deep south motorhome roadtrip

[Greenthumb]

hi folks

this is our first time in a motorhome me and the wife, both 38, and staying / driving in the deep south,
we have a pretty solid route with regards to main cities,
the flights and c30 motorhome (30ft) are booked so pretty fixed in that department,

our route itinerary is:

fly uk - atlanta,

1 night hotel in atlanta then pick up RV,

head to New orleans for 3 nights stay with a stop on the way there somwhere like montgomery or mobile,

from new orleans we intend on picking up the natchez trace parkway to nasville, and probably stop in a couple of locations for the total of 2 nights,

3 nights in nashville,

1 night in lynchburg,

1 night in chatanooga,

3 nights in gatlinburg / pidgeon forge,

2 nights in the rough area of macdonia / chatanooga national forest,

1 night in stone mountain,

then drop off rv and fly on home with a total of 19 days in the usa
Nashville, new orleans and gatlinburg are set in stone so the wife tells me.


the trip will be around september so the weather should be nice,

My questions are:

are all these roads suited to a 30ft motorhome?
places to go and things to see and eat, we shall self cater for 50% of the time i should think, and eat out the rest , cant believe i'm looking forward to shopping at wallmart!!

local / state laws i should know to avoid getting tickets and citations and the like, also seen on youtube about folk getting searched for fruit and stuff crossing state lines???

we intend on visiting dollywood, jack daniels, sugarlands distillery, swamp tour in new orleans, shoot some guns hopefully a barrett .50 cal if im lucky!!, ATV hire??

our interests lie in: country, blues, bluegrass, camping, natural beauty areas, adventure as we are both pretty active, and even some time for chilling out!!



the route is roughly 1600 miles (twice the lengh of Britain) we have estimated the fuel between $500-$1300???

and we would greatly appreciate any input from you folks
thanks

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Let's start with the things you don't have to worry about. The United States really has nothing comparable to the UK's 'B' roads, at least not in the Interstate, US, or State highway systems. If the line on the map is numbered in one of those networks, it will be passable with a full-sized motor home. The only place you might (and I emphasize 'might') have a problem is on some secondary state highways in the mountains. The way you can tell if a road is a secondary state (or county) road is that most maps will show it's route number in a rectangular box rather than a circle/oval (primary state highways), black/white shield (US Highways), or red/blue shield (Interstates/motorways). Even scenic roads such as the Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Parkways are accessible by large RVs. However, you will be a slow moving vehicle on some of those roads due to your bulk and unwieldiness. As a courtesy to other drivers, you should keep an eye on the traffic behind you and if/when you've got several cars in trail, pull off when you can to let them by.

You also don't need to worry at all about taking fruits or vegetables across state lines, or ay kind of 'inspections'. Such places are exclusively out west, notably in/out of California, where their economy has a huge agricultural component and pretty much the only way for pests to enter the state is via travelers. The same holds true for getting a traffic ticket. You're not going to be speeding in the rig you've rented, and as long as you stay on the right side of the road and pay attention when making turns - especially left ones - you'll be fine. My own experience has been that getting used to being on the 'other' side of the road gets pretty obvious after just a short time; the fact that the controls are on the 'other' side of the vehicle and everyone else is where they belong helps a lot.

My wife and I are planning a somewhat similar trip for this spring, visiting Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina, so I've been doing a bit of research myself on some of the areas you'll be driving through. Be sure to check out both Mammoth Cave and Great Smoky Mountains national parks. You might also want to consider some lesser-known (and thus less crowded) venues such as Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As a general rule, your best camping options (low price and quiet) are state parks and national forests. The biggest problem I see with your itinerary is your plan to spend three nights "in Nashville". Finding parking near town, and especially getting around during the day are going to be particularly difficult in a 30 foot motor home. I wouldn't plan on taking it into the city at all.

AZBuck

[Foxy]

Hi
So we did a similar route last autumn. Autumn? We must be from the uk!!
We travelled the other way round and stayed at hotels/lodges but for what it's worth here are some of our thoughts
Stopping at Montgomery was good as it broke up a long drive from New Orleans to Atlanta. We took time out to visit the rosa parks museum and also hank Williams memorial.
The Natchez trace parkway is gorgeous if ou catch it with the trees changing colour. However it can get a bit samey and it's a long slow road. We did the north bit from Nashville down to the 64 the junction to Shiloh. Then headed across to Memphis. We then took the interstate from Memphis to Jaskson over to Vicksburg and then caught the last bit south into Natchez.
Shiloh and Vicksburg are well worth a visit if you are interested in the civil war stuff.
Natchez is wonderful, full of antebellum properties and a real throw back the the old Deep South.
Gatlinburg is a a bit like Blackpool but in a way only America can do!! Pigeon forge for us was just a long road but of course it has Dollywood. It's a good theme park if you like coasters. The blue smoky mountains are picturesque. Try and fine time to take a trip round cases cove loop road. We took most of th day to go round but well worth it. It was 80 and sunny when we did it so maybe not so good if wet? Also be aware of the fires they had this winter in the gatlinburg pigeon forge area, don't know if they are still recovery in from this. Buckberry creek where we stayed was burnt to a cinder, google it.
No worries that you won't catch any music, it's everywhere in Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans. When in New Orleans try and get into the preservation hall. Reputedly where it all started, and try pat obriens a couple of doors down and enjoy the duelling pianos. Don't discount Graceland. We weren't expecting to like it much but again spent most of the day there, and we are net even Levi's fans really.
Well hope some of that helps. Enjoy your travels.

[Lifemagician]

local / state laws i should know to avoid getting tickets and citations and the like.....

Basically road laws are the same as they are in Britain. However, what I have found useful, (picked it up from a British driver) is having a small flag in the rear window of the vehicle. Show them you are not a local, and hopefully they will forgive any small traffic indescretions. I have been stopped by police on several occasions for making mistakes, of which I was not aware. When they saw the flag and my licence, they invariably explained what I did wrong, and told me to be careful.

Also bring your automobile club membership with you. It will give you access to tourism information from the AAA anywhere in the US.

And yeah! Gatlinburg has been badly hit with that firestorm, and may not be fully opperational by next autumn.

Lifey

[Southwest Dave]

the route is roughly 1600 miles (twice the lengh of Britain) we have estimated the fuel between $500-$1300?

It will depend on gas prices and how many miles you add on with little detours etc but you will be much closer to the $500 mark. You can expect to get a return of around 9mpg on your RV, so even if you covered 1800 miles and gas averaged out at $3 per gallon at the time you travel, it would only come out at $600.