30 Road Trip Across America

Hello,

I am hoping some of you can provide advice. Myself, my brother and cousin, all in our early twenties, are planning a cross country road trip for two years from now, in our RV. We live in upstate New York and have traveled extensively across the east coast but would like to see other areas of America. I have used a travel website to plan an itinerary and would like some feedback regarding the trip. Any suggestions on better routes, other things to see, length of the trip, etc., would be appreciated. We plan on traveling for no more than 30 days.
Thank you for your time!

Here is the itinerary:

Day 1

752 mi — about 11 hours, 28 mins

Geneseo, NY
Nashville Walmart
Spending the night: Nashville Walmart

Day 2

300 mi — about 5 hours, 1 min of driving and 3 hours, 45 mins of stops

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Comedy Tour of Nashville
Unclaimed Baggage Center
Walmart - Tuscaloosa
Spending the night: Walmart - Tuscaloosa

Day 3

304 mi — about 4 hours, 30 mins

Tuscaloosa Amphitheater - For a potential concert
Walmart New Orleans
Spending the night: Walmart New Orleans

Day 4

512 mi — about 7 hours, 47 mins of driving and 2 hours, 30 mins of stops

Explore French Quarter
Explore Frenchmen Street
Le Bon Temps Roule Bar and Restaurant - Free Clams on Fridays
Walmart outside of Dallas
Spending the night: Walmart outside of Dallas

Day 5

424 mi — about 6 hours, 29 mins

Walmart north of Amarillo
Spending the night: Walmart north of Amarillo

Day 6

378 mi — about 5 hours, 38 mins

Walmart outside of Denver
Spending the night: Walmart outside of Denver

Day 7

473 mi — about 9 hours, 36 mins

Forney Museum of Transportation
16th Street Outdoor Mall
Denver Nightlife District
Drive up Pikes Peak Mountain - Check if RV's are allowed
Walmart between Denver and Four Corners
Spending the night: Walmart between Denver and Four Corners

Day 8

270 mi — about 4 hours, 42 mins

Four Corners Monument
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Spending the night: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Day 9

265 mi — about 4 hours, 11 mins

Hoover Dam, Nevada
Walmart near Hoover Dam
Spending the night: Walmart near Hoover Dam

Day 10

347 mi — about 5 hours, 10 mins

Las Vegas Strip
Walmart San Diego - call to see if RV parking is allowed
Spending the night: Walmart San Diego

Day 11

430 mi — about 8 hours, 22 mins

View of Hollywood Sign
Malibu to Lompoc
Big Sur Coast Scenic Drive
Big Sur Coast Scenic Drive
Stop in Big Sur, CA.

Day 12

30 mi — about 45 mins

Stay at Big Sur Campground - $65
Spending the night: Stay at Big Sur Campground - $65

Day 13

143 mi — about 2 hours, 35 mins

End of Big Sur Coast Scenic Drive
Treasure Island RV Park - San Francisco - $65 a night
Spending the night: Treasure Island RV Park - San Francisco - $65 a night

Day 14

215 mi — about 4 hours, 34 mins

Cable Car Ride
Begin Scenic Drive at Golden Gate Bridge
Yosemite Campground
Spending the night: Yosemite Campground

Day 15

185 mi — about 4 hours, 10 mins

Lake Tahoe Campground
Spending the night: Lake Tahoe Campground

Day 16

381 mi — about 8 hours

Start on Northern Pacific Coast
Continue on Northern Pacific Coast
Beginning of Redwood Highway
Stay at Benbow KOA - $65 a night
Spending the night: Stay at Benbow KOA - $65 a night

Day 17

385 mi — about 6 hours, 37 mins

Continue on Redwood Highway
Walmart in Eugene, OR
Spending the night: Walmart in Eugene, OR

Day 18

130 mi — about 2 hours, 12 mins

Visit Megan in Portland, OR
Walmart Portland
Spending the night: Walmart Portland

