I wondered if any forum members have been to the USA and hired an RV?

America is somewhere that Mrs T and I have not really explored, except for NYC together and I visited California when I was younger. We are thinking of taking our 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son away next year and touring around in an RV. We just need a bit of advice as to what would make a good two week trip. We would like to spend a couple of days resting between driving days, so not sure if we could do coast to coast LA to Miami (2500 miles), or follow Route 66 in that time.

Mrs T would like to go to California (Disney for kids etc), and I would like to visit Vegas, but apart from that we are open to suggestions. I suppose primarily the advice we need is:

What would make a nice two week route?
Any info on camp site availability, and can you just turn up?
How to get around once you get to a stop point (RV's aren't suitable fir the cities)?
Generally any hints or tips on how to make a great trip.

Your help/advice/stories/pictures etc would be very much appreciated!

James

Can't give any advice I'm afraid, but I'd love to do this myself, so I'll be keen to see how you get on. Keep us posted! 2010 MY Vogue SE TDV8 3.6 Stornoway Grey- fully loaded

Billy Connolly on ITV 1 ROUTE 66 brand new series Thursday 9.00pm might give you a few pointers James

Thanks Mick, just set it to record.

James

Watch the film 'Paul'. That will give you all the info you need

My mate is currently doing the west coast. Starting in Seatle heading through yosemity (sp), vegas, LA, Lake tahoe. There doing 17nights for their honeymoon and have hired a mustang! When their home will have a chat and see if they have any pointers. There doing alot of stuff and staying in some very nice hotels as its their homeymoon but its deffinatly something i fancy doing. [img]http://www.fuelly.com/driver/rob2529/range-rover[img/]
04, 4.4V8, Vogue Oslo Blue with LPG.
"You can sleep in your car, BUT you can't race your house!!!!"

If something can't be fixed with a hammer....... You have yourself an electrical fault!

Coast 2 Coast would be LOTS of driving and not a great deal for the kids. (I have lots of experience in RV's and kids)

My suggested Route(s) would be:

A) LA - disney etc > VEGAS - a must see > GRAND CANYON - amazing > SCOTTSDALE/PHOENIX - Scenery/Desert Resorts/shopping(wife) > TUCSON > SAN DIEGO - Beach Holiday/trip into Mexico(Tijuana by coach) > LA

Thats more than enough for two weeks.

An alternative if the desert does not appeal would be to head North on the amazing:

B) LA - disney etc> ROUTE 1 - best road in the world > SAN FRANSICO - amazing city > LAKE TAHOE - stunning > YOSEMITE NAT.PARK - stunning > MAMMOTH LAKES - beautiful > KINGS CANYON NAT. PARK beautiful > LA

Hope this helps.

Last edited by Gazellio @ Prestige Cars on 12th Sep 2011 8:25am. Edited 2 times in total

Worth bearing in mind that the California Disney is a very second rate place compared to the Florida one. Walt didn't secure enough land in California and so it is hemmed in by third rate hotels with no room to expand. In Florida, they bought thousands of acres secretly, with many different executives flying in from different cities, changing planes frequently to avoid being followed. Only when he'd secured enough land to be sure that he would not get caught the same way a second time did he start building.

I never knew that about Florida. Thanks Mong. Paul

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Hey James,
-from a frequent US traveller (with kids) and part-time resident of Florida, might I suggest an east coast plan for you and the fam. You could start off in New York or Washington D.C. You can make your way down I95 at your leisure. Stops along the way could include Virginia Beach VA., Charleston North Carolina, Myrtle Beach and/or Hilton Head South Carolina, Savannah Georgia for a lovely night or two, then on to Orlando Florida for more fun than your kids (and you I reckon) could even dream of. When in Orlando you are 40 min drive from Port/Cape Canaveral (my home away from home ) where you can jump on a Disney Ship for a 3 or 4 night cruise to their private island in the Bahamas.

Straight drive without stopping from D.C. to Orlando is about 12 hours max. 2 weeks is plenty of time. I've done this journey by car many times with kids in tow. Its an easy drive. I95 will take you all the way to Miami if you like. Lots of places to stop along the way as well. Do the west coast when the kids are a bit older in my opinion.

Mike.

Thanks all, very much appreciated. Next step is to pour over some maps and read up on the locations you've all mentioned above. At least everyone thinks it sounds like a good idea!

James

Last edited by Lookers Park Royal on 12th Sep 2011 11:03am. Edited 1 time in total

I agree with the East coast suggestion as well. I have done several RV trips (one three week loop in the Southwest : LA, Grand C, Las Vegas, San Fran (my favourite US city !!) etc. the second Miami up to NYC (via Niagara falls). I also lived in LA for a year, did many business trips there and did a motorbike tour Houston to Sacramento (via Sturgis on a ZZR 1400 ) in 2007 (Aussie Redneck Tour, you can find the blog online).

Disneyworld is by far superior to Disneyland (size does matter in that case ) also Epcot and Kennedy are there and the Everglades is a blast in the swampboats.

The drive north is beautiful but not sure if the kids fully appreciate that at this age. I suggest to stay in Fla for a while and then drive to NYC. Not sure how long the kids can stand driving (my daughter can sit through 2 to 3 hours but then she is 14 months ) but in an RV you can have them do all kinds of stuff to distract them from driving.

One thing that is good about the US, they are set up for travelling in big RVs and also catering for kids is excellent.

Whatever route you take, pretty sure you will love it. I still have very fond memories of both RV trips (with parents and sister although we were a lot older : I was driving the RV on both trips ). MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!