First go at a route - comments welcomed!

So here is my first draft of a route we think we'd like to take.  Our trip is a year long (hopefully, visa extension permitting) but quite of a lot of the places we'd like to visit say go in spring or fall, so we might be a bit hit and miss on these locations.  I've put down where in each state we definitely want to visit and at which probable time of year as there may be reasons why/why not for those particular places.  Any comments gratefully received either on our route or other places to visit  (P.S.  Its not convenient for us to leave the UK between Jan and April)

May - Florida - RV shopping then around Florida
June - Colorado - Rocky Mountains, Mesa Verde, Colorado Springs, Beaver Creek, Telluride
July - Utah - Bryce Canyon, Zion NP, Glen CAnyon, Lake Powell
August - Wyoming - Yellowstone NP/Lake Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP, Sundance, Black Hills NP
September/Oct - Washington State - San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsular, Cascade Mountains
October/Nov - Oregon - Hells Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Cannon Beach, Siuslaw NP
November/Dec - California - Lake Tahoe, Pacific Coast, Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Death Valley, Joshua Tree NP, Mojave Desert, Knottsberry Farm, Six Flags, Redwood NP
December/Jan - Nevada - Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Area 51
January/Feb - Arizona - Monument Valley, Mount Lemmon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest NP, Flagstaff, Tombstone
February/March - New Mexico - White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Billy the Kid Byway, Santa Fe, Albuquerque
March/April - Texas - Rodeo, San Antonio, Davy Crockett NP, Riverwalk
May - Orlando - Disney/Universal etc, sell RV (hopefully) then home

We can also do the trip in reverse (apart from the start and end Florida/Orlando staying the same), but starting in Sept/Oct/Nov instead, but I thought that that might pitch us up in very snowy places over winter which we don't want.

Thanks for looking!

All of those are worthy places to visit, but I suggest you start by plotting the trip using some software like Street Atlas or Streets and Trips to get an idea of the miles involved, both in total and between the various locations.  That's a very ambitious tour for just one year if you want to really visit those places and not just drive through.

Wow, there are a lot of problems with that route.

May - Florida - RV shopping then around Florida -- Way too hot, humid and buggy.

June - Colorado - Rocky Mountains, Mesa Verde, Colorado Springs, Beaver Creek, Telluride -- This should be ok.

July - Utah - Bryce Canyon, Zion NP, Glen CAnyon, Lake Powell -- Bryce will be cool but the rest of Utah sizzles in July, way too hot.

August - Wyoming - Yellowstone NP/Lake Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP, Sundance, Black Hills NP -- Perfect

September/Oct - Washington State - San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsular, Cascade Mountains --Better off in July, there would be a lot of rain in Sept/Oct. Don't forget North Cascades National Park.

October/Nov - Oregon - Hells Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Cannon Beach, Siuslaw NP -- It is getting a bit cool and snowy in Oregon in Oct/Nov

November/Dec - California - Lake Tahoe, Pacific Coast, Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Death Valley, Joshua Tree NP, Mojave Desert, Knottsberry Farm, Six Flags, Redwood NP - Absolutely not Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Sequoia. Way too much snow and cold. The rest are very good choices for Nov/Dec.

December/Jan - Nevada - Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Area 51 - Yes for everything except the Grand Canyon. Way too much cold and snow. May through September only at the Grand Canyon.

January/Feb - Arizona - Monument Valley, Mount Lemmon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest NP, Flagstaff, Tombstone - Excellent.

February/March - New Mexico - White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Billy the Kid Byway, Santa Fe, Albuquerque - A little bit cold and the bats don't fly at Carlsbad until the end of March. And you don't want to miss the bat flight.

March/April - Texas - Rodeo, San Antonio, Davy Crockett NP, Riverwalk - Good choices, don't forget Padre Island National Seashore. Davy Crockett is not a National Park, it is a National Forest. Probably not the greatest of destinations.

May - Orlando - Disney/Universal etc, sell RV (hopefully) then home -- Once again, Florida in May sucks.

Ned said:

All of those are worthy places to visit, but I suggest you start by plotting the trip using some software like Street Atlas or Streets and Trips to get an idea of the miles involved, both in total and between the various locations.  That's a very ambitious tour for just one year if you want to really visit those places and not just drive through.

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Thanks - is the software you mention freely available or do I pay for it? 

Shows how much I know of the size of America - I thought we might have time to spare!!!

