Cross country trip ideas and suggestions

[Highstrung]

My limit was going to Disney World for five days, heading back and the alternator quiting at I-95 and I-26.. I gave santeeswamper a hug after he had us back running in an hour. I don't think he was expecting it but he deserved it. I still need to get him fishing

[Jozie & Me]

I plotted a trip to yellowstone going through denver, up through rocky mountain national park and grand tetons. Then coming out the top of Yellowstone and hitting deadwood and Mt Rushmore then land between the lakes.

The BEST i could get was 20 days.

I spoke to several RVers about the trip and my travel was a bit more aggressive than they suggested. You should only travel 4-5 hours per day. (they said one tank of gas) you should also look for things along the way. The destination is not as important as the journey.

IF you try to drive straight through, you will be miserable IMO.

[Leftcoaster]

Fly to Salt Lake; Rent a SUV; Look at the "loop" you want to drive/see; plan hotel rooms accordingly; spend no more than 8 days (it's a known fact that you will kill a child after 7 full days of travel).

Did this trip with fam a few years back and well worth it. My loop entailed: Idaho; west Yellowstone; Bozeman; through Yellowstone: down to jax hole; through Utah back to SLC. You can definitely get Glacier into the mix.

[Southernduck]

I agree to give a few more days, you could spend many days in Yellowstone by itself............good on you, a trip your children will love.

I disagree, Yellowstone is possibly my least favorite park out there. Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain and Glacier are better. Ride through Yellowstone and see old faithful with 2500 of your closest friends and keep rolling. In fact get out of the NPs all together. NFs are better out there.

My limit was going to Disney World for five days, heading back and the alternator quiting at I-95 and I-26.. I gave santeeswamper a hug after he had us back running in an hour. I don't think he was expecting it but he deserved it. I still need to get him fishing

I bet he hugged you back..

[Hosscat]

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[LabLuvR]

I can't believe the Grand Canyon is not on your list???!!!! I mean who gives a damn about Chicago, the Great Lakes or St. Louis? Do you really think your kids will thank you in 20 years for that shitshow. They will wonder just how damn queer you are!

[Jozie & Me]

I have also looked at flying into Bozeman, MT and renting an RV from these folks and doing a week loop.

https://explore-rentals.com/

I was specifically looking for a travel trailer because if you are in a Class C you cant leave your campsite in the non reservable campgrounds.

[Tha Dick]

We did the Vegas loop up and around through all the parks. Hit north rim and circled across back to the south rim to Hoover Dam then back into Vegas. Stayed in motels and had groceries in the back of the mini van for breakfast and lunch. Great time for a week trip.

Out last trip was last summer. Flew into Bangor then went up east coast into New Brunswick, then took to ferry to Nova Scotia. Did the coast tour and back to New Brunswick, back to Bangor.

Cool thing was I stopped and took a picture in New Brunswick where Duckman#1’s wood duck was banded.

[uga_dawg]

I can't believe the Grand Canyon is not on your list???!!!! I mean who gives a damn about Chicago, the Great Lakes or St. Louis? Do you really think your kids will thank you in 20 years for that shitshow. They will wonder just how damn queer you are!

I assumed it would be obvious from the goal of doing 50 states. But the plan is that this would be the first of a few trips. A northern loop, a southern loop, and then a trip to Maine. The 3 west coast states, HI, and AK get trickier, but if we only get 40 states, that would still be pretty damn cool.

I'm doing this one first purely because it's the one I want to do the most. Granted I've never seen the Grand Canyon, but I really don't think Arizona can compare to MT. I'm much more interested in Utah and Colorado on that trip. I'll do Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon because I feel like I should, but the big tourist attractions aren't top on my list.

And as for the cities, I mentioned those purely for route planning.

[uga_dawg]

I have also looked at flying into Bozeman, MT and renting an RV from these folks and doing a week loop.

https://explore-rentals.com/

I was specifically looking for a travel trailer because if you are in a Class C you cant leave your campsite in the non reservable campgrounds.

Didn't realize that, but makes sense. I looked at the motorhome rentals a while back. It's alot cheaper to rent one in Columbia than it is to rent one out there. But they only plan on a few hundred miles. You add the mileage calculator in there and it quickly becomes cheaper to rent from out there. Not to mention fuel.

I have a friend that went the air bnb route and they stayed at some really nice places for much cheaper than the lodges around town.

[BowfinClassic]

I’ve done a trip leaving from South Carolina, through Texas, to the Grand Canyon, Vegas, up the west coast to Alaska and back down through Montana, Yellowstone, the Dakotas and the Midwest. We hit 10,000 miles in St. Louis and the entire trip took six weeks. I also did a trip up through the Michigan peninsula, over to Montana and back down south. That trip took about three weeks. During both trips only once did I stay in the same place two nights and that was a cabin outside of Glacier.

It’s nice to say you hit the landmarks (Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, St. Louis Arch) but they really just waste time. There are much cooler things to see and I’d only stop if your route took you right past them.

If you’re set on the north route, go up through the upper peninsula and take the ferry to Mackinac Island. Then book it over to Montana and see Yellowstone and Glacier. Wyoming is nice but I would spend less time there and try to make it to Colorado. And two weeks definitely isn’t enough.

[We Jeep Inn]

We made the trip in '90 in this 1967 school bus along this route. Spartanburg to LA. Left the bus in Tahoe and drove a car on to LA and flew home. We took 9 days. Had to go to St Louis to pick up a package going to Lake Tahoe. We tried to avoid interstates and stay on secondary roads to see 'merica.

Saw some cool sights and met some great people along the way. St Louis arch, a lot of, well, nothing in Kansas, A badass ranch in Colorado, Wolf Creek Pass, Four Corners, Dodge City, Grand Canyon, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Vegas, Golden Gate, Fishermans Warf to name a few. I need to pull out the photo album....

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Bus Route.JPG

[Calibogue]

I had to squat by a tree this morning and what I did looked identical to the shape of your route. I'd say your route is less shitty though.

Like the Energizer Bunny!

[Gut_Pile]

a lot of, well, nothing in Kansas,

I’ve done almost the same route but we stopped in Denver.

Kansas fucking blows to drive through

[Duckkiller]

I didn't read any comments so......

You need more than two weeks. At least 3 and a month would be better. I drove from Seattle to Charleston a few years ago, stopped each night for dinner and a hotel. 48 hours driving time and did it in 5 nights. Would have been 4 but I stopped in the upstate to see my mom the last night. I think it was 2900 miles. You need 3 weeks at least to enjoy yourselves.

Friend of mine use to do what your wanting and he used a month. In an RV mind you. Now he goes to key west and brings 7-8 grand. When he gets to running low he comes home. About a month total.