Spring Break trip (Vegas/ Grand Canyon area) coming together

[busguy22]

So this is what we have so far. Definitely not set in stone at this point but slowly getting there. Early March trip (as in 3 weeks from now). Would love to hear any and all input on must see and do's over this route. Please feel free to suggest alternate overnight stops as well (i.e.. towns and/or RV parks)

Family of 4 which includes 2 boys (12 and 10) travelling in a 32 foot Class C.

Day 1 - North Vancouver, BC -> Issaquah, WA (Blue Sky RV Park) - 155 miles - Leave right after School. Get across the Border. Load up with groceries. Put in a few miles.
Day 2 - Issaquah, WA -> Caldwell, ID (Ambassador RV Park) - 465 miles - Long day. Making miles.
Day 3 - Caldwell, ID -> Ely, NV ( KOA of ELY) - 407 miles - Second "longer" day. Lunch stop in Jackpot, NV.
Day 4 - Ely, NV -> Valley of Fire SP, NV (VOFSP) - 240 miles - Spend Morning at Northern Nevada Railway Museum. Into VOFSP late afternoon with enough time to do a little exploring before and/or after a later dinner.
Day 5 - Valley of Fire SP -> Las Vegas ( Mandalay Bay) - 70 miles - Can't check in till 3:00 pm so morning exploring VOFSP and then a leisurely drive into Vegas along North side of Lake Mead.
Day 6 - Las Vegas
Day 7 - Las Vegas
Day 8 - Las Vegas, NV, -> Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon Railway RV Park) - 232 miles - Hoover Dam, Route 66 from Kingman to Seligmen, AZ.
Day 9 - Williams, AZ -> Grand Canyon Village, AZ (Trailer Village) - 60 miles - Explore Williams in the morning then head up to the Grand Canyon.
Day 10- Grand Canyon
Day 11 - Grand Canyon -> Monument Valley, UT (Gouldings or Goosenecks SP ??) - 180 or 206 miles - Morning checking out lookouts along Hwy 64 the eastward exit out of GCNP. Still trying to decide where to stay this night. Wish we had a tow vehicle so we could do Valley of the God's the next day enroute to Mesa Verde.
Day 12 - Monument Valley -> Mesa Verde National Park, CO (Mesa Verde RV Park) - 155-170 miles - if we stay at Gouldings then visit Goosenecks SP (for sure) and Four Corners Monument (maybe) enroute to Mesa Verde.
Day 13 - Mesa Verde - Spend day exploring the winter/spring offerings in the Park.
Day 14 - Mesa Verde - Durango day trip to take in the Durango Silverton (winter version) narrow gauge railway trip.
Day 15 - Mesa Verde, CO -> Moab, UT (Shady Acres RV Park in Green River UT) - 125 miles - Into Moab well before noon. Spend whole afternoon exploring a little bit of Arches NP.
Day 16 - Green River, UT -> Eden, ID - (Anderson Camp RV Park) - 386 miles - Lunch in Salt Lake. See Temple Square etc.
Day 17 - Eden, ID -> Hood River, WA (Bridge RV Park) - 502 miles - Longest Day of trip. Making miles.
Day 18 - Hood River, WA -> Grand Mound, WA (Great Wolf Lodge) - 151 miles - Into Great Wolf Lodge before noon. Spend rest of day and the next morning enjoying the water park.
Day 19 - Grand Mound, WA -> North Vancouver, BC - 222 miles - (home baby home !! )

Again, we certainly realize that we could easily spend two+ months exploring all that there is to see and do over this route but we have 19 days (could add a day or two if needed) and have a genuine desire to see as much as we can without running ourselves too ragged .

[busguy22]

BozemanTrail wrote:


Are you and your family used to your Class C and traveling like this or is this a new rig for you?

Very familiar with the style of vehicle (owned a bus company for 15 years which had probably 10 or so Mini-buses on the E-450 chassis. Have put on many many miles in all kinds of road conditions) but fairly new with this particular vehicle. We purchased it last summer in North Carolina and our first trip was the 20 day trip back to the West Coast. Second trip was a 12 day trip in September to the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake. 3rd and 4th trips were the "drive to a lake and camp there for 3-4 days" variety.

BozemanTrail wrote:

Have you looked into the places you have on the list in terms of what's open in March? For example, I don't think that the campground in Mesa Verde is open until mid-April.

That is one of the reasons for this "short stay and then carry on" type itinerary. Early to mid March is early season for most of these places so it would be tough to spend 3-4 days in any of these stops save maybe Moab (or Monument Valley area if we had a toad). Mesa Verde National Park is a perfect example (the Mesa Verde RV Park opens March 1st) where only about half the things (or less) are accessible at this time of year (ie. no Cliff Palace, no Balcony House etc) so the 2-3 days that you could easily spend there in the summer season you just can't fill in the early Spring.

Absolutely appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks again.

Would love to hear of any "must do" stops (i.e.. restaurants, attractions, points of interest etc.) that anyone can think over this route.

[BozemanTrail]

Boy -- I'd say slow down a bit. When I go to a place with my family (kids and wife), we often will stay an entire week in one campsite exploring everything around.

Are you and your family used to your Class C and traveling like this or is this a new rig for you?

Have you looked into the places you have on the list in terms of what's open in March? For example, I don't think that the campground in Mesa Verde is open until mid-April.

