California To Florida

[Bigdan43]

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I will be taking our first RV trip in a few weeks. We are picking up our new to us RV in the Los Angeles area and will be driving across country to Melbourne, Florida. I have been doing a bit or research regarding spots to stop, places to see etc.

On this first trip, I would definitely like to avoid snow, sleet, ice, etc. Clearly a bad time of year to try it,, but I thought if we just paid attention to forecast and stayed as far south as possible, it would be OK. If anyone has recommendations as to good places for overnight stops or up to a week at a time stops to see places they have been and enjoyed, we would appreciate the info!

Thanks,

Kirby and Marilyn Dixon

2000 American Eagle

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee

[blakeloke]

Kirby and Marilyn,

Congratulations on your "new to you" coach!

At this time of year, staying as far south as possible is a wise idea. You may encounter ice and snow along Interstate 10 in the higher elevations. Just watch the forecast and plan accordingly. For example, El Paso (elevation 3,800') is expecting snow today.

There are plenty of campgrounds to stay at.....if you don't have a campground guide you can use Google to help. We prefer to stay in KOA's just because we know what to expect. Tucson has a great KOA that offers a restaurant, bar and nice shop. Lazy Days RV is right next store. You can get camper supplies and parts there if needed.

However, there are a lot of other campgrounds that offer nice sites at great prices.

If you have the time you might try Tombstone and Carlsbad Caverns. They are in the neighborhood of your route and a lot of fun to visit.

Be safe, watch the weather and hunker down if there's a chance of ice, sleet or snow.

Happy New Year.....!

Blake

[wolfe10]

Yes, definitely use the southern-most route= I 10 with the possible exception of U.S. 90 from Van Horn TX to San Antonio TX if not in a big hurry and want a reasonable alternative to "we made good time, but did not see much".

Here is a good site for looking at weather conditions (temperatures, precipitation, wind speed and direction) by day parts from today out 7 days.

[tbutler]

I would head south out of LA to San Diego and spend a couple of weeks there. We enjoyed the downtown and surrounding parks. A stop along the way south in the Hemet area (still near LA) might be a good idea to give you a chance to give you a few days to become fully acquainted with your new purchase before leaving the dealer. If not a dealer purchase, you would still be close to the former owner if you needed some help with getting things working properly.

From San Diego, take I-8 east to Yuma which is a major wintering area for RV'ers from the west coast. You can find numerous large parks there that cater to retirees who are escaping cold weather up north. These parks have full social schedules for most any interest. If you haven't experienced this kind of park before it would be worth a stop. Along the way on I-8 you will find a number of places where the ATV and dune buggy crowd boondocks and plays in the sand dunes.

From Yuma, I-8 takes you northward toward Casa Grande, south of Phoenix. You can pick up I-10 there. If you want an interesting side trip take US 95 north in western Arizona toward Quartzite. This is mecca for RV'ers. It might be hard to find a campground without reservations but if you call around you may be able to find a spot somewhere. There are flea markets, social events and plenty of other RV'ers in the area. Some people park in the desert with no hookups for the winter! It has to be seen to be believed and there is no better way to see it than in an RV.

Phoenix has some interesting parks also catering to the winter RV crowd as does Tucson. In Arizona you will find a number of National Parks and National Monuments. Along I-10 you will find Saguaro NP, Ironwood Forest National Monument, and Sonoran Desert NM. Organ Pipe Cactus NM (featured in the January Family Motor Coaching magazine) lies along the southern border, Hwy 85 south from I-8 will take you to this interesting park. If you've never explored the desert environment, winter is the perfect time. If this is a special interest of yours, the southern California areas near Death Valley NP, Joshua Tree NP, Mojave National Preserve and others are excellent in winter also. They are further north but the desert climate during days draws many RV'ers for the winter as well.

Continuing on east, Brett mentioned US 90 from Van Horn south toward Del Rio. This is an interesting drive through western Texas. It also takes you near Big Bend National Park, one of the least visited parks in the US. It has a mountain and desert environment. There is an RV park in the National Park, reservations are recommended. There is also a Big Bend Texas State Park with RV camping available. Both are worth a stop. From Del Rio you can go east into San Antonio and pick up I-10 again or you can continue on south along the border toward Laredo where US 83 will take you to the Rio Grande Valley, McAllen, Mission, Brownsville and South Padre Island. From there driving the Texas Gulf Coast has a number of wildlife areas and interesting cities, Corpus Christi, Galveston to name just two of the larger ones. There are numerous RV parks in the area from Mission to Brownsville. This area is rich in migrating birds and also has many tropical birds that frequent the area. If you enjoy birds, you will see birds here that are not seen anywhere else in the US.

