Roadtrip Chicago To San Fransisco.

Hi all.
I have read through the forum, and think you have a nice forum.
Me and one of my friends have planned a trip to the U.S. in April-May 2012th Therefore, I would hear what tips and tricks you have because we have never been to America before.

We must start in the city of Chicago and end in San Francisco. We have 19 days to ride in.
We are from Europe (Denmark), so it's exciting to travel to the U.S..

I have following questions which I hope some will answer:

Which route should we take? We would like to visit St. Louis, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, also running with Highway 1 to San Francisco.
Is there anything you should be aware of when you book places for your RV?
We have rented through Cruise America, it is a good company?
Can you sleep for free at Wall-Mart parking lots?

I very much hope that some will take the time to answer the above.

 

Hi FromDK,

Concering what routes to take:

For starters, you should take Interstate Highway 55 from Chicago to St. Louis. Interstate Highways in the U.S. are limited access, high speed roads normally indicated as I-55, for example. Chicago to St. Louis is about 300 miles and using I-55, you can make the trip about 5 hours going 60mph with no stops. With stops (gas, bathroom, lunch, etc.), you should be able to make the trip in 6-7 hours.

From St. Louis, you have your choice of I-70 west toward Denver, Colorado, or I-44 southwest toward Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I would go I-44. I would not go all the way to Oklahoma City in one day from St. Louis - it is over 500 miles. From Oklahoma City you take I-40 west. This takes you through Amarillo, Texas and on to Albuquerque, New Mexico. This leg of the trip (Oklahoma City to Albuquerque) is almost 600 miles. Again, I would not try to do this in one day. Actually, I would allow 4 travel days getting from Chicago to Albuquerque.

From Albuquerque, it is about 325 miles to Flagsaff, Arizona. You are still on I-40. It is about 2-3 hours from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon on one of several different routes to get there. After the Grand Canyon, you come back down south to I-40 and head west an hour or two to U.S. Highway 93 at Kingman, Arizona. Head north on U.S. 93 two hours or so to Las Vegas.

From Las Vegas, it is a relatively easy 4-5 hour drive south on I-15 to Los Angeles. If you plan on taking Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, allow at least 2 days for this 400 mile trip.

By my way of thinking, you will have about 10 days of fairly heavy driving ( 5/6 days from Chicago to the Grand Canyon, 2 days from there to Los Angeles, and 2 days from LA to SF). That leaves you 9 days relax and/or sightsee along the way (Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco).

As for your other questions:

While you should not have problems getting reservations in April/May en route, that may or may not be true at some of your destinations (Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, etc.). In booking a site, the main thing to remember is to ask for the facilities you want/need. This includes the type of utilities (electric, water, sewer) and extras (WIFI, cable). There are dozens of other things you can ask about (site size, trees, concrete sites/patios, and on and on and on) but aren't really necessary. The reviews on this site ofen cover much of this information.

Cruise America is one of the bigger rental firms and seems to have a good reputation. Then again, stuff happens. What kind of RV are you renting?

Walmarts vary as to allowing RV to park overnight. It is best that you call ahead to check and then let them know when your arrive that you are spending the night. Just remember that you will have NO utilities (electric, water, sewer), so you need to be prepared to ration electricity and water (both usage and disposal). The size of you rental RV's water (supply and waste)tanks will determine how carefull you will need to be. Electricity will not be as much of a probelm if you have a generator in the RV. If there are more than 2 of you on this trip, a night without utilities is not really a good idea - too much water usage. Two people can get by with minimilistic showers and the previously mentioned carefull use of water.

 

Hi,

To hit all those places is a minimum of 4423 kilometers. Speed limits are often about 110 kph, but it still is a long distance for 19 days. I imagine you may loose a day when arriving and the same at the other end. That means an average of 261 kilometers per day. After Denver there may well be snow in the mountains.

Here are some urls to help you find good economical places to stay:


http://freecampsites.net

http://www.bandofboondockers.com

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp....052246&z=6

http://hasbeenthere.com/2010/12/05/boondoc...aces-park-night

 

Some great info from the above posts. The only thing I would add is, if your time permits, I would recommend going through Denver and continuing through the mountains on I-70. You will see some amazing country along the way. You will also have some passes to traverse, but as long as you down shift and use your engine and transmission to slow you down, not so much your brakes, you will do fine.