Day 19

252 mi — about 4 hours, 23 mins

Camp at Salt Creek Recreation Area - $27
Spending the night: Camp at Salt Creek Recreation Area - $27

Day 20

384 mi — about 7 hours, 7 mins

Space Needle, 400 Broad Street, Seattle, WA
Camp at Riverside State Park - $30
Spending the night: Camp at Riverside State Park - $30

Day 21

284 mi — about 4 hours, 54 mins

Fish Creek Campground in Glacier National Park - $23
Spending the night: Fish Creek Campground in Glacier National Park - $23

Day 22

434 mi — about 9 hours, 30 mins

Glacier To Yellowstone
Stop in Yellowstone National Park, WY.

Day 23

73 mi — about 1 hour, 58 mins


Spending the night: Stay at Grant Village Campground, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - $26

Day 24

460 mi — about 7 hours, 56 mins

Camp at Beaver Lake Campground - $41
Spending the night: Camp at Beaver Lake Campground - $41

Day 25

394 mi — about 5 hours, 54 mins

Mount Rushmore
Sioux Falls Walmart
Spending the night: Sioux Falls Walmart

Day 26

490 mi — about 7 hours, 12 mins

Visit Kaitlin Rickard
Walmart New Berlin, WI55
Spending the night: Walmart New Berlin, WI

Day 27

291 mi — about 4 hours, 46 mins


Spending the night: Walmart - Angola, IN

Day 28

427 mi — about 6 hours, 49 mins

Geneseo, NY60
End in Geneseo, NY.

9,404 miles — about 162 hours 2 minutes of driving — 28 day trip — about $4,480.71 of fuel.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The most striking thing about your proposed itinerary is that first day. It's simply not going to happen. You are not going to be able to drive 752 miles in a full day of driving, let alone 'about' 11 hours and 28 minutes (clearly gotten from a computer-based mapping routine). I don't care how many drivers you have. The only way that would be possible is if you drove at or above the speed limit for every one of those minutes - never slowed down for traffic, never needed to stop for food or even a bathroom break, never needed to take on fuel for your RV, saw no construction anywhere along those 750 miles, never even hit a puff of headwind or a hill that slowed you down at all. In the real world, with the barest minimum of stops for those absolutely essential functions, such a drive would take you close to 15-16 hours. You'd be physically and mentally exhausted, and a danger to everyone on the road, long before that.

Another similar day is Day 4. 512 miles would be a full day of driving. But on top of that you plan to get into New Orleans, tour the French Quarter, have a sit-down dinner, and get out of the city. It's simply not going to happen. Nor is Day 2. Nor is Day 7. Nor is Day 11. There simply isn't enough time in a day to do everything you list. Period. So my main suggestion: Go back over this agenda and cut at least 25% of it. Miles and activities. Then build in some time so that all of you get some significant time away from each other. 30 days of constant enforced togetherness is perhaps the best way to turn friends, even family, into enemies. In short, be realistic.

AZBuck

AZBuck,

Thank you for your reply and advice. It will be very useful. I do have a quick question. Where did my original post go? I only see your reply now on this page. The three of us have driven straight through to Florida and South Carolina, both of which are longer distances than TN. I think we should be okay on the first day, especially since we will have the most energy of the whole trip.

Thanks again!

Shane

I will also note that counting on Walmart as a reliable place to spend the night in your RV is not necessarily a wise idea. Many Walmarts do not allow RV parking overnight, and several communities have banned this form "camping." Just based on my own familiarity, I can tell you the Walmart in New Berlin, WI does not allow overnight RV parking, and I'd strongly suspect you'll have a similar issue at other stores you're looking at. There's also a matter that in several major cities, Walmarts are not necessarily located in places where parking overnight would be a good idea.

I agree with Buck, you've got multiple days where you are trying to pack a full day on the road on top of a day to explore a city - and that doesn't even factor in the extra time needed for RV travel, especially if you are trying to explore a large city in a large vehicle.

