wisconsin to someplace warm January 2014

[beachgramma]

We will be doing our first RVing road trip. First in a RV and first without time constraints. Any suggestions as to how to approach this as we plan to leave in Jan 2014 probably and heading for someplace warm possibly Florida?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Almost the entire Atlantic and Gulf coastline is within a couple of days' drive from Milwaukee, with the exceptions of Texas and Florida south of Jacksonville or Tallahassee. With that much to choose from you're going to have to give people a bit more to go on before they can start offering you advice. At a minimum, they'd have to know: Where in Wisconsin are you starting out from? How long do you want to be on the road before reaching your destination? What are your interests? Other than getting to warmer weather, what do you hope to accomplish by this trip? Why have you decided to do it by RV?

AZBuck

[beachgramma]

We live in Fond du lac which is about 65 mile northwest of Milwaukee. We are retiring and plan to be touring the country in an RV as part of a new lifestyle. We have not decided how long we will be on the road before we touch base again at home. I guess what I was wondering is there a good "off the beaten path" route that would be recommended or considering the season would it be best to just head out of the cold/snow before we consider side trips since there may not be a lot to see out of season?

[AZBuck]

Not only do I know where Fond du Lac is, my mother went to high school there, two of my sisters were born there, and I used to spend every other summer there visiting my grandmother, aunts uncles, and cousins. So, my first advice, since you're not used to the RV lifestyle yet, would be to first concentrate on your primary goal, getting to warm weather. The closest coastline to Fondy is around Gulfport MS, so that's were I'd head. Once there, and having had the relatively short shakedown cruise getting there, you can relax by the warm Gulf waters while contemplating your next move.

As it also happens, there is a great "off the beaten path" route that will get you there while taking you past a number of great sights to see on the way, namely the Great River Road. Now, the Great River Road is not a particular highway, but rather a collection of different roads in different states that follow both sides of the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf. US-151 would take you right from Fond du Lac to the River at Dubuque IA. Heading south from there, some of the places you might want to look into would include Nauvoo IL. Keokuk IA, Hannibal and Ste. Genevieve MO, Memphis TN, and Vicksburg and Natchez MS on the way to Gulfport. The thing to remember is that even though the Mississippi is a major commercial artery, that economic lifeblood goes by barge on the water, not trucks on the road, and there are actually surprisingly few large cities on the river aside from the Quad Cities, St. Louis and Memphis. So the Great River Road easily qualifies as "off the beaten path" as long as you stay off I-55.

AZBuck