Trip Out West

[rwbradley]

I am trying to break up the winter boredom by starting to do some early planning for our summer 2016 trip. I am looking at a East to West trip. I would be starting in Canada near Detroit. I would probably take Route66/I40 down and take I80 back. I am planning on not following these routes exactly, just using them as rough paths. I plan on allowing 4-6 weeks in the summer, due to work I cannot change the time of year or length and we really want to get out west while the kids are young as the wife and kids have never been west of the Mississippi. From years of past experience we know that 6hr driving per day for most days works for us for driving (3hr drive in the AM, lunch/gas, 3hr drive in the PM with time for dinner/relax in the Evening) on driving days. We also know that we want to spend most of the trip across the country driving with minimal stops, and spend as much time as possible hitting the big landmarks out west like Grand Canyon, Vegas, Hoover Dam, Disneyland, Hollywood, Sequoia NP, San Francisco, Napa, Yosemite NP. Because we are a family, we will likely make most stops at family friendly full hookup locations like KOA type parks where the kids can unwind after a long day in the car. We also like seeing any kinds of sights natural and built but are looking for "bucket list type ideas". So I have a series of questions for planning a trip this big and cross country:
1) would you plan every stop, plan just the big stops with a rough amount of time to get there or just go with the flow
2) how far in advanced do you need to book to get into some of the big places like Grand Canyon
3) are there alternate places to get the same WOW of Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite without the big summer crowds. Or are there other suggestions for minimizing the crowds at these big attractions ie time of day, days of the week etc
4) any suggestions on roads to take, sights to drive past, stop and take a picture at, stay an extra night to see along the way
5) The family wants to try boondocking in the desert. I would be interested in some 1 night along the way options for semi-boondocking, maybe minimal serviced, well spread out, official campgrounds that will give the family the "in the middle of the desert" with no hook-ups feel.
Thanks

[ken56]

Your plans are a bit ambitious for your timeframe I think to be able to really enjoy yourselves. I40 is 10 hrs. straight south on I75 to Knoxville. I always plan our trips for 65mph and divide miles by 65 for a time reference. I suggest you go online and order travel guides from the states you will travel through. They are great references for points of interest and most have maps that are more helpful than an atlas. Its also hard to suggest things not knowing some of your family's interests. Get the guides and have everyone go thru them and pick out something they would like to see or do. Don't push things so hard that all you do is drive.

[rwbradley]

Busskipper, thanks lots of good points. One of my bigger concerns as you pointed out is time. Right now I am not sure of an itinery, I am looking for ideas of things to see and do, than I will pick a small bunch of them to do that will fit in our time window. I wish we could hit all of these things but as you pointed out there is no way. It does sound like I will have to spend more time on the road per day and probably more time on Interstates to fit it in my time window.

As a side note, I will likely not go north of I80 as some day in the future we want to take a 2nd cross country trip that would hit the northern states and hit things like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore etc, loop around at Vancouver and take the Trans Canada Highway the other direction and hit all of the Canadian landmarks.

[Nunyadamn]

Might I give you just a hint about California camping - if you want to stay anywhere during the summer or on a weekend, you better make reservations at least 6 months ahead. Planning a trip like that, it is good that you are planning now. For California in the summer, and the places you are talking about going, you will probably have to plan every day and make reservations far in advance.

[Busskipper]

rwbradley,

I am trying to break up the winter boredom by starting to do some early planning for our summer 2016 trip. No Better time.

I am looking at a East to West trip. Great

I would be starting in Canada near Detroit. OK

I would probably take Route66/I40 down and take I80 back. Let's think about this - with 6 weeks you will likely be tight.

I am planning on not following these routes exactly, just using them as rough paths. Which might mean you will neander a bit.

I plan on allowing 4-6 weeks in the summer, due to work I cannot change the time of year or length and we really want to get out west while the kids are young as the wife and kids have never been west of the Mississippi. Works just need to know you will be with a large Majority of the RV'ing public and will need to plan accordingly.

From years of past experience we know that 6hr driving per day for most days works for us for driving (3hr drive in the AM, lunch/gas, 3hr drive in the PM with time for dinner/relax in the Evening) on driving days. Great thought, but you may want to stretch the days when there is little to see or do -- this will add quality time in the spots you have come to see.

We also know that we want to spend most of the trip across the country driving with minimal stops, and spend as much time as possible hitting the big landmarks out west like 1Grand Canyon, 2Vegas, 3Hoover Dam, 4Disneyland, 5Hollywood, 6Sequoia NP, 7San Francisco, 8Napa, 9Yosemite NP. These nine stops will burn most of your time and you will have seen little of the "Country". ( little math 5 days out + 5 days back + 18 - 21 days on these stops = 28 - 31 days+ or almost 5 weeks. Suggest you define the mission a little clearer. JMHO

Because we are a family, we will likely make most stops at family friendly full hookup locations like KOA type parks where the kids can unwind after a long day in the car. OK, any chance to talk everyone into a couple late/long days, so as to add a day or two to the stopping side of the trip?

We also like seeing any kinds of sights natural and built but are looking for "bucket list type ideas". So I have a series of questions for planning a trip this big and cross country:

1) would you plan every stop, plan just the big stops with a rough amount of time to get there or just go with the flow. I been doing this for 50 years and have always just gone with the flow - every time we have needed to be somewhere by a certain day we have always had to miss or shorten our stay some where along the way.

2) how far in advanced do you need to book to get into some of the big places like Grand Canyon. Not in my wheelhouse. but from what I understand it is/can be difficult.

3) are there alternate places to get the same WOW of Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite without the big summer crowds. NO - that's why they are the National Parks.