I also have to mention that just 1 day for Yellowstone isn't even enough to scratch the surface. Even trying to see just the major sites in 2 full days is difficult. You're also really shortchanging Glacier, since you'll be giving yourself less than half a day for that park. That could really be said about a lot of your stops, but those are a couple that really stand out.

Midwest Michael,

Thanks for the reply and information. I appreciate it. We have stayed at Walmart's for years and always call ahead to confirm whether we can stay. I wish I had an extra month for this trip.

Thanks again!


Shane

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rv4life

The three of us have driven straight through to Florida and South Carolina, both of which are longer distances than TN. I think we should be okay on the first day, especially since we will have the most energy of the whole trip.

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There are two problems with this plan. First, just because you've done something extremely dangerous in the past, does not mean you're more likely to be just as lucky the next time. Someone who drives drunk typically has done so several times before they get caught or crash. The comparison is especially valid, because the statistics for serious crashes for people who have been in a car for 13, 14, 15 hours are very similar to those who have had too many drinks.

The other factor is that this trip is a marathon, not just a one day sprint down the east coast. You may have more energy to start this trip, but by trying to drive 15+ hours on the first day, you will burn all of that energy up and then some by your second day. Plans like these are probably the single biggest reason that roadtrips turn into disasters where even lifelong friendships can be seriously damaged (you know, the kind of friendships where you'd say it could never happen to us....) An even, sustainable pace, I'd strongly recommend no more than 500 miles per day in an RV, will result in a much more enjoyable trip.

Everyone would like more time for a trip, and often it is not possible. That means many times to have a better trip, you're much better off scaling back and not trying to do everything. In fact, trying to do everything can often result in actually seeing almost nothing.

Quote:

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I do have a quick question. Where did my original post go?

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Your edit to add the trip details after a moderator removed your original link threw up a red flag by the forum software. It had to be reviewed to make sure it wasn't full of spam before it could be seen by everyone again.

To add to the good advice given to you already:

Trying to travel 750 miles in one day in an RV is another issue. RV's, by nature, go slower. They take longer to fill with fuel. In some states, they are kept to a slower speed limit than a car would be allowed to go.

On our trip this summer, we stopped at plenty of WalMarts, as they are a great place to stock up. In all but one, there were signs in the parking lots prohibiting overnight parking. I suspect that these are municipal codes, trying to get folks to stay in the local campgrounds, as well as issues regarding littering and vagrancy. It's good that you call ahead and confirm, or at least ask when you get there. A knock at the door at 2 am asking you to move on, isn't very pleasant. A colleague of mine did have to park overnight in a WalMart lot overnight where it said "no overnight parking", but they had a mechanical issue and there were no repair shops open on Sundays.

I will also agree with them that those travel times are for the birds. You have 427 miles down in 6 hours 49 minutes. In my car, it takes us about 6 hrs 35 minutes to drive 375 miles from San Diego to Phoenix, AZ. We stop for gas, a short meal stop, and probably 2 pit stops. No way could I make another 52 miles in 14 minutes. Also in a pickup truck this past summer, we went 654 miles in 11 hours 3 minutes. Once again, you won't make 752 miles (another 100 miles) in 25 minutes. Fantasy times. All we stop for are pit stops, a short meal, and fuel. BTW, that was one LONG day, and it's not something we like to do. Ordinarily our days are limited (in a car or pickup truck) to 600 miles. When we towed a 5W trailer, we limited ourselves to 450 miles.


Donna

Thanks for the advice!

There is no point in repeating the above advice. Suffice to say that I concur with every word of it.

Rather than your concentration on Walmarts, have you thought about truck stops? Many, though not all, truck stops make RVs welcome. They have all the facilities, and more. Just like at Walmart, you will not be able to use your generator, pull out the BBQ or use the slides. Truck stops which make RVs welcome are 24 hr operations, well lit and many have extra security. Others have the local law enforcement do regular rounds. To find out which truck stops these are, you would do well to invest in this publication.

