Oregon to Florida drive

[cgalutera1]

Has anyone driven with their 5th wheel from Oregon to Florida? How many days did it take? I am planning a vacation to Florida and would like to know if 4 days of driving is enough to get there.

Carlo

[Riverman]

According to the Google map, Beaverton to Orlando is about 3041 miles or 44 hours. How many hours will you drive a day? Four days would be 760 miles a day...... not for me.

[cgalutera1]

The plan is a total of 3 weeks of vacation. 7 days will be spent in the caribbean cruise., 3-4 days in Disney world. This leaves 10-11 days of total driving. I wonder if this is enough.

[Riverman]

6000 miles divided by 10 days = 600 a day.... I like 300 a day.

[RedHorse1]

Wow, that’s a long hike! When we pull I like to keep to about 350 mi/day. If you have more than 1 driver you could potentially cover as many mi/day as you want. I’m THE driver and we enjoy taking our time and seeing the sights which equates to most stopovers being at least 2 nights. We’re retired so we can spend our time as we wish. We turned a trip to WDW from Houston (about 1000 mi) into a month long trip. We moseyed our way east until a days drive to WDW where our grandson (and his parents) met up with us. The next day we “convoyed” to see the Mouse. 10 days with him and they took off for Houston and we started wandering our way home and arrived a little over a week and a half later.
My travel formula would have you on the road (1 way) at least a week and I don’t know if you have that kind of time available.

I hope you find a way to make this York out, Ft. Wilderness is a wonderful way to see the Mouse!

[Jim Smyth]

Originally Posted by Riverman

6000 miles divided by 10 days = 600 a day.... I like 300 a day.

Me too, 300-350 is plenty. That way we get in around noon and have the rest of the day to relax before heading out again the next day.

[Camper_bob]

In my experience, I can do more than 700 miles in a day. But not for more than two days in a row. And I'm going to need some serious downtime on day 3. 4 days in a row at over 700 miles a day is unthinkable, and I'm pretty tough about such things.

Our last big trip out, I can't remember how many miles our longest day was, but IIRC it was 760 miles. I think total "seat time" was well over 14 hours. I was totally blown after that day, and I had done about 400 miles the day before that. And DW even drove some of that day too. It wasn't dangerous for me to be at the wheel at the end of the journey, but I certainly couldn't have gone much longer.

Generally, we try to limit our days to 400 miles. Using the old trucker's rule of 50 mph average travel speed (which tends to be right on for us), that puts us at about 8 hours. I can do 3-4 days like that in a row before I really start to get worn out. But the family has trouble with that, so we don't do that very often. We will make exceptions for the last leg of a journey, if we're trying really hard to reach a certain place, or on the return trip home, AND if I know I have an easy day the following day.

All of this is coming from the perspective of driving a Motorhome. I have the added advantage of not having to stop for food, restroom breaks, etc. I can make it so I stop only for fuel (which is when I use the restroom) and to sleep, but again, for the sake of the family, we tend to stop in picnic areas or rest areas to eat (where we make/prepare our own meals). We couldn't go nearly as far for as long when we were towing a trailer.

[ROC-REQS]

cgalutera1

I've always used a rule of thumb that when pulling a trailer and with stops, etc. you average between 50 - 55 miles/hr.

So it depends on how many hours / day you want to drive.

As Riverman indicated, if it would be 760 miles a day to make it in 4 days.
That would be 14 - 15 hrs driving / day.

600 miles / day would be ~10-12 hr drive each day - for 4-5 days straight.
IMO that would be a tough 4-5 days and you may need a day or 2 to recover from the drive.

I'm with the other's, I prefer to drive only ~200 - 250 miles/day, 350 max.
But, personally, I wouldn't want to drive 350 miles / day for 4+ days straight.

Good luck and hope you have a great vacation & cruise.

[Jerlclar1]

300 miles a day, I can't wait until I retire and have more free time. lol We do Indianapolis to Disney in one day(1000 miles) and last summer we made it from Key West to Indy in 29 hours(1360 miles) with one driver. So it depends on your desire and ability.

