Cross country RV road trip advice please???
 

My fiancé and I (will be my wife by the time we take this trip) are planning a RV road trip from here in southern New Hampshire to Bryce Canyon, Utah sometime between mid-June and August this coming summer (2015). This will be our honeymoon! I'm hoping folks here can give us advice as to best time of summer for this trip (we haven't specified dates until we hear from you!), routes to travel, sites to see along the way, any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated. Even recommendations for RV rental services to use or places "not to go". Anything you have to say at all to help with our trip would be greatly appreciated! Thank you and Happy New Year!!!

July and August will be the worst time to cross the Midwest.

Camping above 5,000 ft. (most National Forests in the West) means that it usually cools down at night.

If it was me I wouldn't RV across the whole USA unless you have months. Not only will it be HOT and humid across the midwest -- that is a VERY long haul.

I'd fly out to Nevada or Arizona or California and pick up the rental RV there and do a loop tour, then fly back home. But do understand that most of the scenic SW will be gawd awful hot in summer.

If you could go in the spring (but not too early so the roads are cleared of snow) or autumn you will have a much more comfortable trip.

Mister,

Congrats!

My first question is: are you doing an RV trip because it's always been a dream, or are you thinking it's a cheap way to travel? Renting an RV is not cheap and driving one this many miles will be very expensive even with the current lower gas prices. Have you priced it out yet?

Depending on what you want to see along the way, you might want to think about flying out to Utah or Colorado and starting your rental there. Better book soon and get your camping res in the Natl parks now too.

It sounds like a fun trip. I would do it in early June. Second choice would be late Sept.

I can only help with Ut and Co suggestions. I'Ve never camped further east.

The advice to get somewhere and rent is right on IMO. And also, why an RV. If you want/like to camp, there are other fairly easy ways to do it--and for only two, an RV is overkill. It will be difficult to navigate in cities, which you also might like to see.
Expensive to rent and expensive to drive--and to park in an overnight place.

Let's say you have two weeks for your honeymoon and like to drive and camp.

Day 1 fly to Salt Lake City, go to a store like Walmart or such, buy an inexpensive tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags. and start up towards Yellowstone.
Day 2 Drive up to Yellowstone (make a reservation for camping) visit the VC, do a little of the park
Day 3+4 Yellowstone
Day 5+6 do Grand Teton NP
Day 7 drive to Bryce
Day 8 hike in Bryce
Day 9 Grand Canyon north rim
Day 10 Grand Canyon
Day 11 drive to Zion
Day 12 Zion
Day 13 drive to Salt Lake City
Day 14 fly home

You could do the whole trip in the opposite direction and/or eliminate a park or two and spend more time in one or two, depending on your interest and what you have seen before.

The cost for renting an RV (many limit the number of miles you can go without paying extra), gas, camping fees, etc. will probably be about the same as flying and renting a small car for travel and lets you see a lot more and miss the loooong drive across the country while seeing much more of the fantastic west.

Nice itinerary and advice. REservations might be a must for most of these places, or a good commercial campground guidebook--WHICH would also be the case if the RV was used. High season, as projected at the moment.

Thanks for all the information! RV vs flying and camping??? Our trip was more about the road than the destination. We wanted to take our time on the road and see as much as we could. We thought an RV would allow us a way to avoid staying in hotels while on the road. We weren't planning on camping, another reason for the RV. I realize the RV is expensive but given our intent I thought hotels along the way would be as well. Are we crazy?!?!

Actually -- IME staying in nice motels in the SW is cheaper than RV'ing . . . mainly because of the gas prices. Even w/ the lower fuel charges now, it is probably a wash.

But if you really want to RV - great. Just don't drive one all the way across the country. That means either having to drive it all the way back too - or paying a very high one-way drop off fee. Unless you have most of the summer to do it -- driving across the country and back isn't really practical. Fly out west to whatever starting point you decide, collect the RV there, and drop it at the same place before flying home.

(do you have RV experience? Mountain driving in an RV ain't child's play)

You should use the internet to research hotel costs along the way. Estimate your miles and calculate gas.