I too would highly recommend you scale this trip back to an enjoyable adventure which you will all remember for the best of reasons. Remember, not everything has to be achieved before you turn 25. There will be many more road trips over the coming decades.

On the other hand, if this trip becomes a disaster, the possibilities of which are outlined above, it could well be the last road trip for all of you. And that, in my book, would be an even bigger disaster.

Lifey

Thank you!

Hello,

Thank you for all of your advice. I have refined our trip to include more campgrounds, and more time in national parks, including multiple days in some parks. I would appreciate your feedback on the new itinerary below.

Thanks again!

Shane

Day 1
360 mi — about 6 hours, 2 mins


Spending the night: Walmart Overnight Holland, OH


Day 2
388 mi — about 6 hours, 12 mins

Spending the night: Walmart in Davenport IA


Day 3
406 mi — about 6 hours, 6 mins

Spending the night: Camp at Prairie Oasis Campground in Nebraska - $30.50


Day 4
451 mi — about 7 hours, 11 mins


Spending the night: Moraine Park Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO - $20


Day 5
Spending the day and night: Moraine Park Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO - $20

Take free shuttle into Estes Park, CO


Day 6
416 mi — about 7 hours, 17 mins


Spending the night: Stay at Dead Horse Point State Park, UT - $25


Day 7
386 mi — about 5 hours, 50 mins


Spending the night: Walmart Mesquite, NV

Day 8
427 mi — about 7 hours, 8 mins

Hoover Dam Visitor Center
Spending the night: Stay at Malibu Beach RV Park - $40.00

Day 9
307 mi — about 6 hours, 15 mins


Follow California Coast
Walmart Marina, CA
Spending the night: Walmart Marina, CA


Day 10
273 mi — about 6 hours, 28 mins


Follow California Coast
Spending the night: Stay at Caspar Beach RV Park - $42


Day 11
301 mi — about 5 hours, 40 mins


Spending the night: Lake Tahoe Campground - $30 a day


Day 12
Spending the day and night: Lake Tahoe Campground - $30 a day


Day 13
186 mi — about 4 hours, 24 mins

Spending the night: Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park $20 a night

Days 14 through 15
Spending the day and night: Lower Pines Campground, Yosemite National Park $20 a night


Day 16
207 mi — about 4 hours, 26 mins


Tonopah Station RV Park and Casino - $30
Spending the night: Tonopah Station RV Park and Casino - $30


Day 17
388 mi — about 6 hours, 28 mins


Stay at Deseret Peak Complex - $20
Spending the night: Stay at Deseret Peak Complex - $20


Day 18
400 mi — about 6 hours, 42 mins


Stay at Grant Village Campground, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - $26
Spending the night: Stay at Grant Village Campground, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - $26


Days 19 through 20
Spending the day and night: Stay at Grant Village Campground, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - $26


Day 21
247 mi — about 6 hours, 6 mins


Driving towards Mt. Rushmore.
Spending the night: Walmart on way to Mt. Rushmore


Day 22
343 mi — about 6 hours, 18 mins


Head towards Mt. Rushmore22
Walmart on way to Mt. Rushmore23
Spending the night: Walmart on way to Mt. Rushmore


Day 23
230 mi — about 4 hours, 4 mins of driving and 2 hours of stops



Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Black Hills National Forest, 13000 South Dakota 244, Keystone, SD24
Spending the night: Stay at Circle 10 Campground - $30


Day 24
274 mi — about 4 hours



Spending the night: Walmart Sioux Falls, SD


Day 25
250 mi — about 4 hours, 4 mins


Spending the night: Stay at Cushon's Peak Campground - $28


Day 26
376 mi — about 6 hours, 18 mins


Spending the night: Walmart towards home


Day 27
404 mi — about 6 hours, 21 mins


Spending the night: Walmart in Erie PA


Day 28
148 mi — about 2 hours, 41 mins


Geneseo, NY
Stop in Geneseo, NY.