Thanks seilerbird - I will write all that down and see what else I can come up with.  That is a pretty circular route, but I think we might end up going backwards and forwards a bit!  I have been to Florida in May before so I know what the heat is like - I'll have a jig around and see what else I can come up with.  I wanted to avoid April (Easter) and July, August and December for Orlando.

thesmiths said:

Thanks - is the software you mention freely available or do I pay for it? 

Shows how much I know of the size of America - I thought we might have time to spare!!!

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Neither program is free, but they aren't expensive either.  Street Atlas 2011 is available for <$30 and Street and Trips for for about the same.  My preference is Street Atlas but either will work for you.  A Google search will turn up numerous retailers.  You'll want one of these programs to use in your travels and they are especially valuable when paired with a GPS receiver.

America is larger than most visitors, and some residents, think

seilerbird said:

Wow, there are a lot of problems with that route.

July - Utah - Bryce Canyon, Zion NP, Glen CAnyon, Lake Powell -- Bryce will be cool but the rest of Utah sizzles in July, way too hot.

October/Nov - Oregon - Hells Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Cannon Beach, Siuslaw NP -- It is getting a bit cool and snowy in Oregon in Oct/Nov

November/Dec - California -  Absolutely not Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Sequoia. Way too much snow and cold.

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Seilerbird, what time of year/month would you recommend for the above seeing as my choices are not great?  Thanks!

July - Utah - Bryce Canyon, Zion NP, Glen CAnyon, Lake Powell -- Spring or fall is wonderful in any of these places. It gets a bit cold and snowy at Bryce in the winter.

October/Nov - Oregon - Hells Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Cannon Beach, Siuslaw NP -- June, July, August and September are the best months for Oregon.

November/Dec - California -  Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and Sequoia are three of the most beautiful places in the US, but they are located deep in the Sierras. Lake Tahoe is at 6000 feet and so are many parts of Yosemite and Sequioa. May through September is the best time. With Yosemite, May is the only month I consider. The weather is fine, the mosquitoes haven't arrived yet and the waterfalls are going full throttle. In September the waterfalls are just a memory.

You mentioned that you did not know that the US was so huge. This is a typical problem for all Europeans. Seeing all of the US in a year is a real chore. Last January I drove from Florida to Las Vegas, 2600 miles. It took me eight days of driving 300+ miles per day. And that is not even going across the entire country.

I think you should do Florida in April and don't worry about spring break. 

Ned said:

Neither program is free, but they aren't expensive either.  Street Atlas 2011 is available for <$30 and Street and Trips for for about the same.  My preference is Street Atlas but either will work for you.  A Google search will turn up numerous retailers.  You'll want one of these programs to use in your travels and they are especially valuable when paired with a GPS receiver.

America is larger than most visitors, and some residents, think

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Thanks Ned.  Wow didn't it was so difficult to plan where we wanted to go, looks like we might be zigzagging everywhere - or more likely, will have to cut some out as don't want to be on the road every other day ideally.

Here is a rough idea of how I would arrange your trip, unfortunately I left out Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and Sequoia since I couldn't fit everything in.

April - Florida - RV shopping then around Florida

May - Texas - Rodeo, San Antonio, Davy Crockett NP, Riverwalk

June - Colorado - Rocky Mountains, Mesa Verde, Colorado Springs, Beaver Creek, Telluride

July - Wyoming - Yellowstone NP/Lake Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP, Sundance, Black Hills NP

August - Oregon - Hells Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Cannon Beach, Siuslaw NP

September - Washington State - San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsula, Cascade Mountains

October - Washington, Oregon and California coast

November - Knottsberry Farm, Six Flags, Joshua Tree NP, Mojave Desert, Death Valley

December - Nevada - Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Area 51

January - Arizona - Monument Valley, Mount Lemmon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest NP, Flagstaff, Tombstone

February - New Mexico - White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Billy the Kid Byway, Santa Fe, Albuquerque

March - Utah - Bryce Canyon, Zion NP, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon

April - Orlando - Disney/Universal etc, sell RV (hopefully) then home

Tom's routing looks better than the original but you still need to know that New Mexico and northern Arizona are going to be COLD with a good chance of snow in January and February.

