Daily miles

[EVMIII]

I am starting to plan our first big trip and just wondering how far most folks travel each day. Not in a big hurry, but not wanting to lolligag either. I'm thinking of trying to limit travel to about 350 miles each day (roughly 7 hours max). Currently not planning on overnighting at Walmart, rest stops, truck stops etc, but try to hit campsites so I'd like to stop each day before dark (about 5 that time of year). Set-up, get a good night rests, get up early and start again.

Do you guys have daily mileage guidelines?

Have you ever overnighted at Walmart or the like? Hassles? Get any sleep?

Been working on getting the tow vehicle and trailer ready. New tires on truck, new tires on trailer before trip.

Any other tips in my initial planning? Trip is scheduled for Aug 17.

Thanks

Bud

[sourdough]

I think there all kinds of schools of thoughts on this and you can probably find some of the discussions in a search of the site.

Personally I try to stick to around 7 hours (9-4). That lets me have a pretty leisurely day and time to stop in the evening to set up, refuel, fix dinner, relax and get a good nights sleep. If a location is interesting (last year it was Vicksburg, MS) we will schedule 3-4 days to look around.

Many folks drive until they're tired and find a spot. Some stay at Walmarts and truck stops. I've not stayed at a Walmart but I have stayed at a truck stop and won't again. I'm a lite sleeper and listening to semi's rumbling all night keeps me awake. I'm also a pretty structured person and don't like to wait until the end of the day and try to find some place to park in a new area. Before I leave on a trip I research my route, interesting things to see and do enroute then find RV parks along the way based on their location according to my driving schedule and ratings/reviews. That way I know every day, whether I get there at 2pm or 8pm, where I'm going to be and that I have a place waiting. To us the planning is a lot of fun.

[byrdr1]

You will get various answers here but most stick to pretty tight time line of no more than 6-7 hours driving while towing.
I can attest to this statement during our summer months trips to OK and back twice.
My plan was to cover the 20 plus hour/1250 mile on way trip while towing the 5er in 4 days. That's a 5 hour day driving and give or take 300-350 mile day. Pretty do-able in my opinion.
Plans were made we left on Friday night memorial day weekend and drove from central NC to Pigeon Forge,TN with No reservations on a holiday weekend. BUT it worked out we found a nice CG to stay at. Left the next morning with plans to make to Nashville or somewhere between there and Memphis. Got to driving and was doing a good job at it. Ended up driving to Sallisaw, OK KOA, for a close to 758-mile day and close to 12 hours behind the wheel, stopped when I needed too, to go bathroom break or eat or just stretch my legs. Wasn't planned at all just did it. GOT up next morning and we were like 260 or so miles from Lawton, OK. so that made that day an easy drive. Coming home minus camper my wife helped me drive and we made it half way home the first day stopping in Memphis and Beale Street and back to Pigeon Forge as tourist and then home the 4th day.
10 weeks later we did it again going out non-5er made it in 2 days and coming home in 3 with camper. Another Saturday with a long day behind the wheel,(Lawton, OK to Jackson,TN) not planned but did it again as I was glad to see my camper after 10 weeks. Then back to Pigeon Forge, TN for a night and then home again .
So after I have beat this thread to death..
ITS do-able with a long day behind the wheel if need be, but it is not the preferred way. I have figured out that If I need to start going to the
mid-west to see my family(baby girl) I need a driveable coach. Hauling the 5er is all good but I will need a tow vehicle sometime soon. AND if I have to invest in a 50 plus thousand dollars truck and still have the 5er to pull why not just move on up to a drivable rig with an easy type Toad behind.
Happy trails,
randy

[Mike484]

For the most part, you will have to judge for yourself, but never try to push your limits, remember whats behind you, you dont want to try and work it if your tired.

Personally, I dont get in a hurry. In the morning, make sure everything is packed, ready to go, and I have a fresh hot cup of coffe for the ride. Then stop for lunch, go in, sit down and relax, refuel, and head out again. Then will stop well before dark to set up before I have to try and do it with a flash light. But then, if we are stopping just for an over night, there's not a lot of set up (we don't unhook from the truck, just use the jack to level the trailer, hook up the electric if we need the A/C, and use the fresh water tank, sometimes we wont even run out the slide) so we can go a little farther.

The most important thing is being on top of your game while towing, one little slip up can be very disastrous.

[EVMIII]

Thanks for the replies, I think everyone séems to be on about the same plan. Safety is always foremost. I was a professional planner in the USAF for twenty years and am trying to learn to travel with a little more flexibility (not my nature).

I certainly don't need to be in any big hurry. The first 1400 miles are just to meet up with our traveling partners and start our journey. After that it will be more destination based trips. Safe travels all.

[bsmith0404]

I'm a bit different than most here. When I retired from the AF I made the 1,200 mile trip to home over a 4 day period. That's how many travel days they gave me so we decided to take it easy and relax now that we are retired. It just about drove me insane. Stop when I was still fresh and set up camp (basic, not a full set up). Then go again the next day....too much BS, hindsight being 20/20 I would have done it in 2-3 days. We made the same trip last spring so the kids could see old friends, 2 days each way. I prefer to go about 600 miles per day, it's just comfortable for me. I stop about every 2-3 hours for a 15-20 minute break. At night we stop at a campground that is close to the highway, basic setup. We typically go grab a bite to eat instead of cooking, and I fuel the truck. I run an aux tank and have a 1,000 mile towing range, so I don't need fuel during the day.