Well, good look.

[camper19709]

It appears to be a very tight schedule with very little time to just relax. I think sticking with the 4 main spots you listed would be more relaxing.

[busguy22]

magnusfide wrote:
I recommend you pick out 5 of your most desired spots and spend more time in each or you will be run ragged IMO.

The 4 main spots we wanted to hit on this trip were :

1) Las Vegas
2) Grand Canyon
3) Mesa Verde National Park
4) Durango-Silverton Railway

Monument Valley and Moab (and to a lesser degree Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound) were added in when our general routing presented the opportunity to take in a short visit to these places by just making a small detour off what would be a slightly more direct route. Given how early in the season we'll be travelling, of the 4 stops listed above, the Grand Canyon is probably the only place where I might have liked to add another day (we'll have 1 full and 2 half days there as it is) but I thought getting a short look at Monument Valley and Goosenecks SP might be a better use of an extra day.

If we do find anywhere along the route that we feel we want or need to spend an extra day we do have that opportunity. We can add a day or two if needed (we don't absolutely have to be home till day 21 . . .).

mgirardo wrote:
Is there enough to do in Vegas with a 10 and 12 year old for three days?

I initially would have thought no (having been there many times but only with adults) as well but actually when you look into it there is quite a lot. There is obviously a lot of junk in there but there are a few gems as well (we hope).

Here's a few : http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/awesome-things-to-do-with-your-kids-in-las-vegas#.hjK5XkPj6

Another : http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g45963-i10-k1796700-Top_125_things_to_do_with_your_Family_in_Las_Vegas-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html

For us, Vegas on this particular trip is about finding somewhere warm that we can lay around and play in a pool for a couple of days. Mandalay Bay has a huge pool with an actual "beach" as part of it. They also have a lazy river. It's a little early in the year (although the highs last week were in the high 70's/low 80's) but hopefully those afternoons will be filled up with pool time. Evenings will be taken up with a 'fun" dinner and or a "show" somewhere.

mgirardo wrote:
If it were us, Day 2 and 3 would be 1 day. Doesn't appear like you are doing anything on those days other than driving, so why not combine it?

Day 3 (Boise ID to Ely, NV) isn't a section that is very suitable to be driven after dark from what I've been reading. It's pretty remote. In one post someone said, "dark sky, dark road, dark cows" over much of the route. Not the best for night driving. We could have probably pushed through to Vegas by combining Day 3 and 4 but I've never been over that route and really wanted to give us the opportunity to stop and see a few things of interest along the route (Ely area and The Valley of Fire State Park especially).

The other days that we could potentially combine would be Day 16 and 17 but the section from Boise ID to Pendleton OR is another one that is probably best done during the day as that is one of the only sections of the route where the weather can change fairly quickly as it has some higher mountain passes.

4runnerguy wrote:
I'd give up the days in Vegas for a couple more days in Moab. Your boys will surely enjoy Moab far more than Vegas.

I'm right there with you but on this particular trip I would lose that argument with my wife. Moab is somewhere we will absolutely go back to in the next couple of years as a destination all it's own (or more likely combined with a longer trip to include Bryce/Zion/Canyonlands etc) when we can really do it justice.

The most direct route home from Durango takes us right through Moab so we figured we had to make sure we set aside a few hours (I'm pretty sure we will end up having 6 or 7 hours there) for Moab and figured that Arches offered the best opportunity to get a taste of the area in a short amount of time.

Very much appreciate the input so far (and thanks in advance for any additional thoughts that many come).

[4runnerguy]

I'd give up the days in Vegas for a couple more days in Moab. Your boys will surely enjoy Moab far more than Vegas.

[accsys]

Days 11 & 12 - depending on the roads (sometimes good, sometimes not so good), you may want to drive through Valley of the Gods and Gooseneck SP on the way in or out of Monument Valley. Valley of the Gods is on BLM land and there is quite a bit of dispersed camping available there. If you desire you can peruse our stops in that area in 2011. Our posting for the Monument Valley stop is here.

While in Moab you may also want to visit Dead Horse State Park a little NW of Moab - great scenery and where the Green and Colorado Rivers join.

[mgirardo]

For us, it seems like a lot of miles. I would agree with magnusfide, I'd pick a few places and enjoy the trip. I'm just curious about your itinerary. You seem to be spending a lot of time in Las Vegas. Is there enough to do in Vegas with a 10 and 12 year old for three days?

If it were us, Day 2 and 3 would be 1 day. Doesn't appear like you are doing anything on those days other than driving, so why not combine it? You're in a motorhome, so less than 900 miles is a good day of driving. We do 800 miles in our motorhome (Georgia to New Jersey) in about 13 hours a couple times a year. I would be too restless at the end of day 2 knowing I still have 400+ miles to go the next day and could easily get it done that day.

For us, I think we'd break this trip up across a few years. I'm sure it would be a great trip, but I know we'd be saying, "I wish we could have spent more time at this spot, etc.".

-Michael

[magnusfide]

I recommend you pick out 5 of your most desired spots and spend more time in each or you will be run ragged IMO. Save the rest for another trip. Spending your vacation setting up, breaking camp, then hitting the road again constantly is no way to relax.

Savor the family fun, the scenery and the sites of a few places instead of checking off a long list: this is the most relaxing way to RV with the family in my experience.