Planning our first long trip in RV.

[IMZvonko]

Hello,

We're new to RVing. To try it out, we're going to rent one for a week and see how we like it. Unless we just end up hating it (doubtful) we're going to rent one for about a month so we can drive out west with our daughter.

I got on google maps and got the directions from Akron, OH to Oakland, CA (see attached screenshot). I figured I could then use that as a guide and look x miles in either direction along the route for interesting campsites, attractions, etc. Then I thought that someone must have already made something to help with this kind of planning.

Even though highways are very convenient, they usually aren't very interesting or conducive to sight-seeing. So I thought it would be cool to drive back-roads at least part of the way.

Almost like a travel guide for RVers. Are there resources like that?

Thanks.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

There are lots of them, varying in the degree of "planning" you like. Many of us plan very loosely, preferring to meander and chose the nights camping spot as the time draws near. With phone & laptop, you can do that readily. There are phone apps to find campgrounds and map/navigate, plus you can call ahead for to reserve a site once you choose it. Allstays has multiple apps for campers & RVers - even one to find Walmarts for overnight stops. Allstays Travel Apps Camping, Trucking and Road Warriors

An RV-specific GPS can also be really handy, with campground POIs already installed and navigation set up for large vehicles.

Here's an article trip planners.

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[rjwilliams11741]

You might consider, on your way home, using US 50 starting in Sacramento, CA (your Google Maps routing shows connecting with 50 Alt. in Fernley, NV). This will route you through Lake Tahoe and close to Great Basin National Park and some of the Utah National Parks like Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands. I have driven the San Francisco / Oakland to Chicago section of I-80 and it's fast but pretty boring.

 

[camperAL]

Hi IMZvonko,

Renting an RV for a month to try things out is a good way to go. We did this before buying. This may not be an issue with you but depending on where you rent, they only allow a certain amount of miles per day. If you go over you could end up paying a lot of money for the excess miles.​

Going that distance should take about 7 to 9 days depending on stops. You might be able to do better heading home but 300 miles a day is a lot in an RV and you don't want to exhaust yourselves. That would leave 12 to 15 days you might stop and spend some time sight seeing. Wishing you an amazing trip without problems.

 

[Isaac-1]

A couple of things you need to realize, first everything goes slower and takes longer in a motorhome, driving 300 miles in a day in a motorhome feels about like driving 450-500 in a car. Even out west on mostly open roads I have yet to average over 50 mph over the course of a day driving my 28 ft class A coach, as not only am I driving slower, with a typical open highway cruising speed of around 67 mph, even in 70-75 mph zones, but as I said everything else takes longer too, fueling up takes longer, even pulling into a highway rest area takes longer, there is no zipping in parking and jumping out of the car it is pull in at 15 mph like the big trucks do,... My rule of thumb is to never plan on over 300-350 miles per day, and that is with no sightseeing stops. Occasionally I might push that just a little, but not much, the most I have ever done in a day in my current coach with around 24,000 miles over the last nearly 5 years is 499 miles in a single day, and I really regretted it the next day, only reason I did it was to get through a large city on a Sunday evening, vs Monday morning.

Also if you hate something about the rental RV, ask if it is something you would hate about all RV's or just about that one, ie not being able to sit on the toilet because your knees hit the wall in the tiny bathroom.

 

[Lordismyshepherd]

As mentioned by others, things take twice as long in an RV. We never plan on more than 200-300 miles in a day, it becomes exhausting after that and can quickly take the fun out of the trip.

 

[malexander]

I'm leaving Oklahoma City in the afternoon March 29, headed to Carson City NV. I plan on being there April 1st. My calculations have it right 1500 miles. Starting CFI training Friday morning.

 

[mighty_q_33_17]

Welcome, you're just a tad north of me. Have you ever traveled old 66? We went south through St. Louis and then took 66 to the Cadillac Ranch/Blue Whale/Grand Canyon. Good luck on your trip!

 

[Ex-Calif]

Welcome, you're just a tad north of me. Have you ever traveled old 66? We went south through St. Louis and then took 66 to the Cadillac Ranch/Blue Whale/Grand Canyon. Good luck on your trip!

We did R66 a few years ago. It is a classic trip and a must do at least once in your life. There are many ways to do R66.

We decided to go from "sight to sight" - We got a good coffee table book that was laid out by state and went to see the things that we wanted to see which for us meant mostly car museums, R66 museums, cafes, theaters and classic motels. We stayed in 3 classic motels which were all awesome. We used a combo of R66 surface roads and I40 in stretches where much of R66 has disappeared. There are a ton of "Scenic R66 Route" signs that take you through a dead main street with a couple of souvenir shops. We learned using google maps where longer stretches of the original mother road still exist and did a fair amount of that.

Heading to Oakland if you do use R66 after Barstow stay in the desert and head through Tehachapi pass into the California central valley. Avoid the LA basin. You only miss a few things as R66 is pretty much gone in the LA basin and Santa Monica Pier isn't really worth fighting the traffic to see.

If you have a Toad it is a great excursion after settling in Oakland to hit the central coast and head south about as far as Monterey. You get a good flavor of the beauty of the California coast that way. Pacific Coast HWY (PCH / HWY 1) wouldn't be much fun in an RV...

From Oakland you can do a northern route back through Utah, Colorado. Dakotas, Kansas etc. for a change of scenery.

