6 weeks From Florida to the NW

[kitejunky1]

Traveling from south Florida up the PCH ( California) to Seattle, and then Zion.

Anyone recommend must go to places? Great places to camp or not?
Traveling with my 10, 12 and 13 kids and dogs. This summer.

Thanks Andy

[ependydad]

Ohhh, this is a fun one.

• Amarillo, TX - This will give you a decent 1 or 2 night stop mostly to stretch your legs from the hard-drive to get there. While there, you can stop at Cadillac Ranch and go to the museum that has the RV from the move RV.
• 4 Corners - This isn't a destination but is cool and since you're in the area
• While in the area, run up to Cortez, CO and go to Mesa Verde to look at the cliff dwellings. Do the Balcony House tour for something the kids will never forget. It's described as an "Adventurous Cliff Dwelling Tour" and the Rangers called it their "Indiana Jones" tour.
• VEGAS, BABY! or the Grand Canyon
  • Near Vegas is the Valley of Fire State Park, the Hoover Dam, and more- it's not all just gambling and call girls
• Hit up Disneyland if you want some fake fun (my family loves it)
• Drive north on the PCH; I can't help much here as I don't know CA all that well. We stayed and explored San Francisco and I'd love to go back.
  • Chinatown stuck out for my family as unique.
  • Alcatraz was a huge hit (order tickets ahead of time)
  • Ride the cable cars
  • Drive Lombard Street (even in your truck- I'm still kicking myself for not driving down it in my dually; I'm positive I would have made it)
  • Explore the Golden Gate Bridge

Heading north off the PCH...

• drive the Avenue of Giants
• Stop and explore the State and National Redwood Forest
• I don't know anything about Oregon other than if you go west to Bend, there are some AWESOME lava features- huge lava tube, an obsidian flow, etc.
• In Washington, stopping at Mt. St. Helens was cool
• In Seattle, we enjoyed the Flight Museum, the Space Needle, the Museum of Pop, and Snoqualamie Falls. Driving the city was tight with the truck and garages were often too short for the truck.

Heading to Zion...

• Run a little more west in Idaho and go to Craters of the Moon National Park - the landscape there is absolutely alien with so much lava. There's an amazing little park in Picabo, ID called Picabo Angler. It's literally 20 sites and the town is in the middle of nowhere. We spent July 4 there last year with 3 families (12 kids, 6 adults) and loved it.
• Salt Lake City is actually a very nice city.
  • Being a non-believing heathen, I surprisingly enjoyed the Mormon Temple.
  • You can also drive over to the Olympic National Park to let the kids burn off some energy and/or get an informative tour.
  • Swimming in the Great Salt Lake was really unique- my daughter actually floated, which is unheard of for her.
  • Antelope Island was a good time. It was the first my family had seen bison in the wild.
• Be aware that Utah is absolutely chock full of beautiful sites if you want to explore more, Capitol Reef NP, Moab w/ Arches NP, Dead Horse Point SP, Canyonlands NP nearby. Just watch the weather, it can get very hot in the summer.
• Do Zion.

Heading home...

• Stop in Page, AZ to pay for a really expensive tour of Antelope Canyon- especially if any of your kids fancy themselves photographers. Also do the short hike to Horseshoe Bend. It's postcard beautiful.
• Crater of Diamonds SP in Arkansas is unique. Beautiful state park camping and you get to mine for real diamonds.
• Maybe drop down to New Orleans.

[Stetay]

Elk country rv Park n ca by Trinidad is awsome!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by kitejunky1

Traveling from south Florida up the PCH ( California) to Seattle, and then Zion.

Anyone recommend must go to places? Great places to camp or not?
Traveling with my 10, 12 and 13 kids and dogs. This summer.

Thanks Andy

If you haven't made reservations for California or the Oregon coast, forget anything along the coasts.
They've been booked for the summer, since last year.

The only hope you have is private RV parks.
You might get one night here or there, at state parks.

[PNWTraveler]

"..You can also drive over to the Olympic National Park to let the kids burn off some energy and/or get an informative tour.
Swimming in the Great Salt Lake ..."

While I highly endorse a visit to Olympic N.P. it is in Washington, so mentioning it in-between the Mormon Tabernacle and swimming in the GSL is a bit misleading.

I'll elaborate on Seattle based activities in another post.

Linda

[PNWTraveler]

Andy,

Do you have any specific destination in mind for the Seattle leg of the trip? Or type of activities or settings you prefer? You could easily spend the entire six weeks here. I've spent a life-time and not seen or done everything. I'd love to make suggestions, but more information would help narrow it down.

