Forum Discussion
Matt_Colie
Jul 27, 2017Explorer II
Tommy,
My first concern is that Manchester (NH) (You do know that every NE state has a Manchester?) To Paducah is like 1300 miles. For three days at over 400 per day is a tough push for a single driver and an unfamiliar vehicle. Push your son to be navigator. It gives him something to do and takes that load off the driver. Start the training TODAY.
I know you are thinking a 400 mile road day is not all that tough. We used to pull the 860 to take the kids to the grands, but that was a car and two drivers and a route that I could still write down from memory. That will not be the case here. You will have to plan stops to water and feed the kid. If you can actually make 300 miles a day, that will be good and it does not include sight-seeing.
Do you or your son have a smart phone? Pay for and get RVparky. You can use the online version while planning. This will tell you about good parking places.
Next, look up a planner called Furkot.
This is a little bit though to learn, but it is free on line and very good at planning. It can line up ONP and fuel stops, but it does not seem to like Walmart, Cabela's and casinos.
Unfortunately, the stand-alone laptop planner/navigators are all gone and not likely to return. You load overlays for many of these from the Discovery Owners site, but three weeks is a little short to learn all this unless you are willing to run an Manhattan Project level of effort.
Other Suggestions:
Plan on four days each way.
Plan to be in Paducah by the evening of the 20th.
There will be no crampgrounds available, they are all sold out already. but there are two Walmarts but only one allows ONP.
There are three Corps of Engineers park near the Land Between the Lakes area, but they will probably be SRO by the time you get there. You can look them up and try to make a reservation.
(The eclipse will be in the early afternoon, but will start about 11 and you will want to get settled.)
Either going or returning, plan to use NY Southern tier and save a small fortune in tolls, but this will not work well with the Niagara stop.
You can make this work, but do not set up too hard a push. That is a good way to end up in a ditch. Try to make it a vacation and not a Bonsia run.
I wish you luck with boring driving and sights to remember.
Matt
My first concern is that Manchester (NH) (You do know that every NE state has a Manchester?) To Paducah is like 1300 miles. For three days at over 400 per day is a tough push for a single driver and an unfamiliar vehicle. Push your son to be navigator. It gives him something to do and takes that load off the driver. Start the training TODAY.
I know you are thinking a 400 mile road day is not all that tough. We used to pull the 860 to take the kids to the grands, but that was a car and two drivers and a route that I could still write down from memory. That will not be the case here. You will have to plan stops to water and feed the kid. If you can actually make 300 miles a day, that will be good and it does not include sight-seeing.
Do you or your son have a smart phone? Pay for and get RVparky. You can use the online version while planning. This will tell you about good parking places.
Next, look up a planner called Furkot.
This is a little bit though to learn, but it is free on line and very good at planning. It can line up ONP and fuel stops, but it does not seem to like Walmart, Cabela's and casinos.
Unfortunately, the stand-alone laptop planner/navigators are all gone and not likely to return. You load overlays for many of these from the Discovery Owners site, but three weeks is a little short to learn all this unless you are willing to run an Manhattan Project level of effort.
Other Suggestions:
Plan on four days each way.
Plan to be in Paducah by the evening of the 20th.
There will be no crampgrounds available, they are all sold out already. but there are two Walmarts but only one allows ONP.
There are three Corps of Engineers park near the Land Between the Lakes area, but they will probably be SRO by the time you get there. You can look them up and try to make a reservation.
(The eclipse will be in the early afternoon, but will start about 11 and you will want to get settled.)
Either going or returning, plan to use NY Southern tier and save a small fortune in tolls, but this will not work well with the Niagara stop.
You can make this work, but do not set up too hard a push. That is a good way to end up in a ditch. Try to make it a vacation and not a Bonsia run.
I wish you luck with boring driving and sights to remember.
Matt
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