3500 Mile road trip in 12 days

[ifallsguy]

Doesn't sound like too long a day drive. We normally do about 58mph and put in 500-600/day. Matter of reaching the destination since trips are normally over 2000 miles each way. Have enough water on board so if one of the passengers needs a bathroom in the middle of no where, you can use the on board facility. We normally carry 1/4 to 1/3 of tank of fresh water. Enough for pit stops, water dogs, wash up, etc.

[rockaw]

Also watch your routes. Google and most of the other routing programs do not consider your size height and width.........I just used 2, passportAmerica and good sam, both put me on a parkway in NY that I knew I can't fit under the overpasses, at least good sam posted warnings (many of them) on the road for low bridge. neither one warned me about the tunnel in Maryland where you have to stop and have your propane tagged in the "off" position. .. I knew the route, so I knew where I was "safe" My lowest bridge was 13 something and I'm just over 11.

[Jbrusie]

Originally Posted by rockaw

Also watch your routes. Google and most of the other routing programs do not consider your size height and width.........I just used 2, passportAmerica and good sam, both put me on a parkway in NY that I knew I can't fit under the overpasses, at least good sam posted warnings (many of them) on the road for low bridge. neither one warned me about the tunnel in Maryland where you have to stop and have your propane tagged in the "off" position. .. I knew the route, so I knew where I was "safe" My lowest bridge was 13 something and I'm just over 11.

Did you get on the Taconic Parkway? Thats down the road from me and now and then see big rigs on the road, no good. I've got my Class A and now and again pull an actual tractor trailer so I'm well aware of those issues!

[rockaw]

Originally Posted by Jbrusie

Did you get on the Taconic Parkway? Thats down the road from me and now and then see big rigs on the road, no good. I've got my Class A and now and again pull an actual tractor trailer so I'm well aware of those issues!

NO, I grew up in Poughkeepsie and I'm familiar with the Taconic, until recently they didn't even allow pickup trucks on it. However I did have a few close calls on one Northwest of Buffalo near Lake Ontario, sign said no commercial trucks, I wasn't thinking and took it. Thankfully my TT is only 11-4, I know I probably hit my radio antenna on the one that said 11-9, I also moved to the right lane where the arch was higher.....after that, never again ( I hope), I try to stay on the main roads.

[SOMBATFAMILY]

Originally Posted by Jbrusie

Truck, 7,313
Payload, 2,662
Max 5th, 14,400
Trailer Dry, 8,585
Payload, 1,545
Gross Combined Limit - 25,300

Truck w/ people and "stuff" - 8,613
Trailer w/ load - 9,702
Combined weight 18,315

I want to get on a scale and see how close I am! If I'm missing something here please let me know!

You're going to by over your TV cargo carrying capacity if your truck payload is only 2662#. But you won't know until you take it to the scale.

[Jbrusie]

Originally Posted by SOMBATFAMILY

You're going to by over your TV cargo carrying capacity if your truck payload is only 2662#. But you won't know until you take it to the scale.

First attempt at calculating this stuff but if payload of 2662 and my gear, people and pin weight are under the 2662 I should be good correct? Technically speaking...

[SOMBATFAMILY]

The numbers I look at in order of highest to lowest priority are: tire load rating at specific psi for both TV and trailer; axles rating of TV front and rear and trailer axles rating; GCWR of T; CCC of TV. Very easy to go over on the CCC of TV. Total weight of Truck with trailer and people balance properly on Truck should not go over the axle rating. In my own case I am over on CCC of TV but not the axle weight rating. Good luck and drive like you have your house and family with you.

[Camper_bob]

I dunno, I guess I look at things a bit differently now that we have a MH.

We took 2 "cross-country" trips with the truck and trailer. Both trips involved overnight stays at WM (or the like) because the distance is just too great, and the time too short.

On those trips, I tried desperately to get my daily average up over 50 mph, and never succeeded. We could usually do 2 days of 500 miles (average) before we really needed a longer rest. We could push our 2-day total up to 1200 if we timed it just right and the driving wasn't too "technical". I tried to cram the hard days together as much as I could. If the day was going to be a long travel day, I say just "own" it and rack up as many miles as you can, especially if by doing so, you can make your destination early in the afternoon of the following day.

We could generally get about one day of "hard" travel out of our toddler before the "cabin fever" kicked in and we had to "vent the pressure". So, for us, timing is key. The more miles we can rack up while he's asleep, the better.