 

[Matt_C]

I have three quotes for you and some other well found advice:
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. Charles Kuralt

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) US president, lawyer

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away” - Disputed

Other notes of value:
If you buy an RV (bad idea at first) plan to camp the first night in your driveway. You will learn a lot.
Borrow or rent something like what you think you want. This may be expensive, but it is cheaper than the mistake that you could make.
Do Rt99, but buy (or borrow) the book first. I recommend EZ-66.
Always be ready to stop and look around.

If you have questions, come back here and ask. The people that write here were born knowing everything there was to know about RVs and never made stupid mistakes. (yeah RIGHT!)

Matt

 

[DaubsNU1]

Going to be watching this thread...wife and I new to RV-ing...not planning to drive across country...but planning to visit Glacier NP in Montana.

@IMZvonko, I'm in Nebraska, have run I-80 to Colorado/Utah many times. Try to plan on hitting major metropolitan areas at times away from "rush-hour." Omaha can get a little sticky during the rush, but nothing like Denver(!).

Not much to see in Nebraska...Sandhills are beautiful. I would recommend going through Utah for sure.

Good luck!

 

[Matt_C]

DaubsNU1,​

Before you cross off Nebraska, you should look around.
Have you been to the Archway Museum?
Ashfall is another amazing thing.
Carhenge is the other end of the state.
Now this might be out of range, but there is a little monument at the geographic center of the lower 48 that is just south of the border with Kansas.

Matt

 

[DaubsNU1]

DaubsNU1,​

Before you cross off Nebraska, you should look around.
Have you been to the Archway Museum?
Ashfall is another amazing thing.
Carhenge is the other end of the state.
Now this might be out of range, but there is a little monument at the geographic center of the lower 48 that is just south of the border with Kansas.

Matt

Matt: I have lived in Nebraska most of my life : )

Agree, Ashfall is amazing, and there are tons of really cool things I like to do in Nebraska (Durham museum, Omaha Zoo, College World Series in June, Chimney Rock, Strategic Air and Space Museum, Scotts Bluff National Monument)...but ssssshhhsssssss...don't tell everyone...it's quiet here...and we like it that way ; )

 

[Larry N.]

Now this might be out of range, but there is a little monument at the geographic center of the lower 48 that is just south of the border with Kansas.

My Dad grew up very near there, on a farm just north and west of Lebanon, KS, the town near that center. The first two pix below were taken in 1956 at a family gathering. The second two pix I found on the web for our 2017 family reunion. Back in the '50s it was the center of the U.S. but, of course, Alaska and Hawaii changed that. It's about 20 miles, or so, south of Red Cloud, NE.

 

[IMZvonko]

As plans tend to do, they've evolved. The cross-country trip is on hold (for now), but we're still planning on doing a weekend to try it out. I've reserved this RV for 4/23-4/26. It's not very long, but it lets us try it without spending (too) much money.

If you have the time and inclination, check out that RV and let me know what you would ask or look for when you talk to the owner.

We live in Akron, OH. We'll pick it up on Friday morning and drive down to southern Ohio that day. Spend the night at a campground and then either down to WV or across to PA. Finally, on Sunday we'll drive back home.

The goal is to get a feel for how it is to drive, how easy it is to get into a campground, park and hook up to utilities.

I got on the state of Ohio's parks reservations site and tried several campgrounds. I was surprised that most of them were full. Not that I tried every single one, but I probably tried 5-6.

Some of the terminology on the camp sites confused me. I'm assuming "campsite electric" means only electric and no water or sewer. There were also"full hookup", "campsite primitive", "Day use facility" and one even had "premium hookup".

I didn't find explanations for those. Can anyone translate for me please?

 

[UTTransplant]

The definitions for campsite types will be on the website somewhere. In General Electric can mean electric only or water and electric. Full hookup is water, sewer, and electric. Day use is picnic only, no camping. Premium hookup is probably just a bigger site, either in length or width, but it also could be due to location (like lakeside). And weekends are the worst time to take a last minute trip. Most sites are filled on weekends months in advance.

 

[IMZvonko]

weekends are the worst time to take a last minute trip. Most sites are filled on weekends months in advance.

Yea, I'm finding that out.


Oh well, live and learn. I look at it as another thing we'll learn as part of this "try it out" experiment

Thanks for the possible definitions. I'll go back to a few of those and do a deeper dive. I wasn't able to find them quickly and ... SQUIRREL ... I went on to something else.

 

[jackiemac]

Make sure you know how to hook things up, how the toilet, hot water, cooker, slides, any jacks etc work. If they are explaining it ask if you can video it as you won't remember everything.

I expect they will have a user guide and inventory if they are renting it out to folks.

Ask for info on breakdown cover too and make sure it is insured for you.

Check and double check everything when you are ready to leave camp.

Any issues just ask.

Have fun.

 

[IMZvonko]

Make sure you know how to hook things up, how the toilet, hot water, cooker, slides, any jacks etc work. If they are explaining it ask if you can video it as you won't remember everything.

That's a great idea. I am definitely one where it all makes sense at the time, but later on I'm "now, what did he say about x?"

I expect they will have a user guide and inventory if they are renting it out to folks.

Ask for info on breakdown cover too and make sure it is insured for you.

I hope they do have something like that. We'll see.

It seems like there is some basic insurance, but it also says I need to get extra insurance. They offer a way of getting it there. Is there some resource(s) you can point me to that can help me understand what insurance coverage(s) I should be getting?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Isaac-1]

I can't help on specific insurance, but it should cover things like backing into trees, or if you leave the black tank flush hose running and forget about it and fill the inside of the coach up with waste water. As to the rest there are a lot of good youtube videos out there on various aspects of RV operation.