First time in US - first Road Trip. Advice pls?

[MichaelBecker]

Hello

I would love some advise please. We are planning a road trip to the US (first time in US) with a one year old baby and want to hire a motorhome in San Francisco and spend about 2 months driving (3 – 4 hours average a day) through the US.

We are not that interested in cruising through big cities but rather want to see natural sites etc. Our initial plan to is SF, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Zion National Park…then a bit stuck. Seems we have two options:


Option A – head north: ….Salt lake city, Yellowstone, Sundance, Minneaplois, Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, Cape Cod, Bridge Port, New York, Allen Town, Washington, Orlando, Miami.

Option B – head south: ….Santa Fe, New Orleans, Miami, Washington, New York.

Note that the cities listed above aren’t necessarily our stopping points but are rather the waypoint in the software I am using to generate the route (Microsoft Streets & Trips). We plan on doing things along the route between these waypoints (for example, great lakes etc).

Does anyone have any comments on either options? We will start in mid April. Advice so far has arguments for Option A that the trip is more beautiful and interesting than Option C, that Louisana etc has not been sufficiently rebuilt from the hurricane. Arguments against option A seem to be long distance drives (remember we are driving with a one year old)…..would love to hear some other thoughts on either route.

Thanks

MB

[MichaelBecker]

ps: option c should read option b

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

There are certainly more options than A and B but only you can decide what works best for you and your interests. With 2 Months you could consider doing a loop around the country and see a little of the North and South while not having to pay One way drop off fees.

There is also a lot more to see in Utah and Colorado which could be a consideration. I suggest you have a look at a good map and use the search button to navigate around the forums to get info on places you might find of interest.

I personally love the RV lifestyle, but it should be a lifestyle choice, as by the time you have added on extra fees it certainly won't be the budget friendly choice.

As you build your trip just keep asking questions and we can help you fine tune it, but the beauty of the road trip is getting to see the places you want to see at the pace you want to see them at, so enjoy the research and planning !

[BlueCuzco]

I'd continue doing research and really look into two to four areas that really strike your fancy and concentrate your time in them. For example, I really love the area where I live (the Southern Appalachians) and know that you could spend a month or two in these here parts. You yourself seem to have discovered the rich area around the Southwest. Such is the case for a number of areas in the US. By choosing a few and really looking deep into them you'll come out with a deeper understanding and experience of the places you do choose to visit. It'll also help with the planning: instead of jumping haphazardly from major city area to major city area you'll be heading straight to the areas that interest you most.

[AZBuck]

Two months touring the US will make for a great vacation. However, there's no need to make it a one-way cross country, and indeed doing so makes the trip more expensive than it needs to be. The major extra expense will be the one-way drop off fee on the motor home, and that will be substantial - several hundred dollars at least if your rental company even allows you to leave the vehicle that far away from the pick up point. It is also usually more expensive to buy plane tickets into and out of different cities (open jaw) than the same city (round trip). So have a look at using a single city as your 'base' and plan on doing a loop around the US, taking a month or so for each crossing of the continent. You can see quite a lot of what's available, at a relatively relaxed pace, while taking two completely different routes each way.

AZBuck