Me,my wife and 2 dauhters in RV....

for the first time hopefully this summer.

Hi,

first thank you very much for the forum. I have learned a lot when reading various posts. Road trips reports are great. When I read them it is almost like I am there myself.

I write as I would like to ask you for advise, tips on the trip I plan with my family in the summer. Below a few details on the initial plan:
When: 20 jun – 3 weeks
Who: me, my wife and two daughters (5 and 3 at the time of travel), possibly another family with kids of the similar age.but
Where: LA, Sequoia NP, Yosemite NP, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Zion, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, San Diego, LA
Why: spend time together, see the wonders of the nature and have great time

I have lots of questions ... but to start I would like to get you advice on the following areas:

Travel with young kids
what is your experience, do you recommend road trip with small kids, any advice, tips?
What distance I should cover with small kids on a day?

Rent a RV
would you recommend to rent from a big company or smaller one?
What do you think about renting from a private person
I am looking for a C class 29-30 feet – is it a good choice in terms of size
when to make the booking, now or later?

Recommendation for a nice camping at the ocean
I want to spend a few days camping somewhere nice. Would you recommend a place somewhere between San Diego and San Francisco (nice and quiet place with trees, and grass for the kids to play and good access to the beach)

I am sorry for my english... I am not native speaker.
Any other comments are welcomed.

Thank you for your help and advise,

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As far as traveling with children, Chris Epting has unique and informed insights. In addition, read through these resources and this set of recommendations. My own experience with RoadTripping with my two grandsons is that they are generally fine as long as you break up the drive 2-3 times a day and let them blow off steam for an hour or so outside the car. There are plenty of such opportunities everywhere in the country.

I'm not an RVer myself, but there are lot of resources on these pages. I have also seen several good comments herein regarding Cruise America. Unless I personally knew the person I was renting from, I'd be very leery of a private rental. Also, I'd be sure I had my vehicle lined up at least 3 months before departure for a long summer vacation.

There are plenty of California state parks along the Big Sur coast (region 3) that offer either camping on the coast, in the woods or both. Also be sure to read through the discussions listed here. And your English is quite understandable, not a problem at all.

AZBuck

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Originally Posted by marek

. Road trips reports are great. When I read them it is almost like I am there myself.

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Very high praise -- thanks!

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Where: LA, Sequoia NP, Yosemite NP, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Zion, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, San Diego, LA
Why: spend time together, see the wonders of the nature

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If you have the budget, you might consider hiring the services of a RV vacation outfitter -- they can help with the planning and secure excellent RVs. The best in the business is this one. Even if you don't hire them, their site is full of resources.

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Travel with young kids what is your experience, do you recommend road trip with small kids, any advice, tips? What distance I should cover with small kids on a day?

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It really isn't about the distance as much as the time you spend stopping and walking around. Here are some family road trip tips I wrote a while back.

Mark

Hi marek,

My favorite way to travel is by R.V. and it's a great way to spend valuable family time. The camp sites [especially in the National parks] are often in wooded areas right in the heart of great scenery. It isn't the quickest way to get around and neither is it the cheapest [It will work out dearer than a car and Motels for you] but it's a great experience.

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would you recommend to rent from a big company or smaller one?
What do you think about renting from a private person

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I would have concerns about renting from a private person mainly because of assistance in case of mechanical breakdown e.t.c. I doubt they would have a spare R.V. and anything serious could mean the end of your vacation.

I like the smaller company and used a very good value family outfit near San Francisco but at the moment Cruise America have some special offers on and I have booked with them with quite a saving.

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I am looking for a C class 29-30 feet – is it a good choice in terms of size
when to make the booking, now or later?

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The 29ft class C is a good choice if you don't mind the extra length. The main advantage is a full size bedroom at the rear with a couple of small wardrobes in it. However a 26ft would be adequate for your family.
In my experience there tends to be very little offered in way of last minute rental deals
and you have to go with what you feel right at the time.

As you are going in the summer you will need to book campsites in the major parks such as Yosemite, Zion, Grand canyon as soon as you can [I think the earliest is 6 months in advance] to have any chance of getting one. I would recommend a few days in Yosemite for "time out". It is wonderful and I am sure the kids will enjoy the wild life e.t.c

If you have time to spare then you are welcome to look at our R.V. trip visiting many of the places you have mentioned.

Any more questions ? Just ask. :-)

Thank you for the tips. I will be busy reading.

Regarding camping the camping I use reserveamerica to locate campings and google earth to see how they look like. Some of the RV sites look really very basic (like this one) another seem nice like this one in Monterey bay. But from Google earth you are not able to tell everything - so look forward to see what is your experience.

