As we celebrate our first month of full timing : ) We're making plans for our next few stops. Right now we prefer the interstates, and campgrounds relatively close to them. I'm feeling more comfortable each time I drive our 39ft. MH, with car on tow dolly. We like the recommendation of a 200 mile travel day, which is usually what we do, and staying a couple of days. We wanted to get south from NY, now we are in NC, with a winter destination of FL. Yes we have reservations.
BTW, that 10/11 am departure is a goal we're getting closer too each time. We pack up what we can the evening before, but hey we live here.
Dave and Denise said
09:29 AM Oct 17, 2017
We have learned that we prefer to stay in one place for a week, then move on. Our preferred travel day is a Thursday. That let's us get settled in before the weekend crowd comes in on Friday. We like to experience local festivals, fairs and farmers markets. By coming in on Thursday we have Friday to research what is happening on the weekend in the area. We also like to eat supper out the day of a move and the restaurants are usually less crowded on Thursday than Friday. We usually travel about 125 - 150 miles at a time.
NWescapee said
10:05 AM Oct 17, 2017
We almost always travel on the weekends, not retired and we don't want to use vacation time on travel days. We generally prefer Sunday if we're passing through any big cities, especially if we can get through the big city on Sunday morning. However, if we're heading into a city and it's the popular season for weekend campers we'll try to arrive on Saturday if possible to avoid the returning weekend traffic.
Our typical drive days are 300-350 miles, again, we're usually trying to make time and we prefer to travel on just one day of the weekend so we can have a day off to explore, relax, etc. We would prefer 250 mile travel days and generally won't go more than 400 miles.
As Howard has been quoted many times, "there's no right way to RV". I truly think that once we're retired we'll change our current travel habits, but for now, this works for us.
Barbaraok said
10:16 AM Oct 17, 2017
We usually move on Mondays. That means that Sunday after is 'quiet' at the place we are staying with all of the weekenders gone. And, surprisingly, we've found that Mondays are usually better days for getting through Metro areas than Sundays - - especially cities with sports franchises. Of course we don't leave until 9:30 am or so, so the morning commute traffic is gone. We are noticing more and more 'weekenders' seem to come into parks on Thursday afternoon/evenings
LarryW21 said
10:59 AM Oct 17, 2017
"Right now we prefer the interstates, and campgrounds relatively close to them"
I prefer the opposite...away from interstates and campgrounds close to them. As you gain more experience and realize the beautiful spots that are off state and county roads, I believe you will switch.
Cookie Dough said
02:49 PM Oct 17, 2017
Thank you, we have observed the weekend fill up. Next move is planned for a Monday. But Thursday's sound good for future planning. I like the no cooking on arrival ; ) we have usually done that. Larry, we will be heading to MT after a FL winter. I'm figuring to be away from the fray by then.
RonC said
06:11 PM Oct 17, 2017
A plus for moving on Sunday is that road construction crews normally don’t work on Sunday so the traffic tie ups they cause is lessened. That said, we moved today, which is Tuesday. We don’t have a favorite or preferred day to travel, but we do have a preferred way to travel. When we are going somewhere, we travel on a day and stay the next day moving again the following day. When we get where we were going we usually stay at least a week. We like 4 hours or less driving time and 200 miles or less travel days. We typically get on the road between 9:30 - 10:30. Using this process, we covered 6,708 miles in 2017, our first full year of full timing. We will stay in place for four months during the winter (01 Nov to 01 Mar). We will winter in Castroville, TX (just outside of San Antonio).
Lotsa ways to do this. 😀
igotjam said
06:25 PM Oct 17, 2017
We move when ever our stay is done. Used to think mid weeks was best but found less commercial traffic on the weekends. As far as we are concerned now, we don't have a preference. Having said that, there are some major centers we like to go through on weekends (Chicago & Salt Lake for example).
Lynn and Ed said
07:27 PM Oct 17, 2017
If we are traveling near larger urban areas, we prefer traveling on the weekend – preferring Sunday mornings to pass through more congested areas.
We prefer 250 miles or less travel days, although we regularly drive 300-400 miles and have driven as much as 565 miles in a single day – we prefer dealing with longer travel days than the annoyance of finding and staying in less desirable campground locations. As has been said many times, everyone does this differently.
Lynn
Terry and Jo said
06:28 PM Oct 20, 2017
Not related to a specific date, but I learned something that I won't forget this last month. We moved from SW Oregon to Southern Utah. In planning our move, which was over 4 days for the nearly 1000 miles, I factored in a lot of things like fuel stops and overnight stays.
