Great American Road Trip (1 Viewer)

[veevee]

Be interested in what you find out

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Had a couple of days in Vegas but temperature at 45 degrees C was brutal! Much nicer here where we are now at Pismo beach.

Had a look at the temperature for Vegas today 46/116 we were out there in August a few years back and it was over the 100 most days, not much fun as I wanted to have a dune buggy out in the desert.
We will go back a bit later one year.
We drove down to Huntington Beach then a long the coast for a couple of weeks after and it was a lot better temperatures there.

Liking your post's it is something We have wanted to do for years and every time we go to the states I go into an RV store to have a look, due to family it will be a few years yet but one day.....

 

[ceejayt]

Liking your post's it is something We have wanted to do for years and every time we go to the states I go into an RV store to have a look, due to family it will be a few years yet but one day.....

I hope you get to do it...

"A dream is just a dream, but a goal is a dream with a plan"

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[veevee]

Chris, another couple of practical questions going back to the beginning.

When you applied for your B/B1 visas, you wrote it lasts for 10 years but 6 months is the maximum stay unless you renew it ahead of expiry, think that's what you wrote.
As you don't know where you'll be in the US/Canada at the appropriate moment where/how do you renew the visa?

When you make a renewal how long is the second time allowance? same as the first 6 months?

When importing your MH, did you have duties to pay and how long are you allowed to keep it in the US for?

Thanks

 

[ceejayt]

Hi

There is an online form for extension of stay and theoretically if you'havent breached terms of your visa (overstay or criminal activity) then it is easily granted. I had a look at the form the other day. Quite involved but doable.

Although going to a Canada and coming back to US no longer renews your visa for another 6 months, I did meet someone who said if you went to Canada and were there whilst your visa expired and then came back to US that would work but I haven't verified that.

If you know you are going to stay longer than 6 months might be easiest to apply for that first off?

No dutiesmornityer taxes on import. You do receive a document threatening death and destruction (joking) if you do not export your vehicle again within 12 months.

And hello from San Francisco where I am just leeching off their wifi!

Chris

 

[veevee]

And hello from San Francisco where I am just leeching off their wifi!

Good for you, it's a good place to be. See if you come across this old fella somewhere around downtown, he has the most amazingly (loud) good quality sound system built into his disability scooter, we enjoyed the music from a couple of blocks away. What a character

Sorry, forgot to thank you for the info

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[veevee]

Hi

There is an online form for extension of stay and theoretically if you'havent breached terms of your visa (overstay or criminal activity) then it is easily not granted. I had a look at the form the other day. Quite involved but doable.

Although going to a Canada and coming back to US no longer renews your visa for another 6 months, I did meet someone who said if you went to Canada and were there whilst your visa expired and then came back to US that would work but I haven't verified that.

If you know you are going to stay longer than 6 months might be easiest to apply for that first off?

No dutiesmornityer taxes on import. You do receive a document threatening death and destruction (joking) if you do not export your vehicle again within 12 months.

And hello from San Francisco where I am just leeching off their wifi!

Chris

So you could import vehicle, stay say 4 months, back to the UK for 4 months and then spend another 4 months and export vehicle. Sounds pretty good as could miss out on maybe November to February or June to End of August.

 

[ceejayt]

So you could import vehicle, stay say 4 months, back to the UK for 4 months and then spend another 4 months and export vehicle. Sounds pretty good as could miss out on maybe November to February or June to End of August.

Yes and plenty of people do that. Met some Dutch people who had gone home for a month and come back so their 6 month visa was renewed. Your only restriction is the 12 month returning the vehicle.

Storage readily available all over here

 

[ceejayt]

Weather is great here right now but bookingbsites is a nightmare. We didn't plan anything so we could go as we please but just have phoned 20 sites this morning before I could get somewhere for this holiday weekend. Should have remembered it was Fourth of July.

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[veevee]

Think you have it in one. Book ahead for holidays or try to be somewhere the majority don't go. Sounds like you are sorted now but good luck, it's all part of the adventure.

 

[ceejayt]

Since schools broke up I have been booking the weekends but okay during the week. Fourth of July onviouskybdifferent again.

Anyway, we are sorted now for Lake Tahoe and then Yosemite so all good

 

[ceejayt]

Going to look at City Hall and the diner tomorrow

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[injebreck99]

Lake Tahoe is a nice place, there is also a nice scenic drive around June lake on the way to Yosemite..IMO.

 

[Larrynwin]

Since schools broke up I have been booking the weekends but okay during the week. Fourth of July onviouskybdifferent again.

Anyway, we are sorted now for Lake Tahoe and then Yosemite so all good

We stayed on a KOA site at South Lake Tahoe and the owner also had a private extension to the site which we preferred.
Pitched among the trees BBQ and log ring going, it's dark ........ the wife screams BEAR, BEAR and there it was a great big thing just yards away wanting food, did we feed it ....... not likely, we beat a rapid retreat to the RVs. Finally shoo'd it off with torches .
Quite an experience.

 

[ceejayt]

Couple of updated blog posts covering Big Sur and San Francisco Poor internet access for last 10 days so just trying to catch up on our travels. We are now in Yosemite

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[injebreck99]

Couple of updated blog posts covering Big Sur and San Francisco Poor internet access for last 10 days so just trying to catch up on our travels. We are now in Yosemite

Lucky you being in Yosemite, we tried to get into the park from the east entrance 3 years ago, but couldn't because of 12ft snowdrifts, this was in the middle of June.

