Our son and his soon-to-be-wife are currently living in North Dakota and plan to be there for another three and a half years. DH and I are curious to see many of the states we would otherwise never get to – SD, WY, MT, NE, ID. Renting an RV and driving through those areas might be fun and interesting. Who has made these sorts of trips? Is it fun? Is it economical, as opposed to renting a car and staying at hotels? Are there sufficient RV parks, or does one need to sometimes stay in a Walmart parking lot? Could we/should we bring our dogs along with us?
As you can tell, we know nothing about this style of traveling, so I welcome any information you can provide!
We’ve camped across the country twice as part of cross country moves. We were in a pop-up which is easier to pull but harder to setup and less space than an RV - but we absolutely loved it and can’t wait to do it again. we’ve camped the I-70 corridor and the northern route zigging and zagging to hit as many states as possible.
Being able to only go one direction and owning the camper made it easier and much more cost effective than renting. That has it’s own issues because you need to take a short trip to get the hang off it. It’s very economical owning the camper. It’s not if you have to rent because you will already be in for over $100/day plus paying mileage, fuel, and campground rates.
There are websites that tell you about Walmart, Cabellas, Cracker Barrell, etc that alllow overnight camping. We stayed in commercial or municipal campgrounds and national parks. You can find muni campgrounds for $10-15/night.
There are two big RV forums where you can find a lot of info. I’m not sure if I can link to another forum here, albeit one that isn’t a competitor.
We rented a 45 foot class A RV (having never driven one before), filled it full of six girls and two dogs and one robot, drove 2121 miles from Atlanta to Omaha NE (and back), and won a national robotics trophy.
Some things we learned:
The only places we could comfortably go were pull-through RV camp grounds and Wal Mart. We scraped the side of the RV on a pole trying to get into an Olive Garden parking lot.
I think we spent nearly 1k in fuel (cummings diesel engine).
It was a HUGE amount of fun, but not because of the RV. The girls had a total blast with their friends, but H and I were exhausted by the end of the trip. And during the trip.
The dogs whined a lot because it was a really stressful, new environment. They basically had to sleep ON us to be not totally freaked out.
We thought we might want to be full-time RV'ers someday (like the Wynns), but after the trip we realized that it was not for us. Hard to get off the interstates and see interesting things, and everything in that VERY expensive RV rattled as you drive down the road. I can't imagine what a cheaper one would be like. Plus when you stop, you have to do all this stuff like setting blocks and plugging in this and that and not accidentally running down your bank of batteries, and it's dark and in a strange place and you're tired from driving.
We went back to road-tripping in our comfortable car and staying at a nice hotel along the way. The dogs board at a place that they love and that loves them, and we know they are happy and secure.
IF you really want to try it, rent the smallest RV (I’d say a class A or even a B) that you can stand, and take it out for a short weekend jaunt to see if you (and your dogs) enjoy it.
I have a small motorhome. I love it for roadtrips from campground to campground, but it sucks trying to drive around a city.
I have no problem finding places to camp. I prefer planning my route ahead of time, and having reservations. If the campgrounds enroute do not take reservations, I usually have a few possibilities lined up, but I am a little stressed until I pull in and have a site secured.
I hate RV parks (with neighbors 10 feet away), and strongly prefer a good old USFS campground in the trees with a campfire ring. Those often don’t have power or water hook-ups, though. I plan my route so that I get power/water and sewage dump at least every 3-4 days.
We’ve done this sort of thing as tent campers and again in a camper van. I think we’ve only spent one night in an actual RV park since we’re nature people who prefer state & national parks and campfires to hookups and the sound of generators.
We’ve never traveled with pets, but some of our friends do. Get the dogs accustomed to riding in the camper and experiencing new campsites well before the big trip (e.g. try it for a weekend first).
Re: Wal-Mart parking lots, Cracker Barrel lots and the like - not bad for a single overnight enroute to somewhere else. Cracker Barrel in Boise was actually kind of nice.
Re: the camper van - Ours is the smaller of Ford’s two passenger vans. It has a Sportsmobile pop-top, kind of like a VW Vanagon, so we can sleep two upstairs and two more on a platform bed down below. We have two bucket seats up front, one bench seat and then the platform bed. Gear goes in the back, under the platform bed. The front seats swivel around when parked to make a small living room type area.
We don’t have onboard kitchen or bathroom facilities. We cook outside on a camp stove. What we sacrifice in luxury and not being self-contained, we gain back in gas mileage (17 mpg, vs 8-10 for larger rigs) and maneuverability. We can park pretty much anywhere, we have a reasonable turning radius, we fit in parking garages, and because we’re legally a passenger van, RV parking restrictions don’t apply to us.
I’m not at all knocking the Class C / Class A lifestyle, but we love love love our low-tech, low budget camper van.
That’s our plan! Transit 148" high roof van, insulated with a platform bed and a portapotty and little sink. We are hoping to DIY for much of the work. 5 years until retiring and building out the van!
Plus 1 with @MotherOfDragons. We rented a class A vehicle for graduation when we couldn’t book hotel rooms. Yep, we will never do that in retirement. I’m 5’8" and was bumping the ceiling in the shower. Maybe most folks who own these shower at the campground facilities?
Plus it’s like driving a city bus. You can’t always go where you want.
For vacation camping, maybe the smaller ones beat tents, but for long term, no. Just no.
I’ve crossed the country, gone Canada to New Mexico and gone Tecate to Canada on a two-wheeled recreational vehicle. I recommend it. No problems parking, no issues about expensive gasoline.
