RVer's Advice, 50 days starting Phoenix for UK couple

[Tourist]

Thanks Lifey and all others, I thought I had already thanked you but I see there's no post so I must have forgotten to press a button. I'm sure there will be more stuff but I'll start a new thread or join a different one. My next task is to collate all the details of the vehicle and insurance ready for a visit in April to view the beast.

[Tourist]

So much on the RTA forum is about car trips, and of course we will work out our own so this is a little cheeky but advice is always welcome if you did something similar. We have acquired an RV and tow car, stored now in Phoenix, and we will be coming out on a 60 day ESTA on about Jan 4th 2017. Allowing for problems and storage we thought 50 days a good basis for planning. We thought to allow for 30 miles a day, meaning only staying 3 days means a 90 mile catch-up stay a week and it's 210 rather than a daily must-do. So max distance 1500 miles.

At the end of the 50 days, about Feb 24 say, we'd like to head north to a storage facility close to an airline hub or railway junction for return to the UK, (Denver??), in preparation for another 50 days heading north in summer. A hard days drive or two at the end might be OK.

Naturally we'd like to cover the best bits of the southwest, and I'd like to see Quartzsite just for its RV-ness and Las Vegas, because its there! Seeing less and enjoying more is also good, so if we need to stick mostly to the big natural wonders, that'll be more than OK. I like a good view but eat the food and meet the people is also important.

60 or 90 days, can't remember, is the ESTA limit but we think 60 days is also our limit, home and family duties and other fun things for the retired will be calling us by then.

Thanks
John

Moderator Note: We prefer to keep everything about one trip together, so I've moved the posts from your previous discussion here.

[Midwest Michael]

I take it you've gotten all of the details worked out in regards to the registration and insurance of your new RV? Any advice you could provide others in that regard would be helpful, as that is typically the most difficult hurdle for a non-resident visitor to overcome when planning a trip like this.

At this point in your planning, I wouldn't worry too much about mileage. It's good not to try to do too much of course, but 30 miles a day is nothing when you're traveling in the American West. I mean, if that's your guideline, you're locking yourself into spending nearly 2 full weeks in Quartzsite and Las Vegas, just factoring in the 350 miles for that small section of your trip. Maybe that is what you'll end up wanting to do, but I would start by focusing more on figuring out which places you want to focus your time on before becoming too concerned about the schedule.

[DonnaR57]

but 30 miles a day is nothing when you're traveling in the American West

Some folks commute that mileage -- one way -- to get to work every day, here in the US! 30 miles is a day trip for many of us. :-)


Donna

[Lifemagician]

John, you will be amazed when you arrive just how far an hour in the car/RV will take you. It is the same downunder. The distances on these continents is at first hard to grasp by miost who come from Europe.

As for me, 30 miles would not take me acrosss town. It is sometimes how far I travel to do my shopping.

Be aware that the closer to an airport hub a storage facility is, the higher the cost. In some places the demand is such that you may have to pay the storage to keep the place for you, after picking up the vehicle. Balance the extra cost of the storage against a cheap airfare between the hub and the storage.

Like Michael, I too would like to hear how you went with the registration and insurance.

Lifey

[Tourist]

Hi Lifey, I followed your advice of course, to the letter, with my new best friend up north!

I think I explained I didn't really mean 30 miles a day, might be 200, 0,0,0,0, 50, 10, quien sabe? And Michael I think two weeks to cover Quartzsite, Vegas and maybe the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead sounds about right, maybe a bit fast!

By the way I regularly drive the 1500 miles from UK to my home in Spain in three comfortable days, but it's more work than pleasure, this is more about the quality of the Road Trip.

Storage is booked and paid for in Phoenix, after that I don't know.

Now that's all out of the way, route suggestions, camp sites, all the junk you care to share please, maybe via PM?

John

[Lifemagician]

... with my new best friend up north!

Yeah, Duncan is a great guy. Trust you will have a chance to meet him.... and his boss, who is also very nice. So did you use your own name, or a non de plum? (No prices for guessing what my LLC is called.)

I should be calling in there early July, to pay my dues for a couple of years in advance. Too expensive to have to transmit money from afar.

Lifey

[Tourist]

Lifey, you have a pm. John

[Tourist]

I take it you've gotten all of the details worked out in regards to the registration and insurance of your new RV? Any advice you could provide others in that regard would be helpful, as that is typically the most difficult hurdle for a non-resident visitor to overcome when planning a trip like this.

Lifey shared her system with me via p m and I'd be happy to do the same. Obviously it's (a) legal and (b) involves 3rd party's who might or might not enjoy the publicity, but (c) I can say it involves registration in Montana.

[Tourist]

I see my last post was back in May, in the meantime the vehicles have been purchased, are in storage Phoenix, have their new plates on. Our plan to come in January has changed because I didn't realise how cold it would be north of Flagstaff having only looked at the Phoenix temperatures. I'm coming in January on my own, the main purpose of the visit is to make sure 6 months in storage hasn't created any issues, if all is OK I will visit Quartzsite before returning to UK. Main trip start date now April.