Summer 2014

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

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

UK

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

John

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.

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

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 ?

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

Thank you Mark and Dave. We've decided on a Class C in the end. There are only 4 of us and I figured enough people have rented them so it shouldn't be a problem. It will be part of the experience! We are going to SF afterwards - although I would have loved to take the RV to Yosemite and then to SF, I think that might be too much for the family.

Thank you again for your valuable advice.

John

That will make for a nice trip over 9 days and you should have time to visit Zion NP between Bryce and Vegas. To go into Zion you will have to pay an extra fee and wait a little while to get through the Mt Carmel tunnel, but it's a great drive. This is so they can stop on coming traffic entering the tunnel from the other end so they can let larger vehicles drive down the middle of the tunnel to avoid the roof connecting with the side arch of the tunnel. It might already be too late to find RV sites inside the National Parks but it's something you should get onto straight away, sites are limited in number and big in popularity. In GC you have Mather without Hook ups or the Trailer vilage with them, both are in a good location near the village and rim. For Bryce canyon you could check out 'Rubys Inn' campground right by the entrance to the park. Nearby Ruby's has a store and dining facilities and across the street is Bryce old town. Zion's popular campground is the 'Watchman' located near the entrance to the west and the lovely town of Springdale.
In Vegas 'Circus Circus' has an RV park right on the Strip, although it's more of a parking lot. We opted for the Oasis RV resort which is pretty cool, although it's probably around a $20 cab ride these days to the Strip.

Updated information about the Vegas "Circus Circus" RV Park -- it used to be called Circusland RV park. However, now it's a KOA. From photographs, it still looks the same -- a parking lot for RV's, pull throughs but NO grass, small pool and hot tub. At the prices they wanted, you might check Oasis to see if it's more reasonable and more preferable. We liked being right on the Strip when we were there with our 5W, as we had access to everything on the Strip without the cab fare or parking fees (not to mention, trying to get a tall pick-up truck into a parking GARAGE -- can you spell NIGHTMARE?!)


Donna