Anyone drive out west -- in a car?
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Anonymous
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We'd love to take a trip out west for a summer vacation, but DH and I have different ideas on what this would be like. I should start by saying that we have a budge of maybe $2k (this would include gas, food, etc.), so please don't suggest an RV - I wish we could afford that!)
We have a Mazda 5 - which is sort of like a station-wagon - and a family of 4 (kids are in MS). DH thinks we drive all the way out west and back and tent camp. I can tent camp for a bit, but not for the entire trip! What I'd love to do is to fly out and then drive back (or visa-versa), but two problems: 1. cost of flight, and 2. we'd have to rent a car and pay for all our camping equipment to be flown. My kids and I have never been further west than MI - so we'd LOVE to see the sights, but we just can't figure out a good way to do this and/or a compromise. Any advice? |
Anonymous
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Drive back and forth and stay at cheap motels/hotels. If you truly want to camp (and haul all of that stuff with you) then just camp when you get to the west areas. Then on the way back, do the motels again.
I think you would all be miserable tenting and driving the whole time. |
Anonymous
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I had also wanted to do this trip with my teen DD, and sister/husband and her teen DD (college Freshman). $2k budget seems really low. I had done all the various driving scenarios (drive 1 way, fly other - will need to rent a car one way and this is expensive). Would love to rent an RV (takes care of some hotel stops, right), also very expensive.
I had done an entire itinerary with cost breakdown a while ago, so I need to find it and try to do it this summer. |
Anonymous
| We did the cross-country trip twice when I was a kid, staying in a mix of cheap hotels and staying with friends and family across the country. 3 kids, one station wagon. I have very fond memories of those trips and would love to do it with my kids but DH hates long car trips. I think it would be a PITA to do it camping every night. Such a hassle to unpack/set up camp/pack again in the a.m. |
Anonymous
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We are a family of 6 and we did it several summers ago. We drove out over the course of about 8 days, stayed in California with family for about 2 weeks, then drove back over the course of another 8 or so days. We did two different routes--going out we did a southern route, mainly along I-40 and I-10. Going back east, we were in a more northern route, mostly along I-70 and I-80. We stayed in hotels, but we have done many other roadtrips involving camping (Canada, the Everglades, Mammoth Cave, etc)
I think $2000 is a very optimistic budget--even if you tent camp the whole way. Campsites at most state parks/national parks run about $20+ per night, and if you want to camp at the most popular destinations you will need to book months in advance. At many national park campgrounds that I have been to, you also have to pay to shower. For example at Acadia Park in Maine (and yes, I know that won't be on your route since you are heading west) there were no showers on site at the National Park campground, but a private one just outside the gates. I think it was $4 for a 5 minute shower (this was a few summers ago) For a family of 6,you are looking at a lot of money just to shower. Being kind of grimy while camping is one thing, but no one wants to be grimy and traveling several hours in a car, day after day, for several weeks, kwim? I think I remember at Mammoth Cave National Park, showers were onsite and cheaper--but still it is an additional expense. I wouldn't suggest taking less than 8 or 9 days to drive each direction, or you won't have time to see the sites. Even at that, you will only be briefly seeing the sites. If you do decide to take the trip, I highly recommend getting a National Parks annual pass. It is $80 (if you or your Dh happen to be active duty military, it's free!) and will get your whole family admission to the national parks. Most of the sites we saw on our cross country trip were national parks. 
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Anonymous
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You will spend most of your time driving there and back, and not much time actually being there.