Or are there other suggestions for minimizing the crowds at these big attractions ie time of day, days of the week etc. Weekends are always more crowded in major attractions, so they are good times for longer travel days.

4) any suggestions on roads to take, sights to drive past, stop and take a picture at, stay an extra night to see along the way. You have not give the ages of the kids, is it at all possible to make this two trips? You have left out of your itinerary, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, these are normally on everyones list on a trip out west. (not meaning to slight Oregon and Washington) So just saying, you might need a little more time, it's a really BIG AREA you are driving through and it has hundreds and Hundreds of things you might enjoy.

If I started on the roads to take you might never get back home. (12,128,191,120,PCH..................)

5) The family wants to try boondocking in the desert. I would be interested in some 1 night along the way options for semi-boondocking, maybe minimal serviced, well spread out, official campgrounds that will give the family the "in the middle of the desert" with no hook-ups feel. Let's not try the desert -- might just try a State Park or a reservoir along the way with minimal services, not sure about your rig but in the Summer electric might be critical. (HEAT)


I have tried to answer the questions and stay on task but, now I'll just throw in a couple a crazy thoughts.

Lets not make California the Center of this trip. Look instead at the Rockies and the great spots you can visit without Sweating, in the HEAT!

Spots like Yellowstone
Glacier
RMNP
Maybe slide into the San Juan's with a side trip into Utah - you can get back to the Mountains and cool off without a lot of trouble.
Pick out a number of State Parks along the way.
Look for lakes and Rivers along the way to give the Kids things to do. (Lot's of State Parks and reservoirs)
Grand Tetons
Jackson Hole
Beartooth
Custer/ Mt Rushmore
Red Lodge
Cody
Whitefish
Dinosaur NM
Flaming Gorge
Colorado NM
Colorado River
Crested Butte
Ouray
Silverton
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Mesa Verde
Great Sand Dunes NP

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea, It's over 2300 miles just to LA so you will have little time to spend doing anything other than driving with your 300 mile days.

Hope I didn't rain on your plans but as most of us do we really try to load the plate then find we just don't eat it all or see it all let's pick the mission a little better/closer, then get back to us for guidance.

BOL,

[jalichty]

Yes, a day at Yosemite is certainly better than never getting there. However, a day might not be enough to see all you would like to see. With the crowds and the roads, it's a little difficult to get around. Will you be pulling a sightseeing vehicle or a trailer that you drop so you can sightsee? Makes a big difference is how much you get to see in the various parks. Also, I think you might want to skip the cities you have listed, Las Vegas and San Francisco as they are just cities and will take away time from seeing the beautiful sights of our country. We took a 20-day trip last May from our home, Lander, Wyoming and hit Nampa, Idaho to see grandkids for a few days, Elko Nevada to see some of wife's extended family, Lake Tahoe for a day and a half, Yosemite for 2 1/2 days and Sequoia for 1 1/2 days before heading to Palm Desert and then back up through Zion and then home. We put 3,800 miles on the truck and about 3,400 miles on our FW. If you have only six weeks, I would suggest you narrow down your sights to really wondrous ones rather than stopping in cities. Just my two cents. I would also have suggested you take in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Black Hills, etc., but your suggested itinerary just wouldn't be able to fit that in. Maybe another trip in the future?

[rwbradley]

jaycocamprs wrote:
First I think that for some of your trip you need to do more than 300m a day. It's 3175km/1973m from the Ambassador Bridge to Grand Canyon Village. I also think that you can fill your time just in the 4 corners states. Add Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks, along with Monument Valley. You may have your time filled. I never got the WOW from Grand Canyon, maybe it my age at the time. I was amazed at Mesa Verde but was much younger.

Wow you hit the nail on the head for the natural sights... Thanks to Hollywood I suspect this is the stuff the kids are thinking... too much Coyote & Roadrunner!

We have also been known to do 7-9hr driving days (even did 14hr a few times) I may try to do that in the prairie states and do more Interstate driving in those areas to make up time.

I am guessing we will have to do the " Cliff Notes" visit at many places, but in my mind one day at Yosemite is better than never getting there.

[jaycocamprs]

First I think that for some of your trip you need to do more than 300m a day. It's 3175km/1973m from the Ambassador Bridge to Grand Canyon Village. I also think that you can fill your time just in the 4 corners states. Add Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks, along with Monument Valley. You may have your time filled. I never got the WOW from Grand Canyon, maybe it my age at the time. I was amazed at Mesa Verde but was much younger.

[donn0128]

Night time temps? Anywhere from hard freezing to 70's-80's. Generally speaking overnights you could expect 50's

[rwbradley]

More To See wrote:
If by "desert" your family means "the wide open spaces out west" then there is lots of boondocking to be done at higher altitudes where it would be much cooler.

For example, Flagstaff is over 7000 feet. You could think of that as being high desert - which it is.

Much of the country you will pass thru out west sits high up like that. And things out west are far, far apart. Sketch out some distances when doing your trip planning and you'll see what I mean.

I like that idea, no need for the family's first boondocking stay to be in Death Valley 🙂

[rwbradley]

donn0128 wrote:
Depending on time of year. the south west gets really hot from July on. Are you prepared for triple digit temps during the day?

That is my biggest concern, but unavoidable if we want to do the trip. What are nighttime temps like in the desert in July?

[More_To_See]

If by "desert" your family means "the wide open spaces out west" then there is lots of boondocking to be done at higher altitudes where it would be much cooler.

For example, Flagstaff is over 7000 feet. You could think of that as being high desert - which it is.

Much of the country you will pass thru out west sits high up like that. And things out west are far, far apart. Sketch out some distances when doing your trip planning and you'll see what I mean.

[donn0128]

Depending on time of year. the south west gets really hot from July on. Are you prepared for triple digit temps during the day?