Renting an RV- summer

nikkistevej

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 30, 2004
Hi all, was hoping for some guidance. My DH and DD(16) and myself want to fly to Albuquerque NM and rent an RV and travel around to Grand Canyon area up to Arches and Colorado and back to Albuquerque. We are thinking of renting, it is our first time, we have NEVER camped, but we are thinking this will be a cheaper way to see everything and stay on a smaller budget. Anyone done this, and have any insight or hints to make our decision to do/not do this?
Thanks,Nikki
 
Hi all, was hoping for some guidance. My DH and DD(16) and myself want to fly to Albuquerque NM and rent an RV and travel around to Grand Canyon area up to Arches and Colorado and back to Albuquerque. We are thinking of renting, it is our first time, we have NEVER camped, but we are thinking this will be a cheaper way to see everything and stay on a smaller budget. Anyone done this, and have any insight or hints to make our decision to do/not do this?
Thanks,Nikki

It will NOT be the cheaper option, I can assure you of that. The only reason to do this is if you believe it will add to the enjoyment.
 
It will NOT be the cheaper option, I can assure you of that. The only reason to do this is if you believe it will add to the enjoyment.
I think we are back to Plan A. I agree upon doing a little more research, not cheaper. haha
Thanks for your response!
 
I think we are back to Plan A. I agree upon doing a little more research, not cheaper. haha
Thanks for your response!

No problem - my sister has an RV, so I’m well versed in the costs associated & that’s before you pay the rental charge :(
 


I agree it won't be cheaper, as you have to pay a nightly fee to the R.V. park, and lots of gas because R.V.'s are real gas hogs, and the psychiatric counseling for your nervous breakdown after driving one of those rigs. Have you ever tried to back up an R.V.? Would the rental fees include cleaning out the sewage connector hose afterward?

Just saw that you've changed your mind. Good. My parents were real R.V. enthusiasts I just didn't see the fascination. Just the annual taxes on those things would've paid for hotel rooms. One of my friends called her parents' R.V. a murder home because the kids were cramped up all day and all night inside and just needed more space.
 
I agree it won't be cheaper, as you have to pay a nightly fee to the R.V. park, and lots of gas because R.V.'s are real gas hogs, and the psychiatric counseling for your nervous breakdown after driving one of those rigs. Have you ever tried to back up an R.V.? Would the rental fees include cleaning out the sewage connector hose afterward?

Just saw that you've changed your mind. Good. My parents were real R.V. enthusiasts I just didn't see the fascination. Just the annual taxes on those things would've paid for hotel rooms. One of my friends called her parents' R.V. a murder home because the kids were cramped up all day and all night inside and just needed more space.

My sister & BIL get 6 MPG with theirs, 5 in the mountains.
 


The cost of the rental will depend on the time of year, and how far in advance you make the reservation, at least here in the Northeast that is the case with rentals. The one I have used anyway.
You also have to figure in your miles, a certain amount will be included but you will have to pay for anything above (reimbursed for anything below). You also have to figure in gas, and that can be a shocker if you've never driven an RV before.
Also, if you aren't traveling with all the bedding and kitchen supplies to stock it you can pay an extra fee for those things too. (that may depend on rental agency though).
Other than that they are relatively easy to maintain, you would be given a tutorial from the rental agency and it's pretty straight forward from there, but I admit that I own one and forget what it was like the first time we actually were taught, we were probably so nervous LOL
 
True, but that’s typically more a straight line shot and not around popular destinations.
Looking at the page I linked to there are several options for pickup in AZ, both Phoenix and Flagstaff with returns in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Great pickup points to start a Grand Canyon adventure.

The Halifax to Toronto looks like a great deal!
 
We did a similar trip a few years back, and, with the exception of the Grand Canyon ($$$, as to be expected), we found "mom and pop" independently owned motels that were clean, comfortable, and affordable all over NM. It was May (so a slow time of year), but we didn't even make reservations in advance, except the few that we *knew* we wanted to stay at (Taos and Tucumcari have really neat "vintage" motels that book far in advance). This won't work if you're a luxury hotel person, but we were happily surprised by the majority of them.

Also realize that the distances between things is real, so I would rent a vehicle that you are going to be comfortable in, not necessarily the cheapest. We drove, so took my parents' SUV.

It's my favorite area in the country, I hope you have a great trip!

Terri
 
We did a similar trip a few years back, and, with the exception of the Grand Canyon ($$$, as to be expected), we found "mom and pop" independently owned motels that were clean, comfortable, and affordable all over NM. It was May (so a slow time of year), but we didn't even make reservations in advance, except the few that we *knew* we wanted to stay at (Taos and Tucumcari have really neat "vintage" motels that book far in advance). This won't work if you're a luxury hotel person, but we were happily surprised by the majority of them.

