Austin, TX to Orlando, FL

It's a lot further than we like to drive in one day. Like KO we usually stop in the FL panhandle, near Pensacola the first day out. And we are a 120 miles further north than Orlando. We used to really push it on the first couple of days before I retired and we lost the vacation time pressure. We would commonly make it into Mississippi or further. But those were long days on the road, stopping around 8PM and that was with picking up an hour at the Eastern/Central zone change on the Apalachicola bridge. You -lose- an hour going east.

I see it's almost 700 miles from Austin to Gulf Shores. And you have that slow drive thru Houston. That will cost you 60-90 minutes of driving time.

BK

LA or MS always, one or the other or both, have the road torn up near the Mississippi river bridge. So it seems like there is always a traffic jam, the east bound lane was backed up for miles when we went thru going west. Stay on I-12 when you get near New Orleans.

No construction at the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge but it is the only place on I-10 between California and Jacksonville Florida where it turns into 1 lane. Construction south of I-12 going to N.O. but you should take the I-10/I-12 split east at B.R. and avoid N.O. Watch speed limit in B.R. on I-12. East bound traffic is heavy from about 3:00 P.M. until about 7 P.M. and should be avoided. Road is very bad near mile marker 25 at Lake Charles and east of Lafayette for several miles.

Careful going east before you enter the tunnel at Mobile. The curve before the tunnel can be challenging if going beyond posted speed limit.

Road is very bumpy for several miles east of Lake Charles near mile marker 25 and east of Lafayette until the Basin.

It's a long haul but can be done. We did Disney spring break 2014 and drove Orlando to Mobile the 1st day and Mobile to Dallas the 2nd day.

Appreciate again hearing everyone's experiences. We are in Cedar Park (just north of Austin). Am I correct that Gulf Shores is about 35 miles past Pensacola? Doesn't seem that much further than Florida panhandle. Maybe y'all are right that it's too aggressive trying to reach Gulf Shores from Orlando...haven't had the experience yet of towing a travel trailer many hours in a day. My map shows Orlando to Gulf Shores is 482 miles and should take a little over 7 hrs of drive time (and then add whatever stops we make). Figured that might look like 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM at latest.

What do folks recommend as a comfortable daily drive limit (hours and miles) hauling a travel trailer? Is it more tiring/stressful towing a trailer than just driving across the country? Again we're a family of five in a Ford F-250 Lariat CC - kids ages 9, 12, 14.

We're certainly not married to the idea of staying over in Gulf Shores. On the map it just looked like a reasonable destination to try to get to from Orlando. Not being retired yet I tend to want my vacation days to be spent on the "vacation part" and I try to minimize my travel days...so I do probably tend to drive too far in a day.

Would Florida panhandle RV campgrounds be as nice or nicer than Gulf Shores (never camped at either place)? Any recommended destinations for stopping over for the night heading out from Orlando?

Well retired people like me with no time pressure aim for 300 mi days. But when we had limited time then I used to push it to 500 mi sometime further. I once did from just east of Dallas to North Florida in 30 hours or so. I only did that once tho.

Yes it can be a lot more stressful hauling a trailer. When your rig is 40 or 50 feet long then you can't maneuver like you can when you aren't towing. The least stress is to plant yourself in the right hand lane and set the speed control to 62 mph. Trailer tires are not rated for high speeds and you get a lot more blowouts if you try to travel at 75 mph.

BK

Seven hours to 482 hours is too optimistic. You would have to average 70 MPH which is too dangerous pulling anything. You can not average that by car.

When my son was at the University of Florida it was 600 miles. All interstate and drove that at least 30 times. Never did better than 9 1/2 hours for 600 miles and that was very tiring by car with another driver with me. I pull at 60-62 MPH and average 50 MPH with necessary stops and traffic.

I think the very definition of stress would be 3 kids in the back seat of a vehicle during a 700 mile day. :)

My travel speed is also about 62 MPH. I drive a 38' Class A diesel. I find I do have to stop every 2.5 to 3 hours to stretch and walk the dog. Weather can be severe in the gulf coast and may slow or stop your travel.

There is a KOA right off I-10 at the Milton FL exit which is just east of Pensacola. They have a pool so kids can go jump in and burn some energy.

The campgrounds do seem to get a bit harder to find in the AL, MS and LA states. They are there but typically further from interstate.

Houston traffiic will definitly slow your average speed down.

The trip can be done as you planned - but it will make for some long days. When I drive my car (not the RV) I make Tampa to CA in 2.5 days but that is 14 hour days behind the wheel.

Thank you for the wisdom and experiences. Sounds like I need to temper my optimism and recalibrate!