Dr iving an RV in the USA

cookie_boy2000

Hello All

I've decided to get a loan and take my wife, 2 sons, their wives and a grand-daughter to the USA for a 3 week holiday of a lifetime (it will take that long to pay off!)

The purpose of my post is that for the first 10 days of the trip, I want to hire an RV so we can all stay in it and drive from San Francisco, down to LA (we're going to walk up the steps Laurel & Hardy went up when they had to move a piano!) then over to Vegas (where we will leave the RV and fly over to FLorida).

As the biggest thing i've ever driven was a Transit van, I'm looking for some lessons in driving an RV and was wondering/hoping you good people on here might have some tips, advice or info that will help:
1. make the trip as smooth a possible
2. Help me with the confidence in driving such a large vehicle
3. enalbe me to get some lessons in how to drive the damn thing!

Look forward to your feedback/suggestions.

Regards

Cliff

cubegame

To be honest, given the cost and inconvenience of an RV, you'd be better just getting a huge SUV and stopping off in motels.

There are so many things to see which an RV will hinder you such in the National parks where you will be restricted. You'll also have to go around finding RV parks because you can't just pull up by the road.

Get a huge SUV and you'll not have any problem adjusting to it even if you are used to a small car.

LondonDiva

We drove a 24 foot RV in Canada through the Rockies - my friend was very experienced and I was a nervous driver who hadn't driven consistently since I got my license.

To prepare, I bought a crappy car about 6 months before and drove about once a week.

If you're used to driving and will be sharing the driving with another person, I would highly reccommend it. The biggest thing I'd driven before hand was a Peugot 106 and I managed to drive the twisty mountain roads in rain. Thank the Lord for the land of automatic transport as standard :D:D:D

Their parking spaces and facilities in supermarkets, shops etc, lanes and trailer parks are really easy to get the hang of mostly because they have a way of life there around rvs and travelling longer distances - I would never have believed that I would have parked something that size in a Safeway!

Have a look at the RV places and ask questions - they will give you maps with the rv campsites etc. You can get full water, electricity and sewage hook ups.

We found RV sites everywhere and the national parks in Canada had the best campsites, so we could use different (fab) shower and other facilities.

Have a look at http://www.rvparkreviews.com/

Biggest issue would be getting used to driving on the other side of the road, which took a couple of days. We were travelling for 5 weeks across the country and that week of having everything in one place without needing to pack up, being able to cook & bake! was actually a highlight of the trip.

Nobjocki

cookie_boy2000 wrote: »

Hello All

I've decided to get a loan and take my wife, 2 sons, their wives and a grand-daughter to the USA for a 3 week holiday of a lifetime (it will take that long to pay off!)

The purpose of my post is that for the first 10 days of the trip, I want to hire an RV so we can all stay in it and drive from San Francisco, down to LA (we're going to walk up the steps Laurel & Hardy went up when they had to move a piano!) then over to Vegas (where we will leave the RV and fly over to Florida).

As the biggest thing i've ever driven was a Transit van, I'm looking for some lessons in driving an RV and was wondering/hoping you good people on here might have some tips, advice or info that will help:
1. make the trip as smooth a possible
2. Help me with the confidence in driving such a large vehicle
3. enalbe me to get some lessons in how to drive the damn thing!

Look forward to your feedback/suggestions.

Regards

Cliff

Six adults and a child in a RV is utter madness.
I have driven several times across the States with just two adults and two kids in a large RV and that was a squeeze.
Plus I just think the journey you're attempting to do is making things very difficult for yourself.
RVs can be fun but they are also very limiting and you'll find a one-way hire very expensive.
I also think trying to do California, Vegas and Florida in three weeks means you're going to be spending a lot of time travelling instead of doing stuff.
Personally I think Florida is only really good for kids - outside of the theme parks it's flat and boring.
Do California, Vegas and the Grand Canyon instead using a combination of hire cars, cheap motels and low cost airlines.You'll need three weeks just to do them justice.