Indiana to Seattle: fly or drive our RV?

/ Roadtirement

Requires 33 hours drive time, one way. At least four or five days with stops.

That was the question. We were planning a trip to Seattle to visit our daughter, son-in-law and grandson. It was hard to decide as we love travelling in our RV. It gives us a place to stay so that we aren’t intruding on our daughter’s family all the time. It also gives us a chance to relax and be alone. Staying with them is lots cheaper and gives us more time with them and our grandson. They have a big house and we have our own room when we are there. On the other hand, is it fair to stay with them? I feel like it is a lot to ask having to put up with us.  If we drove we would need to be there for a longer time period, maybe 2 or 3 months. If we fly we can stay a shorter amount of time and go back for another visit sooner. Our grandson who is growing up fast (he is 6) and started 1st grade this year was a big part of our decision. We need to see him more often. We have done both and have been happy with each visit.

After much debating we decided to fly. This decision was based on many things. We didn’t really want a long road trip at this time. The coronavirus has kept us away from family a long time. We did have a quick visit as our son’s wedding, but we wanted and needed some quality time with each of our 5 kids and their families. We also thought that maybe we could help them while we were visiting. We can cook some meals and help keep the house straightened. When we decided to look at it as a we can help trip, instead of being a burden it became more definite that we should fly.

Flying time: 4 hours 53 minutes, non-stop (Photo courtesy Alaska Airlines)

So next week we begin our journey to Seattle, WA. We are flying on Alaska Airlines and were able to get a direct flight for a very good price. We bought our tickets with our Chase Freedom card and we like the points we get when we use it. We usually fly Delta and have lots of points built up on their plan, but couldn’t find a direct flight for the right times and dates. Our daughter tells us that the Alaska Airlines miles program and credit card are the best, so we will be looking into that. Would love any suggestions on what you think is the best travel miles and credit card choices. We check out doctorofcredit.com and will often find good deals on his site. We don’t spend enough to really take advantage of his credit card finds, but we have made extra money by opening checking account he suggests. We get nothing by mentioning his site, but it is an interesting site to check out.

We are excited about our trip next week and have started packing. We will be posting pics of our bags in the next few days.

~Sher

 

35 thoughts on “Indiana to Seattle: fly or drive our RV?”

  1. Wow, have a wonderful trip, guys! I was going to suggest flying. Less stress on you both and so much faster. Since you’ve seen each other so little, I think they would love to have you both at their home. Safe travels!

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  4. With corona still dogging things, I would say flying is your best bet. That’s a long drive across country when you’ve had a long lay off from serious road travel. A year and a half now? Laurie’s parents are in Seattle now, that’s why I had the Lizard photo at their house. They stay with Laurie’s sisters. If you have a good relationship with your daughter and son-in-law, they probably love having you stay with them.

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  7. Since I have never liked the idea of flying my vote would be to drive, especially if you could take some time and explore there and back. But with the state of things these days I definitely cringe at the thought of the close quarters of a plane.

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    • Derrick you do raise a very interesting question. Unfortunately here in the States carbon footprint reduction is not a daily topic, nor daily actionable by the general public. I do not know if a 2300 mile trip (one way) in an 8 mile per gallon motorhome has a larger footprint than the same mileage during a 5 hour flight of a loaded commercial jetliner. So I guess, hopefully without sounding flippant, the answer is that it currently is not possible to reduce the carbon footprints of travel within the US.

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