In the Beginning
When starting out as newbies traveling the country in an RV, it is probable that the excitement of the lifestyle can easily overwhelm the traveler. Even though you have succeeded in visiting all the places on your itinerary, you will probably be disappointed to discover that there was so much more to see there than you had expected. While comparing notes and looking at pictures with other RVrs of their most recent visits to the places you've already visited, it will inevitably spark a desire to return and explore the yet to be explored areas around those now familiar places.
Budgeting Your Time
The anticipation of living on the road in your rolling home after years of planning your first cross country trip makes you tend to underestimate the time you will spend in each place; unfortunately many of the places of interest will be missed. Planning and structuring your drive time and days spent at each stop along the way is practical for many reasons. Limiting your driving time on travel days to approximately 200 miles per day will keep the driver from getting too tired. Boon-docking for a night or two in a Walmart parking lot or spending a few nights at a campground along the way will be a much needed reprieve from the monotony of the drive. The time spent in each campground is usually limited to seven or fourteen nights depending on your campground affiliations, therefore your sight-seeing days are limited to the number of days spent in each campground.
Across the Country
One of the most enjoyable things to do along the way while traveling in an RV is planning the itinerary. Scouring the map to see what towns the interstate passes through. Picking up brochures at rest stops that suggest interesting stops along the way. For example, when my husband and I traveled out West along the historic Route 66 in Amarillo Texas, we happened upon an area where cars were buried on end in the middle of a field. We learned that this place was called Cadillac Ranch so named for all the Cadillac cars buried nose down in the ground like spring time perennial bulbs planted in a garden gone wild. Certainly not the most historic of places to visit along the way but definitely worth the 30 minutes to walk out into the field and take a few pictures. A memorable stop you wouldn't want to miss.
Another gem in the western states you will want to experience is found in New Mexico. However, not in well known Albuquerque as you might think, neither is it found atop the Sandia Mountain Range. It is the murals painted on the walls of the buildings throughout the forgotten town of Tucumcari. Tucumcari Mountain overlooks this small town of abandoned homes and deserted businesses. The walls throughout the streets tell a story of a bygone era. Indians, horses and buffalo, Chevys, poodle skirts and bikers all depict a road less traveled in an earlier time on Route 66 or otherwise called The Mother Road. All 2,448 miles of it; from Illinois to California, there is so much to see that the time allotted will never be time enough. It will call you back again and again, and as the song by Bobby Troup goes:
If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!
Majors and Minors
Your first cross country RV trip will undoubtedly include the major points of interest such as the National Parks. The sheer vastness of the Grand Canyon and the beauty of Sedona's Red Rocks as you travel through the Verde Valley will be definite stops along the way but don't take lightly the breathtaking views of the mountainside town of Jerome, Arizona, along scenic highway 89 and the winding roads through Prescott National Forest. Several wineries dot the countryside that offer wine tasting and educational tours as well as the Tuzigoot National Monument, the ruins of a Sinaguan community and Montezuma Castle National Monument, one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. These are all off the beaten path gems that you will most assuredly want to experience upon a return trip.
Yellowstone National Park is a huge major attraction that can not be seen in its entirety in a week or even two. With that understood, plan to explore some minor attractions and certainly take a drive over Bear Tooth Pass near Billings Montana and experience the top of the world at 13,000 feet above sea level. Experience 10 foot snow banks and watch winter sports enthusiasts ski the mountainside in July while you're in your shorts and t-shirt. As you enter the town of Red Lodge at the base of the mountain, stop for some of Montana's best hand dipped ice cream at Scoops, a minor attraction and a memory not soon forgotten.
You're Not On Vacation Anymore
We still have the freedom in America to travel from sea to shining sea by any mode of transportation we choose. If you choose, like we have, to enjoy this beautiful country with all eight of your wheels on the ground, then one of the most valuable pieces of advice you can receive along the way is to remember that you are not on vacation anymore; this is a lifestyle. You'll want to learn to slow down, stop and smell the roses so to speak. Take time for sight seeing but also set aside time to relax and have a pajama day or two at each destination. The very reason we have a home on wheels is the freedom of the lifestyle. The freedom to revisit and explore that which we have missed. Above are only a few examples of how we can miss the forest for the trees when we don't take time to picnic in the meadow.
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