vacation ideas

Jim Shoe wrote:
Get a paper map and a circle compass. Put the sharp point on home and the pencil point 300 miles away, or however half way is depending on your usual speed. Draw the line. Then let the kids pick someplace inside the line. They have to agree on one place only. See if they can do it. If they can't agree, then Mom and Dad get to pick with no complaints from the kids. Fat chance, but worth a try.

I have thought about doing this. lol like you said the wife and I would end up picking, three teenagers agreeing on one place? lol we will have to give it a shot though, you never know they may surprise us.

boatms03 wrote:
I don't like to stay at rundown little places where someone has to stand guard all night. I would rather pay a little more and have a level(sometimes) camp site and a little security. I am not against staying at walmart or other places of business overnight while traveling.

Sorry....I took this to mean you were apprehensive about campgrounds.

Get a paper map and a circle compass. Put the sharp point on home and the pencil point 300 miles away, or however half way is depending on your usual speed. Draw the line. Then let the kids pick someplace inside the line. They have to agree on one place only. See if they can do it. If they can't agree, then Mom and Dad get to pick with no complaints from the kids. Fat chance, but worth a try.

One very safe place a lot of folks from Dallas/Fort Worth stop enroute to Colorado for a night is the public campground in Dumas, TX, north of Amarillo. A 'donation' is requested. It is a safe place for the night. Nothing more than a place to stop and sleep with electricity, but without the $40 per night a commercial CG would want.

2gypsies wrote:
You said you're hesitant about Colorado because of finding 'safe' RV parks.

I never said I was worried about a safe CG, I was talking about stopping at rest areas and parking lots for the night.

boatms03 wrote:
I am not against staying at walmart or other places of business overnight while traveling.

Just a thought, but while adults may be OK with staying at a Walmart, perhaps the kids would like the trip better (and behave better) if you stayed at a CG where they could get out and wander around a bit, rather than being in a parking lot.

You said you're hesitant about Colorado because of finding 'safe' RV parks.

In our 16 years of full-timing and traveling constantly, we've never stayed in an unsafe place. Use the RV Park Reviews site and you can get an idea. We use public parks 95% of the time - national, state, national forests, COE, county and city parks. We also love to boondock back on gravel roads far from civilization. We've never had an issue to be concerned about.

Don't be afraid of traveling out of your comfort zone. There are fantastic places out there that you need to explore.

I really think trying for a 'different' type of vacation this time will be welcomed by the kids. You have so much vacation time available and it's an awesome country out there. Go for it! :)

While Colorado is a bit further away than your 8-9 hour range, it is worth the trip. I like the Leadville area (at least in August). "Boom Days", a 100 mile bicycle (and a week later running) race all take place in August. Dry camping at Turquoise Lake or full hookup sites in Leadville (although probably already booked for August).

On the way (well, a bit out of the way) if you like caves, the Caverns of Sonora are the most beautiful I've visited. Some photos.

LOL

No, I understood you were referring to a camping trip but I got hung up on getting the kids to Colorado and took off on a tangent.
You describing your trip coming back from Disney brought up horrible memories for me. I had the "How much longer - Are we there yet" family!

Sorry.

2112 wrote:
You asked for my opinion so I gave it.

We took a few long range camping trips as you described with 2 daughter's and a son. We learned taking the camper on a 2 week vacation was an option, not a requirement. It's not always the best choice for everyone or every trip. We started limiting the camper to Hill Country and beaches, keeping it under 400 miles.

You said you would love to take the kid's to CO but it is too far to drag the camper. I agree. We live south of Houston and I would not load up the family and go that far with the camper. We drove there once without the camper to realize that wasn't very much fun either. So I offered you our solution. We Flew after that. We flew to places like NYC, Outer Banks, Acapulco, Toronto, The Bahamas, ect. as well. This gave the kid's opportunities to discover places out of camper range.

Not pushing a cruise but it is a family vacation. The kids always wanted to cruise. They had a blast every time and so did the wife. The only decision to make is what ship to get on and what excursions to do. The rest is taken care of.

you are right, I did ask for input and Im sorry I didn't specify a camping vacation. I just assumed that everyone here under this section of the forum realized it was camping in the trailer places I was looking for. we are on an rv forum under the rv parks campgrounds and attractions section. Im not saying your ideas are not good, we just enjoy the camping vacations. Im not against longer road trips, just thought the 8-9 hr range has enough places to go and things to do. And yes its hot down here in the summer, 100+ degrees with 300% humidity lol. I think we grow gills for the humidity during the summer. that is one reason we have chosen "water related" vacations in the past. I was just looking for something different like Arkansas, or the hill country, and ideas of things to do. like I stated earlier, I have even thought of NOLA. again thanks for the input, and sorry for the confusion.