What I failed to factor in PROPERLY was the effect of changing time zones and rush hour. Thus, as we approached Salt Lake City with the intent to overnight in Springville, south of there, I had factored the time wrong and we hit Salt Lake City at rush hour. The rear corner of our Mobile Suites now has a smudge of white page and a slightly bent door. However, the door still works properly. I had signaled and started to change lanes when a little white car decided he still needed to pass me. My swinging back into my original lane caused the rear of the trailer to swing right and contact the car. Wife was extremely perturbed with the owner of that car.
Terry
kb0zke said
03:00 PM Oct 21, 2017
Ideally, we move on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Things don't always happen that way, though. When we're working on a Habitat For Humanity Care-A-Vanner build we need to be at the designated campground on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes we can arrive on Saturday, sometimes not. If we can arrive on Saturday, we do. If not, we'll try to spend Saturday night fairly close, pack up/don't put out stuff, then plan to have nearly everything ready to travel before we go to church. After church we head out to the Care-A-Vanner parking.
We've been known to drive 100 miles extra to avoid big cities, but usually we can arrange things to go through them on Interstate highways during the day, either just before or just after lunch.
If we need to get somewhere quickly Interstate highways are great. The two-lane US highways are generally pretty good, and some State highways are also good. Some, though, have no shoulders and narrow lanes. That isn't consistent, though, even within a State. Earlier this year we stayed a few nights at one campground before moving to the one we really wanted. That had us travel on two State highways. One had no shoulders, the other had wide shoulders. They intersect each other, so it isn't like one is in one district and the other in another. Go figure.
We generally are up by 0700 most days anyway, so the day before a travel day I'll take care of as much outside stuff as I can. Then on the travel day, after I've washed the dishes I finish the outside stuff while Jo Ann works on the inside stuff. While air is building I unhook the electric cord and do one last outside check. We're usually hooked up and going down the road by 0900. Lunch is usually at a Wal-Mart parking lot or a rest area, and we're in the campground by 1500 at the latest. We rarely travel more than 250 miles in a day, and I keep speeds to 55-60 on the highway.
The Bear II said
11:00 AM Oct 23, 2017
Like others Tues through Thurs either before 7AM or After 9AM to miss most of the commuter traffic.
Our typical drive days are 300-350 miles, again, we're usually trying to make time and we prefer to travel on just one day of the weekend so we can have a day off to explore, relax, etc. We would prefer 250 mile travel days and generally won't go more than 400 miles.
As Howard has been quoted many times, "there's no right way to RV". I truly think that once we're retired we'll change our current travel habits, but for now, this works for us.
I prefer the opposite...away from interstates and campgrounds close to them. As you gain more experience and realize the beautiful spots that are off state and county roads, I believe you will switch.
Lotsa ways to do this. 😀
If we are traveling near larger urban areas, we prefer traveling on the weekend – preferring Sunday mornings to pass through more congested areas.
We prefer 250 miles or less travel days, although we regularly drive 300-400 miles and have driven as much as 565 miles in a single day – we prefer dealing with longer travel days than the annoyance of finding and staying in less desirable campground locations. As has been said many times, everyone does this differently.
Lynn
Not related to a specific date, but I learned something that I won't forget this last month. We moved from SW Oregon to Southern Utah. In planning our move, which was over 4 days for the nearly 1000 miles, I factored in a lot of things like fuel stops and overnight stays.
What I failed to factor in PROPERLY was the effect of changing time zones and rush hour. Thus, as we approached Salt Lake City with the intent to overnight in Springville, south of there, I had factored the time wrong and we hit Salt Lake City at rush hour. The rear corner of our Mobile Suites now has a smudge of white page and a slightly bent door. However, the door still works properly. I had signaled and started to change lanes when a little white car decided he still needed to pass me. My swinging back into my original lane caused the rear of the trailer to swing right and contact the car. Wife was extremely perturbed with the owner of that car.
Terry
We've been known to drive 100 miles extra to avoid big cities, but usually we can arrange things to go through them on Interstate highways during the day, either just before or just after lunch.
If we need to get somewhere quickly Interstate highways are great. The two-lane US highways are generally pretty good, and some State highways are also good. Some, though, have no shoulders and narrow lanes. That isn't consistent, though, even within a State. Earlier this year we stayed a few nights at one campground before moving to the one we really wanted. That had us travel on two State highways. One had no shoulders, the other had wide shoulders. They intersect each other, so it isn't like one is in one district and the other in another. Go figure.
We generally are up by 0700 most days anyway, so the day before a travel day I'll take care of as much outside stuff as I can. Then on the travel day, after I've washed the dishes I finish the outside stuff while Jo Ann works on the inside stuff. While air is building I unhook the electric cord and do one last outside check. We're usually hooked up and going down the road by 0900. Lunch is usually at a Wal-Mart parking lot or a rest area, and we're in the campground by 1500 at the latest. We rarely travel more than 250 miles in a day, and I keep speeds to 55-60 on the highway.