 

Hello EveryBody.

Thank you so much for the great Answers.

Jerry:
We are renting the C-25 standard RV from Cruise America. We get it quite cheap because my mate is working for at travel agency. They get theese good offer because CA build the new RV in chicago and have them to be transported to SF. So we do not pay any rent, only insurance, fly ticket, hotels an so.

Piantuna:

Yeaa it sounds like a bit of a trip. US is big but i dont think that is possible to imagine for a guy from Denmark. I think Denmarks is 3-400 KM from the on side to another.

I dont think 261Km/day sounds scarry. But we planned to drive maybe double or twice a day and then have some day off. After St.louise we planned to heading west and have som "Drive only" days.

Fitzjohnfan:

Thanks for the great tip!
Maybe it's a good idea going thrue Denver. We have planned to go the south way (oklahoma City, Albuqurque (How do you guys even prounonce that?). But maybe it's a greater idea to take it Norh and go thru Denver. I would love to see mountain. Mostly because my own country is flat as a pan cake.

I just have a few other questions about the Technologi in Amerika. We are 2 young guys 25 years old, so we used to stay "Connected" everywhare.

Is there some way that is possible in US? I think some prepaid mobile broadband or somethingl. In Denmark we have som options to get that for a limited time as 30 days.

How do we call home to Denmark? Can we use a kind of a mobile phone? I Think using our own iPhones with Danish Carrier is to expensive. (Receive call from Denmark: 1Dollar/min, make call to Denmark 2 Dollar/min and send text about 0,75) I have heart of something called "Tracfone" is that a good solution?

What about the Gas, how much do we need for driving this trip? I know the Gas is verry cheap in US but i also know your vehicle dont go so long on a Gallon/liter. Are there something we should be aware of.

Is it a good idea to take one of the club card? I have heart of Sam, P.A and we all ready have 10% discount card to KOA. (But i think this sites is verry expensive.)

How can we come closets to the american citizen. F.eks go and visit and american family and eks. go eat with them. We don't know anybody in the US but think it could be verry exciting to meat the real american.


Thank you again for your great answers. If you have som question about EU just let me know

And i have another Question.

What ablut our own security? I know many people get shot and rubbed in the States. How do we protect ourselves? Do we have to buy a gun or something like that? (pepperspray, Stungun or a gun with plastic amo).

I think that is my biggest concern? How do you guys protect your self?

 

FromDk,

I'm from Canada but have been camping a lot in the USA. I don't think you would need any weapons, I've never carried anything, not even pepper spray, and have never ever felt threatened. I've also travelled a lot in Europe, from Turkey to Scotland and many places in between, (not Denmark though) and the personal safety situation is basically the same. Just keep out of trouble areas and you'll be fine.

 

QUOTE(FromDk @ Nov 25 2011, 03:38 AM) [snapback]28264[/snapback]

Albuqurque (How do you guys even prounonce that?).



Actually it is spelled Albuquerque (the 'e' after the 'qu' will make it easier to pronounce.) To pronounce it, say: alba kur key. The kur key rhymes with turkey. Does that help?

You do very well with English, but there was one part of your last message that I could not understand. What is 'f.eks' and 'eks'?

 

QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Nov 25 2011, 12:21 PM) [snapback]28268[/snapback]

Actually it is spelled Albuquerque (the 'e' after the 'qu' will make it easier to pronounce.) To pronounce it, say: alba kur key. The accent is on the kur. The kur key rhymes with turkey. Does that help?

You do very well with English, but there was one part of your last message that I could not understand. What is 'f.eks' and 'eks'?



Thank you so much. Im trying to do my best.

"F.eks and Eks" means "For Example" And "Example" i think that might be a Danish thing

Its because we spell it "For eksempel" and "Eksempel" in Danish

 

Hi again,

From the term "C-25", I am guessing that you will be driving a 25 foot Class C motorhome.

The reason I opted for the southern route was:

1. In late April you can still have snow along I-70 through Colorado.

2. This route will take you back north after being as far south as St.Louis. This will add miles to your trip.

3. Once you get through Colorado into Utah, there is no convenient, simple way to get to the Grand Canyon (South Rim). Again, time and mileage.

