First Long Road Trip Help Needed!!

[RattieTude]

Need some advice!! We are going on our first long road trip. Early April leaving San Francisco CA with key destinations of Austin TX, Tampa FL, Nashville, Charlotte NC (catching two weekends of NASCAR), Philadelphia, maybe Connecticut and Port Clinton Ohio. Returning via Sand Dunes Park in Indiana on Lake Michigan and the rest is up in the air!

We are planning on 350 to 500 miles max. Both retired so just want to be back by end of July or early August.

Looking for other stops along the way worth spending a few days plus recommendations for campgrounds. All ideas and thoughts welcome! Wish we could meet up with everyone at January rally but our trailer will be in the the shop for a generator/solar so we are really for our adventure!

Thanks in advance,
Craig, Diane and the RatPack

[LCBoyer]

I believe it's not the destination that makes the trip interesting but the opportunity to see this great country. We travel a couple hundred miles, stop and spend a day or two site seeing. Personally I try to avoid most "Tourist stops"

[MountainFolk]

Good Advice from LC, better to take smaller bites and enjoy the meal than big bites and miss all the flavors.

You can take Hwy 2 from Duluth and go West, takes you thru Glacier National Park. When you drop south you can
spend a couple days along the Washington/Oregon border along the Columbia River.

[Bob/OlallaWA]

Since you are heading to Texas, the Oklahoma City memorial is worth a stop over. Watch the weather for thunder storms and tornados. We had to move along quickly a time or two trying to stay out of their path.

[Scott and Jan]

Sounds like a great trip! In between Nashville and Charlotte you can hit Anchor Down in Dandridge, TN. Beautiful camp just 15 minutes from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge attractions.
Also Cherry Hill park in College Park, MD. Great camp with easy access via Metro subway to all of Washington D.C.
Hope these help, have fun!!

[RVRunners]

Sounds like a great trip. If you can pass through Chattanooga while in Tennessee you may want to consider making time for the National Military Parks at Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga. Both were sites of pivotal battles during the Civil War. Chattanooga waterfront area also very nice. Travel safely!

[orbiker]

Need some advice!! We are going on our first long road trip. Early April leaving San Francisco CA with key destinations of Austin TX, Tampa FL, Nashville, Charlotte NC (catching two weekends of NASCAR), Philadelphia, maybe Connecticut and Port Clinton Ohio. Returning via Sand Dunes Park in Indiana on Lake Michigan and the rest is up in the air!

We are planning on 350 to 500 miles max. Both retired so just want to be back by end of July or early August.

Looking for other stops along the way worth spending a few days plus recommendations for campgrounds. All ideas and thoughts welcome! Wish we could meet up with everyone at January rally but our trailer will be in the the shop for a generator/solar so we are really for our adventure!

Thanks in advance,
Craig, Diane and the RatPack

That's a pretty big circle. I did a big triangle on my motorcycle in 2009. It was only 3 weeks. You have 4 months. I enjoyed Gettysburg via the back roads. I think I would move the rig 300 to 500 miles and camp. Get in the truck and visit the local back roads and sites. And move again. Stop at small town local museums. The new ideas will come from the walls of thing you will see.
Enjoy your trip, KEN

[RattieTude]

Since you are heading to Texas, the Oklahoma City memorial is worth a stop over. Watch the weather for thunder storms and tornados. We had to move along quickly a time or two trying to stay out of their path.

Thanks! That's my fear...tornados! Weather so unpredictable these days.

[RattieTude]

That's a pretty big circle. I did a big triangle on my motorcycle in 2009. It was only 3 weeks. You have 4 months. I enjoyed Gettysburg via the back roads. I think I would move the rig 300 to 500 miles and camp. Get in the truck and visit the local back roads and sites. And move again. Stop at small town local museums. The new ideas will come from the walls of thing you will see.
Enjoy your trip, KEN

Thanks! Probably need to try and not plan everything. Never took a trip before with no definite end date!

[RattieTude]

Sounds like a great trip. If you can pass through Chattanooga while in Tennessee you may want to consider making time for the National Military Parks at Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga. Both were sites of pivotal battles during the Civil War. Chattanooga waterfront area also very nice. Travel safely!

Thanks! we will add to our list. So much to see!