6 wk trip in 2018

[hillyer05]

Ok would love some input. Have read and looked and am now more undecided then before. In late may of 2018 I plan to leave with the wife four boys and my mother on a six week trip to either the northeast or out west. Any must sees on both routes We will be pulling a fifth wheel and wife will be driving her vehicle. Leaving from southwest Virginia. Have had a tt for years but never went no farther then a few hours from home. But will have my thirty years of work in and I am done. So the question I guess which trip would be best for a first timer going this far from home. I read all these horror stories of going thru the mountain passes out west. Then all the stories of the traffic up east.

[Bikersarge]

IMO west is much better, not congested like the east plus on the east coast. if you have a large truck with the tow package you should be ok in the mountains.

[Wiscampsin]

IMHO there are more natural wonders in the western part of the country but more historical points of interest in the east. I'll take mountain passes any day over congestion and traffic. Whichever you choose decide in enough time to start booking reservations early as many places/areas will fill up fast. Good luck with your decision.

[Windjammin]

Tough to answer this question without knowing what you like. Being from Florida I tend to like the mountains better but that is just me. We like to visit the national parks. Our favorites are Yellowstone/Tetons, Glacier, and the wife really loves Bryce Canyon.

We did a little of both last summer over a 3 month period. Went to Colorado first then back through New England. The half ton Silverado I had then struggled a bit in Colorado going up the passes but came down just fine using manual mode on the transmission. The scenery there was great. New England is much more crowded but has a lot of historical things to see.

[mikel68]

Eventually you will probably do both. It depends on a couple of things, first is safety. Can your truck handle mountains? Secondly - what do you want to see? We've done both. Western areas are more "camping" type situations, as in national parks, mountains, wildlife, until you hit southern California. The southwest can get 100+ degree hot everyday.

There are some wilderness areas as you get to the northeast. I don't know where you're starting point is.

We love the east coast, all the history is phenomenal!!! Don't worry about traffic, just keep your cool and you'll be fine. If you're a hot-headed driver, stir clear of the cities.

I drove our motorhome through neighborhoods in NYC and New Jersey. World Trade Center One was in the front window. DC has Cherry Hill, NYC has some great state parks, but not really anything in the city other than Liberty Harbor, but that's basically a parking lot. In NYC who cares about the park, you won't stay in it except to sleep.

However on the other side San Francisco is awesome. A couple of summers ago we started from Center Texas went cross country up to NY - Buffalo area then across to the east coast. It was awesome. We even saw the Rolling Stones last American Concert in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo.

Good Luck!

[CampingGator]

Do the east coast one year and the west another. We used to live in Virginia and camped a lot there and in West Virginia. Go up through West Virginia, raft on the New River and camp at state parks. Pipe stem and Blackwater Falls were nice. Head up through western Pennsylvania, which is beautiful. Go to Niagra Falls. We love the American side of the Falls and the park there. You need passports to go on the Canadian side, but you have to see the falls from that vantage point too. Niagra on the Lake, Ontario is a very cute little town. There is camping at a state park near Niagra Falls, NY. Drive through New York and camp in the Adirondaks as you head to Vermont, and New England. Visit Boston and the Cape Cod area. Don't drive your camper through Boston. Camp somewhere and make a day trip in. Head down to New York City area. You will have to decide if you want to camp on the outskirts and do Day trips in. Go to New Jersey and visit the historic areas near Princeton and go to the Jersey shore down to Wildwood and Cape May. Go to D.C. And camp at Cherry Hill (I think that's the name). Visit Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland. Go down the Eastern Shore to Williamsburg if you have not already been there. I'm not sure if you can take your camper through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel. You'll have to check that out. If you have more time, go to North Carolina and then Tennessee and then back home.

[lbrjet]

With only 6 weeks I would stay east and wait until you have more time to come west. In our first long trip we did 4 weeks in Colorado and 6 weeks in Utah and barely scratched the surface. PA, Adirondack mountains, Green Mountains, White Mountains (stunning scenery), Acadia National Park, and out to Eastpost, Me. Great campground on the water with 18 foot tides. There is no cell phone service though.

[hillyer05]

Ok let me see if I can answer the question. My truck is no problem. It's a 2012 2500 diesel crew cab. Have. Been to wv camping several times am from there originally. So yeah plan to do both back to back years if the lord is willing. Six weeks will be the max time for several years as I have school age. Kids. I am in va near Bristol.

[Vince and Charlette]

As we like to put it, East is mostly man-made stuff (cities, lots of traffic, historical places); West is God-made stuff! If you want to foster a love of camping, and give your boys some real adventures they'll never forget, view the incredible mountains, lakes, canyons, open skies and endless natural wonders, then head west. (Don't worry about mountain passes; most all of us do them from time to time...and have lived to tell about it! Your 2500 diesel won't have any problems.) Happy camping.

[extxn]

hillyerr05 ~ 1st things 1st, Congrats on getting out of the work force finally! It's awesome, I've been out now for just about 3 months so it's all new to me!!

As for your question ~ East or West in late May 2018, from my view point and that time of the year ~~ I'd definitely go West. The temps shouldn't be that bad yet and most everyone will still be trying to get their summertime lives organized before it's too late.

As for the East, let's just say that this year we were still dealing with snow and cold up in this neck of the woods and even over in NY mountains! Wasn't fun and thought the cold would never leave. If you want the East for scenery and cooler temps, that's around August & September. By then, most folks up here are trying to get back to normal from hectic summer 'fun' and get things together before the snow starts to fall again.