Linda

[Landshark7]

Great trip. Almost everything that's been said so far.
Antelope Canyon in Page AZ is a great stop.
Disney is meh. I'd do Santa Barbarbra, Morro Bay, Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Carmel Monterey or any of those you can get to.
Expect some real crowds in Frisco.
Thor's Well on the OR coast is cool.
Do a stop along the Colombia River. There are nice state parks you might still get in to. Drive out to Mt Hood. If you have time and are going to Seattle, take a couple days to go out to Olympic NP.
And, if you're going to Zion, don't skip Bryce.
Have fun. The kids are just the right age to enjoy a trip like this.

[McCormickJim]

Zion takes at least three days. Be sure to take some water-walkers with you as one of the trails takes you up a creek. Be sure to do it. Zion is also a great place for a horse-back ride: beautiful scenery.

[bikendan]

Problem is the OP is planning a summer trip, completely across the country, with apparently no reservations out West.

Especially for the West Coast.[emoji32]

[OldBob]

Monument Valley and Meteor Crater.

[FordHauler]

Buy yourself a National Parks Pass, you are going to be near a lot of them.
In each visitor center you can find a rubber stamp for your Passport book, kids will leaf through the book for years remembering their visit. Sounds like a great trip.
Travel safe

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by PNWTraveler

"..You can also drive over to the Olympic National Park to let the kids burn off some energy and/or get an informative tour.
Swimming in the Great Salt Lake ..."

While I highly endorse a visit to Olympic N.P. it is in Washington, so mentioning it in-between the Mormon Tabernacle and swimming in the GSL is a bit misleading.

I'll elaborate on Seattle based activities in another post.

Linda

Linda, you’re right. I let my fingers get away from me and only meant to write “Olympic Park”:
http://utaholympiclegacy.org/

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Problem is the OP is planning a summer trip, completely across the country, with apparently no reservations out West.

Especially for the West Coast.[emoji32]

Depends on where you want to stay. I can’t talk about the PCH portion, but I did the rest with limited reservations made well ahead of time last year. We left Amarillo in April, made our way thru Utah to Seattle, and finished in Anaheim by September (mostly coming down 101). So we mostly hit the summer months.

But, we also aren’t looking for a whole lot out of RV parks other than a place to park and plug-in.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Depends on where you want to stay. I can’t talk about the PCH portion, but I did the rest with limited reservations made well ahead of time last year. We left Amarillo in April, made our way thru Utah to Seattle, and finished in Anaheim by September (mostly coming down 101). So we mostly hit the summer months.

But, we also aren’t looking for a whole lot out of RV parks other than a place to park and plug-in.

Doug, I've lived and camped on the West Coast for 32 years, mainly California.
Our preference was always state beach campgrounds and we often camped from the Mexican border to Astoria, Oregon.

Years ago we stopped camping in the summer and holidays, due to the extreme competition for coastal campsites. They are booked months in advance.
And in the past few years, even in the off-season, competition is growing.

But we have never stayed in any coastal private RV campgrounds since few are actually along the beach.

My point to the OP, was to educate as to what they will be up against, after driving 3000 miles.

[bikendan]

Yeah Doug, if you head inland from PCH or the coast, your chances for campsites dramatically get better, especially at private RV parks.
My point is that many east of the Mississippi, want the beach camping experience.
If it's in the summer, reservations are needed months in advance.
Even in Oregon State Parks.

[kitejunky1]

Thanks for all the good info. I am happy with Walmart, boonbocking or any camp ground that i can just plug in and dump. We have never had a reservation, thats why i have my RV. Thanks again for all the reply's.

Andy

[bikendan]

Sorry to be a downer but most cities in California ban overnighting in Wal-Mart's.
I have often seen RVs being towed out of California Walmart parking lots.
But I wish you and your family good luck and safe travels.

[Stetay]

We have made reservations the last two years for our final destination, last year we went up 101 and stopped when we wanted, never had a problem finding a place for the nite. Final was elk country rv Park by Trinidad. Highly recommend it. This year have tried to make more reservations but it’s really hard seems to limit your time and I’m on vacation

[CurtPutnam]

In Southern California, you might find Joshua Tree NP interesting. San Diego is a wonderful town. As for PCH, check its status; it has been closed in Big Sur. A drive through Yosemite NP is not to be missed. We love Monterey,

Just some random thoughts