Posted on 05/25/2016 5:48:41 AM PDT by Toadman
Look for pointers, recommendations for our scheduled road trip.
Any tips/tricks/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to head off any potential problems since I'm an RV neophyte.
It's a Class C RV (Forest River, Forester).
Thanks in advance fellow FReepers!
Not sure about your route, but Montana Wyo would be on my list depending upon where you are going.
Yellowstone and Glacier, also the Black Hills SD area is nice...
I did a similiar trip a few years ago:
1: Las Vegas
2: Four Corners/Colorado Plateau Region
3: Yellowstone
4: Black Hills SD
Firstly, calculate the carbon footprint of the trip. ;-)
Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. There are some great hot springs near there, Jemez Hot Springs, too.
Bear Tooth Highway.
On the practical side,make sure you take a box of disposable rubber gloves to have some to wear when you dump the blackwater/ gray water holding tanks.
Plan your trip to avoid being in cities during morning or evening commute traffic.Plan your stops for fuel, meals on the road and bathroom breaks, being new to an RV you don’t want to have to deal with a tight parking lot so find places with Truck/RV parking to accommodate. Even with planning you’ll find that you occasionally have to back up, so I hope your RV has a backup camera.
Glacier is closed - they are still plowing the roads. Takes a L O N G time.
YNP is open, but the Beartooth Highway is still being plowed - will open on May 27th.
Rocky Mountain national park, Royal Gorge, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon , world’s largest ball of twine ( Kansas I think)
Be sure to watch “National Lampoons Family Vacation”
Bon voyage sparky!
Wal-Mart allows RV’s to park overnight in their parking lots, just in case.
In the lower 48 states there are three places I would never miss on a cross-country trip between May and September: the Bitterroot Mountains along the Idaho/Montana border, northern Minnesota, and upstate New York.
Travel mostly at night.
Use toilet sparingly.
Find dump stations.
I live in the Bitterroot Mountains, 8 miles from the Idaho border. Bought my piece of paradise over 20 years ago.
It is beautiful here... but getting damn crowded.
http://www.kansastravel.org/balloftwine.htm
There Ya go! If you can’t avoid Kansas might as well see something interesting
Take time in the Colorado Rockies if possible. Only God could create something as beautiful as that.
https://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm
most of it is open, but flooding is the issue not snow, well i guess melting snow.
For the practical side, change the fuel filter before a long trip.
An old fuel filter stresses the pump. Most pumps are mounted inside the fuel tank and so if it fails, it is a big job to replace.
Some parts of Kansas are beautiful, it’s not all flat fields. The wild sunflowers are very nice.
Be warned once you get off the freeway most roads are two lane blacktops.
Plan your trip. Then see what is on the way.
Use Google maps to explore your routes (if you have google earth with 3D you can get a realistic idea of what the terrain looks like (some is not RV friendly).
Walmart is good about people parking RV overnight for free.
Plan your trip, but leave wiggle room for unexpected stops. May just be an interesting road side attraction or a mechanical problem
Monument valley is worth a visit. This was one of our families all time top places we visited (they have 4 hour guide tours which pretty much shows you everything).
Four corners is interesting but it is not on the way to anything, so you really have to go out of your way to get there.
Yellowstone is worth a drive through (unless you made reservations long in advance you will not be able to stay in the park).
Grand Canyon, either the North Rim or South Rim. Most go to the South Rim, easier to get to and more facilities. North Rim is nice but but a long way from civilization.
I would skip Las Vegas, overrated and expensive.
If leaving from Southern California you can pick up a bit of the old Route 66, there are places the road still exist. Good photo ops.
And last but not least, it is going to cost more than you budgeted.
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