That was a great help, thank IDS-IPS! If we had the choice we would probably rent but we are limited by the fact that none of us will be older than 20 by the time we are ready for this trip. All of the rental companies require a minimum age of 21, and add an additional daily charge of 25$ if the renter is below the age of 25! Our only option then is buying. I am tempted to buy a large suburban car like a Yukon XL, but it would be nice to have something more homely!
If you go for an RV, one thing The Walking Dead has told me is to have plenty of spare hose. You never know when the zombie apocalypse will strike and it's better to be safe than sorry.
Chevy Suburban Cheesecake! Rode in one for a 15 hour Seattle, WA to Concord, CA drive with five others and was actually quite impressed at how comfortable the ride was. By the time you're done with your trip you'll have seen more of the country than I have living here all of my life! Some places which you should really try to go in my book: -Las Vegas, NV. You don't have to gamble, the city is made to entertain. I first went there too young to gamble, smoke or drink and still had an absolute blast, been meaning to go back now that I'm 21. -Lake Tahoe, NV. Again a city designed around fun, but much more tame and with more natural beauty. -Yellowstone National Park, WY. Honestly, Yellowstone wasn't hugely entertaining in its own rights. There's plenty of interesting geisers and such which are neat to see if you're already there, but the real thing which warrants going out of your way to get there is everything else in the surrounding area. If you're even slightly naturally inclined then Yellowstone will leave your jaw on the floor. Spend some time to see more than just the tourist attractions and do a bit of hiking to see the hidden treasures most people are too lazy to see. -Jackson Hole, WY. While you'e in the area Jackson Hole is a great tourist stop, it's all set in a wild west kind of theme which is a lot of fun. -Salt Lake City, UT a good stop if your route allows, and Park City, UT is fairly nice as well. -I'm biased, but if you're looking at Seattle as an end point I highly recommend coming up the 101 from California. It's an awesome drive, and this is where you'll also enjoy not being in an RV. I'm not too savvy on what's all in California, the whole state is a tourist attraction so you'll find something. In Oregon there are tons of awesome coastal stops like Cannon Beach or Seaside. If you can pry away from 101 for a bit there's also the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR with various plays being performed throughout most of the year. The best part of the drive is when you hit Washington . Spend a few days to explore the coastline and get a few hikes into the rainforest. Seriously, you won't see a more impressive forest without flying to Brazil. -If you follow 101 to the end you can also then take a ferry to Seattle. Yeah, it's just a boat ride, but it's a truly impressive view when you approach Seattle. And you'll get a view of my hometown on the way over, far less scenic. -Were you planning on going to Canada at all? While you're over here it might be worth either driving the Sea to Sky highway up to Vancouver, BC or taking another ferry over to Victoria, BC. It'd be a shame to make such a long trip and fall just short of visiting them. So you can tell what parts of the country I've been to! But in all seriousness, if you're starting in Florida it seems like you don't want to see much of the east coast and will be heading west immediately, keeping south and going through Texas and seeing more of the southwest then heading north along the west coast will be more interesting than going up the east coast and cutting across through the mindnumbingly flat and moring states like Kansas.