Again, get the rental costs, including "kitchen packages", "linen packages", etc . The RV comes with just the RV, nothing else. You need sleeping bags or bedding, cooking utensils, GPS, etc., etc. You also need to have some PVC gloves for dumping and pay dumping fees. There is also a final "cleaning fee". You can't pick up the RV first thing in the morning and you can't drop it off after a certain time (or even on Sundays), so like a hotel you are paying for a couple days that don't really count as vacation.

Did you actually say how long you have for the trip? Driving to the west from NH would take about 3 days (I think) in an RV without lots of sightseeing stops.

Manchester NH to the Southern Utah parks is nearly 2700 miles by the fastest/least scenic route. In an RV that will take more than 3 days. Nearly 50 hours driving time (in an RV) w/o stops. In 'real life' that would take about a week each way unless you wanted to drive 10 hours a day.

If your trip is more about the road then driving makes sense, just not in an RV. Compare rental price, the amount of money you will spend in gas and campgrounds to hotels.

I have done this type of trip about 5-6 times and we always use a car. Some major disadvantages of the RV (other than previously outlined) are that you need a campground each night, you have to set it up (water, sewer, electricity) each night and break it all down each morning.

The real advantage of RV's is the ability to stay in one place for a number of nights.

Another disadvantage to an RV is they are hard to maneuver and hard to just pull over when you want to see something (real disadvantage in Yellowstone).

Also a spur of the moment decision to go into a city, in an RV fuggedaboutit!!

If you decide you want to do the trip either way car or RV I'll be glad to tell you about the routes I took and the highlights and lowlights of them.

What Steve said.

Unless you have a friend who will let you use his/her RV, the smallest RV will cost $2000-$3000 for the basic charges. They typically add $400-$500 for the first 1400 miles and if you go farther than that will add per extra mile (you will be going about 6000 if you go to Utah and back). There often is a $500 "damage fee" up front, some of which may be returned. If you add in the fees for camping and the extra gas compared to travel in a car, your transportation and lodging will realistically be in the $8000-$10000 range.

If you drive in your car, 14 nights in a motel will cost $1400-$2800 or less depending on if you are willing to use discount coupons and stay in no name places. Even if you rent a car, it will probably be less than $1000. Gas will be less, you will have more flexibility in where you can go.

If you can find someone to let you use their RV as a wedding gift, then maybe, but be aware of what your choices are

Tent camping is probably the cheapest option. A basic outfit (tent, air mattress, cooking items etc.) can be had for $300. This is paid for in the first week of camping if camping in National Forests that cost less than $20 a night. Moreover, if one is willing to cook and picnic, and eat out only occasionally, the cost of meals will be reduced. But that assumes that one has done tent camping. I would not recommend a major camping trip without prior experience.

I think you will find acceptable motels in the west along the interstates to be very economical.
Agree about the experience needed for camping.

Book on hotels.com as you go along for discounted rooms.

P has already said they don't want to camp.
I think he needs to do some research and some math in order to make a decision.

You have received a lot of good advise. As an avid RV'er...I understand the love of having your home with you as you travel on this adventure.

You haven't mentioned how long you have for this trip. If it's less than 3 - 4 weeks, I'd recommend not doing the RV unless you plan on just doing it one way and flying home. You might look at the RV rental places and see if they have any deals on one way travels. You might be able to find an RV that needs to be brought back to the southwest.

As for timing, I'd suggest as early in June as you can possible plan it. Some schools will still be in session and the heat won't be as bad. If you could leave in mid-May it would be even better or wait until September.

Utahtea

14 nights in a motel will cost $1400-$2800 or less depending on if you are willing to use discount coupons and stay in no name places.

I think this is a large overestimation even with the caveat. I just looked at Santa Fe in May and you "can" stay for $50 or $150 using hotels.com. There are acceptable places available every day on various sites.

P,
You did mention you wanted to avoid hotels, but why? Knowing might help us help you further.

Happy New Year!