4. You will still get to see parts of the Rocky Mountains on the southern route. There are some peaks over 12,000 feet near Albuqueque (thanks for the pronunciation lesson, TX) and Flagstaff.

Now that I know you are 2 young guys, I am not as concerned with the stress of long driving days. I still wouldn't do 500 miles in a day since , at that time of year the days (light) are still only 13 hours or so, and you lose an hour twice (Central time to Mountain time to Pacific time) westbound.

I'll let more tech savy people answer the technolgy question.

Gas:

If I am right about the kind of RV you will be driving, you will have a 55 gallon gas tank and should get no more than 10 miles per gallon. I have a 32 foot Class C and get almost 10mpg driving very conservatively. If you cruise along at 70 mph, you will pay for it at the pump. With your RV, at current prices (about $3.30/gallon), I would budget at least $1,000 for gas. This will likely be higher next April/May since gas prices tend to rise in the spring here in the U.S. If you use a credit card for gas purchases, some limit the dollrs purchase total - I have seen $75 and $100 limits. I have heard that some cards require a U.S. ZIP code to be entered for authorization. Finally, due to local gas taxes, gas prices vary from state to state and even within states. Check Gasbuddy.com for these differences. For your trip, Illinois and California are the higher cost states. I would not fill up the tank in Chicago and only put enough in further south in Illinois to get to the cheaper gas in Misssouri.

I do not see Sam's or P.A. cards being worth it on a trip this short.

I am sorry, but your question about meeting real Americans makes me think of Sasha Barron Cohen's "Borat" movie of more than a few years ago. My best advice is to be friendly and outgoing. Some will respond in kind, others will not. If you talk to 10 different Americans, you will get 10 different views of what a "real" American is. Your biggest problem will be that most of the fellow travelers you will meet who are Americans will be white, economically above average, older, and christian. That also describes most of the people on this site. That leaves out a majority of Americans (for example, one half of Americans have to be (by definifion) less than average economically.

I agree with Wprigge on the safety issue. My view is that concern like this are overblown by many. Even if there are thugs out there targetting RVers and tourists, old farts like me are more likely victims than a couple of young guys.
















T You

 

QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 25 2011, 01:54 PM) [snapback]28271[/snapback]

Hi again,

From the term "C-25", I am guessing that you will be driving a 25 foot Class C motorhome.

The reason I opted for the southern route was:

1. In late April you can still have snow along I-70 through Colorado.

2. This route will take you back north after being as far south as St.Louis. This will add miles to your trip.

3. Once you get through Colorado into Utah, there is no convenient, simple way to get to the Grand Canyon (South Rim). Again, time and mileage.

4. You will still get to see parts of the Rocky Mountains on the southern route. There are some peaks over 12,000 feet near Albuqueque (thanks for the pronunciation lesson, TX) and Flagstaff.



With that in mind i think we take the south route. I don't hope we see sno and icy weather. I think that will give us trouble deicyng the RV. It's correct is one of the 25 ft. long RV. I Dont know if it a A, B or C what is the differense?



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 25 2011, 01:54 PM) [snapback]28271[/snapback]

Now that I know you are 2 young guys, I am not as concerned with the stress of long driving days. I still wouldn't do 500 miles in a day since , at that time of year the days (light) are still only 13 hours or so, and you lose an hour twice (Central time to Mountain time to Pacific time) westbound.


I think that will be great. We have made a few roadtrip in EU and have sometimes drived 1500 Km (930Miles) in one day, if we have to come from A to B. You mentioned the days are only about 13 hours. Is it legal to drive in the evening and night in U.S? And what about if the Co driver get's tired and want a nap in the bed when the other drives. Is that legal in U.S?

That is not our primary plan. But we can get caught in the traffic for hours and get behind our time schedule.



