New York City to....?

[segmentfreud#2]

Hello
I am coming to New York for a wedding in late May 2011 from the UK. We are spending 5 nights in Brooklyn and then we are free to leave the city. We dont like cities all that much and much prefer to be in small towns and trying to get a feel for the real 'small town' America. We will be travelling with a 13 month old baby.
My question is, which direction do you advise we head?! We wont have a car but will need to pick one up somewhere, but this can be done after a boat/flight if needed. We would like to head towards warmth. We love to visit natural and historic attractions (not so keen on lots of people or queing for entry to things) - for example we visited the west coast/arizona/nevada last year, loved death valley, hated Vegas.
I'd love to know what you think about travelling with a young child. We wouldnt want to drive for very long each day (a couple of hours tops) - and at the moment I just feel lost! How can the US be so big!?
many thanks in advance
Nicky

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Yes, the US is huge !! You haven't mentioned how long you have for this part of your trip, but even so, it is tough to make meaningful suggestions as you are prepared to fly "somewhere warm" before starting your road trip. Even with the rest of the info you have offered, there are just too many options to start narrowing things down at this point. I would recommend searching the forums where you will find lots of info, such as in the 'Roadtrip field reports' and threads like this one, that has hundreds of suggestions. Take a look at the Roadtrip routes and planning sections in the green tool bar above, and when you have narrowed it down to a start and end point, with places that appeal to you and brought you to that particular area, then we can help to fill in the blanks with more meaningful advice than just a looooong list.

Enjoy the planning !

[segmentfreud#2]

Hi Dave - thats such a useful link, thank you! We have about 10 days to fill so I will get reading.....

many thanks

[segmentfreud#2]

Ok, so its been ages since I first posted and I am a little bit further along in planning. We are considering taking an RV as it would mean we dont have to lug a travel cot for the baby around and pack the car up every few days. However I really cant find anything with Pros/Cons of an RV over hotels/motels. Can anyone offer any advice?

My key thoughts are:
RV - we can sit outside at night having some drinks with baby safe inside, always in the same surroundings so not unsettled.
BUT - can you drive into towns easily and find restaurants with an RV? We LOVE eating out in the USA and dont want to rent an RV only to find out they're much more suited to the self caterer. We are low-key people and dont want a busy nightlife or anything, but we still want to eat out, even if we then come back to the RV site to put baby to bed and settle down for the night.


Has anyone with a travelled with a baby and can offer me some advice?

At the moment we are thinking about going to the Hill Country area of Texas. Warm and a few interesting things to see within a fairly small area.

many thanks to anyone who can help!
Nicky

[Southwest Dave]

I haven't travelled with baby but I don't think that is a key factor in deciding whether the RV for you is right or not. The RV's in the US are very well equipped and carry a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages, mainly the cost, it's slower and it's big and not user friendly in the City. The advantages are that when baby needs changing, feeding or you simply want a tea break and visit the bathroom, everything is there for you. You may have to look a little harder for suitable parking in towns, but it has never been the case where we haven't been able to park up and eat before going to the campground.

There is a whole section dedicated to RV info in the tool bar above, including this one on here on the Pros and Cons involved.

I love the RV lifestyle and find that when enjoying natures 'creativity' there is nowhere else I would rather be. We actually enjoy the odd BBQ or creating a home cooked meal in the RV and eat around the campfire, with a couple of beers of course !

Our last trip might give you an insight to thr RV way of life.

[segmentfreud#2]

SW Dave, thank you so much for those links! They were really really useful. I also took great pleasure in trying to find a pic with you in it - face to the name! Sorry its taken me an age to reply.

You have certainly helped, in that we have decided the RV experience is not for us, at least not this time.

We are still going to hit the Texas hill country, but spend 2/3 nights in a place and move on, no huge miles to do each time.

I have a 2 questions for Texas experts.
1, We are flying in from New York. Would it be better to come in to Austin or San Antonio? I do need to go to Austin to see a friend - does that mean just skip San Antonio completely?
2, We fly home to UK from Texas. Should I drive to Dallas or Houston, which is nearer/easier/better for any reason?! Does anyone know the best way to get home?!

thank you so very much.
Oh, and the map wizard is great!

Nicky

[glc]

The most economical way to do this would be to rent a car in one of the 4 cities and return it to the same location. So, I'd look at comparative airfares and schedules for flying into the 4 cities from NYC, and returning to the UK from the same city. All 4 cities are 5 hours or less away from each other via Interstate highways.