Also realize that the distances between things is real, so I would rent a vehicle that you are going to be comfortable in, not necessarily the cheapest. We drove, so took my parents' SUV.

It's my favorite area in the country, I hope you have a great trip!

Terri
I think we are back to renting an SUV lol We still have to fly out, as we are in Maryland, and we will try and start booking things soon(we may wait a little because of government shutdown, just to make sure no shutdown during that time)
I like the "idea" of it more than I would probably like it. hahaha
 
I live in the UP, and thought I knew "desolate", but I would warn you (especially in summer) to stop at the nearest superstore after picking up your vehicle and stocking up on everything you might need or want while on the road. Many small towns won't have a grocery store, and some won't even have a convenience store. I would plan on buying cheap coolers, plenty of water, snacks that can stand the heat of summer in a vehicle, etc, etc. Also, do NOT count on cellphone coverage everywhere, either download maps ahead of time, bring/buy actual paper maps (gasp, I know, but the gazetteer we bought really helped when we were off the four lane), etc. Fill up your gas tank when you see a station, not when you're getting low. If you're going to eat out, don't count on restaurants being open late if you aren't in a major city.

One thing we didn't do (due to the weather), but could have done easily was buy a cheap tent/sleeping bags from Walmart down there, and drycamped many, many places. We even debated sleeping in the back of the SUV a few times, because many people do it. My old bones decided that $50 for a basic but clean motel was worth it, but there were a few beautiful locations that we would have loved to sleep under the stars.

Most of all, take the time to get off the beaten path, and just enjoy. We actually cut the Grand Canyon out of our trip (gasp, I know, but it was thanks to advice from this board), and we still had plenty to do in our two weeks.

Terri
 
I live in the UP, and thought I knew "desolate", but I would warn you (especially in summer) to stop at the nearest superstore after picking up your vehicle and stocking up on everything you might need or want while on the road. Many small towns won't have a grocery store, and some won't even have a convenience store. I would plan on buying cheap coolers, plenty of water, snacks that can stand the heat of summer in a vehicle, etc, etc. Also, do NOT count on cellphone coverage everywhere, either download maps ahead of time, bring/buy actual paper maps (gasp, I know, but the gazetteer we bought really helped when we were off the four lane), etc. Fill up your gas tank when you see a station, not when you're getting low. If you're going to eat out, don't count on restaurants being open late if you aren't in a major city.

One thing we didn't do (due to the weather), but could have done easily was buy a cheap tent/sleeping bags from Walmart down there, and drycamped many, many places. We even debated sleeping in the back of the SUV a few times, because many people do it. My old bones decided that $50 for a basic but clean motel was worth it, but there were a few beautiful locations that we would have loved to sleep under the stars.

Most of all, take the time to get off the beaten path, and just enjoy. We actually cut the Grand Canyon out of our trip (gasp, I know, but it was thanks to advice from this board), and we still had plenty to do in our two weeks.

Terri
Thanks Terri, Grand Canyon is the main reason we are going. haha My DD16 wants to be a geoscientist, and wants to see the rock formations and all out there. We are trying to get there before she starts choosing a college to see if she still wants to do that career.
 
When I was young, we did an out-west road trip in my parents' RV (we actually did it twice... once in an RV camper, and once with a mini-van and a travel trailer). I wanted to take my family out there now that I'm an adult and that was the trip I had in my mind. We ended up flying, renting an SUV, and staying in hotels. I am SO glad we did it that way. ETA: We've done two trips: Las Vegas > Grand Canyon NP > Bryce Canyon NP > Zion NP > Las Vegas. And Salt Lake City > Grand Teton NP/Jackson, WY > Yellowstone (east side) NP > Glacier NP > Waterton Lakes NP in Alberta Canada > Yellowstone (west side) NP > back to Salt Lake City.

In addition to the expense, I can't think those things would be easy to drive. We found some of the driving conditions to be unique/somewhat challenging even in a rental SUV that was bigger than what we drive at home. I definitely would not have wanted to do it while driving an RV. Some examples: Some of the national parks parking lots were cramped. All were crowded. In some of the small towns, parking was hard to find. We encountered several areas where there were tight turns with a nasty fall off the side of a mountain if you misjudged them! A couple of places we went through tunnels carved into the mountains (I'm sure there was clearance, but it would have been nervewracking anyway.) There were a number of areas where there were high wind warnings. We could feel the wind buffeting our SUV. I'm sure an RV would have been worse. If you're an experienced RV driver, I'm sure that all of those things are manageable. However, for an inexperienced driver, I don't think they'd be much fun -- plus almost everybody is a tourist so nobody knows where they're going, there's lots of wildlife crossing the roads, etc. I think it would have been very stressful in an RV.
 
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