My first trip!

[Potszer]

My family and I are planning to take our first trip in the 1988 Sunline travel trailer and the Dodge Ram 1500,5.9 L v8 eng. with towing pkg. We are going to leave from Chipley,Fl. via I-10 and go to Mobile,Al. then on 98 to Hattiesburg,Ms. then on to Vicksburg,then on to Shreveport,La,then on to Amarillo,Tx. then on to Williams,AZ. We hope to make it in three days with two nights on the road, I sure would appreciate any tips,advise,hints,suggestions anyone has to offer, as I sure need all the help I can get. thank you

[nasa42a]

Potszer......

Many beginning RVrs tend to be destination oriented. In your case, the Chipley, FL to Williams, AZ is about 1755 miles...or 585 miles per day. To achieve that, you'll find you're flogging your rig and pushing your & your family's endurance....and not really enjoying the trip. There's a lot of beautiful scenery and many interesting sites along the way that you won't have time to enjoy.

Sharon and I have become "the journey is the destination" types. If you are able to add even one day to your trip....I suggest you'll find your vacation much more enjoyable. In fact (when camping with the kids before retirement), we found that a trip average of about 250-265 miles-per-day gave us the time to enjoy what we were seeing. We tend to plan - and stick - to that.

Frank

[Steve Collins]

Frank's points are spot on.

Another thing to consider is travel speed. While some interstate roads have posted speed limits of 75 MPH (or higher), these are not realistic or safe speeds for pulling a travel trailer. Best advice from experienced trailerists is no faster than 65 MPH, ever. Many will advocate even lower speeds and I can not dispute their reasoning.

One of the things that new RV owners may forget to factor into their trip planning is set-up and pack-up time each day. Sure, you can pull into a camp site, park it without unhooking the TT from the TV, sleep fast, and leave the next morning, but that only works sometimes. If you need to go to a restaurant, grocery store, drug store, whatever, you'll be dropping the trailer. Hot sun or a rainy day? Gotta put the awning out. It all adds up.

Another thing I really don't like to do is setting up on an unfamiliar camp site in the dark. What is easy to do in the daylight becomes a real chore in the dark. Doing so in the rain is ten times worse. So we always plan to be at our destination each day before darkness settles in.

Stretch breaks while traveling are important, and doubly so when pulling a TT, especially for the driver. Even with my duallie, it is a lot more effort driving when pulling the trailer. Power steering, power brakes, electronic trailer brake controllers, anti-sway devices are all helpful, but it is still more work.

All this cuts into the number of miles that you can realistically and safely travel in a day.

Gail and I always plan to be on the road no more than 8 hours a day. This leaves us enough time for set-up and pack-up, meal preparation and consumption, some down time in the evening, and a good night's rest. We greatly prefer to stay off the 4-lanes as much as possible, and that cuts into average travel speeds which in turn, lowers the number of miles per day. But we get to see a lot more of this beautiful country.

[henryj]

You don't say the reason for your trip, how long you're staying in AZ or what time of year you're going. So, I'm going to mind my own business and just give a general response. We've covered all of your territory on 4 separate month long trips and could give you a number of suggestions if you have more time. Or, if you're spending more time in AZ could offer some suggestions for spreading that time over the whole trip as you're going to be whizzing by a lot of beautiful scenery and history without enough time to stop for a photo. If you go in summer, you'll need electricity and AC and some desert attractions might even be closed. If you go before the end of March, it's winter, even at the Superbowl, and you'll need lots of heat at least overnight. The whole Flagstaff/Grand Canyon area is at an altitude pushing 7000 ft. You may be driving west from FL, but this isn't FL weather. Snowbirds stay in the low altitudes of the desert in the I10 corridor or west of Williams where the altitude drops again. We've camped in the Grand Canyon area the 3rd week of March and had significant snow overnight that I wouldn't tow a trailer in, and I'm from Ontario where winter lasts 4 months. Also had snow on I40 in TX in March and the wind really blows it around those wide open spaces. At this time of year you should build some off days into your schedule as it might be too windy/snowy to travel some days or you won't be able to get on the road before noon while the night's snow and ice melts.

All in all, if I had to get to AZ in 3 days, I'd stay in motels and eat at Macdonalds. You also say this is your first trip. I hope you've gone out for a weekend shakedown cruise--Blackwater SP would be a nice place. It's a decent drive from home and has full hookups so you get to try everything and the sites are large and easy to get into. Then for a longer trip I'd suggest a week on the road to someplace like Natchez and Vicksburg, or Savannah and Charleston. All nice cities with lots of Civil War history along the way. There are a string of 1800's forts along the coast from Pensacola to Mobile that would make a nice week long trip. Save AZ for another year if you can.

If you must go to AZ, come back with another post, total time away and time of year, and I'll try and help you out with some things to see at least in AZ. I hear and feel your enthusiasm to get on with enjoying the lifestyle that all of us are experiencing and I look forward to sharing those experiences with you. Keep in mind though, that most of us do most of our camping within 200 mi. of home. Life is good around the campfire with family and friends even if you're only a day from home.

Henry

[Potszer]

Thanks: We plan to take our trip in May or June and hope to spend six days or so in and around the Grand Canyon area,we plan to be gone from home for about 3 to four weeks. The reason for our trip is for our family to see this part of our country,there will be five of us,my wife and I,daughter and husband and 19 year old son, my wife and I are both retired and over 65 years of age,(my wife says that I'am not only retired but mostely retarded as well!) Thank you again Henry and I sure do appreciate your help.

[henryj]

Potszer, I've sent you a pm of sites along your route.

Henry