Hello all,

I am a little sick of hosting thanksgiving. Some of our family is gathering outside of St Louis and we were thinking of joining. However.... flights and hotel (in rural area - only B&b options) are prohibitively expensive for our family of five. About $4000-$4300.

So I got the brainstorm of renting an RV and driving out. We have 3 boys under 8. Was thinking we could take a week to make the trip from Northwest CT to St Louis and back -- and could make some stops along the way for sightseeing. We could then stay in the RV along the way and when in St Louis. I can rent RV rental Saturday 11/21-Monday 11/30 (10 days) or Sat-Sat for 7 days.
RV, extra mileage charge & gas will add up to grand total cost would be between $2000-2500.

So Im posting here to get a gauge of how crazy I am???? I have never travelled around Thanksgiving before. Camping is not my thing-- Ive never really done it before. I wouldn't know where to park, where to stop, etc. Will traffic be as horrible as is rumored? Is this a bad idea? If we do this, can anyone give me a rough idea of an itinerary? I was thinking Washington DC, Maybe, or Nashville as stops? Can anyone give me a better idea of interesting places to stop?

Any and all help would be very very very much appreciated.

stevie

The two stops that come to mind for me would be Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in western PA and Mammoth Cave NP in KY.

Using Google maps, that would be 7 hours, 21 minutes from Hartford to Mill Run PA and 7 hours, 41 minutes to Mammoth Cave. 4.5 hours on to St. Louis.
(total with those two stops = 19 hours, 40 minutes)

For places to stay, check out nearby state parks, KOA campground or Good Sam's directory of campgrounds. There are private RV resorts with heated swimming pools, etc.

A direct route with no stops would be 16 - 17 hours so you could just choose a midway stop for the drive back.

You need to do some research to find RV parks that will be open that time of year.

This is not my thing at all but on previous threads I have seen listings of useful sights for those learning about driving and RV and finding places to stop with them. I would search here to find them.

I actually think it would be cheaper/better to drive a car instead of an RV. And a no-brainer if you drive your own car rather than a rental. Roadside hotels/motels (many have kitchenettes or at minimum microwaves so you get the same benefit as an RV for simple meals). You wouldn't have any parking issues and you could make better time.

I've done cross-country camping trips with kids and when it's just a one night stay we preferred to stay at KOAs and staying in their Kamping Kabins. Since then, KOAs have changed the name to Camping Cabins but also added cottages and lodges. The cabins don't have bathrooms in the cabins and you use the comfort stations (bathrooms). The cottages and lodges have their own bathrooms. I'd still prefer driving cross country in a van/SUV and stay overnight in one of the cabins/cottages/lodges. Bring your own bedding and pseudo-camp. More fun and less hassle than dealing with a rental RV.

http://koa.com/lodges-cabins-cottages/

I like the idea of driving your car and then renting the RV when you get to a city close by. Stay in inexpensive motels along the hwy during the trip and in the RV when you get to the destination.. No high mileage charges for the RV and a familiar vehicle for the trip.

You have 2 options available on Amtrak. Take a NE Regional to Washington DC and the Capitol Limited to Chicago. You have a 4 hour layover in Chicago then take the Texas Eagle to St. Louis arriving 7-8PM the next day.
The fare for 5 in coach is $855 to 1055. It can be less if you are AAA members. The other option is the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago from Springfield MA.
Whether you rent an RV in St. Louis is up to you. I'd go with cheaper motels and restaurants.

You are not crazy, but IMHO, your idea is not good.
If it was a better time of year when weather was nice or at least more predictable, It might work.
If it was not during one of the more heavily traveled holidays, it would not be bad.

Cons:
Weather totally unpredictable as you head West, could be anything from pleasantly cool to blizzards. This would be the most important issue for me.
Traffic at Thanksgiving can be horrible and one accident can keep you stopped on the road for hours.
You have not camped before, not sure you like it. It would be better to try it in nice weather, close to home sometime for a couple of days. Doing it for this trip is a major commitment.
If the weather is bad, it won't be fun sightseeing with three little ones. If the oldest is 8, the others may not be old enough to tour the caves and I doubt they would be interested in the Frank Lloyd Wright House.
There would be a lot of prep work for this trip.

Now, everything could go wonderfully with light traffic, unusually warm weather, etc. We have had that happen most of the time.