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 25 2011, 01:54 PM) [snapback]28271[/snapback]


Gas:

If I am right about the kind of RV you will be driving, you will have a 55 gallon gas tank and should get no more than 10 miles per gallon. I have a 32 foot Class C and get almost 10mpg driving very conservatively. If you cruise along at 70 mph, you will pay for it at the pump. With your RV, at current prices (about $3.30/gallon), I would budget at least $1,000 for gas. This will likely be higher next April/May since gas prices tend to rise in the spring here in the U.S. If you use a credit card for gas purchases, some limit the dollrs purchase total - I have seen $75 and $100 limits. I have heard that some cards require a U.S. ZIP code to be entered for authorization. Finally, due to local gas taxes, gas prices vary from state to state and even within states. Check Gasbuddy.com for these differences. For your trip, Illinois and California are the higher cost states. I would not fill up the tank in Chicago and only put enough in further south in Illinois to get to the cheaper gas in Misssouri.


Nice tip, we will definalty use the Gasbuddy.com and not fill up in IL and Ca. I have a Visa and Master Card but i am a little concern of how many stores accept international credit cards? I will bring some Dollar's from home so i am covered up


QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 25 2011, 01:54 PM) [snapback]28271[/snapback]


I am sorry, but your question about meeting real Americans makes me think of Sasha Barron Cohen's "Borat" movie of more than a few years ago. My best advice is to be friendly and outgoing. Some will respond in kind, others will not. If you talk to 10 different Americans, you will get 10 different views of what a "real" American is. Your biggest problem will be that most of the fellow travelers you will meet who are Americans will be white, economically above average, older, and christian. That also describes most of the people on this site. That leaves out a majority of Americans (for example, one half of Americans have to be (by definifion) less than average economically.


Haha, i know the movie. But i think the number to "Brunö" was a lot more fun. In Denmark the people who staying in campgrounds are often older people. But the main part of the citizen is not very christian. Do you think that will give some problems 2 Male travel together? When you bring up the "Christian" thing that bring up a new concern. I know some american are not so opend minded to gay people. Me and my friend is not gay people, but we dont want to be misunderstood will that give problems do you think?
I don't know it was over 150 Billion people in U.S was poor. I think that might have a dark back side?



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 25 2011, 01:54 PM) [snapback]28271[/snapback]

I agree with Wprigge on the safety issue. My view is that concern like this are overblown by many. Even if there are thugs out there targetting RVers and tourists, old farts like me are more likely victims than a couple of young guys.
T You



Now i all ready feel safer. I left the pepperspray behind and enjoy a safe trip.

 

May I suggest that you write or go online to the Departments of Tourism for each state that you plan on visiting and request that they send you some tourist books with maps. Those will be free to you. You can then look thru those publications and pick and choose places where you would like to stop and visit.

I would also suggest that there are several US National Parks in Utah that are worth a visit. You will not have enough time to visit all of them. But you can get suggestions on the best ones to visit from others on this website.

With respect to your wanting to stay connected, I would suggest that you stay at campgrounds that have a Wi-Fi connection. You can pre-plan those by using this website. You will be able to connect to the internet for email and browsing at no costs.

In America, there are many wi-fi hotspots that are also free. Almost every McDonald's restaurant in this country has a free wi-fi hotspot.

Phone calls would probably be cheaper if you purchased an international calling card and use a pay phone or campground phone. But you might want to check out VOIP as a method of internet calling. Again, once you are connected to the internet via wi-fi, the VOIP call is relatively cheap.

Your "plan" is not unlike any one of we Americans if we were to visit your country. So much to see and so little time to do so.

Held og lykke.

 

You asked about staying connected and Tracphone, so I'll comment on that. My wife uses Tracphone, and she likes it a lot. She gets good coverage, even in places Verizon service doesn't work. You go to a convience store or grocery store and pay $10 or $20 for the phone, then you by cards for $10-$60 for the minutes. you get 200 minutes for $40. The phone is very basic, but you can get text and data. I don't know if you can call international.

You may want to rent a laptop to access the web and email easier.

As far as meeting "real" Americans, here's an unusual suggestion. The motorhome club FMCA, has a selection of their members who designate themselves as "stop over spots". These people throughout the country who welcome other motorhome owners to stop and visit for the night. You would need to join the club for $40.00 and you will get a nice magazine for the year as well.

