First Family Road Trip

[seriouslybaby]

Hello! We are a family of 5... with the kids ages ranging from 13-9. We are planning on renting an RV & making a great roadtrip out of it. I have been on numerous road trips to NM & LA... what are some other great places that my kids will love too?!?! We have never been to the Grand Canyon & are thinking about doing this... but what else can we do with that?

Time Frame: 7-9 days
Budget: $1500 (will be camping in the RV @ designated sites)
No special needs/allergies
Leaving from Texas

Not sure what else you may need to help us out, but ANY input would be MUCH appreciated!!!

~Baby

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Its never really possible for anyone else to tell you where you should go or what you should do, because its just such a fundamental part of planning a trip. It completely depends upon what you are interested in. We certainly can't tell you what your kids will love too, because we don't know what you or your family finds interesting.

With your timeframe you can reasonably travel up to about 1500 miles from home - of course since "Texas" is 800 miles wide and 800 miles tall, there's a very big difference on where you can go if you are starting in El Paso, Brownsville, or Texarkana.

If the Grand Canyon is something that works into that plan, then there are certainly plenty of other things in that area. You could also look at working in some of the National Parks in the 4 corners area, like Zion and Bryce, or head more over towards Colorado through Monument Valley and Mesa Verde. You could also look at places like Phoenix and Tucson or even the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas.

But that's just a few of the millions of things that could be in front of you. The best thing you can do is get out a big map, and start looking at places - and make sure you've got your kids involved in the process. Once you've got an idea and an outline of where you want to go, then we can help you put it all together.

[Southwest Dave]

As said, you have many possibilities open to you and you could do a lot worse than having the Grand canyon to focus on while visiting other memorable sights along the way. From Austin or Dallas to GC could be done in a couple of long day's, but with an RV and kid's on board you might want to take things steadier over 3 day's with some stops. A couple of day's at the canyon and 3 or 4 day's back taking in a couple more National parks and that's your 9 day's, I think trying to do it in 7 day's would feel a bit rushed.

The main problem I can see is your budget, typically a 9 day rental plus extra mileage charges and State taxes will eat up the entire budget. If you find a special deal, you can get some good discounts, but even then you could be looking at a $600 fuel bill and a couple of hundred dollars in campground fees. Perhaps your $1500 doesn't include the rental fees [?] and if that is the case you would get by on the budget you have.

[seriouslybaby]

the $1500 budget would be after i've paid for the rv. and we may be able to do more than the $1500... we just have never been on a vacation this big before!! i really do not have any idea what is out there to go see. are national parks really fun for kids? what is there to do at a national park besides hiking? i for sure do not want to go back to NM. we've been to the caverns, roswell, skiing, snow mobiling.... we want to do something DIFFERANT! my kids are easy breezy, so they are game for fun stuff, stuff with action & all kinds of new things!

mount rushmore is another option to go to... what are some stops along the way from fort worth, tx to the north/northwest?

[AZBuck]

We still don't know where you're starting from or what your or your children's interests are. So you haven't really helped us help you. For an idea of what's in the Four Corners (on the way to the Grand Canyon) take a look at this recent Road Report. And by all means get your kids involved in the Junior Ranger programs at the National Parks.

AZBuck

[travelingman]

It looks like you're leaving from Fort Worth, right?

Let's see. FW to Grand Canyon National Park and back. Approximately 2400 miles. Motorhome will get about 8 miles per gallon (my overall experience) so about 300 gallons = $900.

Is this included in the $1500? If not, then you have some serious budgeting to do.

If you're renting a typical Class-C, such as the Cruise America Standard Size, it is basically like renting a U-Haul truck. The ride is quite bumpy in the back, although it is fine for the driver and front seat passenger. This is tolerable for drives of several hours. However, the family might not enjoy several long days sitting at the dinette while driving to your destination.

If you're renting a huge Class-A diesel bus, that's another story. They ride on comfortable air suspensions. But they are expensive and might get worse mileage.

One suggestion is to find something enjoyable closer to home. Another is to drive your car close to your destination, then rent the RV there. It will be quicker and more enjoyable, and save hundreds on gas.