Hi, We are planning an RV trip from Maine to Washington state in June. There are 2 of us and no pets. We plan 4 weeks to get to Washington State. We are interested in scenic routes and avoiding large cities and toll roads if possible. We do not need hookups for camping. We would like to go through West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and then to Washington state. We like scenery, history, bluegrass festivals, antiques, and craft shops. I thought I would start by asking questions about smaller portions of our trip first. For example, we will start by going from Portland ME to Lancaster PA. Any suggestions on scenic toll free routes, camping spots and things to see?
Thanks,
John

Have you done the antiques, craft shops and historic sites through NH and VT or will you want to head right out to PA?

Did you try using mapquest and using the feature that lets you avoid highways and toll roads?

Are you planning to drive back too or are you leaving the RV in Washington? If you are planning to drive back, does the 4 wks include the trip back? If so, does that mean 2 wks out and 2 wks back or some other plan?

Since you mention antiques, and PA, think about a look at the York Architectural salvage shop. You never know what is there.
http://www.useitagainpa.org/How/arch...l_salvage.html

And, of course, there are innumerable antique shops around that area of PA.
You might enjoy dropping south through WVA to Winston Salem NC and visiting Old Salem, a Moravian settlement from the 18th century. There is also a treasure of a museum, the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts. Buy some bread and Moravian sugar cake and cookies at the Winkler Bakery.
From Winston Salem you could either go west through Tennessee or start droping more southerly toward Atlanta/Birmingham/Montgomery Alabama and on west from that vantage.

Since you mention antiques, and PA, think about a look at the York Architectural salvage shop. You never know what is there.
http://www.useitagainpa.org/How/arch...l_salvage.html

And, of course, there are innumerable antique shops around that area of PA.
You might enjoy dropping south through WVA to Winston Salem NC and visiting Old Salem, a Moravian settlement from the 18th century. There is also a treasure of a museum, the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts. Buy some bread and Moravian sugar cake and cookies at the Winkler Bakery.
From Winston Salem you could either go west through Tennessee or start droping more southerly toward Atlanta/Birmingham/Montgomery Alabama and on west from that vantage.

Use Rt. 283 out of Lancaster to get to I-283 to I-83 which takes you on the south side of Harrisburg and over a big bridge to get to I-81 south.
Take I-81 all the way to just past Winchester VA. Take I-66 a short distance to get to Front Royal. Take the Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway down to Roanoke VA where you get back on I-81.
You can take I-81 all the way to I-40 in eastern Tennessee.
I-40 is toll free all the way to Barstow California.

Thank you all for your responses. These are excellent tips and sounds exactly like what we are looking for. We are Canadians and haven't travelled all that much in the US.

To answer your questions emalloy, we will take 4 weeks to get to Washington state as we are spending a few weeks in BC with our family, then we will return home through Canada. The entire trip will be 3 months. Thanks for the Mapquest tip, I never thought of that. We have been to NH and VT but have not travelled any further West than that.

FYI: The I-81 route does go through a few miles of West Virginia around Martinsburg before entering Virginia.
When you come through Oregon please try to visit Crater Lake National Park.

Portland ME thru NH and VT to start your trip.
From Portland, head to Conway NH. You have the option of going over the Kancamagus Hwy to I93 or drive south on Rt 16 and then west to Tamworth and Center Sandwich. You also have the option of visiting Lake Winnipesaukee. From Sandwich (one of the prettiest small towns in NH) you could opt to visit Squam Lakes Science Center if you are interested in seeing NH wildlife in natural habitats. Head to Meredith NH. There will be a lot of traffic at the intersection but it's right on Lake Winnipesaukee. Parking an RV would be difficult. Follow signs to I93 and go south.

Concord NH has a nice walkable downtown. You could probably park on Storrs Street near the Market Basket shopping plaza. Take exit 15 for North Main Street. Just drive thru town and turn right (west) onto Plesant Street. If you want to avoid downtown congestion, keep driving south on I93 to I89 and take exit for Clinton Street. Follow signs to hospital/Pleasant Street. Follow Pleasant Street/Rt 103 thru towns of Hopkinton and Contoocook. In Contoocook, turn left at the fountain and stay on this road that goes over the damn. Turn left and connect with Rt 202. Turn right onto Rt 202 (heading west).

If you decided on I89, it's actually pretty scenic. Rt 202 will be a LEFT exit from I89.

Follow directions to Keene NH and then Brattleboro VT. You can choose to go south on I91 thru western MA or take the scenic route over Hogback Mountain to Bennington VT and then follow directions to Albany etc. We prefer this route to get us west of the NYC city area. Head to Skyline drive area of PA. Years ago we stayed at a great campground in Newburgh NY.

To put the interstate numbers to my post above, you would be on I81 in Virginia, getting on I77 at Wytheville VA (also antiquing there), heading south into NC to I73 (going through Andy Griffith's town of Mt. Airy) to Winston Salem. Then from WS head south on I85 through SC and Georgia, or east on I40 to Asheville, Knoxville and Nashville.