A camping forum for VW bus and camper owners.

Cross Country routes - what's your experience

Hello,

In a few weeks I'll be driving from Massachusetts across country to the west coast in my 1971 VW Westfalia. Earlier I was considering taking a northern route, but now I'm leaving later I'm thinking of a more southern one, through MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, LA, TX, AZ, CA.

Do you have any experience of driving this route or sections of it and favorite stops along the way?

Or do you have another route that you'd recommend in late October and November?

Also I'd love to meet up with VW Camper Family members along the way, so please let me know if you're open to meeting, have a VW club get together or can offer me safe place to camp overnight.

Cheers, Carole

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Carole and The YesWeCan CamperVan in PT.jpg, 498 KB

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Permalink Reply by Sam Thayer on November 30, 2011 at 3:51pm

Route 50 from Ocean City, MD to Sacramento, CA (http://www.route50.com/). I'll be driving from West to East next Summer.

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Permalink Reply by John on December 28, 2011 at 3:40pm

I just completed a ~6000 mile trip from Sept Iles, QC to Vancouver, BC ... the long & warmer route.

After leaving Montreal, we went to Vermont and through upstate NY then (a few days) on to Chicago and did Route 66 (most of it, anyway) to Santa Monica(West L.A.) then up the coast and home.

Route 66 was quite nice; with a bit of overlapped travel on a few interstates ... most of the driving was either parallel to or a ways off of the interstates, though.

Lots to see and visit with lots of attractions / distractions along the way ... keeping in mind "the interruptions are the journey".

Route 66 still allows for some 'off plan excursions' into AK, CO, IN etc ... the nicest part of this 'relatively' direct route vs. I44 / I40 / I10 is the speed limits are lower (although up to 65 in a number of areas) and a lot less traffic. I was in a turbo diesel Westy and all the big rigs and just near everyone else was passing me incessantly in the interstates ... it is a much calmer, relaxing, enjoyable drive once off the Is ... time permitting.

If I had just done interstates and had the same # of rest / pit stops ... I may have arrived 1/2 - 1 day sooner ... however, it would have been a much less enjoyable (on the verge of miserable) trip.