Family Relocation Road Trip - SF to NJ

[Mark Sedenquist]

Speaking from my experiences as a child, father and grandfather, the 5 and 8 year olds would LOVE being able to swim in a pool at the end of every day’s long boring drive.

And equally important: Let them sleep in -- hit the road at Noon. Every day can be a new adventure in fun.

Mark

[Utahtea]

However, one thing seems to be consistent in this COVID-19 age: pools and shower houses at campgrounds have mixed status. Some are closed, some are open. You'll find that showering in an RV is not for the wimp. Most of them have a 6-10 gallon water heater. So you learn to wet down, shut off to soap down, then turn it on again to rinse off. Often the showers are barely big enough to turn around in.


Donna

This is actually a good argument for a private campground where you can make reservations. If you don't have water and sewer hook ups you need to take showers like Donna mentioned. If you have a campsite with water and sewer hook ups you can easily take a good shower. Water can heat back up really quickly so you only have a short time between everyone that needs to shower. Make sure you turn on the shower for the children before they get in to make sure it's not to hot and stay there to make sure they don't knock the faucet handles. (Our old RV had a small shower with handles so low we would accidentally bump into them and we'd get very HOT water or very COLD water depending on which one we bumped!) While the hot water heaters are small they are designed to be VERY hot so you can mix it with a lot of cold water so you can have a pretty long and comfortable shower. It takes a lot of testing to get a good mix of hot and cold to make sure you don't get scalded! Same with washing hands at the sink for the children! Hot can be VERY HOT!

Utahtea

[lesliesp]

Thanks for all these notes! In terms of the route AZBuck, our RV return is in Linden, NJ. For specific interests, as many have alluded to, I think mainly places for the kids to get the energy out. Thanks so much again for all these notes!

[AZBuck]

I-80 will still form the backbone of your driving out west, but to avoid the toll roads out east, and the congested cities you'd be paying to get around or through, a slightly different route could pay off pretty well. The route laid out below adds just under a hundred miles but misses the Tri-State Tollway, The Indiana Toll Road, The Ohio Turnpike, and most of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

You'd leave I-80 at Lincoln NE and take I-29 to St. Joseph MO, then US-36/I-72 to Champagne IL. Note that US-36 is just slightly below Interstate specs for most of its length it's four-lane, divided, limited access roadway. I-72 joins I-74 at Champagne so just follow that to Indianapolis where you'd take the Beltway (I-465) around the northern side of the city to I-70 eastbound on the other side. I've found that when driving relatively slow and unmaneuverable vehicles that the best thing t do in multi-lane, heavy-traffic situations like this is to get in the next to the farthest right lane rather than the farthest right. Leave that on for people getting on or off. Anyway, continue on I-70 east, using Beltways around larger cities where available, to Mount Pleasant PA and join the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76 TOLL) east to Bedford PA and hop on I-99 north up t0 I-80 east. That will finally take you into the Newark area and I-280 to the Garden State Parkway (TOLL) to almost Linden.

Even with an extra day or two, your time is still going to be your most precious commodity, so don't be tempted to take major detours to see "must see" attractions. It really won't take much travel off the most efficient routes to have you end up spending all your 'extra' time driving to places you then won't have time to enjoy. There's plenty along either of the two basic routes (I-80 all the way, or the slightly longer route outlined above) to keep you and the kids occupied, entertained, and informed without making things more stressful than they're already going to be.

AZBuck

[glc]

I would modify Buck's recommendation as follows, this keeps you on Interstates and avoids PA Turnpike tolls:

Stay on I-80 to Moline IL, then take I-74 to Indy. Take the southern I-465 bypass back to I-70.
At Columbus OH, take the northwest I-270 bypass to I-71. Take I-71 to I-76 through Akron to I-80. To get to Linden, take I-287 to NJ-24 to I-78 to the Garden State Parkway. Go south to Exit 136. Note the the GSP has relatively low arched bridges in that old section, use the 2nd lane from the right if your RV is tall.