and Oregon ocean parks, summer and spring months. Make your reservations and cancel if you need to, be on the safe side.

I think this year is going to have challenges with getting reservations due to the huge increase in RV'ers. I made reservations for our July & August stay in Maine last year. I was looking at other places on the way up and then heading out west in late August and found many of the places we've stayed at in the past are already booked.

[Dick_B]

Out west is SO FAR for three teens when there is so much to see on the east coast. For ideas I'd do a Google search for `______ tourism' and put the state or city or area in the blank space for ideas from the experts. I assume you have been to Colonial Williamsburg and Norfolk shipyard, Washington DC where you could spend a week easily.

[agesilaus]

Make your reservations and cancel if you need to, be on the safe side. wrote:
And that is a major problem for RVer's. People with that attitude and the lack of financial pain for cancellations. Parks need to start charging people for cancelling at least within a couple of weeks of the date. Otherwise park spaces are denied to people who would really use them.