 

[ceejayt]

Staying at Yosemite Pines about 20 miles from the entrance and another 17 to the valley.
I was last here 50 years ago aged 11. Hiked 9 miles to Mirror lake yesterday to a spot I had my photograph taken all those years ago with my mum and dad. Poignant moment.

 

[ceejayt]

Quick summary to date...
68 days on the road, 7,023 miles travelled, average mileage cost 19 cents per mile, 44 different stop over sites shown on the map below.

Change of plan and probably going to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island instead of returning to Baltimore. Couple more blog updates tomorrow and the next day.

The tracker page no longer requires a password so you can check out our current location and previous track here.

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[ceejayt]

Oregon now on the motorhome map...there are a few updated blog posts as well

Change of plan looks like we will now ship the motorhome back from Halifax Nova Scotia rather than Baltimore

 

[injebreck99]

Staying at Yosemite Pines about 20 miles from the entrance and another 17 to the valley.
I was last here 50 years ago aged 11. Hiked 9 miles to Mirror lake yesterday to a spot I had my photograph taken all those years ago with my mum and dad. Poignant moment.

We had actually booked a cabin in that very resort last year for 3 nights, but then my late brother's cancer became worse, so the whole trip was cancelled, maybe we will make it some day.

 

[ceejayt]

We had actually booked a cabin in that very resort last year for 3 nights, but then my late brother's cancer became worse, so the whole trip was cancelled, maybe we will make it some day.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you do make it some day

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[CWH]

Oregon now on the motorhome map...there are a few updated blog posts as well

Change of plan looks like we will now ship the motorhome back from Halifax Nova Scotia rather than Baltimore

View attachment 175200

I love that map. I have one at home made of fridge magnets.
What I'm curious about though is how you got the MH to Florida without going through the neighbouring states.....

 

[veevee]

Change of plan looks like we will now ship the motorhome back from Halifax Nova Scotia rather than Baltimore

View attachment 175200

Just taken a look and see it's 1700 miles between Halifax, NS and Baltimore, 3 decent days driving and fuel and toll costs too. Will it cost more or less the same to leave from Halifax, will it be the same shipping company, are they happy to swap departure time and place around and does that mean you could extend your stay in North America because you can add time in Canada to the 6 months in the US?
Always questions eh.

 

[ceejayt]

I love that map. I have one at home made of fridge magnets.
What I'm curious about though is how you got the MH to Florida without going through the neighbouring states.....

Ahhhh, good spot!

Only one other person has spotted that so far. We had two weeks in Florida before we flew to Baltimore to pick it up and the map looked so empty we put it in

Good talking point

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[ceejayt]

Just taken a look and see it's 1700 miles between Halifax, NS and Baltimore, 3 decent days driving and fuel and toll costs too. Will it cost more or less the same to leave from Halifax, will it be the same shipping company, are they happy to swap departure time and place around and does that mean you could extend your stay in North America because you can add time in Canada to the 6 months in the US?
Always questions eh.

Our plan always included going to Toronto to visit some friends and originally back through US to Baltimore. Just decided we would prefer to go to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (we had a short motorhome rental trip in NS before - loved NS, hated the motorhome and never made it to PEI). So, just a change of plan.

Shipping company will be the same, Seabridge - and actually easier from Halifax as it will ship to Liverpool so I don't have the expense of fetching it back from Antwerp.

You only book one way at a time - this means you are completely flexible over dates and times of return and which port. I emailed Seabridge last night and had a response this morning telling me I could drop off in Halifax on October 2nd, name of ship and arrival date in Liverpool. You only pay just as you are dropping off.

Visa question - this is a tricky one and you would have to confirm this for definite:
Leaving US for Canada and returning to US apparently does NOT renew your 6 month US Visa. i.e. they don't want you popping over the border to do that
However, people I met in Baltimore who were shipping back said that if you left US for Canada just before your visa expired and then returned after it had expired then they did get a renewed Visa - sounds dodgy to me.

In our case, our Visa is good till October 10th so we don't have a problem.

Long reply but hope that helps

 

[veevee]

Enjoy detail so your answer is great.

I didn't put it very well about the visa thing. If you spend every day of your US visa in the US and then on the last day cross to Canada with the intention of not returning to the US with your vehicle, you will have had 6 months solid in the US and then whatever time you want / are allowed in Canada to add to the US visa time, making your trip 6 months + Canada time. That is assuming that you then fly back from Canada of course.

That sound about right?

Is the shipping cost the same for Halifax as Baltimore?

 

[Larrynwin]

We stayed a night at Yosemite Lakes site, the river was dammed to form a large lagoon. When swimming it stirred gold dust in the water glistening in the sun, water very cold but real refreshing.

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[Dazzles]

This must be the best thread ever.

 

[OZeRV]

Thank you for sharing your US experience in this thread and your blog. It has been enjoyable reading.

We have a motorhome stored in LA which we have used for the last 4 years (flying in from Australia). Like you with have really enjoyed staying in the national parks and meeting other travellers.

 

[ceejayt]

We stayed a night at Yosemite Lakes site, the river was dammed to form a large lagoon. When swimming it stirred gold dust in the water glistening in the sun, water very cold but real refreshing.

Wow, that sounds very cool!!

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