Summer is short up here, so many run helter skelter every weekend trying to pack as much in 2 days as everyone else does in 5 days.

Get an Atlas, google anything and everything, plan your trip, fuel stops and camp spots, get any and all National park passes you can ~ but most of all, enjoy and have fun! You'll be amazed as to the change in your fuel mileage once you don't have to hurry any longer.

[asquared]

I would say it depends on kids ages. A grand trip out west I would want all kids old enough to remember and appreciate it. East coast is an easier reach for you so if the kids are still younger so that if they don't remember and want to see it again, you can do so easily.

[Darrell]

Since you're starting in VA, six weeks isn't enough time to do the western swing properly without too many long haul days. I would suggest the northeast. Some places would be,,, Washington DC, Flight 93 memorial, D-Day memorial, Niagara Falls, Bar Harbor area in Maine (Cadillac Mountain), New York City (statue of liberty a must). If you have time, try to include Michigan in the trip. I have been traveling for the last 3 years and been to both coasts and both borders and a lot in between. When traveling, I usually move about every 3 to 4 days and have stayed in close to 200 campgrounds in the last 3 years. My blog address is at the bottom of this post and it may give you some ideas. Have fun with the planning and traveling,,,,,both are the fun parts.

[martinto]

We went west in Aug 2016. 7300 miles in 7 weeks. 3 days in the Badlands, 5 days at Glacier, over to Washington State to visit friends and family for a few days, then worked our way down to Utah for a week. 5 National Parks and a few 2-3 day layovers along the way. Tried 500 mile days when we started...not good. Revised our towing drives down to 300miles +/- a day; much better. Made reservations along the way...maybe a day or so in advance, no problems. Mostly private and some KOA campgrounds with a country park mixed in. The last week was heading home to SC. 1 night layovers along the way...that was exhausting, but we were anxious to get home by then. Used RVPARKY.com to chart our path and identify campgrounds along the way. Nice tool.

Staying close to home this season...mostly Smokey Mountain getaways. Thinking northeast next year for the fall colors.

Whatever you decide, enjoy the journey.

[Sloopie1]

We did the Easten trip a couple of years ago - about 2 months long - and took in several interesting sites. We only planned to drive 3-4 hours per day and never left the campground until around 10:00 a.n. which allowed for The rush hour traffic to be gone. We also allowed for inclimate weather and wanted to be in our next stop, leveled & hooked up before dark. We changed out route as we didn't want to go through Yonkers in 40'MH's towing, so we bypassed it and stayed in Florida, NY, which is the home to Orange County Choppers. As we arrived at the campground early enough, we had the opportunity to visit this awesome place. We proceeded on to RI and we're there three nights and toured all the fabulous mansions, ate delicious seafood, and managed a couple or so hours at a casino in nearby CT. We continued on up the coast stopping in Portland, ME for a couple or so nights - awesome area BTW - before heading in up to Bar Harbor. We spent 5 nights there, went to Cadillac Mountain for the sunset - a definite must do - ate tons of fresh caught lobster and went on a whale watching tour- didn't see any but was loads of fun. From there, we followed Highway 2 stopping at Ben & Jerry's in Vermont and then three nights in New Hampshire where we rode the Cog Railway up Mount Washington. We then countinued to Lake Placid, NY, spent a week there (if you love the Olympics, you will love Lake Placid) before heading on down towards PA. and stayed in the Ponocos. There, we caught a commuter bus into NYC and hopped a GrayLine tour with one of our "choose two" being the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and then on to Ellis Island. The tour was outstanding and Miss Liberty was breathtaking. We meandered to Lancaster, spent 5 nights there and then worked our way back to Tennessee. It was a fabulous trip and we'd do it again in a heartbeat! We did make reservations for each of our stays a year in advance - we traveled in September & October - and our temps were perfect. Whatever direction you choose, I know you'll have a fantastic time making these memories. BTW, congrats on your retirement - it's the best thing EVER!

[CaptnJohn]

I just called my daughters and asked them the most memorial trip we ever took. Both did not hesitate saying the month we went west. Granted, that was long ago but there have been few changes.

I left NW PA and did the long drive to St Louis and up into the arch we went. Picked up US 160 and found there are some long desolate stretches but well worth it. Along 160 is Great Sand Dunes Natl Park, Mesa Verde, 4 Corners, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and more all the way into Las Vegas.
From NV north to I 80 and the Mormon Tabernacle, Mt Rushmore, Black Hills, Ft Laramie, Sears Tower, and more. One thing I would miss on the south route is Wolfe Creek Pass as that is an ugly pull and Sears Tower on the north route as pulling through Chicago sucked.
We stayed in private parks the entire trip for full hookups. Our only problem was at Grand Canyon as there was no room so we just pulled off the side of the road in a natl park on the east side of the canyon. Two other campers pulled in behind me and we boon docked. We made a big fire and had a very nice evening.
One thing, 4 wheel drive is nice, in mid-June there were snow covered roads in CO (a lot) and WY (a little).
I'm a history buff and found a lot of that in the east, but agree with my daughters, the trip west was best. If I could only redo 1 trip in my lifetime, that would be the one.

[MOD Guy]

I myself would go Wets, understanding that you are not going to be able to see everything,just what you can reasonably do in 6 weeks. Pick a couple of main points and shoot for that (like Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone). I would make sure your vehicle has a good tune up/once over and that you truck and trailer tires are new or in great shape. An extra trailer spare (if you have the room) would be cheap piece of mind insurance.

It sounds like whatever you choose, it is going to be a great and memorable trip!