Head West not so young Man

[wngsprd]

I second ronjhall's list - all great choices and many very near the interstate you will be driving, and a great relief after miles of pavement. Sedona is a little too commercial for me now, but beautiful. I'll add another historical and cultural stop only about 15 miles off I-40: Acoma Pueblo, west of Albuquerque. It has museum and tour of a 900 year old pueblo village sited on the top of a mesa.

Pueblo of Acoma

Acoma

 

[dave1949]

If you like looking at old cars ...

Harrah's Auto Museum in Reno, NV
Gallery | National Automobile Museum

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Auto Museum. Auburn, IN
Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum

 

[daugen]

Windsprd, Ron is my RV guru here so you bet a good list. And the Acoma site was cool. Maybe I'll learn how to do the corn dance...:dance1::confused3:

I have bought a GoPro type high res camera for the RV and will record the entire trip. Will dump to a laptop at night. And edit the hours of corn stalks going by...
Hopefully my last post will not be scenes of the rv being lifted up in a tornado and landing in Oz. Dorothy, is that you?

actually, seriously, which is less fun...I bought a good quality weather radio to take with me, so I can hear the alerts, plus I have a laptop with an aircard/Verizon wifi attached so I can get live weather also. I've done enough boating, including bluewater offshore, to know to always plan ahead and watch the weather. On the ocean there's nowhere to hide. I'd like a nice enormous concrete overpass...with semis parked all around me...

also, I will have two gps's, my primary being a Magellan RV special one, that makes sure I don't head down a road that will make a convertible out of the motorhome. Or fall through some country bridge. I really don't want to spend my time always on the interstate. Often there is a road sorta going the same way, hopefully more interesting. But then prairie is prairie, which is fine. I need some quiet time.

 

[charlz]

Hard to really tell but it looks like you are approaching Yellowstone via Gardiner, Montana and the north entrance. The north entrance to Yellowstone is by far the least attractive approach. Pretty barren around that part of Montana until you get into the park and climb up several miles. There are campgrounds for RV's inside the park. I would plan on looping through the park, staying at one of the campgrounds and then using your car to go around the park and see the sites. Few of the sight seeing places in the park have parking large enough for RV's so using a car is ideal.

I would add in Glacier Park. Maybe park the RV in Great Falls and then make the East Glacier->Going to the Sun Road->West Glacier and then back to Great Falls loop. Would likely be a pretty long day but well worth it. Going to the Sun sometimes does not open until Early July though so you need to look at timing and then be ready to change your plans if necessary. I believe Going to the Sun has length restrictions now so some/most RV's are not allowed which is why I recommend a car. I could be wrong about that though.

 

[gwdixon]

Hard to really tell but it looks like you are approaching Yellowstone via Gardiner, Montana and the north entrance. The north entrance to Yellowstone is by far the least attractive approach. Pretty barren around that part of Montana until you get into the park and climb up several miles. There are campgrounds for RV's inside the park. I would plan on looping through the park, staying at one of the campgrounds and then using your car to go around the park and see the sites. Few of the sight seeing places in the park have parking large enough for RV's so using a car is ideal.

I would add in Glacier Park. Maybe park the RV in Great Falls and then make the East Glacier->Going to the Sun Road->West Glacier and then back to Great Falls loop. Would likely be a pretty long day but well worth it. Going to the Sun sometimes does not open until Early July though so you need to look at timing and then be ready to change your plans if necessary. I believe Going to the Sun has length restrictions now so some/most RV's are not allowed which is why I recommend a car. I could be wrong about that though.

Oh, yeah!! Going to the Sun road is NOT friendly for a large vehicle. My post on the first page (#9) has the road and a way around the park for the return if you are thinking of going to Glacier NP. If you go, there is an interesting small museum at the top.

 

[daugen]

I really liked the Great Salt Lake and the Bonnieville Salt Flats

Gunny, did you go out and drive on it? They actually have Guinness records for fastest motorhome on that salt.
It would be cool to watch some cars or whatever go flying by. And also cool just to see the salt. Strange stuff for an Eastern boy...

 

[mostly_gas]

Drew just found this thread. I would recommend the St. Louis Museum of Transportation and the Arch. Also will pass within about 2 1/2 miles of the house.
Going north on US 61?