 

And again,

There is no problem legally or otherwise with driving in the evening or at night. The main "problem" is getting to an RV park (assuming you can find it in the dark) after the office is closed and you can not find your way in a dark park. Arriving after dark will not always be a problem but it can be. If you plan on staying at a Walmart after a long day's drive, this would not be as much of a problem. Planning on getting someplace a few hours before sundown gives you a built in "cushion" that allows for any problems that cause you to be an hour or two behind schedule. For example, just last month as we headed west on I40 toward the Grand Canyon, we ran into an big, fiery accident west of Albuquerque that caused a traffic backup that cost us an hour of drive time. Because our plan for the day was only a 200 mile drive we still got to our stop (Gallup, New Mexico) for the night with hours of daylight to spare.

On the other hand, I do believe having someone sleeping in a bed in an RV (and thus not secured by a seat belt) is illegal in most states. I am sure people do it, but I do not think it is legal anywhere.

I do not have first hand knowledge of the acceptance of international credit cards. Maybe someone else can comment on this issue. I do doubt that this is a problem.

As far as the "real" Americans topic is concerned, the categories (race, age, religion, and economic status) are major demographic deliniations in this country. You took my comment about someone being "less than average economically" to mean they are poor. I guess I should have use the term "median" income. Either way, being less than average or the median doesn't mean poor. For example, if the average or median American household income is $45,000 a year and your income is $40,000 a year you are less than average or the mediam but probably not poor. If you are trying to support a family of 10 on $40,000 you might be poor. I think the current statistical income number is somewhere around $23,000 a year for a family of 4. If you wait a few years, maybe we will have 150 million poor people.

While you are correct concerning anti-gay sentiment being prevalent among some Americans, I certainly can not give you any 100% guarantees on the gay question. I do, however, doubt that many prople will assume you are gay. The reason I doubt this is your youth and the fact that you are foreign. Now if you were both 45 and French, it would be a different story -- Just kidding, I hope. Actually, I think the age difference will be your biggest obstacle in relating to they people you meet. How well do you relate to the older generation?

 

QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 26 2011, 12:02 AM) [snapback]28280[/snapback]

And again,

There is no problem legally or otherwise with driving in the evening or at night. The main "problem" is getting to an RV park (assuming you can find it in the dark) after the office is closed and you can not find your way in a dark park. Arriving after dark will not always be a problem but it can be. If you plan on staying at a Walmart after a long day's drive, this would not be as much of a problem. Planning on getting someplace a few hours before sundown gives you a built in "cushion" that allows for any problems that cause you to be an hour or two behind schedule. For example, just last month as we headed west on I40 toward the Grand Canyon, we ran into an big, fiery accident west of Albuquerque that caused a traffic backup that cost us an hour of drive time. Because our plan for the day was only a 200 mile drive we still got to our stop (Gallup, New Mexico) for the night with hours of daylight to spare.

On the other hand, I do believe having someone sleeping in a bed in an RV (and thus not secured by a seat belt) is illegal in most states. I am sure people do it, but I do not think it is legal anywhere.


Okay, that sounds pretty much like in europe. I think the day we will travel many miles is the days we are sleeping at wall-marts parking lot. I think the security on these spots are better than a random place beside of the road.

We do not hope to get caught in the traffic, but as you mention things happend.



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 26 2011, 12:02 AM) [snapback]28280[/snapback]

While you are correct concerning anti-gay sentiment being prevalent among some Americans, I certainly can not give you any 100% guarantees on the gay question. I do, however, doubt that many prople will assume you are gay. The reason I doubt this is your youth and the fact that you are foreign. Now if you were both 45 and French, it would be a different story -- Just kidding, I hope. Actually, I think the age difference will be your biggest obstacle in relating to they people you meet. How well do you relate to the older generation?



Okay that sounds great. I think it's funny. In Denmark it's pretty much the older generation to who used the campgrounds. I think that must be a general thing. Me and my friend will never go to camping in denmark just because of the camping thing. But we have realisede it is the most easy way to discover the U.S. Most of all because we dont have to check-in/check-out on 20 different hotel/motel at the trip. We have all our clothes in the RV and can pretty much wake up and start driving. We like the older generation good enough to live beside them in a camping spot. But whatever, we have 3 nights in San Francisco at a Hotel in the end of the trip. I think we could discover the night life in theese days. We have not planned to use our trip to get drunk every night. If that was the plan we have chosen a near destination as Bulgaria and something like that

Maybe we overnigth in a Hotel in Las Vegas too. We have looked to the camping spot and are not impressed by the prices. The price if we want a ground beside the strip is about 60-90 dollars. That is too much for a night, when we could check in to a okay hotels for 30-40 dollars.

