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driving through VA towards PA and coastline
Joe and I are working on a trip to Maine from SC next summer and since his job is the bus, I get to plan the route and stays (Yay!). I am struggling with the section thru VA tho – was hoping to stay a night or two around Charlottesville/Monticello – any suggestions on what my options might be?
Thanks for the help!
Becky
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6 Replies
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Becky,
We have avoided the coastal part of the trip due to the traffic and congestion. We use I-81 to the Scranton area, Then I-84 eventually ending up on I-95 noirth of Boston. This route is less congested and more relaxing for us for driving.
But if you intend to take your time going between SC and ME and can adjust your driving to avoid rush hour traffic that might be a different story. Cherry Hill RV park in the Washington DC area is a good one and you have an opportunity to visit DC using public transportation. There is a RV park in NJ (Liberty Harrbor RV park) in Jersey City. Washington and NYC are both great places to visit with so much to do. That being the case I-95 is the route.
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Jon – I believe that the I-81/I-84 route is the one Joe is planning to use as our intent is to get to Maine and then chill rather than sightsee on the way up/back. I am looking into places to stay around the Charlottesville area tho for maybe 1-2 nights and then overnights in Scranton PA and they kinda have me stumped. I think I have things narrowed down with nice looking places in Winter Harbor and one waayyy up in Lubec but not sure what/where to be on the way back down around Bar Harbor – or around the York area before we head back south. We are going to save the metro areas off I-95 for another trip. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for confirming the alternate route for us!
Becky
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If I recall there is a serious lack of RV parks in the areas you mention. When we have travelled to Maine it is usually a two day trip and we stayed at a rather dismal RV park where NY, NJ, and PA come together just off of I-84. Other times we just stayed in the limited number of rest areas.
On trips where we want to break up the drive, but cannot find suitable RV parks I am now in the habit of finding a place likely to be secure such as a mall and emailing to ask if we can stay overnight. So far that approach has worked to give us a safe spot for the night. The last one we used was on I-71 at Lodi Ohio and the manager told us where to park where we were away from most shoppers and where security knew we were there and kept an eye on us all night. It was a no brainer because we went to the office as soon as we got there and found the people on duty knew we were coming and knew we knew where the management wanted us to park.
We have done the same many other times in the past. We avoid Walmarts because we’ve never felt completely secure. We like malls that have 24 hour security.
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Jon,
Yes we are planning the I-77 to I-81 to I-84 at Scranton to I-495 to bypass Boston and then I-95 on to Maine. We will bypass DC, Philly, New York and Boston this way or at least this is the plan.
We have done the Walmart overnight a couple of times and it’s ok when only an overnight is involved. But we don’t typically drive more than about 400 miles a day so the walmart parking lot for extended hours doesn’t fit us so well. It is the ultimate fall back plan.
Business takes me to DC 10 or 12 times a year. I’ll pass on another visit – oh wait – i’ll be there in 2 weeks!
Malls are a good tip thanks.
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We have stayed at the KOA in Charlottesville. It’s a bit tight but doable for a couple of nights. Check thier website for directions as there is only one safe route due to small bridges in the area.
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Will give it look thanks
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