WVminerandnurse

My husband and I (60 & 55) plus 2 dogs would love some itinerary suggestions of the western US. We will be towing a 5th wheel and will be able to travel mid-June to early August. We appreciate all tips and suggestions as we have never taken the camper any farther from home (WV) than TN. This is our 3rd year as RV owners. While we have never boon docked in a camper, we tent camped for years while our son was growing up. We would be willing to sample boon docking, but prefer hookups if available.

lindagj

You will get better help if you give us more info. Any specific places you want to visit? How far west do you want to go? Do you want to be gone the whole time or just part of it? Come back with more info.

janisj

boondocking is not allowed that many places - especially in a large vehicle/5th wheel. You really should think of campgrounds and RV parks (pre-booked in most cases). Also the dog will extremely limit your visits to National parks (and some state parks)

So yes, tell where you are thinking of traveling and we can give suggestions.

HotWheels

More info on what you'd like to do/see would be helpful, but...how about a North/South Dakota/Montana/Wyoming trip?
You could start with the SD Black Hills (Mt Rushmore/Custer State Park/Deadwood/Jewel Cave/Mammoth Dinosaur Site,and much more), travel up to ND to see ND Badlands/Cowboy town of Medora (Medora Musical/Famous Pitchfork Fondue Buffet), Cowboy Museum/Badlands Golf course), continue into Montana (Custer Battlefield/Pompey's Pillar/Yellowstone Nat'l Park), from Yellowstone exit south into Wyoming's Bighorn Mts (Jackson Hole), travel on to see WY Devil's Tower - backtrack to SD, or continue into Colorado/other points West.
All of these areas have very nice, very scenic campgrounds with full hookups or primitive sections. What's more "Wild West" than cowboys/cow towns/ghost towns, wild mustangs/
bison/antelope/elk, prairies/mountain views - mixed in with lots of fun things to do!

traveler24

You will get much more relevant help with such a specialized subject on
www.rv.net/forum.

WVminerandnurse

Thank you each for replying.
Lindagj thank you for assisting us with how to post a topic more efficiently. This is new to us and I can see how more detailed information would promote better responses. We have looked at the general “west” and realize we could spend a year there to see many of the sites. However, we only have 2 months during my hiatus. We enjoy learning of others travels and experience. At this time, we don’t have an area that is more desirable than others, hence the vagueness of our information.
Janisj thank you for the information about boondocking. While we are willing to try it, if necessary, it is not at the top of our list ��. As for our dogs, we appreciate your honesty of the limitations they will bring. Once we have a rough draft of our itinerary, we can check into reputable daycare facilities.
HotWheels, thank you very much for the itinerary suggestion. It sounds very interesting and doable. We appreciate the layout of the adventure. Suggestions like this is what will help us decide which part of the west to have as our first experience.
Traveler24, thank you for the resource of the RV,net forum. We will definitely post our request for suggestions there also.
It has been a positive learning experience for us on our first forum post & the initial first step into planning our maiden journey out west. You all have been very helpful with your replies.

Michael

Start in the south and move north as the temperatures increase.

Gretchen

My mantra is--print out a map of the US and then of western states and stick pins in it for places you want to go. Connect the dots. Get an RV Camping Directory and research camp grounds.
you have a great amount of time to see and do a LOT. enjoy.
Places I wouldn't miss are Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly, Yosemite, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, Badlands.