Motorhome USA Road Trip

A holiday in a motorhome may not be on everyone’s ‘to do list’, however, I would recommend it to all, from singles, to couples and especially families - with your fridge and bathroom at your back what more could you need! Exploring America in a motor home is an exciting adventure - you get to be in control and spend as much or as little time in each place as you choose.

It was 2002 and I was 5 months pregnant with baby number one hence, the aptly christened ‘Last Hurrah’ trip was booked. We flew Dublin to Los Angeles and on to Vancouver, where we picked up our wheels in Bellingham, a 29ft long, 6 berth, 4.5 litre camper van. We were super impressed with our home/transport for the next 14 days.

Driving down Highway 101, our first stop was Anacortes, Washington, where we took an unforgettable boat trip spotting a pod of 20 killer orca whales off the San Juan Islands. The coast of Oregon had the most amazing scenery, forest covered mountains on one side with vast ocean views on the other. Next, a visit to the Redwood National Park where we walked under the giant Redwood trees, many of them 5 stories taller than the Statue of Liberty.

We spent an action packed day in San Francisco. A ferry from beside the RV Park brought us straight to Pier 39 where we took a motorised cable car tram tour for a few hours. We visited the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge Fort, Chinatown & a ferry trip to Alcatraz for a guided tour, this is a must when in San Francisco. Back in the city we had dinner in the Italian Quarter and by chance got to see the most amazing firework display – all in aid of a radio station launch! Being in the city was great, but we missed our log fires and the open road, so it was on to Yosemite National Park. It was spectacular driving through the park - we stopped so many times to picture the postcard views, the breath-taking sights of the Half Dome, El Capitan and endless waterfalls.

We visited Lake Tahoe and while travelling on to Mammoth Lakes, took a small detour to a ghost town called Bodie -originally a gold mining town in the 1860’s. There is only 5% of the original town buildings left, when you visit now you see the town literally as its inhabitants left it. Looking in the house windows you see clothes still hanging on the backs of doors, shoes still under the bed - even the town store which sold everything from explosives to toothpaste, still had its shelves stocked. An amazing place to visit, we were both very moved by it.

As we drove towards Death Valley the terrain changed from snow-capped mountains to the dry desert mountains of sand and rock. We didn’t notice the change in temperature until we stopped for lunch and stepped out of the RV…the heat hit us like a brick wall! The remaining 100 mile drive was quite tough, crossing two mountain ranges, both almost 6,000ft high. We were nearing our quite appropriately named destination of Furnace Creek, we rounded a bend and out of nowhere appeared an oasis of trees and civilisation.

We made a 5.30am trip to Zabriskie Point, an area surrounded by a maze of wildly eroded and vibrantly coloured badlands. The views at sunrise were beautiful – Mother Nature never failed to impress us on this journey. Back on the road again it was a surreal sight to see Las Vegas spring out of the desert in the distance ahead.

Having completed an amazing 2,200 mile trip, we returned the RV to El Monte’s base in Las Vegas. We had the journey of a lifetime, such huge diversity in the places we visited - in essence we experienced the real ‘America’. We met many families on our way and this would be the most fantastic holiday to take with children, contrary to our original assumptions!

If you are interested in a holiday like this, please call me, I would be delighted to help you arrange the trip.