So, after towing the White Hawk for 6500 miles, I must say...

[Murff]

...that we will probably not do it again.

Towing from one end of Interstate 90 (Seattle) to almost the other (Boston) and back over three weeks takes a toll on a body and a relationship and on the trailer.

I would like to share a few observations, though.

Tires: You know those "crappy" Rainier tires that are probably on your some of your Jaycos? Well, the Rainiers on my White Hawk now have over 17,000 miles on them with no problems.

For this trip, I took some advice from some of you and installed a Tire Minder Brand tire pressure monitor system. The unit did kick up a couple of "No signal" alarms the first week but worked great the last two weeks.

Ford F150: Okay, I am a techno dinosaur when it comes to pick up trucks. Even though the TV is 6 years old, the information display is impressive. The "Tow/Haul" mode is fantastic for knowing when to shift down to descend long grades saving the brakes. I really like the Fuel Economy mode headed east as we managed 10.5 MPG. I hated it heading west with the constant head wind and getting only 8.9 mpg. (Also hated the F150 adding 6500 miles to it's odometer). Also nice being able to see the Tranny temp!

The 5.0 engine performed well on 6% grades usually shifting to 3rd gear and only once or twice into 2nd and still maintaining 60MPH.



GPS: Bought a Garmin 760 used from eBay. The 760 has three settings, car, RV or Semi truck. You can enter your information into the device (length, height, width) and it will avoid areas that you should not try to fit. With an app and connection to your smart phone, it gives you updates as to traffic on your route, with route options, weather conditions, including radar. You can talk to it and it does okay with voice recognition making the device hands free. It also doubles as a speaker phone. The 7 inch screen is very nice, too.

A Garmin 660 or the new 770 would also be good choices.

Favorite Campground App & Website: RVParky.com We have used this app for a few years. Great for finding a campground, RV park or state parks.

Also used "Rest Area" app. Nice to find rest areas on your route.

Camping: When we reached our destination in Massachusetts, we dry camped for four nights. This is new for us as we are ones to appreciate full hook ups. When we arrived at the state park, we filled the fresh water tank. I also had a 32 gallon Tote 'n Stor in case I needed to empty the holding tanks. Bare in mind, we love to use our trailer bathroom and even though dry camped, we never used the campground rest rooms. We managed to conserve water enough to make it all four nights without using the "Blue boy".

We brought along the the Yamaha 2000 generator and it got fired up each day for about an hour to make coffee and so SWMBO could dry her hair. The two 6-volt golf cart batteries got just enough charge to keep them happy.

Conclusion: Driving against the wind sucks. You get really tired fighting the steering wheel.

Will we do it again? Never this far again. We have done Michigan, Ohio and New Mexico the last few years. we made better notes this time to remind us not to do it next year. Closer trips, yes.

Murff

[amather]

Thank you, I enjoyed reading about your trip

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Big1]

Awesome info, so since you said that you would never do it again what would you change, TT or going MH or fiver or want drive that far again, do just short trip?

[robkelly]

Great summary and observations! Glad you made it home safely!

[steveb285rks]

You would be amazed at the difference a big diesel pickup makes in traveling comfort. It is usually way overkill for most though. At least you did it. Many are all talk and no action.

[Murff]

Originally Posted by Big1

Awesome info, so since you said that you would never do it again what would you change, TT or going MH or fiver or want drive that far again, do just short trip?

Short trips of no more than 1500 to 2000 miles. We have been looking at motorhomes the last few days, but just do not want to justify the expense.

One other thing, SWMBO retired three weeks ago, so in the future, trips can start when we want and not what the calendar dictates.

We took 10 days going east but returned in seven with a stop at Niagara Falls and Indianapolis. If not for wanting to get home by the 4th of July, we could have shortened the number of miles per day and maybe stayed more than one night at an particular stop.

Murff

[oldmanAZ]

Great information. Thanks for posting.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by Murff

Short trips of no more than 1500 to 2000 miles. We have been looking at motorhomes the last few days, but just do not want to justify the expense.

One other thing, SWMBO retired three weeks ago, so in the future, trips can start when we want and not what the calendar dictates.

We took 10 days going east but returned in seven with a stop at Niagara Falls and Indianapolis. If not for wanting to get home by the 4th of July, we could have shortened the number of miles per day and maybe stayed more than one night at an particular stop.

Murff

We've found that trips up to about 2500 miles are about the upper limit for us as well. There are a lot of places you can go in that distance. We also considered motor homes when we were were looking - my parents pretty much full-timed in a 36ft Bounder for many years. But same as you - just couldn't justify the extra expense for another drive train.

Glad you had a safe, though somewhat eventful trip. Have a safe 4th!

[Murff]

Thanks for the kind words!

Murff

[Big1]

Originally Posted by Murff

Short trips of no more than 1500 to 2000 miles. We have been looking at motorhomes the last few days, but just do not want to justify the expense.

One other thing, SWMBO retired three weeks ago, so in the future, trips can start when we want and not what the calendar dictates.

We took 10 days going east but returned in seven with a stop at Niagara Falls and Indianapolis. If not for wanting to get home by the 4th of July, we could have shortened the number of miles per day and maybe stayed more than one night at an particular stop.

Murff

Awesome, yeah we are retired also but we do have a church that my wife and I pastor but we can get away anytime, we have a trip plan for this September to Vegas NV so it's about 1,200 there.

[norty1]

Great concise write up. It's hard sometimes to find out what works for you. We have also found that the long trips are enjoyable but also not as enjoyable. We prefer to go to a central location within 6 hours drive and stay a week or so.

Knowing what you enjoy and having the freedom to do it is a great way to enjoy rving.

[Bassdogs]

Longest trip with our 14 W Hawk was our 2017 7 week winter trip [about 2800 miles. Several trips in the 1200 to 2000 range. Straight tow thru range limit is typically 400 - 500 per day and maybe 2 days without at least a couple day layover. The W Hawk is a dream to tow and we pulled it one season with a 1500 before upgrading to a 2500 Duramax. I highly recommend a diesel if you are anywhere close to tow limits or payload maxes. Modern diesels do not bring the kinds of issues with cold weather use and noise that were common years ago. The torque and engine braking are two of my favorite features of a diesel.

Back to towing. Towing for more than 2 long days with a layover of less than a minimum of 10 days before heading back home, for us is a thing of the past. Its great to be retired and debt free. Good retirement planning and a generous application of common sense has resulted in several years [so far] of carefree travels.

[vcbice]

We used to go from NM to Seattle and NM to SC once a year for my vacations to see the kids. We did each way in three days or a bit less. Limited time means longer days. But, I love driving so the hours don't bother me.

Now retired, we are full timers. When 'traveling' someplace specific I still drive at 65mph but we leave later and stop earlier. We will also stay over at a place for an extra day or two if there is something to see there.

[apr1967]

I'm with Bassdog. We don't do more than 2 days of driving without at least day break.

We really want to do the grand canyon, which is 1800 miles one way. We are going to need a month for that trip with about 1 week each direction for travel and rest.

[vcbice]

Grand Canyon. If you make the trip you might want to plan on Bryce and Zion as well. I like to recommend Bryce, Zion, North RIm GC then South Rim. If you do the South Rim first the rest are anticlimactic.

On the way there stop at Moab and Arches and Canyonlands NPs.

If you have more time then Grand Escalante and Mesa Verrde.

Yep, the problem is there is a TON of stuff in southern UT, Northern AZ , CO and northern NM.