My daughter will be a Camp America consellor at Camp Red Leaf, Round Lake, Illinois from June to August this year and then will be travelling for 4 weeks with my wife from mid September to mid October.
They will be going from L.A. to New Orleans, across to Florida and up to New York then to Canada (east side only).
They intend to do a combination of train travel (LA to New Orleans) and then car to Canada.
Ant assistance on weather, temperatures etc at that time of the year.
Also what is the train service like in the US (quality wise).
They will be staying in a combination of hotels and motels so if anyone can assist with what would be reasonable ones to stay at it would also be appreciated.
You never know they may even drop in to your place to taste your fare and to collect menus etc (then we can write some of the trip off as business expenses - fact finding tour of the pizza industry).
Wel come to our country. You can check Expedia.comfor travel booking of air, car, and hotels and this site even gives you temprature of local city and other info and you can also do booking of various hotels and tours.
As a rule of thumb stay in AAA approved hotels, they tend to be clean and have good amenities. Holiday INN, Marriott, Hilton, or any franchised hotel are good to stay.
Rent car with gps will help them with hotel info, restaurant info and of course directions. U can purchase portable gps from here or Australia before they come. Our gas stations on Highways or we call them Freeway tends to stay open 24 hrs and gets you gas , fast junk food or soft drinks for road travel. Freeway systems have 65 to 70 mph spped limit, Highway patrol police to help motrist and check speeders for vilocations which can get you fine or tickets, freeway have emergency call boxes for help too. Our medical or any life thretning emergency number is 911, or local info number is 411.
It tend to get hot in july to Sep in U.S. I am in Los Angeles area, if you have any questions please dont hesitate to e-mail me.
As far as Amtrak rail travel I honestly can not give you any feed back. It should be ok, but not like Aus rail. We tend to love our cars and prefer to drive.
Unless you are using the subway in NY most people don’t use trains. Did you compare airline fares? Better deals to be had if you book in advance. If they are doing it for fun, there are scenic trains to take – in the Rocky Mountains for example.
I took a train ride once from LA to San Diego about 20 years ago just for the heck of it. Nothing bad to report about it.
Its the hot time of year no matter where you are here. The further south you go the hotter, obviously. You definitely won’t need jackets and such for the states. It will be cooler in Canada but I don’t know to what extent.
Quality Inn, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Best Western, Holiday Inn Express – economical and clean. You can jump up from there to Marriot, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Sheraton – all inclosed with restaurants and other shops and amenities.
I would advice staying out of motels. I’m sure you can find exceptions but they are usually more run down and dirty.
actually I like taking the train, but the only problem with amtrak train system here is that if your on a tight schedule they may not be the best Idea, because they tend to always be late!!! hope they have tons of fun!!! sad your not going with them!!!
I had great experience riding the Southern Crescent route Atlanta to New Orleans. Food was actually pretty good. I recommend ‘upgrading’ to a sleeper compartment . . . even the cheapest one . . . as you will get meals included with that fare add-on. If you do the math, three on-train meals for 2 will likely cost same or more than the least expensive sleeper, and the seats are more comfortable.
As for accommodations, we have a growing line of hotels offering hot breakfast with your room price. Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn, and Springhill Suites are some that I have stayed in. Rates run from $70 to $110 US in most places I’ve stayed. We tend to travel off-season and get better rates. I also have AAA membership to get 10% off.
Expedia. com, hotwire.com, orbitz.com and websites like that will offer some affordable rates at differing levels of risk and commitment. I can probably assure you of a free night in a hotel if you end up in Newnan, GA (near our shop) . . . food would be easy. Depending on what part of Florida they go to, it can be right on the way to New York.
I’m on Interstate 85. If they’re going to central Florida, they’ll be going up Interstate 75 through Georgia most likely. Or up the coast somehow. That recommendation to get a GPS is a great one . . . we loved the one we had the one time we used it. We almost figured out how to use all the features by the end of the week we had it.
If they are stopping in St Louis, Mo, about 5 hours southwest of Round Lake, while driving to LA, I have free hotel and food.
Hope they have a great time. Make sure they have a digital camera, and plenty of extra memory sticks and batteries!
Illinios June thru August is probably 80-90 degrees F. Their trip in September in LA is probably 70-80 F, and October in NY and Canada will be much cooler. Florida residents will know, but I believe is rains daily in Florida that time of year.