Have any of your guys visited Solvang, CA? It is located close to Highway one and we planned to visit the small town. It's a Danish town in the U.S where it's possible to eat at a danish restaurant and buy bread from a danish baker. I think that is pretty funny, so many miles from home and then go eat our favorite dish from home

Another question coming up is how is the traffic culture in the States? Do people break the speed limit or is the laid back style more used?


I don't hope that is too many question. I think it's very nice of you to answer it. Now we have finaly decided to take the south way. I don't even care about christmas anymore. Let it be april can't wait to see your country



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 26 2011, 12:02 AM) [snapback]28280[/snapback]

And again,

There is no problem legally or otherwise with driving in the evening or at night. The main "problem" is getting to an RV park (assuming you can find it in the dark) after the office is closed and you can not find your way in a dark park. Arriving after dark will not always be a problem but it can be. If you plan on staying at a Walmart after a long day's drive, this would not be as much of a problem. Planning on getting someplace a few hours before sundown gives you a built in "cushion" that allows for any problems that cause you to be an hour or two behind schedule. For example, just last month as we headed west on I40 toward the Grand Canyon, we ran into an big, fiery accident west of Albuquerque that caused a traffic backup that cost us an hour of drive time. Because our plan for the day was only a 200 mile drive we still got to our stop (Gallup, New Mexico) for the night with hours of daylight to spare.

On the other hand, I do believe having someone sleeping in a bed in an RV (and thus not secured by a seat belt) is illegal in most states. I am sure people do it, but I do not think it is legal anywhere.


Okay, that sounds pretty much like in europe. I think the day we will travel many miles is the days we are sleeping at wall-marts parking lot. I think the security on these spots are better than a random place beside of the road.

We do not hope to get caught in the traffic, but as you mention things happend.



QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Nov 26 2011, 12:02 AM) [snapback]28280[/snapback]

While you are correct concerning anti-gay sentiment being prevalent among some Americans, I certainly can not give you any 100% guarantees on the gay question. I do, however, doubt that many prople will assume you are gay. The reason I doubt this is your youth and the fact that you are foreign. Now if you were both 45 and French, it would be a different story -- Just kidding, I hope. Actually, I think the age difference will be your biggest obstacle in relating to they people you meet. How well do you relate to the older generation?



Okay that sounds great. I think it's funny. In Denmark it's pretty much the older generation to who used the campgrounds. I think that must be a general thing. Me and my friend will never go to camping in denmark just because of the camping thing. But we have realisede it is the most easy way to discover the U.S. Most of all because we dont have to check-in/check-out on 20 different hotel/motel at the trip. We have all our clothes in the RV and can pretty much wake up and start driving. We like the older generation good enough to live beside them in a camping spot. But whatever, we have 3 nights in San Francisco at a Hotel in the end of the trip. I think we could discover the night life in theese days. We have not planned to use our trip to get drunk every night. If that was the plan we have chosen a near destination as Bulgaria and something like that

Maybe we overnigth in a Hotel in Las Vegas too. We have looked to the camping spot and are not impressed by the prices. The price if we want a ground beside the strip is about 60-90 dollars. That is too much for a night, when we could check in to a okay hotels for 30-40 dollars.

Have any of your guys visited Solvang, CA? It is located close to Highway one and we planned to visit the small town. It's a Danish town in the U.S where it's possible to eat at a danish restaurant and buy bread from a danish baker. I think that is pretty funny, so many miles from home and then go eat our favorite dish from home

Another question coming up is how is the traffic culture in the States? Do people break the speed limit or is the laid back style more used?