I get the sense that he thinks the RV will be cheaper than hotels--not that they are to be "avoided" because of some reason.

I'm with Utahtea having done a heap of RViing. What is missing in these posts are the various RVs that can be rented. Start with Class A (Grayhoud bus size) Class C (Cab over - most popular) to economic Class B

Cruise America is one of the larger:
http://www.cruiseamerica.com/
And many others

Or from private individuals
http://privatemotorhomerental.com/

Look at their Class B option. Quote:
Daily Rental: $50 Winter ($105 May1-Sept30 Summer) ($150 5/23-29 & 8/27 - 9/5 Holiday)

Camp sites are from $30 plus for full service; less if dry.
Insurance, damage, etc. - the fine print stuff.

Bottom line: Don't have to hunt for bed bugs every night and there is always a cold beer/wine & sandwich.

Bed bug registry:
http://bedbugregistry.com/

Vaga.

I agree with the others. If this is your honeymoon, I'd make the drive in a car and/or fly out west and rest a car there. You have four days of driving before you get to your destination and four days back. Not to insult anyone in the middle, but it's not exciting driving. You'll make better time and spend less money if you drive and stay in hotels and that gives you the flexibility to mix things up re your hotel choices.

If you want some ideas on how to break up the drive, tell us more about your interests and if you want to have a driving day of 8 hours or 10 hours. One random suggestion on breaking up the drive -
Segment 1 - drive to Amish country. Bird-in-hand, PA would be 410 mile drive or just under 7 hours.
Segment 2 - drive to the Ohiopyle, PA area if visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's homes at Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob would be of interest. That would be 207 miles and 3.5 hours. You'd need to add in a day or two to explore the Amish countryside and have time to visit the homes.
Segment 3 - drive to Springfield, IL or St. Louis, MO = about 9 hours of driving. Add in time to visit Lincoln sites or go up in the Gateway Arch
Segment 4 - drive to Hays, Kansas - about an 8 hour drive day
Segment 5 - a short drive day that will get you into Colorado
Segment 6 - spend a few days exploring Colorado
Segment 7 - spend a few days exploring Bryce and the SW desert
Segment 8 - start heading back, maybe stopping at Mammoth Cave and Washington, DC.

It's hard to know what to recommend, but use google maps to play around with the routing. No matter where you stop along the way, your going to have a 5000 mile/ 8 days of driving to get there and back. "The middle" isn't very exciting driving and/or particularly interesting RV camping destinations. If you drive it, use a car. If you want the RV experience, fly out there and rent an RV out west. 5000 miles in an RV in just travel time is not a very exotic honeymoon. It's a pretty tedious driving vacation.

I agree with all of starrs last paragraph. Since you want to see Zion/Bryce, fly to SLC and then drive a rented RV from there.
You don't really want to drive an RV through Chicago and across Nebraska or Kansas.

>>Since you want to see Zion/Bryce, fly to SLC and then drive a rented RV from there.<<

I'd think flying into Las Vegas makes a lot more sense. It 150 miles closer to Zion/Bryce and there are better flight connections from almost anywhere in the country.

Just one piece of advice in addition to all the suggestions above: triple check the height of your RV against the allowable vehicle height of any bridges, etc you have to go under or over, esp on back roads. On lots of non-highway roads, you can find some mighty low bridges (the part of Pennsylvania I grew up in is full of them). You do NOT want to get stuck or damage either your RV or the bridge!

If you are interested in history, I recommend stopping at Presidential libraries. We've been to most of them. Our favorites are Ike and Truman. Least interesting is Prez Ford in Michigan. Also birth places of Presidents. Tyler was very austere.
While not a classic prez library, Lincoln's is also recommended: There are many, but this is the one we visited:
http://www.lincolnlibraryandmuseum.com/lincoln-tour.htm

Next, have a tour of each State's Capitol. Texas is impressive in design and history. Texas had the following flags flown: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Southern Confederacy, and the United States.

Wyoming's tile is beautiful (imported from Alaska)

Vaga