18 day RV family trip out West in May

[smithy]

Hello.We are a family from England,2 children age 3 & 7.Spending some time this year with friends in Florida.(from April to July) During that time we are planning to hire an RV and go on a roadtrip for approx 3-4 weeks.(probably mid May)We have visited much of Florida and want to venture as far as possible and see some sights without breaking our backs driving.I am desperate to take the kids to a national park,but when looking on maps,i get a bit carried away and want to visit everywhere from the Carolinas to San Francisco !! I need advice. We are quite happy to do whistle stops but have to bear in mind the kids can't be on the road all day every day.I wonder if anyone can help with some suggestions ? Thankyou !!
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Hello all.We are an English family spending 4 months in Florida with friends this year.We are planning a roadtrip with an RV for about 3-4 weeks in May.Very new to this site and finding it all so exciting and interesting,but have no idea where to go on our trip.Everywhere i look i see things that i want to see and visit !!(we have visited much in Florida) Our kids are great travellers and we are happy to go further afield but they are 3 & 7 so don't need to be driving all day every day.I REALLY want to take them to a national park (maybe in N Carolina ?) but have no idea how long this would take us to drive and what other points of interest we would encounter on the way,or if there is a route that would give us a taste of differing things that would keep the kids enthusiasm going !.I wonder if anyone could give me some route tips ? or in fact any tips or advice would be warmly and gratefully received ! I thank you so much and envy all you lucky people who have seen and visited much of what there is to see,my hope is that this year we may have a little of that for ourselves. Keep the wanderlust alive !!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Keep in mind the vastly different size scales as you plan. All of Great Britain is about 89,000 square miles while Florida alone is about 66,000. Fortunately, I think that you can meet all your needs and wants within the southeastern US including National Parks, beautiful drives, great cities - the works.

For starters, you might want to review our tips for RVing as well as this thread for suggestions on how to keep the kids happy. As to planning your route, you should probably pick a few major places that you want to get to including natural wonders such as Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Mammoth Cave National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, or the Mississippi River. Also include some cities like Memphis and Nashville, TN which are home to uniquely American music; Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC which reek southern charm; and our nation's capital, Washington, DC.

Then, once you've picked some set of these places to visit, start connecting the dots to plan your route. For the 'whistle stop' kind of things, look at the state parks in each of the states that you end up going through. These make great places to have picnic lunches, spend some time swimming, hiking or otherwise wearing the kids out, and they offer some of the cheapest and prettiest RV camping sites to be had.

AZBuck

[Robert Schaller]

While I think Buck's ideas are great ones, and the more economical possibilities probably, my first thought was to suggest something as unlike the UK as possible.

Without having to traipse all over the west, you can find this "other" in spectacular south Utah. Spending a couple of weeks or more exploring Canyonlands, Arches, Capital Reef, Bryce, Kodachrome Basin, Grand Staircase-Escalante Natl Monument, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Zion and Cedar Breaks would give you a taste of the American west quite unlike anything you'll see anywhere else. You'd see everything from red rock arches, river canyons, to coniferous alpine landscapes. If you like to fish, you might chase after a trout or two on the Virgin River. You could do some river rafting at Moab on the Green River, or take a tour to see Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell. North Rim of Grand Canyon is also well within range of this area. These parks are all fairly close together, keeping you from having to put too many thousands of extra miles on your RV rental.

Still, the drive out there from Florida is a long one (3 or 4 days) and this makes this option more expensive than Buck's closer-in suggestions. Bob

[Utahtea]

Honestly, if you only have 4 weeks, I would not consider driving out west from Florida. You simply won't have the time to see much before having to drive back. I would highly recommend flying into Las Vegas and renting a motorhome there. Then you can see the Grand Canyon, the beautiful parks in Utah that Bob as mentioned, you can even make it to Yellowstone and come back through Colorado before returing to Vegas to fly back to Florida. You might even consider a one way trip and fly home from Denver.

