new member here

[DelrayLou]

Hi my name is Louis. I am planning to rent a 23'-26' RV do a national park round trip from Las Vegas through Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. My wife an I are in our early 70's. She is a bit hesitant about this trip in an RV. We are planning 2-3 weeks. Is 3 weeks too much? Am I looking at the right size RV? I am hoping she will like it as we live in South Florida and I would like to go to cooler climates in the north and west during the summer months. Any thoughts on this to help make it more enjoyable for her?

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Hi my name is Louis. I am planning to rent a 23'-26' RV do a national park round trip from Las Vegas through Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. My wife an I are in our early 70's. She is a bit hesitant about this trip in an RV. We are planning 2-3 weeks. Is 3 weeks too much? Am I looking at the right size RV? I am hoping she will like it as we live in South Florida and I would like to go to cooler climates in the north and west during the summer months. Any thoughts on this to help make it more enjoyable for her?

You have chosen some beautiful territory for your trip. I would suggest planning the three weeks. I would suggest short driving times at the beginning just to get you both used to the RV but there is so much to see and do, there may be days where longer driving time might be necessary. Perhaps taking it easy and taking in the most special places you want to see might be prudent. You can always return when you have your own unit. You will be in the area of The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend, Mesa Verde just to mention a few. As for the RV, I suggest that floor plan is almost more important than size. To minimize house keeping I would make sure it has a decent size bed and one that does not make use of the dinette and a galley and bathroom that will not be too cramped.

I'm sure you will both enjoy your trip. Safe travels.

 

[Wemustrv]

Rollin Oilen you are right on the mark in all your statements. I would add the following.
Practice parking and If your wife is going to help you back in set up how you will communicate such as signals and where to stand when backing. I strongly recommend a set of walkie talkies fort his. ( you can have a great travel day and ruin it in 5 minutes when parking if you are not both on the same page)

Get a good GPS that can be set up for your vehicle. We run a Garmin RV and my wife runs her Map or Google.

Cannot reiterate enough do not aver drive any day. Get in to camp early so you can relax and enjoy.

Keep your sense of humor! Stuff will happen it is not the end of the world. It will happen for ever when Rving just like at home.

Remember this is a house on wheels and stuff breaks here just like at home

My wife and I are in our 70s and we travel in a 40" motorhome towing a F150 SuperCrew

 

[Greg and Mary Brannon]

You'll develop your own travel rules for what you and the wife find comfortable, but I was given the advice to limit travel between breaks to 3 hours and to limit daily travel to 300 miles or 5 - 6 hours. I found those good starting points for me, and I added my own rule of never stopping and setting up for for less than 2 nights. Setting up after arrival and tearing down before travel are relatively simple tasks that can be done quickly with a little experience, but I didn't want traveling by RV to become a blur of tasks without spending some time to rest up and enjoy each stop. Some days are more tiring than others and recharging may be the only benefit of some stops.

You didn't describe your RV experience, and I don't know how much time a rental outfit will spend with you before waving goodbye, but make an effort to learn basic RV systems before starting the trip. Visit a friend with an RV for lessons if you can. Keeping the fridge cold, hot and cold water running, waste water systems properly maintained and not offensively fragrant, the house level enough to not be rolling out of bed, and the house temperatures comfortable are essential basics.

It sounds like a great trip!

Greg.