First Long Trip questions

[Poppy21]

My wife and I are new to camping. We have made a few short trips over the past 4 months. We are planning a trip to Pigeon Forge this summer with 3 of our grand sons. We live in Covington, LA and it looks to be about a 650 mile trip. We plan to make it to the Birmingham are on the first leg, spend the night then continue on the second leg the next day. This trip will be in a new 2021 310 RLTS Jayco that we will be getting next week. My questions are as follows?
Is that too much traveling in 2 days? Set up, tare down, Travel?
Where is a good place to stay in the Birmingham Area?
What is the normal travel day mileage that you would recommend?
Thanks

[Midnightmoon]

No, 650 miles over 2 days is definitely not too much travel. I tend to run much further than that in a day, but many people like to stay in that ~300 miles/day rate for a relaxed pace.

I would plan out your fuel stops ahead of time and also pick and book an easy access campground for your overnights stay during travel.

[TaftCoach]

I try to follow the rule of four. 400 miles or 4 pm. But I sometimes will want to get just a little more miles in or just to the other side of that city. I try to stay connected and sometimes won't even bother with the stabilizers. We plan "road meals" that are easy to fix and easy to clean. We generally put on 5,000 to 10,000 miles per summer.

[Tunce the traveler]

If I have to run for 2-3 days I stay hooked up and plug in electric & water, that’s about 10 minutes and your done. Usually pull in around 4:00, that gives you time for a light dinner ( your not burning calories driving for 350 miles)and a long walk.

[RGVal]

All good suggestion, For quick stops most any truck stop will do ,just try not to park close to them. Being a new unit I would keep to major highways ,just in case you do have an issue with new unit. We have done two summer trios 5-6,000. each in our 2011 22FB no major issues. Enjoy the kids now they won't be small long.

[rkymntsno]

Sounds like a great trip with the grandkids. We took a trip to Pigeon Forge when we took delivery of our fifth wheel and flew our two grandkids into Nashville and picked them up there. Love Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg! So much to do there, hope you booked a week!!!!!

[RedHorse1]

The Bride and I visited that area in ‘19 during our 6 week “south-east loop” (from the Houston area). We loved our stay there and I’m sure y’all will too.
Being retired I’ve found that about 350 miles is my max for a day. In addition, being retired, we like to spend 2 nights at least on each stop. Less stress and a little time for maintenance as needed. Before I retired we were burning vacation days on our trips and we overnighted on stops to maximize our time at the destination.
In ‘18 we met up with our g’son (and his parents) in the I10-I75 area and caravaned to WDW where we spent 10 days at Ft. wilderness and then headed home. The kids burned 2 weeks by making the Houston/Orlando trek in 2 days each way, us old folks took our time in both directions and spent 4 weeks.
Depending on the g’kids ages I HIGHLY recommend that trip.
Have a great adventure and safe travels!

[spoon059]

300 miles a day is a nice leisurely pace. At 60 mph, that's 5 hours of driving. Depending upon your vehicle, you might not even need to fuel up on the road. We usually try to keep our driving under 5 hours a day if possible. We'll stop halfway at highway rest areas and use our own bathroom and make ourselves lunch, stretch our legs walking the dogs and change a diaper.

[RAurand]

If you plan on 50 mph (yes, I know you dont drive that slow) but, when I drove big trucks, that is what I used and to this day, I still do. With stops and everything, you will be surprised how close it works out.

We check Walmarts and stay in the parking lots when traveling. We go anywhere from 500 to 750 miles in a day BUT, my wife and 19 year old daughter split the driving with me.
Found this link very helpful:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...2590525882&z=5

Then, we look at google maps satellite view, zoom in. If it looks like a good parking lot, we call, ask for a manager, and ask if it is ok if we stop there for the night. ALWAYS, IF POSSIBLE TALK TO A MANAGER and get their name.

[triplebvalp]

Poppy21, That will be a nice trip. We are in the Panhandle of Florida and have made the journey to the Pigeon Forge area on several occasions. We pull a 34' FW with a one ton truck and usually travel between 300 miles to 400 per day. BTW, we will be in Pigeon Forge in June also

Generally, when we have just an overnight stop, we won't disconnect ... I just hook up water and electric. In Birmingham, a great place to stay right off of I-65 is Birmingham South RV. Most of their sites are pull-throughs and I believe they always assign a pull-thru site to someone that is staying one night.

https://www.birminghamrvpark.com/

We have also stayed at Desoto State Park which is a little further North out of Birmingham ... GREAT state park but they require a 2 night stay during the summer months.

https://www.alapark.com/parks/desoto-state-park

[Big1]

Welcome from WA, I love those Pinnacle and the NP.

[Grumpy]

As other's have said a 350 mile day will be easy to accomplish. That was our norm from day 1 with our kids and we rarely varied even when we traveled without them. Even now I hardly drive over a 400 mile day even when not towing.

As Tunce said we never disconnected for the overnights either unless we couldn't get it level. Always made ressies for a pull through if they were available. Also:

[travelingjw]

Agree with everything above with one addition. I wouldn't travel more than 5 hours if the kids are new to traveling. Part of the fun is stopping along the way, each stop is a new adventure for them. When we were traveling with the kids we learned to stay focused on all of the family enjoying the trip, and that included the driver. Depending upon how old they are you might try the game of what do you see that is unique to this stop. It may provide you with some good discussion for a few minutes when everyone gets back in the rig. And I guarantee you will get some laughs along the way because what may be unique to you has nothing to do with what is unique to the kids.

[Poppy21]

Looks like I'm on the right thought process. 300 miles per day and shut down by 4pm as Taftcoach said seem to be what would work best. Thanks

[Poppy21]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. We are excited to make this trip. We have taken these 3 grandsons on many vacations over the past 10 years. This one will be special as it will be in an RV. Also they at and age now that this might be the last one that the three will want to go on. We have had a lot of great adventures. Soon it will be time to start taking the second set of grandkids . We have e have 4 more that are 5 and younger. It's going to be great retracing the adventures we did with the older ones.

[Steven&Teresa1]

Don’t forget if you ever get in a jam, Cracker Barrel’s and Walmart’s allow overnights for free, they’re well lit and safe. We always laugh, and you would be surprised at the number of campers pulled in for the night. One time I counted33 campers, a record, although usually only 6-10. Have Fun.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

We usually drive 300-400 miles per day and figure on 50 mph average - 300 miles is six hours.

Sounds like you've planned a nice vacation. When we were in that area a couple years ago we stayed in Kodak, TN., Dumplin Valley RV park, a farm and bluegrass venue. Great place, highly recommended.

Good luck and best wishes for lots of wonderful memories in your new rig!

[Dgibbster]

Driving out motorhome pulling trailer or jeep have gone 1200+ miles in two days, switching drivers. But alone i drive around 400-500 a day on long trips

[Bayoutalker]

It depends how much you want to setup your camper. Personally I would rather drive all the way and setup once. I've done 10-11 hours in a day. I'm hooked up the night before and ready to go in the morning. Usually on the road by 5am and setup by 4pm. That gives an extra 2 days where I want to be, one on each end.

[usmc616]

I think if you and the grandkids want to enjoy the journey you should take 3 days getting there this way when you pull into the site you have time to set up and let the children play. Young kids get bored in a truck all day .