Probably four days on the road each way -- 8 to 10 hours, or more depending on how often you have to stop to eat, go to the bathroom, stretch your legs, etc. Just imagine all the whining in the back seat... So about a week in transit -- and how long were you planning to stay at the destination? Plus you're putting 4,000 to 5,000 miles on your car and spending probably $500 on gas. I have driven across the country many times (usually by the southern route to California) and believe me, ten hour days in the car get old really fast. There really isn't that much to see out the car window on the interstate. I wouldn't drive further than maybe 12 hours each way with kids in the back, but that's just me. |
Anonymous
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13:00 here
Whoops, I read too fast and thought you said you have 4 kids, not "family of 4." Even still, paying for shower for 4 people every day will be an added expense you should keep in mind if you are budgeting for a camping trip. |
Anonymous
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13:00 back again. Sorry, I will probably end up responding to this post several times because the trip we took was such a great memory
I don't mean to discourage you from doing it. It was an AMAZING experience and I thought it was really incredible to see how the landscape changed as we drove across--so much different than flying! I think you would just have a much better time if you are able to increase your budget, and allow ample time, I don't think you said in your OP how long you wanted to spend doing this? And, I guess I just assumed--because what we did is drive a few hours every day, and then stopped to see a site/national park. But maybe you were planning to drive farther west in a shorter amount of time, without stopping, and then staying at that destination for several days? Were there certain things you wanted to see? |
Anonymous
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Renting a car to drive just one way will be incredibly expensive--think about half of your budget--I've looked into this before.
I drove cross country after college and camped on the way...it was not ideal. Even at 21, it was difficult to sleep while camping, so we were tired and felt dirty and grouchy. We splurged on one or two inexpensive hotels and it was so nice to have a real bed and a hot shower in the morning. Made that day's driving so much more enjoyable. All in all, we took about 2 weeks to do the drive, and I think we spent around $2k for just two of us, and that was more than 10 years ago. |
Anonymous
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I did it. 70W 40E (round trip; one way more north, back more south). We started with really cheap hotels and finally settled for something about 80/nt. The only place where we ran into trouble getting a room on demand was Wyoming. Apparently there's an "energy season" during the summer. IDK what that means but it means few hotel rooms are available.
Totally agree about the national park thing. Get a golden eagle or whatever. All national parks in the US for one year at one price. Some state parks let you in for free with that too...some don't. This thing: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks everyone! We might be able to go over $2k budget, but it means we'll have to save more and do it next summer instead of this summer - which is fine - gives us more time to plan. Ok, I'm not really into this drive the whole way there and back and camp all the way thing, but it sounds like the only plan that we'll be able to afford *sigh*. I think the plan was to stay in a few cheap hotels (when the weather's bad, etc.) but not very often.
Here's a few more details: -We have a relative in Portland, so we would probably stay there a few nights before making the return trip. -We can take at least two weeks off for the trip (most likely in August) and possibly up to three. Does 3 sound reasonable? -We haven't thought too much about where we want to stop, but national parks are a definite - so thanks for the tip about the pass! -Have heard from so many about what a memorable trip this is for families (including DH who did it with his family when he was a kid) - so I'm ready to do what it takes! Would love to hear more! |
Anonymous
| Also, for national parks, some of the popular ones fill up, both for camping and other lodging, many months in advance, so if you are planning now for this summer you may not be able to get reservations when you want them. |
Anonymous
Just mapquesting... from here to Portland on the most direct route by way of Chicago and Wyoming is 2,809 miles, so 44 hours at 65mph. But that does not include any stops along the way. I think five days each way would be pushing it pretty hard. So that is ten days travel minimum. If you take two weeks off, that gives you four days for "other stuff" along the way, which doesn't seem like enough to me. If you're going to do this at all, I'd take three weeks off. Using 40mpg and $2.40 a gallon, call it $337 for gas. |
Anonymous
| We've been idly planning a trip like this too -- probably next summer. Or (my preference) a southern/desert trip over spring break next year. We'd do a one way rental and then ship gear/fly back. We don't have a car, so figuring logistics for getting your own car home hadn't been on the cards for us, but what are the costs associated with getting a car shipped back? Could you do that, or is it cost-prohibitive? |
Anonymous
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I drove to Portland in 2012 and it took us 4 full days, starting at around 830-9am each morning and stopping at night around 9-10pm in a cheap motel (had my dog with me, so had to be pet friendly, so stuck with the Choice Hotels chain, which are not all that bad). Got to Portland around 8pm on the 4th day.
We took the long way on our drive back to Virginia, driving south on I-5 then the PCH (Rt. 101) in California until we reached LA, then headed west until we got to Phoenix, stopped for a night to visit my uncle, drove up to the Grand Canyon and then headed west to VA. That trip back took us 6 1/2 days - we got to our destination in SW VA midday on the 7th day. |