Quick winter trip

[illusion]

My father just found out that he wanted to do a quick trip to USA before x-mas. Looking at 10 days and rental car to drive around and look. I usually have some time to plan trips, but this time I dont have that ;). So my question is, what part of the country is ok to visit this time of year, if we kinda would like to stay away from the winter/snow (got plenty of that back home). Doesnt need to be summer temp, just not freezing and cold.

We like small towns and backroads, so will be driving about everyday guess.

Any good sugestions?! :)

[jm98]

I think for your trip south-west US would fit nicely. Given you indicated that you wanted to drive around and weather. I am suggesting based on avoiding major metro area traffic and weather. Arizona likely to have nice warm weather during the day and bit chilly at night. Look in to flying in Phoenix/Tucson, AZ and plan to spend some time in Arizona and southern Nevada area. You can easily spend 10 days.

[Charlie H]

I would echo jm98's suggestion of the southwest if Florida is not your cup of tea and I'm guessing it isn't based on your interests. Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands Nat'l Monument in southern New Mexico are great stops. If you have any interest in larger cities, San Antonio, Texas is a wonderful place to visit. New Orleans and Louisiana's Cajun Country would also be possibilities.

Whatever you choose, you will have no trouble finding enough to do in ten days.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You don't say when you hope to depart, in the next few days or perhaps into December ? You are not gauranteed to be able to stay away from winter weather anywhere, but you can lessen the odds somewhat. The Rockies and Sierra Nevada and other high elevation mountain ranges see winter weather coming to them earlier than others, but you should still do a little research to see where is most likely to appeal to your tastes and work from there. As mentioned below the Southwest would be a popular choice, Vegas might be a good place to start out from and could possibly offer better flight deals. From there you could visit Zion NP in Utah and then down to Monument valley and the south rim of the Grand canyon, Sedona and so on, although the later you leave it departing the higher chance of winter conditions. You might prefer the coast and use LA or SF as a start and finish point and explore some of the coastal region and small coastal towns. I can understand wanting to stay away from the cold, but I would rather wrap up warm than I would go somewhere that was warm and held no interest for me.

Have a look around the RTA site by searching the forums and planning links above for a little inspiration and when you have a better idea of what you want to do we can help piece it together.

[Midwest Michael]

If you really want to avoid wintery weather and snow, then I think I would be looking at the coasts - east, west, or gulf!

If you looked at the Southeast, you've got places like Charleston, Savannah, really all of Florida, even over to New Orleans. You could do something like Fly into Atlanta, and do a loop. There are no shortage of small towns and backroads where you could really experience southern culture.

Certainly, the west coast gets a lot of attention, and you'd have plenty of options there too, from California, all the way up into Oregon and Washington rarely see snow along the coast and have plenty of great things to see and explore. Just keep in mind that away from the coast, you've got mountains and the chance of snow again.

[illusion]

Some great advices here, I have been in the west before just not so late in the season. Been to az,nevada,utah in 2008, but wouldnt mind to see some of it again actually. Just wanted to see if anyone had some others options or advices.

Do not need to see any big cities, rather see the small towns and backroads. Maybe a N.park or too would be nice to see.

Some says Texas are special, but I dont know much about it or Florida area for that sake.
So I`ll take any advice to consideration and take it from there.

If the trips happen, it would be late November/early December!

[jm98]

I been to Florida in December just couple years back. The issue for you I see in Florida is traffic. You will hit traffic in 50 to 100 miles range everywhere you go. Northern Florida can be chilly, even Key West can be chilly during the day time in December.

For Texas, San Antonio area and part of New Mexico can be nice gateway but in my opinion not much to do except Alamo and Riverwalk.

The south Texas areas including Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Brownsville and South Padre Islands can be interesting but likely to be cooler weather. The water temperature in Gulf of Mexico water around 70degree and may be cold to dip in in December. There is an option to go across international bridge to Mexico for shopping and day trip. Big Band NP and Ft. Davis (McDonald's' observatory) can be other good options to spend couple days and evenings. New Mexico not far from there as well...

[illusion]

Flying into Atlanta wasnt a bad idea, looking into that.
Have always looked into trips in the west, I have one already made for later, but its a summer trip ;). So a little unsure to what to look for in the south, but we might just wing it. We do not need a big plan, just give us a car and a open road :)...

[Lifemagician]

... just give us a car and an open road :)...

I cannot imagine a better way to travel.

No doubt you will have good maps with you. If you are a member of your automobile club at home, bring your membership with you. It will give you access to free maps from AAA. When you get to a FL welcome centre, make sure you stop. Not only do they hand out free, fresh orange juice, but you can get a FL State map. Often the State maps will have features marked on them which the general (AAA / Rand McNally etc.) maps do not.

Have a great trip. FL has so much to offer.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

If a loop trip out of Atlanta seems to be where you're headed this time, then there are certainly a few things that should be on your agenda. Very generally, when I work up a loop trip of this sort, I'm looking to spend about half my time actually on the road with the other half spent out of the car exploring and experiencing different sites en route. You can do something very nice along those lines that includes shore and mountains, historic and scenic, urban and rural. And although you can do it in either direction, I'll describe it as though you're driving the loop in a clockwise direction.

Starting from Atlanta you'd head north into the southern reaches of the Appalachians where Georgia, and the Carolinas all meet, as do Chattahoochee, Nantahala, and Sumter National Forests. Note that I'm not suggesting you go as far as Great Smoky Mountains National Park, although it's not that much farther and you could if you're willing to drive a bit more. Next up would be to follow the Savannah River Scenic Byway down to Savannah. Continue down the Georgia coast and take in Cumberland Island National Seashore before turning inland to Okefenokee Swamp. Heading west through south Georgia hit Andersonville on your way to the Gulf Coast and Mobile. This is another place where you can choose to add miles and continue on to New Orleans. Turn for 'home' (Atlanta) and hit some old and new historic sites in Alabama and a Presidential retreat in Georgia while spending as much time as you have left driving the 'back' roads.

AZBuck