Wendy

Tom said the same thing I was going to say.  You don't want to go into the Sierras in the winter unless you plan to go skiing (many of the passes will be closed with snow anyway).  When you look at a U.S. map it looks like the "Pacific Coast" and Yosemite are right next door to one another, but they're not and their climates are quite different.  We've gone around (e.g. circumnavigated) the U.S. several times.  It takes about four months and ends up being about 11,000 miles.  And we pretty much keep moving when we do that, which means there's not a whole lot of time left for sightseeing and lengthy stops.  It also means seeing nothing in the middle of the country.  In the eastern U.S. the states are closer together so it is possible to travel in several New England states in one day, much like going between say Belgium and Holland.  But in the western states, they're much more spread out.  For example, the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco is about 400 miles with the entire north-south length of the state being about 700 miles.  As Tom said, it takes several days just to cross Texas.  Ned's advice to get a mapping program is good because it will give you a better idea of realistic distances and times.  Wendy's comment about snow also is correct.  Albuquerque and Monument Valley get snowy winters.

ArdraF

Thanks seilerbird!!  Any idea how I get round the New Mexico/northern Arizona possible snow problem?  If we didn't go to these two States how would that affect the trip itinerary below - I guess we don't want to be in Utah in winter either due to snow .... We could possibly do southern California?

As an aside, how do people in RVs visit San Francisco?  I know you can't take RVs in but just wondered if there was an easy way of doing it?

Thanks ArdraF, looks like more planning in order!

... how do people in RVs visit San Francisco?

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Don't take an RV into San Francisco; The traffic lanes in the streets are narrow, and there aren't good places to park a large vehicle like a class A motorhome. Camp in an outlying area (there are a number of options I'll dig up for you). If you're towing a car, drive into the city. If not, camp on the Marin side of the Bay, take the ferry into the city, and use public transport - good options, including cable car, Muni bus, and BART (our equivalent of the London underground), and taxi.

thesmiths said:

Thanks seilerbird!!  Any idea how I get round the New Mexico/northern Arizona possible snow problem?  If we didn't go to these two States how would that affect the trip itinerary below - I guess we don't want to be in Utah in winter either due to snow .... We could possibly do southern California?

As an aside, how do people in RVs visit San Francisco?  I know you can't take RVs in but just wondered if there was an easy way of doing it?

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Just go to Southern Arizona instead.

Planning a trip like yours is a very complicated event. I know, I have been full timing it for 9 years and I have done a lot of planning. You have to take into consideration the distances, the weather, the amount of tourists, the bugs and so on into account when planning a trip. Here is one that is similar to yours that I am planning on next year. There is no month with more than 1600 miles and the weather will be great everywhere.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=215617306805779620107.000498426fb84a859d153&z=4

Google Maps is the trip planning software I use. It is free and in the clouds.

Thanks Tom and Seilerbird, all your knowledge is very gratefully received.  Your trip looks great Seilerbird, I'll have to have a go at Google Maps myself and see what it comes up with.

seilerbird said:

Google Maps is the trip planning software I use. It is free and in the clouds.

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Tom, how long did it take you to figure out how to draw, store, and update that map? I had fits when I tried, but maybe I did not watch enough of the videos. 

Your attempts at planning and the tips/advice you've received are all excellent. Here's a perspective from someone who spent a career planning stuff, and who in retirement prefers not to plan anything.

The maiden voyage in our current coach was 10,000 miles, across the southern states, head north, cross into Canada at Niagara Falls and, thanks to help from forum staffer Steve Pally who lives in Ottawa, around the Maritimes, back into the US to celebrate Independence Day with forum staffer Gary Brink and his wife Nancy, west across the northern states, and home. With very few exceptions, we'd get up in the morning and toss a coin - heads we move on, tails we stay. If heads, we'd stick a pin in the map and off we'd go.

There's no doubt in my mind that we barely skimmed the surface covering 10,000 miles in 14 weeks. There were many places we could/should have visited, but we plan to go back. e.g. we could have spent 3 months in the Maritimes alone. But, we had a great time and met up with a large number of RV Forum members along the way. There's a trip report of sorts in our forum library here.

If I were doing your trip, I'd probably do it the way we did our 10,000 mile trip, but with one eye on the inputs you've received here re what to see, weather and driving conditions at different times of the year.

skyking4ar2 said:

Tom, how long did it take you to figure out how to draw, store, and update that map? I had fits when I tried, but maybe I did not watch enough of the videos. 

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I have never seen any videos. When I started there were no videos. I have been using Google Maps since it first appeared and I have been making my own maps there for years. I don't remember how long it took me to learn, but it is all pretty easy stuff for me since I have been using a computer for so long, especially graphics programs.
Just go in there and play with it. It is free and won't cost you anything but some time. There is an excellent help system and a forum available if you get stuck.  Or send me an IM.