Bringing my Mercedes Sprinter Van to America
Hi, I'm Peter from Germany. We plan to travel the States in our own Class B Motorhome. We want to ship it to Halifax or Baltimore an travel the country for 8 weeks. I supplied some information ab...
Forum Discussion
Best travel time? Interestingly, in another forum I was responding in regard to my lack of use of my generator (11 hour in over 50,000 miles) and air conditioner.
"One of my favorite desires is to camp in the southwest in spring and fall when overnight temps drop. During the day we spend our time outdoors and even in 90F temperatures we have with the sliding door screen and back door screen comfort in dry heat by eliminating the enclosed heat buildup. So far we have run air conditioning but a few very short times mainly to drive out the humidity.
In the summer we camp the upper Midwest northwoods of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. There is little need for air conditioning.
In the Rocky Mountains we've camped in high wooded country. Again, the need for air conditioning is minimal.
We camped mostly in Texas for two months in March and April this year. We needed to run our air conditioning that whole time but once mainly because of the humidity buildup. That was for about two-three hours and that one time was with an electrical hookup.
We got as far as Key West, Florida in October two years ago. The whole month from Galveston, TX to Key West we never ran our air conditioner.
Last summer we went to Alaska, a 10 week trip. We did not run our air conditioner once.
We have gone as long as 5 straight days with no hookups in a Sierra Nevada Mountain National Forest in California and in Glacier National Park on one (CA) or two (Glacier) batteries with minimal or no daytime travel. In both instances we did run our generator to top off not more than an hour each day. Mainly it was to brew coffee or run the microwave.
Good planning is one key. Maybe 40 years of tent camping experience conditions one in how to behave in the wilderness. Obviously don't go to Arizona and Florida in the summer if you can help it."
More planning advice. Stay north and in the mountains in the summer. The north usually closes down about October 15 and the middle of September in the Rockies. Stay out of the Midwest in the spring. Go south to Arizona, Texas, to Florida in the winter. Spring and fall are good most of the time around the country.
"One of my favorite desires is to camp in the southwest in spring and fall when overnight temps drop. During the day we spend our time outdoors and even in 90F temperatures we have with the sliding door screen and back door screen comfort in dry heat by eliminating the enclosed heat buildup. So far we have run air conditioning but a few very short times mainly to drive out the humidity.
In the summer we camp the upper Midwest northwoods of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. There is little need for air conditioning.
In the Rocky Mountains we've camped in high wooded country. Again, the need for air conditioning is minimal.
We camped mostly in Texas for two months in March and April this year. We needed to run our air conditioning that whole time but once mainly because of the humidity buildup. That was for about two-three hours and that one time was with an electrical hookup.
We got as far as Key West, Florida in October two years ago. The whole month from Galveston, TX to Key West we never ran our air conditioner.
Last summer we went to Alaska, a 10 week trip. We did not run our air conditioner once.
We have gone as long as 5 straight days with no hookups in a Sierra Nevada Mountain National Forest in California and in Glacier National Park on one (CA) or two (Glacier) batteries with minimal or no daytime travel. In both instances we did run our generator to top off not more than an hour each day. Mainly it was to brew coffee or run the microwave.
Good planning is one key. Maybe 40 years of tent camping experience conditions one in how to behave in the wilderness. Obviously don't go to Arizona and Florida in the summer if you can help it."
More planning advice. Stay north and in the mountains in the summer. The north usually closes down about October 15 and the middle of September in the Rockies. Stay out of the Midwest in the spring. Go south to Arizona, Texas, to Florida in the winter. Spring and fall are good most of the time around the country.