We have also had these things happen on Thanksgiving week.
Stuck for 12 hours overnight on a highway that had become icy and several trucks and cars had a multi-car pill-up. Cars were so close together, with no way to de-ice the roads, rescue workers couldn't get through.

Went through a more rural area at night hoping to avoid traffic. We did. Absolutely nothing was open for miles and there was an unexpected freeze. Our gas line was freezing. Luckily, we found a station with a bay and the night guy opened it and let us pull in and stay for the rest of the night.

I used to live in St Louis and still have family there. I have lived on the East Coast off and on for years, so have made trips to St Louis many, many times. The desire to be with family for holidays is strong.

If you decide to go, the advice of others to use your car or SUV if you have one is good. Find a nice hotel that has an indoor pool for your halfway stop so the kids can play. It would be too dark to play outside anyway. No time spent getting the rental or looking for campsites.

Keep an eye on the weather. If it becomes obvious that weather will be bad, you can call the whole Trip off with no loss of an RV rental.

Good luck with your decision.

The worst traffic would be right around Thanksgiving and probably the Sunday after. Since you would be with family on the holiday (and presumably for a day or so on either side of Thanksgiving), you really wouldn't need to worry about traffic too much except for the last day on your way home.

I would be stunned if you ran into an actual blizzard in late November in that part of the country. Snowstorm, maybe. But the beauty of an RV is that you're a self-contained unit and could stop somewhere to wait it out if you're unexpectedly caught in a storm.

Whether you drive your own car or rent an RV seems to be a question of budget - how much is that B&B and how many nights? Would you really save much if you stay there and drive yourself vs. renting an RV for the trip?

I agree that the likelihood of a blizzard stranding you is small. But if one hit, I'd rather be based in a car and in a nice hotel somewhere than being stuck in an airport with three kids.

She hasn't come back but how old are these children? They may be young if able to stay out of school for a week--or even 3 days.
What would it cost them to drive their car and stay in hotels. She just said that flights were too expensive.
The RV is pretty expensive in and of itself. I wouldn't think that staying in motels would be that much.

We used to LOVE camping, but there is a little learning curve, although an RV makes it fairly simple, but not the complete answer.

>

Well, she said flights and the B&B were too expensive. That's why I honed in on the B&B and asked how much it was and how many nights they would be staying there if they went that route. Everyone is saying drive your own car and stay in hotels, but they are forgetting the expensive B&B which is apparently the only option in that area. Without knowing how much that would cost we are all just guessing as to what is the cheapest option.

Yes, that would sort of be my point also. Trying to do some math.
you would have to assume (or I would) that flights for 5 might be $1000 at the very best. It does say b&b option(s) plural.
For 7- 10 days the RV by itself is $200- $250 per day. Plus food which "might" be cheap since you can cook in the vehicle. But I'm betting on meals out also..
Driving themselves in their own vehicle has to be more economical than that.
So, the question really becomes, how many days do they want to spend at the rural b&b with family and can they afford that. I'd guess 2 rooms. AND one more question may be, can children that young stay there. They might have to stay in a motel in the nearest town.

I do see now that it is 3 boys under 8. I hope she knows that even in an RV they have to be in seat belts!

Thank you all for your responses!
This has given us a lot to think about.
I always appreciate the extremely helpful responses everyone takes the time to write.

The b&bs nearby our destination are not really suitalle because 1. they are expensive (would have to get two rooms in most since they do not allow 5 people in one) and 2. I have three boys under 8. If anyone has had three boys that close together you will understand they would not be welcome in a nice b&b with breakables Thus, the thought about the RV.

I am pricing everything out. Might end up flying (Southwest has flight that is barely affordable) and renting RV in St Louis. Then we can "camp" in family's driveway. Could be fun.

Thank you all again.

If you are camping in the family's driveway, even a pop-up camper would be fun for the boys and would be much less expensive than an RV.

Where outside of St Louis is the gathering? Someone might be able to make other suggestions with that information. The last BnB I stayed at in a rural area was terribly fru fru, hated it even for adults, though the family did have two young boys.

Would you be landing in St Louis?
St Louis itself is a fantastic city with lots of things to do, including going up in the arch.

I know what you mean about airfare to St Louis. I used to live there and still have family. We rarely visit because there are never any discounted fares except for some making several stops and taking hours and hours. We used to drive, but age has taken a toll on our endurance.

If you are going so far, do none of the local relatives have any space you could sleep for a couple of nights? Any with kids the age of your oldest who could let him bunk with their kids?