San Francisco loop.

[Southwest Dave]

Cheers fellas

Regarding the tram, I actually wasn't sure if it was genuine, or something they done to entertain the visitors, lol!
With regards to the forums, I hope to stick around and hopefully help out with the small amount of knowledge I have, not to mention the usefull info I can collect for any future visit!

Keep an eye out as I will be doing a summary/info thing here soon, with things like mileage covered, and my thoughts on pluses and minuses for RV'ing and visiting this time of year,[especially for first timers like me] stuff that I've been asked a lot since coming home.

Thanks again!

[Mark Sedenquist]

keep an eye out as i will be doing a summary/info thing here soon with things like mileage covered and my thoughts on pluses and minuses for rv'ing and visiting this time of year,[especially for first timers like me]stuff that i've been asked a lot since coming home.
thanks again

We have a section for that kind of data -- [ RoadTrip Costs and Research] and it would be swell if you added it there!

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

Will do, Thanks Mark.

Dave.

[Kanga]

Hi Gommy, I must say our family had initially intended on staying in hotels for the whole duration of our holiday but after reading your threads we have now extended our trip to include San Fran, Yosemite, Death Valley etc all the way to Las Vegas and to do it in an R.V. I would however like to ask you how would you rate doing teh trip in an R.V whilst travelling with young children ie. comfort, amenities. My partner and I are also wondering what was the name of the company u hired your R.V. from? and how did u come to find all of the R.V. parks to use for O/Night accommodation + finally did u find it difficult locating parking for the R.V. when u visited all of your sightseeing spots? Us Australians are eagerly awaiting your reply so that we can get onto preparing our itinerary!. p.s. Great photos and thanks for all the info.

[Southwest Dave]

Hi there

I hope this will help

I would however like to ask you how would you rate doing teh trip in an RV whilst travelling with young children ie. comfort, amenities. My partner and I are also wondering

Personally I can't rate it highly enough, they are spacious and comfortable with all the ameneties you would want, shower, cooking facilities, heating, hot water, and most have a generator for when you are unable to hook up. Far, far better than the campers we get in the UK. As for the kids, mine are grown up now but I wish I could of done it when they were younger. Without knowing the ages of yours, I know which mine would prefer from toddler to teen. Given the choice of gathering wood, making a campfire and having a meal under the stars while listening to stories or being cooped up in a hotel. However that is my opinion and I'm sure a lot of people prefer the home comfort a hotel can offer.

My partner and I are also wondering what
was the name of the company u hired your R.V. from?

We used a small family run company that offered a friendly and helpful service that can be found here. They have changed address but can be contacted by e-mail. They will also pick you up and return you to a hotel/airport for an extra charge when booking an RV. Look carefully at the extra charges, such as insurance waivers, bedding and extra mileage charges that are added on. After calculating our mileage we found this company to offer the best value going at that time.

from? and how did u come to find all of the R.V. parks to use for O/Night accommodation

For national parks we went here, find a park then look for reservations, you need to book early in places like yosemite. This is where the RV has an advantage, you can stay in the heart of the park for around $20 a night and once parked up you can use the frequent and free shuttle bus system to get around. Outside of the parks we just worked out roughly where we would be that evening and then searched the internet for sites in that area. This one I would recommend if your going to Vegas, easy access and fairly convenient for the strip by free shuttle then the trolley service, but much less hassle just getting an $18 cab ride.

finally did u find it difficult locating parking for the R.V. when u visited all of your sightseeing spots?

We had no problems at all, but we visited in mid-late October when most of the crowds had gone. In a busier period this has the potential to cause problems at popular viewpoint parking areas as you can't just squeeze something this size into a small space but some have designated RV parking spots, it's a case of if there is one spare!
Some roads offer "challenges" but nothing an experienced driver can't handle.

Hope you have a great trip whatever you decide!

[Kanga]

Hi Gommy,

Many thanks for the speedy reply! The kids are aged 16, 14 and 8. We are travelling in April so will be interesting to see how busy it gets since its Australian School Holiday time but not American School Holidays. Will definitely be looking further into the extra info thread addresses you gave me and again thank you for doing so much homework to make our organising just that little bit easier and faster. Will get stuck now into my searching and research.. and will be back with hopefully gr8 news to say all is booked LOL!!..

Till next time
C Ya' from Kanga in the
Land Down Under (Australia)

[Southwest Dave]

I remember how daunting it seemed when we first started planning, this link shows how we done it, and may help you to pick your way through the planning process.

To finish of,here are some stats:

Miles covered 2870 over 15 days

Fuel cost aprox $1000 averaging 9.5 mpg.
Temperatures av evening 32-39f/0-4c av daytime 65-75f/18-23c
extreme low 12f/-11c extreme high 98f/36c

There are massive variations in temps so bring lots of layers!. It was generally dry with blue skys.
daylight hours aprox 12-13.

[samj1986]

I have to agree with the others, this is a great thread, thanks! You must have had a fantastic time. I will find it especially helpful as it covers areas that I am hoping to go to this summer on my mini road trip adventure! Seeing those pictures of monument valley makes me want to be there again right now...

[viv1969]

I came here when planning my own trip a couple of years ago and have popped in and out a few times (not enough, I'm ashamed to say!), but having read this absolutely wonderful field report I so want to go back!

A huge thank you from me Gommy for posting all of this. I'll be dreaming for the rest of the day now!

[Southwest Dave]

I came here when planning my own trip a couple of years ago and have popped in and out a few times (not enough, I'm ashamed to say!), but having read this absolutely wonderful field report I so want to go back!

A huge thank you from me Gommy for posting all of this. I'll be dreaming for the rest of the day now!

No problem, I enjoyed doing the report and I'm glad you enjoyed viewing it!.

We also cannot wait to return for another roadtrip, (which will definitley be carried out in an RV) but I cannot see it happening until next autumn at the earliest, although it doesn't hurt to dream and even start planning your next visit. I already have ;-) lol!

Be sure to pop back for help when you start planning again:-)