Please do not drive an RV if you’re not confident about exactly how wide your vehicle is, including your protrudimg mirrors. I can’t count how many RVs have passed me too close.
@VeryHappy please clarify the type of RV you plan to rent. Some folks here are talking about 45 foot RVs that are like houses. Others are talking about smaller motor homes.
My suggestion is you rent something you know you can easily drive yourselves…like a small motor home.
TBH, I did a trip like this back in the Stone Age. We stayed at many different types of camping areas…all with bathroom and shower facilities.
At this point in my life. I prefer the rent a vehicle/hotel way of travel. I’m really not interested in camping and cooking all of my meals on a campstove. I also prefer to drive a car…not a motor home.
You can rent 24’ Class C’s that will fit in some parking spots and is easier to drive. For someone full-timing, you need to tow a vehicle or rent a car at your destination for a motor home. Everything is tradeoffs. Easier to drive is less space. RV’s have advantages in the outdoors like National Parks. Hotels are best in cities. We’ve left our pop-up in a campground and taken the train in to Manhattan as part of one our cross countries. Just be flexible. But, we weren’t renting which changes the economics and we were used to camping in a variety of conditions.
We have done quite a bit of train/drive and hotel/motel/ national park lodging over the years. We have loved it and often taken our kids along or gone with other family members and friends.
We tried using a parked teardrop camper at a beach park as a kitchen for us and friends and pitching tents nearby at a beach park. It was fun but we were glad not to have the maintenance of the teardrop as it aged a great deal and being near the beach and salt spray was very corrosive. We would have had to do considerable maintenance if we had owned it to keep it functioning well.
My sis and BIL rented an RV for touring in Alaska and enjoyed it.
H is very opposed to driving an RV as he lost 4 co-workers who pulled over on a soft shoulder in Alaska (to let other vehicles pass) and their RV rolled over, killing all of them. He also highly favors sleeping in regular beds in a hotel/motel/or similar.
Hmmmm. Lots of food for thought. So far it’s just a fantasy, but this information helps a lot.
Upon reflection, from what you all are saying, I think we might want a small van-type vehicle in which we would only sleep and perhaps keep a cooler to make breakfasts and lunches. But, knowing my DH very well after all these years, I think we’d want to eat a real meal for dinner and, probably every third night or so, sleep in a real bed and take a real shower.
This plan means we could park in normal places, save money by sleeping in the van two thirds of the time, make pit stops every few hours for bathroom breaks, but retain our sanity and our cleanliness. And not worry about 8 or 9 mpg, especially when we’d be traveling upwards of a thousand miles.
The dogs might have to find some friends to stay with.
We had an RV, didn’t do much cross country but used it to get up and back to D’s college. At orientation, I stayed in the dorm with Techson17 (who was 10 at the time), H and the other 3 boys stayed in the RV with the 2 dogs in the school parking lot. D and her friends decorated it with holiday lights and banners and H drove her and 16 of her nearest and dearest to the prom that year. People still talk about it.
There is a campground site called KOA (Kampgrounds of America) which is pretty reasonably priced. We stayed there a couple of times. I am not a nature girl so being without ready showers and electric hookups was not acceptable to me.
I have tried bribing H to sell our money pit when i retire and buying a used RV (we sold the one we had a couple of years ago). As long as he can and will drive it, it’s okay. I will not drive the RV. I tried once and it was too scary.
Hmmm. That’s another good point, @techmom99: I am sure I wouldn’t be able to drive a big RV, and it wouldn’t be fair to have DH do all the driving on such a lengthy trip.
I’m going to get some books today and see if I can start planning this trip for real.
We have a small travel trailer that we can pull with my Toyota FJ Cruiser or our truck. It has a kitchen and bathroom (small, of course). We’ve been happy with most of the KOA campgrounds. They have decent showers.
We did a one week RV trip when the kids were little. Rented a relatively small RV and stayed most nights at National Park campgrounds. We basically used it like a tent with sides as the campgrounds did not have hookups. We had to have an escort through a tunnel at Zion because the height of the RV only allowed us to travel in the middle and so oncoming traffic had to be stopped. I believe we used the bus system in the parks. My other concern was that the seats in the back that the kids sat in while we were driving did not appear to be as safe as regular car seats.
I have done cross-country camping, and don’t mind cooking outside or using a communal, pay shower. But I don’t like getting soaked from rain and have a somewhat irrational (and somewhat rational) fear of bears and other wildlife. And, as I get older, sleeping on a camping mat on the ground is tougher. Have thought about RVing across the country as you can really stay in calm, beautiful places especially if you go to campgrounds without hookups. But driving the RV is intimidating and having to drive it everywhere (to get groceries, to see the sites) is less appealing and not sure I would want to pull a popup for many miles with my minivan or have to rent a truck/popup.
Just looked at a site that rents campervans. That would probably be my ideal way to RV - mostly camping but sleeping in the campervan. Can also then stay in a hotel if no campgrounds are around, as the campervan can fit in a parking lot.
We had a 32’ Class C motorhome for a few years, From Wisconsin it has gone to St. Louis, Texas, Florida and the east coast twice. It was a wonderful way to travel with kids - they could sleep. DH could drive and I could fire up the generator and cook meals! We sold it when the kids were mid teens and had jobs etc. and couldn’t travel as much (bought a cabin instead). DH and I look forward to getting a mini-winnie or 5th wheel when we retire - it’s our plan to descent upon our kids and kidnap the grandkids for trips with us if and when we are so blessed with them!