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Thread: Road trip U.S.A

  1. #1
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    Default Road trip U.S.A

    Got back a week ago from a 5 week road trip of the western side of the U.S.
    We hired a small (Ford F150 V8) camper from a rental company.
    It was a blast!
    Went to 11 states, plus a brief visit into Canada. A bit over 8000 miles in the 5 weeks.
    Wished we had stayed longer.
    A few pics...
    DSC00236.jpgThis is the smallest camper that was available and we are glad we chose it as it could go on roads that the bigger ones could not go on, steep mountain passes etc. It had a double bed over the extra cab. A fridge, a gas stove, a microwave oven,air conditioner, table and seats and even a dunny and shower. The motor had plenty of grunt and it would have done 100mph easily though 90mph was about the fastest we went. It got on average 15 miles per gallon. It did not miss a beat the whole trip and we wanted to bring it home with us.
    We were interested in seeing the natural features over there as we were not particularly interested in big cities and have to say the U.S has natural features in spades.
    I took my 10 year old digital camera which was ok for some things but wifey took a tiny new digital camera that had an added bonus of a landscape panorama setting.
    A few panoramic shots she took....
    DSC01196.jpg Dead horse point, Utah.
    DSC01228.jpgArches National Park, just down the road (not a panoramic pic, but a spectacular place).
    DSC01239.jpgAs above.
    DSC01297.jpgBryce canyon, also Utah. Stunning place.
    DSC01287.jpg Was quite happy to forget all about woodwork while away. Always thought that Huon pines were the oldest trees you could get but no!. This is a Bristlecone pine tree. They can live to be 5000 years old. Not generally sideways though.
    DSC01113.jpgAncient Anasazi indian cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National park in SW Colorado, fascinating.
    DSC01379.jpgNo trip to this area would be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon. 10 miles wide, a mile deep and a few hundred miles long it is impossible to appreciate it in any photo.
    Geez, could go on and on. Took over a thousand photos. We found the American people to be unbelievably friendly. So many of them said they would love to visit Australia and I quietly despaired that Aussies would not be so friendly towards them.
    We particularly liked Texas, not so much for the natural features but for the people. They seemed mesmerised by the way we spoke as we were by their accents.
    Carved a Texas star into a bench at a place in the desert where there is an acre sized pool fed by a spring that was really deep and had turtles and fish in it.
    DSC01516.jpgDSC01510.jpgJust loved those Texans.
    Also got the swiss army knife out on the California coast after too many beers one arvo.
    DSCF6157.jpg I guess the woodworking bug is hard to shake.
    Also visited the big Sequoias in California. Nice big trees however they did not seem any more impressive than the forest giants you can find in our neck of the woods.
    DSCF6119.jpgArg, they don't really grow sideways. The ones in sequoia national park are the biggest ones volume wise however the coastal ones are taller and more majestic....well they were to us.
    Anyway, best shut up now as I could go on and on.
    We had a ball. The only scary moments in the U.S were coming face to face with a bear in Glacier National park in Montana and our encounter with a knife wielding bandana salesman in El Centro, California.
    Attached Images Attached Images

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  3. #2
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    Hi,
    We (wife, daughter and I) are doing a trip LA-Holly Springs (North Carolina, where my wife is working on a 3-year contract). We do not have a planned route for the trip, just a few anchor points.
    Where did you rent the F150, and how much was it?

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    We rented the F150 from a business called "Cruise America" in L.A (they have branches in other cities as well). If there is going to be 3 of you going I would suggest hiring a slightly larger one. The F150 was fine for 2 people but 3 would be a bit of a squeeze. The slightly larger ones were actually a bit cheaper to hire.
    We paid top dollar to rent the one we had however it was in peak season and they may be better value in one of the shoulder seasons.
    Google "Cruise America" and I'm sure you will find out the info you need to know.

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    We hired the next size up Cruise America "Compact RV" a few years ago. Nice kit and at ALL the trailer parks we stopped at, the neighbours were all fascinated by the 'cute' size

    No problems going up mountain passes or cruising at 80mph on the freeways (aside from the crosswinds, and a change of pants) This was built on a F300 6ltr petrol truck. Beware you may have to take out an extra mortgage to fill up each day, it was costing us US$100/day driving from LA to Boston. We had a late season relocation deal which was a bit cheaper than normal rates.

    The next trip we did to the West coast we decided to just hire a mid size AWD SUV (it was early season and there was still some snow about) and stay in motels. We got a Mazda CX5 which had enough room to keep a cooler in the back so we could still cater our own breakfasts and lunches and the total cost worked out much cheaper than the RV.
    Franklin

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzie View Post
    We hired the next size up Cruise America "Compact RV" a few years ago. Nice kit and at ALL the trailer parks we stopped at, the neighbours were all fascinated by the 'cute' size

    No problems going up mountain passes or cruising at 80mph on the freeways (aside from the crosswinds, and a change of pants) This was built on a F300 6ltr petrol truck. Beware you may have to take out an extra mortgage to fill up each day, it was costing us US$100/day driving from LA to Boston. We had a late season relocation deal which was a bit cheaper than normal rates.

    The next trip we did to the West coast we decided to just hire a mid size AWD SUV (it was early season and there was still some snow about) and stay in motels. We got a Mazda CX5 which had enough room to keep a cooler in the back so we could still cater our own breakfasts and lunches and the total cost worked out much cheaper than the RV.
    Yep, we got the same fascination with our baby RV.
    I was a real eye opener just how many huge RV's there were over there. Some like this one were bigger than your average bus. Quite often they would be towing the family car behind them as well.
    DSCF6381.jpg
    Although I never have been a big fan of caravans there were plenty of these "Airstream" ones in various sizes. They sure did look smart.
    DSCF6230.jpgDSC00716.jpg

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    crowie is offline Life's Good, Enjoy each new day & try to encourage
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    What a beaut holiday..thanks for the photos..
    On the Texan people comment, my bother worked for a big USA company often travelling there and said that the Texan's were so much like Aussie's, easy going welcoming.
    Love to see more photos if you've the time to post them, thank you.
    Cheers, crowie

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