Utahtea

[Mark Sedenquist]

Our kids are great travellers and we are happy to go further afield but they are 3 & 7 so don't need to be driving all day every day.I REALLY want to take them to a national park (maybe in N Carolina ?)

With the explorations in Florida, have you been to Everglades National Park yet? There are eleven preserves managed by the National Park Service in Florida. But I didn't know that there were any national parks in either South or North Carolina.

I thank you so much and envy all you lucky people who have seen and visited much of what there is to see,my hope is that this year we may have a little of that for ourselves.

With four months, you will a great opportunity to see much of what the southeast offers.

Mark

[smithy]

Hello all,again! I have more questions for all you great people. We have 4 weeks from mid-May for a roadtrip with RV rental starting from Florida with our 2 children (3 & 7).We are an English family who have visited much of Florida on car roadtrips.But have never been further.An option we are really interested in doing is maybe driving across country to a final destination around Vegas,leaving the RV and then flying home.Would this be feasible? Which would be the best route to be able to experience as much as possible?(i.e national parks,rodeos,cities etc) Also would weather conditions prevent us from seeing sights that should not be missed? We want to stop at campgrounds,are they placed at places to allow us to plan a route that would be child friendly and do you need to book these in advance or can we just turn up and stop for as many nights as the mood takes us? Thankyou,i look forward to any help or advice which could be of use with regards to any aspect of our trip,food,keeping kids amused !! . x

[Quebec Gen]

Which would be the best route to be able to experience as much as possible?(i.e national parks,rodeos,cities etc)

Any road is good but if you have more specific interests, we could help you pick the perfect one for you and your family. National Parks are all over the States, but I believe most of them are located west of the Mississippi. Rodeos can be found everywhere in the SW and Mid West but if you're looking at the right place, you'll find similar events in the east.

keeping kids amused

Here are a few threads regarding this topic :
#1
#2

Use the search button to find more.

Two interesting articles :
#1
#2

Gen

[smithy]

Thankyou for your replys.We have definately decided to rent an RV (any recommendations on rental,or where to rent from?) and drive from Florida to San Fran.We have 3-4 weeks,leaving early to mid May.We will be dropping the RV off at San Fran and getting flight back to Florida.We want a family experience that will stay with us forever and want to see as varied a landscape as is possible and i have earmarked a few places that we would love to see : i'm sure i have missed things or don't know if this is the best route or where/when to stay(i'm also unsure of weather restrictions)but at least its something to start from!!.We will leave Florida around 10th May.Here are my rough ideas on things we would like to see:FL-rainbow nat park,pensacola.(we have seen much of Florida on previous trips) Miss-natchez. Louisianna-new orleans. Texas-beaumont,gaudaloupe nat park. Ariz-tombstone,saguaro nat park,grand canyon.Nev-vegas.Cal-joshua tree nat park,death valley,yosemite,san fran.As i say its a rough idea of the things we would like,any help or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated.Also is it possible to book RV rental from UK? Thanks again xx

[AZBuck]

But it won't be cheap.

Is it possible to book RV rental from UK?

Almost anything is possible with the Internet. Two firms that have booking web sites are Cruise America and Adventure Touring. I checked both for what it would cost to rent a 25 foot (8m) RV from Florida to San Francisco, and with mileage charges, one-way drop off fee, and gas, you're looking at approximately $6000 (£3400) for the rental. Also, these firms have a limited number of locations so you may have to arrange to get yourself to another city (Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa in FL, San Jose in CA) to pick up or drop off the RV.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

Thankyou for your replys.We have definately decided to rent an RV (any recommendations on rental,or where to rent from?) and drive from Florida to San Fran.

A good decision. One of our colleagues runs a full-service RV rental and trip planning service and although it is not inexpensive it is a company I give our highest recommendation for, especially for a trip such as you are planning with the high expectations:

We want a family experience that will stay with us forever

This company is Tracks & Trails.

Mark