I don't hope that is too many question. I think it's very nice of you to answer it. Now we have finaly decided to take the south way. I don't even care about christmas anymore. Let it be april can't wait to see your country

 

QUOTE(RLM @ Nov 25 2011, 07:54 PM) [snapback]28276[/snapback]

May I suggest that you write or go online to the Departments of Tourism for each state that you plan on visiting and request that they send you some tourist books with maps. Those will be free to you. You can then look thru those publications and pick and choose places where you would like to stop and visit.

I would also suggest that there are several US National Parks in Utah that are worth a visit. You will not have enough time to visit all of them. But you can get suggestions on the best ones to visit from others on this website.

With respect to your wanting to stay connected, I would suggest that you stay at campgrounds that have a Wi-Fi connection. You can pre-plan those by using this website. You will be able to connect to the internet for email and browsing at no costs.

In America, there are many wi-fi hotspots that are also free. Almost every McDonald's restaurant in this country has a free wi-fi hotspot.

Phone calls would probably be cheaper if you purchased an international calling card and use a pay phone or campground phone. But you might want to check out VOIP as a method of internet calling. Again, once you are connected to the internet via wi-fi, the VOIP call is relatively cheap.

Your "plan" is not unlike any one of we Americans if we were to visit your country. So much to see and so little time to do so.

Held og lykke.




Thank you so much for your answer. I will stick to the CG with Wifi.

 

In regard to your question about the "driving culture": In general, American drivers tend to speed. However, the higher the speed limit, the fewer the speeders. For example, if the limit is 55mph, just about everybody does at least 60mph with many doing 70+. If the limit is 70mph or higher, few people speed. I think this is more a function of greater gas usage at higher speed than obeying the law. In your RV, I would avoid the higher speeds (65mph+) because of fuel usage. An extra gallon of gas every 100 miles may not sound like much, but over a 3,000 mile trip it could translate into an extra $100+ in gas costs.

 

Jerry is right that Americans do tend to speed, but I would caution you not to do it for several reasons. First, we have these people in every state known as Highway Patrol or State Troopers (police) that frequently set up radar traps to catch speeders, and the fines are not cheap. Also it is true that you will get better gas mileage at lower speeds. But the most important reason not to speed is that you will be driving a much larger vehicle that does not maneuver as quickly or as easily as a car, and it needs a lot more distance to stop. I don't know if you are familiar with driving an RV, but assuming you are not, it is better to take it a bit easy and be cautious. People in cars will also pull out in front of you because they do not want to be stuck behind you. They do not realize that you cannot stop your RV like a car, and if you are speeding it makes it even harder to stop in time. I'm not trying to scare you. We have driven RV's for 11 years and have not ever hit another moving vehicle. But we do have to be very careful and pay attention to what we're doing. You cannot zip around in a 25' RV like you can in a sports car.

I don't see where anyone ever answered your question about the difference between a Class A, B, or C? Class A's are the large bus shaped RV's usually called motorhomes. Class B's are vans with RV features (f.eks stoves and sinks), and Class C's are the type that have a cab over the cockpit (driver's area). Usually this is a sleeping area.

It is good to ask questions and be prepared. April will be here before you know it.

 

The worse drivers are in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and anywhere in California.

 

Thank you so much everyone who had answered in this topic.

I will have the Cops in my mind if i tend to speed But about the Gas usage i think that is i small thing on the budget.
If we calculate the price ind Denmark we pay around 9,08 Dollars for every Gallon we use. That means you only pay 1/3 of what we use to spend. A second great "Feature" we have is Tax on cars. The tax on cars is 180 %. That means if i buy a car to 50.000 Dollars i actually have to pay the government 90.000 dollars in tax.

But i realise the Motorhome is not that economic like the car i use to drive. I think my car drives 45-50 mile / gallon Diesel.


Another great thing might be the Cruise Controle and Automatic transmission. That is not Standard here, so i think it would be easy to cruise.

 

QUOTE(B. Kidd @ Nov 27 2011, 02:23 PM) [snapback]28295[/snapback]

The worse drivers... and anywhere in California.


Ouch.
We also seem to be the most distracted (cell phone facination).

Hope you get a chance to visit Iowa and Minnesota: more authentic Danish foods, drink, history, etc., than you will ever find at Solvang, California. B)

Skol!
3rd generation Dane, currently soaking up the sunshine in Southern California.