Total Trip: 7,167 miles — about 126 hours 0 minutes of driving — 28 day trip.
about $433.50 for campgrounds, $800.00 for food, and about $3,411.32 for fuel

With a quick read your trip certainly looks more doable on paper. A couple of things that came to mind is firstly is why not push a little further on the first 2 dyas and give yourself less to do into RMNP. It might be that you have pland for the stops or simply because of the Walmarts. Your plan to follow the coast from Malibu to Marina is going to be a full day on the road and without any real time to explore the many State parks and scenic vistas, it's very slow going in an RV and the same could be said of the following day. It would be worth considering making Point Reyes your 'end' point and splitting the journey differently.

You are probably aware that you are going past some amazing National parks on the way to Mesquite without time to enjoy them but choices have to be made.

DAY 17. This is an opportunity for a free and legal overnight stop. Just a few miles before Tonopah you will come across Millers Rest area, a search will tell you more.

It certainly looks better and more enjoyable. As well as Dave's comments, you might like to forget those driving times. Count on all of it taking around 20% longer than computer times. Computers live in the virtual world where food, construction, red lights and traffic congestion do not exist. Neither do they need, fuel or the occasional pit stop. You live in the real world.

You might want to up that food budget. $800 for three people for 30 days is not even $10 per day. I'd suggest another $400 which will allow you to go out for a meal now and then.

Enjoy.

Lifey

You might want to add your park fees (and parking fees) to your total budget, too. I notice you have nothing down there. Mt Rushmore parking cost us $11 (entrance is $0 and they don't take the Annual Pass card for the parking). Dead Horse Point SP will cost another $10 for entrance, over and above camping fees. (Camping fees are almost always separate from the entrance fees.) Rocky Mountain NP is $20, Yosemite is also $20, Yellowstone is $25 but also includes Grand Teton. (This means that $20+20+25=65. An annual pass which covers a lot of NP's is $80.)

You should also add some mileage -- up to 25% -- and the fuel for that, for "sight-seeing mileage", if you haven't already. It adds up, believe me! Circling around Yellowstone, for instance, can add 80 miles or more in one day.

What route are you taking between Yellowstone and the Black Hills? Have you already confirmed that those WalMarts will allow you to stay? Truck stops can be a good place, too, and more of them are agreeable to overnight stays.

BTW, I will agree: add 20% to those travel times. Those are not real-world travel times. Or assume that you will make an average of 50 - 55 mph, including stops, so that a 400 mile day will be "around 7-1/2 to 8 hours". THAT'S more real world, especially with an RV.

I also agree on your food budget. It's waaaaaay too low for 3 people, even in an RV where you can make your own food. You won't be able to use the microwave oven when you are in the Wal-Marts (because you won't be able to run your generator). You'll have to be completely self-contained which means cooking on the stove or eating sandwiches.


Donna

Thank you for the advice! I have called all of the Walmarts to confirm they allow rv's overnight.

Hello,

I posted on this site for road trip advice back in August and received wonderful advice. I have continued to add ideas and improve the route and wondered if I could obtain valuable feedback again. If so, here is a link to the route. Please note that the costs do not include food or incidentals. I am looking for any feedback on better routes, timing, or other places to see. We are trying to stay close to thirty days in length but are willing to go a few more days than that. Our main goal is the see western states, thus we are "rushing" a bit to get out west.
Thank you!


Shane Carman

Feel free to post your trip here and ask all the questions you desire. But I do not think it will be appreciated if you use this forum to promote your own site.

Lifey

Moderator Edit: Lifey, keep this friendly. rv4Life has earned the right to post off-site links and he/she can certainly post the trip route they've been working on. RTA has a custom mapping program -- but it's not ideal for everyone.

This is not my site. Just a website I found to plan trips. Not sure how you think this is my site?