Hopefully this won't be snarky but
- camping/parking in National Parks is often booked a year in advance.
- aside from paying for parking, you often need to pay for hookups.
- can you empty your holding tanks yourself?
- 7 girls in 1 bathroom that is maybe 3'x3'?


And as far as Las Vegas, you do know you won't be allowed in any casino, right?

I agree with rizzo0904. Depending on how many days you all have for the trip, Amtrak will get you to California with the least hassle. I'm taking the SouthWest Chief in March all the way to Los Angeles. The Boy Scouts have been using this route to get kids to the annual Jamboree at Philmont for decades. http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/201...mont-jeopardy/
I don't know how one way trips work with rented RVs but I'll guess it is not cheap. A 15 or 30 day USA Rail Pass will get you from New York to California and back depending on how long you spend in CA and other cities.
Nashville and Las Vegas are not served by Amtrak but you can rent a car(s) from Barstow for LV or Memphis for Nashville.

No- the OP group is too young - I don;t think even Rent a Wreck would rent them cars at that age.

And for Las Vegas - you have to be 21 to even enter any of the casinos - not just gamble. And the casinos are strict - they can;t afford to run afoul of the government.

My post was not meant to be rude.

My point was that if you thought renting/driving an RV was at ALL a possibility, then you have not done any sort of adequate research. One of the very first things you would/should have discovered was that renting an RV or car is a non starter. Since you did not discover that, then yes, your research is lacking.

I made a IMO very useful/practical suggestion to drive a couple of your own vehicles and take camping equipment.

If you consider that rude, then you have more worries than how to get that elusive RV

I actually was trying to help you.

the first sign that you haven't really prepared/researched - "I don't think a car or van could do this trip"...why they heck don't you think that a vehicle could drive across country??? another word of caution...having 7 girls travelling together in a combined space and sometimes be a recipe for the end of friendships. from someone older and wiser...be leary. there will be many days when some members of the group want to do one thing and others will want to do something else. with only one vehicle, how are you going to make these decisions.

Until you posted your reply, I thought you were naive and perhaps entitled rich boys.

Now I find that you are girls and naive but only some of you are rich.

You can have a great adventure, but you can't do what you want to do. This isn't "Road Rules."

You can do the trip in two cars with everyone swapping around from car to car, or you could do the trip by train and Trailways or Greyhound bus, but you still have the underage lodging problem. If there were only three or four of you, you could do Air BnB but how many places will have room for seven?

Tent camping? More likely, I think, than motels except the kind of motels that rent by the hour.

Backpacking? River rafting? Horse trekking? Chartering a sailboat? Go for it.

I applaud these young women for wanting to explore their country - but agree that they need to do a LOT more research before they figure out how they can manage this.

I know the OP says they have several pages of notes - but a trip like this a realistic amount of research (except for people with unlimited funds and time) is more like a thick loose leaf notebook - or the computer equivalent.

Besides the basics of the getting around (which they missed completely) they need to do several pages of research on each place they want to stop (weather, lodging, dining, what to do/see and what days and times those places are open).

I would encourage them to try to find 2 cars (either older family cars they can buy - for less than the RV would cost) or from friends (but don;t buy anything without having a mechanic look at it) giving them a lot more freedom at a much lower cost (they still have the car or can resell it when they get back).

But agree that a lot more thought is going to be necessary to really plan this trip.

At the risk of piling on, you have to be 21 or older to operate a Cruise America RV rental:

http://www.usandcanadatravel.com/mot...ondition.shtml

I'll second the recommendation of considering Europe. Europe is much better suited for teens who want to explore. Public transportation is everywhere, frequent, and with a little planning usually very inexpensive, especially if you can get "student" rates. Attractions also offer huge student discounts. And lodging should be much easier (though you might want to check with the folks on the Europe board since things could have changed in the last 25 years).

Don't get me wrong, the US is great. I did my first cross-country roadtrip (in my own car) when I was 22, and I loved it so much that I've done it again almost every year for the 25 years since. It's an amazing country. Unfortunately, without multiple cars that you (or your families) own and an over-21 chaperone, you're going to face age discrimination at every turn.

I'd second the train if your main purpose was to get to California and you just wanted to see the country as you went rather than fly over it. Amtrak will allow you to ride without restriction, it's safe, and if you're willing to ride in coach can be pretty inexpensive. The problem is when you get off the train someplace in the middle of the country, you're stuck with no easy way to get around without a car (which you can't rent).

So, I'd recommend Europe now, and then see the US after your college graduation. If you're really determined to do the US now. If you really want to do the US now, I'd say look at where Amtrak stops, and see if you can find tours to parks of other attractions you'd like to see.

have you looked at joining a group tour with a company like greentortoise ? You would probably fly to San Francisco/LA or return from there and have someone else worry about things like accommodations, gas, car trouble, etc. It might not be much more costly than the trip you are planning and would be much easier on your folks. (Can you tell I'm on the older side?)

I have to 2nd (or is it 3rd?) Europe as more practical for now.
It is easy to travel by train everywhere, the travel structure supports young people with hostels, transportation passes, etc.

I wonder if their "research" included looking at hostels here in the US.
It didn't include the first premise of "ability to even think about renting even a car, let alone an RV".
A driver's license doesn't guarantee the ability to drive a huge vehicle. I almost want to ask if their families own cars--maybe live in an urban area without the need. The lack of knowledge of "a car or van not being able to make the trip" had me wondering also.
The idea of a young persons' tour is pretty good. A family friend (young woman) did that, visiting several parks out west after graduating high school.