Heading west in August from N FL

[Jvsnyder]

We are heading west in our new Thor Ace 29.3. We previously had a travel trailer and never ventured farther than 3 hrs or so from home in Tallahassee. I have always wanted to travel the whole US. We are retired. Any suggestions for such a long trip? Plan to drive to CA then north to Washington. We are not towing a vehicle. Will this be a problem for site seeing? I know we have a lot of research to do.

[JamieGeek]

Depending on where you are going; first look for tours and/or public transit (or campground transit). Following that I'd look into rentals (like Enterprise should come to the campground and pick you up) sometimes campgrounds also offer rentals.

I'm not retired and haven't seen all of everything I want to see yet but I can offer some choice destinations: From Tallahassee I'd go slightly Northwest picking up I-40 through NM, and AZ then you can stop at stuff like the Grand Canyon, Zion, etc.

CA has all of its own places to stop and see all by itself--a very long list.

Up in Washington Seattle is a great city to see and make sure you go up to Everett and see the Boeing plant tour.

Going back home from WA I'd take I-90 back East with stops at Yellowstone, Rapid City, Mt. Rushmore, etc. before turning South on I-29.

Well ok, probably not helpful but it was fun replying!

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Jvsnyder

We are heading west in our new Thor Ace 29.3. We previously had a travel trailer and never ventured farther than 3 hrs or so from home in Tallahassee. I have always wanted to travel the whole US. We are retired. Any suggestions for such a long trip? Plan to drive to CA then north to Washington. We are not towing a vehicle. Will this be a problem for site seeing? I know we have a lot of research to do.

Sounds like a good time is in your future.

As to towing a vehicle, my personal experience is that using Enterprise car rental is a viable option when necessary given their locations and hours. I have gone on trips towing and without towing. During my trip to Disney World this past January I towed my car and wish I hadn't. I did not use the car the entire trip.

With that said, I do have a youngster that is a manager within the Enterprise system so a weekly rental for me only costs about 100.00 to include full insurance and unlimited mileage. For me it is almost more cost effective to rent than tow. I did this during my 2 week approximately 1800 mile shakedown for the Challenger and on our way back home we stopped overnight at a camp ground that had three Italian and two Chinese Restaurants that had delivery service.

With Enterprise, most of their locations are closed on weekends so scheduling may be an issue for some. However, if someone else's schedule causes you a problem then you are not really retired, you are just working for a different boss.

Bottom line is you need to look at your trip and determine the approach that works best for you.

[Jvsnyder]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[blw2]

I recently did a trip from jacksonville to San Antonio

as an alternative to the suggested I-40 route...
I-10 will take you through New Orleans if you are at all interested in that. With youngsters, we bypassed that....
not much else in my opinion till Houston, which has a lot to offer. Nice zoo and nice museum district
San Antonio is nice, with the river walk area definitely worth a visit.

If we had more time, we would have loved to hightail it from there to the Canyon, then another hard press to the Sequoias.... then I would take my sweet time working my way up the west coast.... through the great national parks and beautiful shore lines.

Given time, I'd be interested in venturing up to Vancouver BC which is very nice and then on up into AK.

[Phil Saran]

Sounds like a fabulous trip. Keep in mind there are some National Parks that do not allow MH's on some of the roads such as Glacier NP since road width etc.. can cause problems.


A rental car in some area's is a good option.


I tow a vehicle and will continue to do so for the majority of my trips. The difference
in MPG towing or not is not very much with my 34E MH.