How much can I do in 3 months (with 4 kids)?

[wanessa]

Hi,

We are an Australian family of 6 (mum, dad, boy 13, girl 10, boy 6 and boy 3) We are arriving in the US in early September and plan to drive an RV around for 3 months.

At the moment our plan is to start in L.A and drive to Florida to end our trip at Disney world (via Utah and Colorado) but I am disappointed about missing out on New York/Chicago, the Rockies, Niagra Falls etc so I was thinking about flying into New York instead and taking the train from New York to Chicago, then onto Seattle, and then hiring the RV in Seattle and driving down the west coast then onto Florida. Am I being a bit ambitious? is that too much? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks in Advance,

Vanessa

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

It really is a case of How much do you want to do ? With 3 months you could do an entire loop of the country quite comfortably, say starting and ending in NY and not having to worry about one way drop off fees. You could head east along a Northen route and then head down the West coast and then back east to Florida along a southern route before heading North again. I would certainly plan on visiting the Northen parts early on in the trip, as winter can come early to the Rockies. Of course, renting an RV for such a long period of time will be extremely expensive and what you finally decide will also have to fit into your budget. An RV can be a great way to travel if it is a 'Lifestyle' choice, but as said, expensive and not so City friendly.

Your idea of visiting the east coast and then flying west is also a very good idea. If you want to visit the Rockies then you could fly into Denver and do a complete loop from there and cover much of the West before heading to the east coast. These are the things you need to work out and then we can help you to 'Fine tune' your trip and answer any specific questions. To help you decide you will find Lot's of info throughout the forums and road trip planning sections in the tool bars above, including a whole section on RV'ing

[Utahtea]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

It really is a case of How much do you want to do ? With 3 months you could do an entire loop of the country quite comfortably, say starting and ending in NY and not having to worry about one way drop off fees. [/URL]

The only problem I see with this plan is they are starting in September and will be heading back to NY in early December when they can run into snow! I'm not as familiar with camping on the East Coast, but I've heard that a lot of the campground are closed for the season.

I can really see starting in Denver and doing a western loop and flying back to NY to work their way down to Florida.

Is this trip for this September?

Utahtea

[wanessa]

Thank you both so much for your replies, this website is fantastic, a lifesaver.

Yes we are arriving in September this year. We were suddenly presented with an opportunity to travel for a decent amount of time but not much time to plan it!

I am still thinking of flying in to NY and doing the northern states while it is still warm enough and making my way south (first through Montana, Wyoming then Colorado and Utah and Nevada and then hitting the west coast and then through Arizona and across to Florida. (not a particularly direct route!) Any thoughts?

I am a bit concerned that I will need to spend too much time driving and not enough time being somewhere and enjoying it but not sure how to figure out how much driving this involves. I know it will probably be the only time our family get to take a trip like this together and there is so many fabulous places in the US to see, I don't want to miss out on too much either.

Thanks again for your great advice,

Vanessa

[Utahtea]

Yes, you will want to do Montana, Wyoming and Colorado first to do it while the weather is still nice. You could do northern Utah and Northern Nevada then make your way to California. Then you can cross back though Southern Nevada and Southern Utah which should be fine weather wize even though October with maybe the exception of Bryce Canyon. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon might be closed but the South Rim will be fine.

If you have specific destinations in mind, we might be able to help with the routing.

Utahtea

[wanessa]

I think I know the main places I would like to visit. After a few days in NY - Niagara Falls, Yellowstone, Grand Teton National park, Mount Rushmore? Glacier National Park, the grand canyon, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Rocky Mountain National park, Yosemite, Highway 1, San francisco, L.A, the meteor crater in Arizona, monument valley, Santa Fe......from there to Florida we dont have anything particular, would be cool to see Texas, cruise on the mississippi river, eat in New Orleans.....

Thanks!

[DonnaR57]

Get a good paper map of the USA and see if you can map all of those things you just listed. I see you coming across the USA on either I-80 or I-70 (or a combination of both) to do the places in the north FIRST, before the winter moves in. Then head south (maybe on I-15 to I-40) to go to the Grand Canyon. Then go even further south to do Houston, New Orleans, etc.


Once you get a good idea of the routes that might work for you, come back here and we can help you fine-tune.

I think you're on the right track, not using an RV in either Boston or DC. Both cities have good public transportation (as does NYC, if you're interested). I can understand the need for an RV if you're trying to rent 2 rooms every night ... the cost might even out if you're doing your own cooking, too. (I loved our RV's, though we are "tween RVs" right now.)



Donna

[Lifemagician]

Your short time frame is not helping you at all. On top of that you have to take into consideration the needs of the whole family. A daunting task.

But the first thing I would do is make an extensive and detailed list of all the things you want to see... all the things you are considering. Then, as mentioned above, get a good wall sized map. Not sure where you are, but I got a National Geographics map (one of the best) at Map World in Melbourne. I find this large map excellent. It has all the cities, major routes and all natural attractions on it.

Use your list to mark all the places on your map, and see how the route lays out. There will be attractions and places you will have to delete. In three months, you simply can't see it all. (So far I have spent some 20 months in the US, and the list of places I am yet to see gets longer, rather than shorter.) I would definitely make sure you get to see Yellowstone and surrounds, as well as Rocky Mountains, as soon as possible after arrival. Winter can come early.

It is a pity you want to end up in Florida. I could see this trip working for you by starting in Seattle, Yellowstone, etc. to the Rocky Mts, Rushmore and everything along the way to NY. Then work back to the west coast via a southern route through all the great national parks and ending in LA. You could still make Disney in Florida, or choose to go to Disney in LA instead. It is the only way I can see you hitting Yellowstone and the Rockies before winter comes, as well as see the autumn leaves in the northeast.

Lifey in Melbourne

[wanessa]

Thanks for the replies. I have a map out now ( not the best but will do for now) and have started marking our must sees. Orlando is definitely the odd one out.

Life magician, I think your idea of starting in Seattle sounds great and a bit more manageable, It really does cover most of the places we want to see and if the family is still really keen for disneyworld we might be better off flying there. Am going to look into flights RV availability - thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

[Lifemagician]

Here's another thought.

You could divide your trip into three one month bites. Take a month from Seattle to NY; a month down the east side and in Florida (there is so much more than just Disney); and a month working your way back to LA, via all the great national parks.

The only snag I see is, that you could run into campgrounds shutting down for the season in the east. And of course, you need to check if you can get an RV for that long.... and that many miles.

Lifey