Moving across the country
Hi Everyone! Appreciate any advice you all can provide in advance!
My family and I are moving from Philadelphia to San Francisco in June. We have a senior dog that 60 lbs, so flying is out of the picture and we like the idea of a family adventure to start off our life on the other coast. We looked into renting an RV and costs are surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be for a one way, ~$4500 plus gas, tolls, campgrounds, etc. Just the cost of having a service transport our pup west was going to be $7k so we're saving money :)
We have never taken a trip in an RV anywhere, let alone across the country so I'm looking for some advice on planning the trip. Mapping the trip, it looks like right around 3000 miles plus whatever stops and detours we make. As much as we want to be able to see some sights, we have a pretty compressed window for getting out west. The notional plan is to leave on a Sunday morning and then arrive in San Francisco that next Saturday (6 days). We would need to return the RV on Saturday morning so really 5 days of driving unless we get an early start Saturday. Is 600 miles per day unreasonable with two drivers?
Just for reference, I have done the trip from Philadelphia to Chicago (730 miles, 11.5 hours) by car, solo in a single day three times now. It wasn't pleasant but I made it work.
A car could be the best solution.
I do think that in this situation you are better off renting a car and use lodgings, but as Michael has said, that will still equate to 11-12 hours on the road if you plan to cover 600 miles per day. If you can't find more time I think you have to accept this is going to be a very much work-like trip. My biggest concern is that if the Kids (age?) and pup aren't use to long multi day road trips, they could get tired and restless and create stress. Not a good combination when "working" 12 hour shifts.
The advantage with the car you can pick it up early, which would give you Sunday to Saturday. (6 full days travel and return car Sunday am perhaps?) And if you could pick the car up Saturday and pre-pack it for an early departure Sunday, even better. Six days averaging around 500 miles per day would get you closer to 8.5 hours travel time (with stops for lunch and a stretch etc) and give you time for some free time at your destination each day, or allow time for a couple of short detours.
Dave
Another Country Heard From
I have to agree with Dave and Michael that 3000 miles in six days would be a hard push and doing it in a mere five would be near impossible, even with two drivers and without any detours or stops for historic, scenic or quirky sites. Remember that road fatigue is cumulative; you'll be worn out by day three or four and would benefit greatly from a full day of not driving at all.
The other thing to remember is that Google Maps 'lies'. Their time estimates, 42-44 hours in your case, are based on always driving at the speed limit and assume no traffic and no stops whatsoever. "Your time may vary" is an understatement. It will vary and it will be noticeably longer than predicted. Also I personally would not take either of the two routes suggested by their algorithm. Their northern route, basically I-76/I-90/I-80 is heavily urbanized and sees a lot of trucking in it's eastern portion (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago). That route also consists entirely of toll roads between Philly and Chicago. The southern route (I-76/I-70/I-44/I-40/I-5) would have you driving through the desert Southwest just as things are really starting to heat up. Days in the 80s or 90s are to be expected.
Instead I would split the difference and use I-76/I-81/I-68/I-79/I-64/I-70/I-29/I-80. That would still leave you some tolls (a potion of the PA Tpk), some cities (Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Salt Lake City) and some heat in northern Nevada, but it's a good compromise and is roughly the same length as the two options Google comes up with.
But, again, the primary constraint in your plans is time. I would add a day to pick up, learn and load the RV at the start and to unload and return the vehicle at the end. I'd also, as noted, add another day off somewhere along the way, and finally a day at least for that "family adventure" aspect of the trip. So nine days total. I know it's tempting to want to do the trip in as little time as possible and as cheaply as possible, but you want it to be fun, not a slog through Hades.
Finally, once you decide what works for you, make motel, RV park and/or campsite reservations in advance. Not only will this insure that you'll find a place at the end of the day (June is a heavy vacation month) but will help keep you on schedule. Please let us know what route/timing you choose as we can then offer some attractions/adventures available to you as well as suggest some final tweaks.
AZBuck
650 Miles Does Not a 'Day' Make
I mentioned in my previous reply that mapping routines compute distances based on unrealistic assumptions that are never met in the real world. Even at that Google Maps says that Phiily to Indianapolis is 10 hours. Rather than adding time to come up with a more realistic estimate, you're planning on doing 650 miles in 9 hours. That is simply not going to happen. I would strongly suggest that you split your first two days more evenly, say Philly to Columbus OH on Day 1 (470 miles) and then on to St. Louis on Day 2 (420 miles).
AZBuck