[Camper_bob]

I forgot to mention another part of long driving days is recovery time. For me, it's not like when we stop, I can just hop out of the cockpit into the bed and crash. No, it takes me some time to "unwind" before I can fall asleep. And even then, it's not like I'm getting really deep, restful sleep.

OTOH, my dad can stop at a rest stop, kick back the seat and snooze for an hour or two, wake right up, go to the restroom, hop back in and keep going for hours. I don't know how he does it... And the man can literally sleep ANYWHERE, drives me nutz...

[Jim Smyth]

Last August I drove straight through from Central Wi to Central Fl (20 hours of driving in 24 hours) by myself and then back again 2 days later. That wasnt towing anything this time and for me its as much mental as physical. I am used to long distance hailing however my wife (who doesnt drive the 5th wheel at all) and my dog and 2 cats are not into long hauls per say. So we are retired and like to drive at a nice leisurely pace when camping.

[Flyrotor]

I have not driven to Florida, but on multiple occasions I have driven distances of 1500 to 1800 miles from home. I have also driven 1000-1200 miles in a single day. I personally find 500-600 miles doable for 2-3 days in a row, And I find 500 miles to be my comfort level on long, multi day trips.

Personally I would plan for a 6 day drive from your location to Florida, and maybe drive as long as I am comfortable and actually complete it in 5 days, but I don’t think I could drive it in 4 days.

Also, I am the driver whenever pulling the trailer.

[GHen]

I am also ok with about 900 miles in a day, but then I need a couple days of rest. If I am doing a long trip, 3-400 mile maximum a day is where I am at to be comfortable every day.
If I can completely avoid city traffic I can go on the high side. If I’m hitting city traffic, 5 hours is my max, which can be under 200 miles.

Seems to me if you’re not going to make any stops to enjoy the country, it would be cheaper to fly than to pay for the wear and tear, depreciation and fuel for a long trip like that. Based on $0.40 per mile, which I think is low, My calculation is around $2000 to drive round trip to Florida from Washington, plus food and some campground costs. Could get to $3000 pretty quick.

[Woodworker]

An to think I won't drag my camper on a trip that takes more days round trip than I plan on camping. I commend you.

[TCNashville]

300 miles a day? How do you guys get anywhere? I have that covered by noon, lol. Plus that's the maximum distance I can go before I have to pee/fuel up. 700 miles a day is easily doable from 7am to 7pm depending on route. I'm not retired so it's more about the destination than the trip. I don't bother with campgrounds on long trips, I just find a motel with a big parking lot, then relax with some adult beverages to take the edge off.

[WeRJuliian]

There is a reason why truckers are only allowed to drive 11 hours in 14, then 10 hours rest.

[TCNashville]

Originally Posted by WeRJuliian

There is a reason why truckers are only allowed to drive 11 hours in 14, then 10 hours rest.

Yes I completely agree. I get to stop every 4 hours because my bladder is full and my fuel tank is empty. I guess you could equate towing an RV with driving a semi. Actually driving a semi might be easier, lol. When driving your personal vehicle long distances it's up to each of us to realize our limitations without pushing it.

[goducks]

I live in Oregon. No way would I want to do that trip in that short of time. That would be a waste of time if you asked me. If thats all the time you have them just fly out and back. It will be much cheaper any way. Much more relaxing. Rent a car for the Disney time and do some other site seeing.
Gas alone would be near $2000K.You could fly and rent a car for way less than that. If it were me thats a trip I'd want to do in a month. 7-8 days driving each way with some meandering here and there. Time to stop and look at the scenery.
My gosh some of the states you'll go through will be as boring as heck too.
Not for me.

[Rock]

X2 on that, fly and rent a car. U will also have no breakdown worries being on a time line.

[GHen]

My daughter did that trip so her friend with have someone with her on their long trip, the first couple days were fun, then it became a miserable chore. Even in a comfortable car and hotels, she said she would never do that again.