senior trip

[elise22]

hello...

my friends and I are planning on going on a senior trip after we graduate. We are in salt lake city. We are thinking of going down to southern utah, arizona, new mexico, and southern colorado

we are planning on visiting Moab (canyonlands and arches), lake powell, antelope canyon, flagstaff, santa fe, bandelier, durango, chaco canyon, mesa verde, hovenweep, and any other stops on the way.

how long should we plan for a trip like this? we would like to camp as much as possible, staying in motels when we need to clean up and shower.

are any of these places a bad idea to visit as well? we are planning early to get the best final plan possible.

thanks for any help and advice!

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

Those all are great places to visit - I don't think I've found a place that is a bad place to visit in some regard or another.

How many of you are going? What is your mode of transportation?
I don't think it can be called a "senior trip" if you've already graduated when you partake in the journey! Is this high school or college which you will be graduating from?

Since you have a decent amount of time to plan, start here.

Here is a thread about a Colorado mountain trip - some of the info is seasonal; since you are going in the Summer, you should have better luck in getting to most places.

Here is a thread about Zion & Bryce.

These are popular places for road trips and if you use our search facility, you will undoubtedly uncover a wealth of information on these four great states.

I think two weeks would be a nice, comfortable amount of time to do this trip, though if you have more time available, by all means use it! I am a fan of having as much time available as possible to really get into a trip.

You should be able to find private campgrounds with shower facilities - I know nothing beats a good private shower room, though. State parks most likely will not have shower facilities and will more often than not have pit toilets.

It sounds like you are in for a really good trip!

[elise22]

it looks like our trip will consist of 6-8 people and two cars.

it is going to be our trip after graduating high school.

what would you recommend as the maximum amount of driving hours a day? we would like to cover a lot of ground, but do not want to drive so much that we miss out on things.

we don't want to be driving all day.

we are planning so early to show parents that we can be responsible and have good, solid plans.

thanks!

[Mark Sedenquist]

we are planning so early to show parents that we can be responsible and have good, solid plans.

You might print this article out and give it to your parents too!

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

You still haven't told us how long you plan on being on the road for this trip.

There's no real hard and fast rule for number of hours you should drive, but anything over 8 or so hours makes for a pretty long day. I suspect because of the large number of people, it will take you a little longer to cover large distances. However, since you are staying relatively close to your home, you really shouldn't have to worry about any massive driving days. Pretty Much all of your possible stops would be within a relativly easy day's drive.

State parks most likely will not have shower facilities and will more often than not have pit toilets.

I do have to disagree with Tim here. While National Park and Forest service campgrounds typically don't provide showers, State Parks often do. I do the vast majority of my camping at state parks, and I would say more often than not, they actually do have showers and flush toliets. They tend to be rustic, and are occationally coin-operated, but often times they are there. Its something you can usually find out at each state's state park website.

[elise22]

we were thinking 10-14 days would be best for the trip. we are planning on driving from point A to point B, stopping at whatever looks fun each day.

[AZBuck]

While I am all in favor of encouraging people to experience the joys of RoadTripping as early and as often as possible. There is a major issue that often gets overlooked when minors plan and/or take such journeys, and that is the problem of health care, both for ongoing conditions and emergency situations which arise while travelling. Unfortunately, the laws governing what treatment may be given under which conditions (without parental consent) vary from state to state, but in general, treatment may be given to a minor only when the withholding of such treatment would result in serious disability or death. There are a host of conditions (and injuries from accidents) that fall far short of such criteria, but which I'm sure that you and your parents would want, and expect, to be treated. The question is: How can they and you authorize such treatments? If one of your party is an adult (18 or older) then the parents of minors can sign a form (this example follows California law) giving him or her authorization to consent to treatment. In the event that none of you are 18 or older, or if the parents of one of the minors would rather not give medical custody of their child to someone only a year or two older, then it might be advisable for them to give their son/daughter a more general medical permission release (this example is from the University of Texas at Arlington). In either case, I would also make sure that the signatures on such forms are notarized.

Just talking over such contingencies with your parents would go a long way to show that you are mature enough to foresee such possibilities and are trying to prepare for them as best you can. At the very least, everyone should carry an insurance card and the names and phone numbers of their parents or legal guardians, as well as any medication allergies. I know it's no fun to think of such things when you'd rather be exited about your upcoming adventure, but I spent a dozen years working in a hospital Emergency Room, and any time you save the people trying to help you in the event you need them is well worth a little work on your part before the trip.

AZBuck

[elise22]

thank you very much for mentioning the health care during a trip. Everyone on the trip except me will be 18 (i started school early). I will discuss this with my parents. I appreciate you bringing this up, our group probably would not have realized the problems we could have in hospitals. this is why we are planning so far in advance... to get all the important things taken care of so we don't end up in trouble.

and, to anyone out there, how much should we be thinking of spending a day, excluding gas money and state park fees?

and one friend of mine wanted me to ask if we have to stay in designated campgrounds, or if we could just pull over somewhere (not in a park of course) and pitch camp. he'd like to know if this is legal, and if it is too dangerous.

thanks everyone!

[Mass Tim]

and, to anyone out there, how much should we be thinking of spending a day, excluding gas money and state park fees?

Part of your budget will be, of course, spent on food. Eat well and stay healthy!

and one friend of mine wanted me to ask if we have to stay in designated campgrounds, or if we could just pull over somewhere (not in a park of course) and pitch camp. he'd like to know if this is legal, and if it is too dangerous.

There is an element of adventure in everyone, I suppose, but I would say stick to the designated camps, because, yes, in most every case just pulling over on someone else's private property (whether it be a business or a resident) is most certainly illegal. Not to mention dangerous - the best case would be to be politely asked to leave, the worst case involves shotguns.

[W. Larrison]

elise22,

Actually I think you're off to a good start on planning a trip. You might start up a notebook or something and a list of things to think about. Some of the things on the list might just be "oh yeah, got that covered" and some might be "duh oh.... how could I forget that?"

For example, you might make a photo copy of everyone's medical insurance cards if they have coverage that way. Hopefully you'll never need them, but just in case you're mountain biking in Moab and someone does a header and breaks an arm you just need to pull the copy out.

Similarly, I assume you'll have a cell phone (and a charger) and a list of numbers -- just in case.

No one wants to think about the "What if" cases, but you do need to think about what happens if something goes wrong. Things like having someone bring a credit card or an ATM card (put it in a sealed envelope marked "for emergencies only" if the parents are concerned), or making sure someone has a AAA or Roadside assistance card.

But overall you're doing the right thing by thinking things through instead of just piling whatever you can grab in 15 minutes and heading out. I acutally have a "Pack list" on trips that I put together a couple of weeks before I leave. It's built up from past trips, but I add things to it as they occur to me specifically for this trip or from what I forgot last tieip. It's my "reminder" list for things to remember to toss in the car so I don't end up in the middle of nowhere without a can opener (it's happened.. fortunately the pocket knife in my tool roll had one...), or a tent.. or a spoon (all true stories).