In Louisiana, US 90 south out of Lafayette will take you down through the bayou country and on into New Orleans. The Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have many parks along the Gulf of Mexico. We enjoy visiting the occasional WWII warship. In Corpus Christi the USS Lexington (aircraft carrier) is worth a stop. I tried looking up others on the internet but there doesn't seem to be a good link to a general list.

As far as campgrounds, I haven't included any specific recommendations. We like campgrounds which are convenient to the places we want to visit. We don't spend a lot of time in the campground so we are interested most in a reasonably level spot with good hook-ups. We tried the KOA Campgrounds when we started but gave that up pretty quickly. Today they are our last choice if we can't find anything else. We use RV Park Reviews and the Allstays Camp and RV app for our iPad. You will find listings for all kinds of campgrounds with both these resources and then you can make your choice from the listings and reviews.

[wildebill308]

I would now get reservations at a local RV park some place like Dockweiler RV Park

12001 Vista Del Mar, Los Angeles, CA 90293 , beaches.lacounty.gov , (800) 950-7275

Plan on spending at least 3 or more days. First of all, it will give you a chance to check out your new coach and you are still near the dealer. Secondly it is LA.

Next head south to San Diego. For a nice location try to get into Fiddler's Cove Marina,

3205 CA-75, San Diego, CA 92155 , (619) 522-8680. There are too many attractions to name but a few. Like Old Town San Diego State Historic, or San Diego Seaport Village. There is in the same area the USS Midway museum really neat with all the planes on the deck. There are some fine restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter. Did I mention the zoo?

Both Wolfe10 and Tbutler have given some great ideas. I would definitely go to Quartzsite. This is an amazing place. Many years ago I was there and noticed a sine on the wall across from the Dairy Queen it said “See the two headed albino raccoon displayed alive” Well that was a good summery of the attitude of Quartzsite.

I do like Wolf10’s suggestion to use 90 from Van Horn TX to San Antonio with a side trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park.

Your profile shows you are from Houston and you have an RV so that part of the world you should know.

Bill

[jleamont]

Ditto on the recommendation for Rt90 over I-10. We ran I-10 December 2013 through Van Horn to San Antonio and it was not a good experience. If you do encounter bad weather by accident keep an eye in your rear view mirror for Tractor Trailers bearing down on you and stay out of their way. When we were up there those guys were running 70+ on ice covered roads, eventually we caught up to them in a massive pileup and truck parts scattered all around the highway. Not a good experience, one for the memory I could have done without.

Off of that subject, the only site recommendation I have to add is Tombstone AZ, not far while traveling down I-10, neat place!

[manholt]

As Bill said...he's from Houston. I will assume he knows Texas and probably coastal La.

That said, I would recommend the Milton, Fl. KOA, Exit 31 off I-10 for an extended stay...lots of places to visit in a 50 mile radius!

Also, get on Hwy. 19/27/98 from Ft. Walton to Perry, Fl. and Perry to Hudson, Fl. Don't know where in Fl. he wants to go, but

Chiefton or Hudson is a good jumping across Fl. spot.

Tom mentioned Hwy 85 from I-8, it takes you to Anjo, then Why, Az. Organ Pipe is just north of Lukeville and it's in the NE section of

the Socorro Desert. If you feel like it you can cross the border at Lukeville and go another 84 km to "Rocky Point, Mexico".

Just make sure you have a full tank of fuel before leaving Anjo. In Why you can take Hwy. 86 to Tucson...good road last year!

Happy New Year and have a great trip!

Carl C.

[Bigdan43]

You guys are really great! Thanks for all of the info! Being new to RVing, it is great to have a lot of folks to lean on!

Thanks,

Kirby and Marilyn Dixon

[C-783533]

If you'll be in the New Orleans area be sure to visit the World War II museum. FYI, there is a lot more to see than Bourbon Street :-)