 

[RobertBrown]

And somebody has to find something for me to look at in the Dakotas...

How about Mt Rushmore and the Badlands.......like dinosaur bones?

 

[jymbee]

...I actually knew how to do this once...even knew how to use Edlin

Edlin?!? Wow-- can't even guess how long it's been since I've heard that term.

So what kind of motorhome are you driving?

 

[John White]

The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Okla. City and Dayton Oh Air Force Museum (as suggested) and if you like racing , the museum at the Indy.

 

[jinman]

Drew, I can't make any argument with your plans, but I can definitely say you will want to see central and southern Texas on a future trip. Plan to drive up the Gulf coast, through far east TX to the Caddo Lake (the only natural lake in Texas) area and into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, then up through Georgia. If you can drop down to New Orleans on your way across LA, you'll never regret it. Just check the weather to make sure no approaching hurricanes will visit while doing your Gulf Coast tour.

 

[Gunny]

Gunny, did you go out and drive on it? They actually have Guinness records for fastest motorhome on that salt.
It would be cool to watch some cars or whatever go flying by. And also cool just to see the salt. Strange stuff for an Eastern boy...

Yes I did and it was an absolute blast! I was heading out to Reno, NV to transport two prisoners back and did quite a bit of sight seeing on the way. Went out to the flats and thought I'd see what the old Crown Vic would do flat out - at that time it had 156K on the engine and still managed to hit 134 MPH per the GPS. I still have the GPS, it's an old one, but I keep it just to look through the records every once in awhile and see that top speed of 134!

 

[k0ua]

Yes I did and it was an absolute blast! I was heading out to Reno, NV to transport two prisoners back and did quite a bit of sight seeing on the way. Went out to the flats and thought I'd see what the old Crown Vic would do flat out - at that time it had 156K on the engine and still managed to hit 134 MPH per the GPS. I still have the GPS, it's an old one, but I keep it just to look through the records every once in awhile and see that top speed of 134!

Considering the amount of air a Crown Vic has to push out of the way, that is pretty darn good.!

 

[daugen]

Edlin?!? Wow-- can't even guess how long it's been since I've heard that term.

So what kind of motorhome are you driving?

Class A gas, V-10 Ford E chassis motorhome, Itasca, 28 feet overall

 

[ronjhall]

One of the best tools I have with our RV is a Smart Phone. All kinds of APPS that will make your trip easier. One of the best APP's is TBN. Don't expect to have good internet connection on your trip. But if you have phone access you will probably be able to use the Personal Hotspot option on a Smart Phone. My iPhone has this feature.
You need to add TBN members to your list of stops. I have met some of the best people on TBN. Latest visit was with Don and Mike. Texas Grapple Shootout

 

[oosik]

I think I'm reading your maps correctly - down south to Florida then to the west coast then north and finally back east along the top of the US. This planned rotation is smart - end of March if you are in the northern tier of states you will very likely find snow on all mountain passes. A few will retain snow into July but usually not on the road surface itself. Still it would be smart to check wx conditions on mountain passes as you head back east. Have a great trip and WELCOME to the Western United States.

 

[RobertN]

The Rapid City, Spearfish, and Black Hills area os SD is pretty. Don't go during Bike Week at Sturgis though. Devils Tower is not far from there too.

the Wasatch Front is pretty in Utah. the area around Evanstan Wy is nice too.

In Ely Nv you can learn and drive a train.

 

[ronjhall]

There has been talk of a Texas get together next spring. I have made some of these. You will never find better hospitality than in Texas.
Please do not take your RV out on the Salt Flats. You will regret it for as long as you own it. I took a motorcycle out on it. Had a great time. But had to dissemble it to get all the salt out of it after a couple 100 + mph runs.

 

[RobertN]

That is a great museum. Lots to do around Tahoe and Truckee too, which are an hour or so away.

If you like looking at old cars ...

Harrah's Auto Museum in Reno, NV
Gallery | National Automobile Museum

 

[RobertN]

Thermopolis in Wyoming is cool for dino's too. And, they have nice water park features with the geothermal pools.

How about Mt Rushmore and the Badlands.......like dinosaur bones?