Now that we have the MH, it should be easier to keep him entertained, and keep me and/or DW behind the wheel longer. The fuel tank is larger, so we have a longer range, but that's not necessarily a good thing. And that's another key; make sure BOTH adults are driving, and switch off often (like every 2 hours or so). It sounds counter intuitive, but if you take your time a little bit, you can go longer. We've been known to drive from the morning well into the late night, but we stop often on those days. And we try to stop to eat every meal; don't make a habit out of eating while driving. Sitting down to a meal is extremely restorative, and I find I can usually go at least another few hours after eating a reasonable dinner (Don't eat a super heavy steak dinner or whatever, or you'll want to crash right after!)

Also, don't try to push your speed. I find myself thinking things like "if I go 5 mph faster, I can save X amount of time at the end of the day". It NEVER works. AND I'm a lot less stressed out if I just accept 65 mph, and let the cards fall where they will. But I will admit, it's REALLY hard to get that little voice to shut up about increasing speed.

I also like to see if I can find "little" things to see/visit in areas where we might be stopping. Even something as simple as a historical marker. It breaks up the monotony a bit, and if nothing else it gives us something new to talk about.

I don't think 500 miles a day is that unreasonable if you do it right, and not more than 3 days in a row. But then I'm from Texas; everything is at least a day's drive away.

[nunyadamn]

500 a day is way too much for us. We did a 6500 mile trip from Arizona back east with our kids a couple of years ago. I keep the speed at 60-62mph. 6 hours with bathroom breaks and food breaks and your about 8 hours before you breakdown a site down and setup a site and add in any weather or traffic issues. That's plenty for a vacation. Any more and it's like work.

[bdreinv]

Our son did some long haul trucking he claims 50 mph.The way we drive may be less lol! Thanks

[2edgesword]

I'm sure you're going to make many memories that you and the kids will talk about in the years to come. Enjoy the journey!

[vcbice]

I would not worry about it. We have run between 300 and 600 miles per day depending on what we are doing and where we are going and what kinds of roads we are on. 600 mile days are long but doable, especially with long summer daylight hours. Now days, being retired and not limited on time, we do 300-400mi per day.

We tend to average about 50-55mph. Highway speed is 65mph. With the short day we eat breakfast before we leave and don't stop for lunch. When doing long days we'd eat on the go, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But, I love driving too. Anytime, anywhere, any kind of vehicle. So a long day of driving is fun for me. Wife thinks I'm crazy and is ready to stop after 6hrs

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by vcbice

But, I love driving too. Anytime, anywhere, any kind of vehicle. So a long day of driving is fun for me. Wife thinks I'm crazy and is ready to stop after 6hrs

I like driving too. I like to just veg and think while driving. I usually don't even have the radio on. I do all the driving with the trailer on. When putting on distance we run 12hrs/day or so, longest I've done towing is 18hrs but the destination was home.

[Jbrusie]

Wifey won’t pull the camper and I don’t mind, I prefer driving rather than just sitting there. Book on tape or podcasts pass the time if everyone else is doing their own thing.

[PMC]

If you’re on the interstate there is a book called Next Exit which is really helpful for knowing what’s available, how far and what is big rig accessible. It has pretty much everything listed for each exit in mile marker order and includes all rest stops.

My wife loves it for planning where we’ll stop and make lunch, restroom breaks, etc. For 17 bucks it’s totally worh it if you’re going to be doing longer days.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by PMC

If you’re on the interstate there is a book called Next Exit which is really helpful for knowing what’s available, how far and what is big rig accessible. It has pretty much everything listed for each exit in mile marker order and includes all rest stops.

My wife loves it for planning where we’ll stop and make lunch, restroom breaks, etc. For 17 bucks it’s totally worh it if you’re going to be doing longer days.

If I'm driving interstates then my runs are from Pilot/FlyingJ/Loves to the one that leaves me with 1/8-1/4 tank of fuel. Pay a bit more for fuel but easy to get in an out of the truck islands and pumps are fast.

[Jbrusie]

I downloaded iExit Trucks. We'll see what its all about when I get some time...

[Kenelz]

The first day or two I can do 500+ miles, but after that 400 or less is more likely. I average around 50 mph.

I hit the road early, have just coffee before leaving, and make breakfast at first rest stop. Take an hour lunch break to relax and check map etc.

[vcbice]

Yep, we love Flying J RV islands. I can usually plan most of my fuel stops at Flying J's.

And, yes, one of the biggest reasons we have a diesel pickup is to be able to use the truck lanes.

[Dancingqueen]

In addition to bikes and/or fishing gear, give each of them a plastic dishbasin. Let them fill it up with what they want to bring, their choice. There are alwa ys rainy days,