When I first retired, I transported RVs, spent many nights in Walmart parking lots. It's not bad, almost like a campground with the other RVs around you. The only limiting factor is the weather. Since we don't travel with a generator, if you need to use AC it's a no go.

[Alpine]

Whoa.... I'm the odd man out! We are retired as well and full timers since May of 2013. Our longest mileage day was a brutal 350 miles!!! Our shortest travel day was 85 miles! Our average would really be 150 miles per day. We get up enjoy our coffee/breakfast and leave just before "checkout" times. Stopping around 3 to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We have the luxury of time and nowhere to be anytime soon. We enjoy the journey just as much as we enjoy the destination. My DW has always had an RV park/resort to stay in and have not had to stay in a parking lot. We have stayed at several locations for 1 month and sometimes 3 months. At the out set we purchased two Honda 2000 generators, and the only times I started them was just to keep them in running condition. Needless to say we sold them last year on CL. However you all choose to travel... for sure be safe!

[CaptnJohn]

Never in a hurry. I just go until I feel it will be time to quit. Rarely less than 6 hours and never more than 13. Never in Walmart and almost never in a truck stop. Prefer a rest area for a nap and moving at daylight after a CG. If stopping early a CG is always 1st choice if a pull thru is available before dark ~~ thankfully there are apps today.

[notanlines]

Bud, there you have it. From Randy pushing 758 miles in 12 hours to Alpine cranking out a paltry 85. You have alot to choose from, probably the one thing that will be the most important factor is what roads you travel and what cities you travel through. We have spent many nights in Walmart lots. We always ask and always shop a little to show our appreciation. We have never tried the Cracker Barrel lots because the jerk four-wheelers have always used up all the RV spaces.
You never did run your destinations by us. What direction are you headed from Biloxi?

[Barbell]

We travel like Alpine. Our fastest trip across country (Charleston, SC to Arizona) was two weeks. 300 miles is a long day for us. I almost never fuel with the fiver attached and I use Pilot/Flying J pretty regularly. Most stops are for at least two nights and some for several nights like in Vicksburg. Just finished a SMART caravan where we spent about 35 days from Northern Minnesota to St Louis. Longest day was 185 miles. Being retired, we don't have any place where we HAVE to be at any particular time. Also top speed is 60 to 63 mph. When we are passed by another RV, we say "there goes another newby".

[EVMIII]

Thanks to all.

First trip is to Rushmore , Yellowstone and surrounding areas. We are meeting friends in the the Badlands of South Dakota and traveling on from there. Plan to take 4 days getting to SD(1400 miles) then travel will be all location oriented. Plan now is to hit CGs along the way. Get a good night sleep and get out early in the morning. I can cover 350 miles a day without over doing it. Probably come home by heading South until I10 and on home. Expect total duration to be about 3 weeks.

[Dave W]

Last years trip we did just over 500 miles for our longest day with 57 as our shortest. This years trip was 421 for the longest day with 165 for the shortest. Generally, now that we are OFs, 325 to 350 is about all I want to travel in a day. In our youth, we felt that 500 was a good day with 6-700 even better. There was much less traffic, especially semis, 35 years ago and even going around cities like Chicago or Houston was a breeze. No more. You do what you and the rest of the family are comfortable with. Remember, it is usually supposed to be a vacation, not an endurance run. Oh, and I/we don't do Walmarts or truck stops or anything else but a CG - our safety comes first plus the ability to sleep well - remember, again, it IS a vacation trip for most of us:D

[WaltBennett]

We've two dogs and I try to stop about ever 100 miles to let them walk a bit. Furthest we've gone in one day even doing that was about 450 miles but I try doing 300 to 350.

[Campy]

Thanks to all.

First trip is to Rushmore , Yellowstone and surrounding areas. We are meeting friends in the the Badlands of South Dakota and traveling on from there. Plan to take 4 days getting to SD(1400 miles) then travel will be all location oriented. Plan now is to hit CGs along the way. Get a good night sleep and get out early in the morning. I can cover 350 miles a day without over doing it. Probably come home by heading South until I10 and on home. Expect total duration to be about 3 weeks.

We did Rushmore in 2012 and had a great time. Stayed at Mt Rushmore KOA and that was a mistake but other than that it was awesome, spent 9 days there seeing all the sites and driving one day to Devils tower. We drove half way one day and stayed in a Walmart and finished up the next day. Coming back we went to the Mall of America for two days and the mosquitos was so bad we could not go out of the camper.

[busterbrown]

Stayed at Mt Rushmore KOA and that was a mistake but other than that it was awesome,

We're considering the KOA at Mt Rushmore when we visit next summer. Can you elaborate on your bad experience. The corporate website has relatively nice reviews.

[Dave W]

The KOA reviews are often well edited before being posted on their web site.

We stayed here - Fort Welikit Family Campground (http://www.blackhillsrv.com/) just South of Rushmore outside of Custer, SD - and were very happy. Clean, nice sites though some, not all, are a bit small for a large rig for which I've found our little 38 footer 'qualifies'

[ctbruce]

We stayed here this summer at mount Rushmore area and loved it. Convenient to everything and beautiful area. We would stay here again.
http://www.rafterj.com
Mileage wise we like to stay 350 400 max. We did a 550 hauling tail to get back. I won't be doing that again any time soon!


Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2015 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ
WELL....THAT WAS FUN!

[bsmith0404]

As far as the Rushmore area, there are way too many options out there that are nicer/less expensive than a KOA. We stayed at Big Pine and really like it. The owners are very friendly as well. Custer has many campgrounds and it's a very easy drive to Rushmore, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, and Jewel Cave. Can't go wrong staying in Custer.