Thank you once again,
Marek

Dave,

thank you for your email.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

The 29ft class C is a good choice if you don't mind the extra length. [..]However a 26ft would be adequate for your family.

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In my case I am really looking to the trip as I do like wild life, scenic views and be close to nature. My wife is not so excited as she has not been camping before. I want to make it as good as possible so we will go camping more in the future :) My logic says - take bigger one for more space and comfort. If hesitate it is because of possible length restrictions.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

In my experience there tends to be very little offered in way of last minute rental deals
and you have to go with what you feel right at the time.

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this what I wanted to know - I will book it in most likely in Jan.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

If you have time to spare then you are welcome to look at our R.V. trip visiting many of the places you have mentioned.

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No need to recommend. I think your road trip report wast the first thread on RTA I read a few weeks before. Really great - and if you see my itinerary it is very much like yours. I just start from LA and visit San Diego as want to spend a day in Disneyworld and Seaworld so the kids will have some fun. I did enjoy your pictures a lot.

BTW - how can I find the Moki Dugway? - I tried to search for it but did not find it.

Tx,
Marek

The Moki Dugway

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The State of Utah recommends that only vehicles less than 28 feet in length and 10,000 pounds in weight attempt to negotiate this steep (10% grade), narrow and winding road.

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Hi marek,

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My logic says - take bigger one for more space and comfort. If hesitate it is because of possible length restrictions.

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I fully understand.

The R.V's have all the amenities you could want and are very comfortable and spacious, however they are not everyones choice and prefer the comfort of the hotel room. I hope your wife is persuaded ;-).

Regarding the length restrictions, it shouldn't really have any affect on you, mostly they are "recommended restrictions" and then you have to decide whether it's for you or not to travel there. It appears to me that most enforced restrictions would mean the R.V has to be under 22ft . [To small for comfort I.M.O]

glc has found you a link to the Moki and as you can see it carries a recommendation.
It can be travelled in the R.V. with care but it should be left up to each individual to decide.

With two small children and a wife who's never camped . . . are you sure that you want to embark on a three-week trip? If your family hates it, you'll have invested a good bit into the renting of that RV; it could be a recipe for disaster. I've camped across America, and three weeks is a lengthy time, even for experienced campers.

Rather than risk that, I'd suggest that you take a couple SHORT TRIPS first. You'll learn a good bit from these trips. You can try out those different-sized RVs. You'll learn how to pick a good camping spot. You'll know that you should bring the kid's bicycles. You'll learn what you need to bring, what types of foods to pack for easy cooking in the RV, and -- most importantly -- you'll learn your family's camping comfort level. Make sure those first trips are under ideal conditions: Don't allow those children's first night in a campground to be during a thunderstorm.

Set yourself up for success with a couple short, fun trips that'll leave them saying, "Daddy, when are you taking us again?" THEN it'll be time to think about a three-week trip!

I agree that it'd be a good idea to rent from a company rather than an individual. You'll probably pay more, but you'll have more protection in case of a breakdown.

Mrs. Pete,

It's been too long since you were here....

Mark

Dear All,

thank you for your advice and information.

glc: I found the Moki Dugway on the google maps. Looks really amazing on the pictures must be breath taking.


MrsPete: I take your comments on board. I know it is risky to go with family that has not been camping before. I hope I will minimize the risk by good planning and taking all your comments into consideration. I also count on: i) California weather, ii) wonders of nature, iii) good US RV infrastructure.

To be honest, I also cannot wait to visit California :)

If you have any tip for the nice camping site between San Diego and San Francisco I will appreciate it. Do you know New Brighton camping in Monterey Bay?

Tx,
Marek

Hi Marek,

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If you have any tip for the nice camping site between San Diego and San Francisco I will appreciate it. Do you know New Brighton camping in Monterrey Bay?

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I have no first hand experience of R.V. parks along this stretch but when I was searching for possibility's I noted down this website with campground listings around Big Sur. I am sure there are many more you can find by searching the web, [type; location and r.v. parks] but I must say that I liked the look of the Fernwood campground listed in the link, but that's not to say it's what you are looking for.
Having said that the Brighton state beach site you mentioned looks fine. My biggest concern would be how exposed it could be if the weather off the sea wasn't to kind

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Originally Posted by marek

MrsPete: I take your comments on board. I know it is risky to go with family that has not been camping before. I hope I will minimize the risk by good planning and taking all your comments into consideration. I also count on: i) California weather, ii) wonders of nature, iii) good US RV infrastructure.

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I'd minimize those risks by taking them on a couple short weekend trips now!