Motorhome Rental

On our journey to motorhome ownership, we have rented units three times: once in the UK and twice in the US. The UK rental was in 2008 when the kids were small. The US rentals were in 2017 for driving the west coast between Mexico and Canada, and in 2020 to visit North Carolina waterfalls during COVID. The UK rental was fun but less suitable to our activities. The US rentals were fantastic trips, with the main issues being the shaking and rattling of the rental unit and making the sleeping situation work well with Bailey and Samuel. Both of these issues should be minimized in our new LTV as it is a sleeker unit and we won’t be travelling with the kids. These trips have helped us understand the challenges of reservations and getting around while appreciating camping in comfort.

• North Wales and The Lake District in October 2008
• West coast National Park trip from Mexico to Canada in June 2017
• North Carolina Waterfalls in June 2020

North Wales and The Lake District in October 2008

When living on the south coast of England, we rented a motorhome for a weeklong trip to North Wales and the Lake District in northwest England.

The small motorhome suited our young family very well. In North Wales, we stayed in the picturesque village of Bedgellert in Snowdonia. It was a convenient site with a beautiful walk into the village.

We took a steam train from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog and visited the Llechwedd Slate Caverns.

Then we took the cog train from Llanberis to Clogwyn up Snowden, Wales’s highest mountain. We were surprised by the snow which prevented the train from going all the way to the top.

Next, we packed up the motorhome and drove to the Lake District, visiting Beatrix Potter world (where we got a parking ticket) and taking the ferry across Windermere before camping on the shores of Derwentwater by Keswick.

The following morning, after being awakened by the loudest geese honking we’d ever heard, we saw that the tops of the fells had fresh snowfall. Our perfect site on the edge of Derwentwater is normally fully booked a year ahead of time. Shortly before our trip, the campsite had flooded so bookings were cancelled, and we happened to visit just after they had reopened and many bookings remained cancelled.

We used local bus services to facilitate a fine hike to a waterfall and over the fells. We had quickly fallen in love with the Lake District, and did not realize that we would be moving there about a year later. Our second morning was equally beautiful before hiking Aira Force waterfall. Bailey’s first tooth fell out in a supermarket and we couldn’t find it, so we had leave a note for the tooth fairy!

On the way home, we stopped at Cadbury World. In contrast to Hershey World, this tour is of the factory where they actually make chocolate. We enjoyed the free samples, custom creations, and the huge cream egg, before driving home.

While we had a fantastic trip, we learned that a motorhome wasn’t the best fit for us to explore the UK. The weather, narrow roads, and parking difficulties compound the challenges of driving a large vehicle. However, in the US, we miss the availability of public transport. The trip worked very well for us but we found that renting a holiday cottage as a base for a week’s exploration worked better for our family holidays in the UK as the driving distances are shorter. Whereas North America is made for road trips, UK is less so.

West coast National Park trip from Mexico to Canada in June 2017

It was nearly ten years until our next motorhome rental. After several road-trip and pop-up camper adventures in the center and east of the US, we wanted to explore the west. Our itinerary was simple: drive from Mexico to Canada visiting National Parks on the way. Over two weeks, we drove 3,000 miles visiting three countries, three states, and seven National Parks. This memory was captured in a photobook.

After picking up our “Standard” Class C from Cruise America in San Diego, we headed to the border to “touch” Mexico.

We spent the first two nights at a primitive campground in Joshua Tree National Park. It was good to experience an off-the-grid campsite with no hookups. I enjoyed listening to U2’s Joshua Tree album more than the rest of the family!

We spent one night at the Hollywood RV Park in Los Angeles so that we could visit Universal Studios. It was good to experience an urban park and the ease of getting around with Uber.

We spent a couple of nights in Death Valley. We worked the aircon hard at the aptly named “Furnace Creek” campground, where it wasn’t difficult to get a reservation. We have particularly fond memories of a sunset dinner at Dante’s View, overlooking the valley.

We had two nights in Yosemite valley. We went to great effort to snag reservations, timing our attempt to get two nights as soon as they were available months before our trip. My first attempt failed, but I was able to get two separate one-night reservations at different sites. It was an awesome location with great views. However, there were crowds, and I should have realized that the “Mist Trail” would have been wet!

We visited San Francisco without staying, with a visit to the sea lions at pier 39, a boat trip to Alcatraz, and lovely clam chowder. We enjoyed driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, but I did not enjoy coming off the bridge when the motorhome got the severe shakes! We spent that night at the private Olema Campground which worked well and had a restaurant in walking distance.

We spent one night at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park that we’d booked six months previously. The Redwood trees were huge!

We chose to skip Crater Lake as it was a lot of extra driving and spent the next two nights at Cougar Rock Campground in Mount Rainier National Park that could not be booked ahead of time. He had fun with the wildlife and hiking in the snow.

Next was the North Cascades National Park and a rafting trip down the Sauk River. It was very cold!

Our last stop was the US/Canada border. In contrast to the Mexican border, there was an open park straddling the border. We said goodbye to our temporary home at Seattle’s Cruise America and flew back to Houston.

It was a remarkable two week vacation that was well suited to a motorhome. We experienced the pros and cons of a variety of different types of campsites and faced the challenges of visiting cities and the popular national parks. A motorhome is small for an extended trip with two teenage kids, and the “shakes” that this unit gave when driving at a speed ~50 mph were most unnerving.

North Carolina Waterfalls in June 2020

COVID created our next motorhome vacation opportunity. With bigger and older kids, we rented Cruise America’s “Large” motorhome from their Durham, NC location (near some friends). Our goal was visiting waterfalls along North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Parkway. As the distances were not large, we took the car as well as the motorhome, allowing us to explore with just the car.

We spent two nights at Greystone RV Park near Pilot Mountain and enjoyed some hiking and doing Andy Griffith things!

On the way to our next campsite at Linville Falls, we checked out App State University and Samaritan’s Purse in Boone then hiked to Linville Falls.

The next day, we headed up the mountain to visit the Rhododendron Gardens and hike a bit of the Appalachian Trail before checking out Crabtree Falls.

Next, we moved to the Black Forest Family campground for three nights, using it as our base for lots of Blue Ridge Parkway and waterfall exploring.

Family vacations with a 15 and 17 year old are challenging at the best of times, and the year of COVID added to the complications! The large motorhome with a regular car suited these conditions nearly perfectly. It was refreshing to have a slower paced vacation, away from the crowds, and we all enjoyed each of the activities very much.