Summer 2014

[RTUSA2014]

Hi

I am new to the site and am so glad to have found this!

We are from UK and we are planning a road trip for July this summer to visit my brother (in San Fran) and my sister (in LA) via Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. We are also very keen to hire a RV for part of the trip.

Our initial thoughts on the route for the road trip part is LA to Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon to Las Vegas by RV. I was wondering if anyone can suggest any stop off places between these main points of interest and let us have an idea of how long I should expect the driving would be as I have never driven a RV before. We have lived in New Jersey for a couple of years so we are familiar with driving in the US but not a big vehicle like a RV.

Many thanks in advance!

John

[UK]

John,

Very quickly checkout the RV hire to see if you get a large fee for picking up and dropping off at a different city (pick up LA, drop off Las Vegas). This may change your plans as it is often very much cheaper to do a circular route picking up and dropping off in the same city.

UK

[RTUSA2014]

UK

Many thanks for the tip - I will do that straight away.

John

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

An RV is a more expensive option then a car and Motels but if it appeals to you, it's a good Lifestyle' choice. Each section of travel you mention is achievable same day, but of course there are many options along the way, for example Monument valley, Antelope canyon, Zion NP, Valley of Fire etc, and then the number of days to spend in each place, so it's more of a case of how much time do you want to commit to this part of the trip ? I'm never sure if renting an RV for a week [or under] is actually worth it but that's a personal choice, however from Vegas to SF you have the National parks of Sequoia and Yosemite, two awesome places to be, especially in an RV. You could also consider Death valley without the RV, but most rental companies ban them from going here in the summer due to the extreme temps. Although SF is not that RV friendly there are a few RV parks and if you kept the RV, it would be worth considering doing a whole loop and return to LA via 2 or 3 days down the coast highway and avoid possible one way rental fees.

[RTUSA2014]

Thanks, Southwest Dave. Having checked the rental websites, it does make a lot of sense to do a loop. Our current itinerary is now 9 days from LA and back to LA.

On a different question, is a Class A better than a Class C RV? I've read somewhere that it could get a bit too warm with the overcab bed.

Thanks,
John

[Southwest Dave]

Most owners of RV's have a class 'A' and most renters hire a class 'C', which is best is a matter of opinion and circumstance. The class 'C' is cheaper to rent generally speaking and comparing like for like in size, can sleep more people due to the overcab bed. The class 'C's we have rented have had window vents in the sleeping area and our son and DIL found it quite comfy, I pulled rank and we had the double bedroom at the back ! lol Although the class 'C' has a wider rear end to it, the driving postion is more familiar to most people, especially to those who have driven a small truck. You don't say who 'We' are, or how many people will be travelling, but you can generally sleep 4 people in a Class 'C' without the need to use the overhead cab bed if you didn't want to. The class 'A' is more of a luxury item for longer trips or 'Full timers' [usually retired couples] and is why they are so popular with RV owners.

Is your 9 days to include time visiting relatives in SF, or are you planning to go there afterwards ?

[Mark Sedenquist]

Um.......... deciding whether or not to get a Class C versus a Class A is a bit more complicated. Here's a good article we published about the pros and cons of each class type.

But relative heat in the cab-over bed is way down the list of pros and cons.

It's more about how the RV will be used. A Class A is built on bus chassis -- generally more capable of carrying more gear, people, etc. A Class C is built on pick-up chassis -- more car-like when driving, easier to park, etc. I've driven all types. For vacations -- it still a toss-up. I like the ease of parallel parking a larger Class A -- but it takes some getting used to.

How many people will be in the RV?

The way the air conditioning vents are engineered -- it can actually get quite cold in the bed over the cab....

Mark

[RTUSA2014]

Hi

We about to embark on our trip to Bryce from Vegas and wondering if there are any advice on the route. We will be taking a 30ft RV (1st timer I'm afraid!) and I've read that the tunnel on route 9 might be a bit challenging. An alternative is route 14 - is that very windy and steep?

Many thanks in advance,
John

Mod note] Please keep all questions regarding this trip in one thread. Thank-you.

[Southwest Dave]

Are you actually visiting Zion NP ? The Mt Carmel tunnel isn't too bad at all and many RV's use that route, which is quite spectacular. I haven't travelled on UT14 so I can't comment but if you are going direct from LV to Bryce you could take I15 up to UT20 to US89 to UT12. If you are looking to drive direct to Bryce, that's the quickest way according to my mapping program. If not and you are going to Zion, I would use the tunnel.

[Lifemagician]

If you are concerned about the tunnel being a challenge, I am quite sure you will not want to drive UT-14. It is very windy, a few almost blind corners and quite up and down in places.... but Oh! so beautiful.

Lifey