First trip coming up next month (Rental TT)

Your first few days are much, much too ambitious in my opinion. Those are two 750+ mile days in a row; that's maybe around 15 hours of driving each day, plus time to setup, tear down, eat, etc. Add at least another day in there. Maybe once you have a feel for what it's like to travel with an RV you will decide that such long days of travel are OK for you, but I would not plan on it for the very first leg.

With a propane generator, you will be buying propane quite frequently if you run the generator much. It probably would go through two 20lb cylinders in one or two nights. It would be quieter and I think easier and less hassle to use campsites with electric (at least) hookups available. Given your long travel days (even with an additional day or two), I would suggest making reservations even if only the day before or the same day so that you know you have a place to arrive to...and what place it is.

If at all possible, I recommend setting up camp before dark, especially the first few times. Backing into a camp site when it's dark without being too obnoxious to other campers is none too easy, and seeing to get things level and situated is also much nicer when it's sunlight rather than a flashlight.

Sleeping for the night in a rest area or whatever is not necessarily poor etiquette, but it's not always very restful nor always easy to do. I would say it's poor etiquette indeed to take a truck parking space (which you'll need) if there's much chance that they would otherwise be filled with truckers who need their mandatory rest periods. If there's sufficient available that they oughtn't be filled, I have no compunctions about using one; after all, rest areas are there for rest. Many states do have time limits that are less than a full night.

There are some private businesses that often welcome overnight sleeping in RVs; the most notable are Wal-mart, Cracker Barrel, and some outdoor stores like Bass Pro Shops. In any case it's good form to ask the management first as sometimes local laws or problems will mean that overnighting is prohibited.

The television may well not support tethering to a phone. Receiving over the air broadcasts with the antenna is not too hard or too much work; you crank up the antenna (assuming it's a crank up one), make sure the little switch for it is turned on, and tell the TV to scan for channels, and then sit back and watch whatever is worth watching--if anything. Often I find that's a big "if". There's nothing wrong with not using the television.

DrewE wrote:
Your first few days are much, much too ambitious in my opinion. Those are two 750+ mile days in a row; that's maybe around 15 hours of driving each day, plus time to setup, tear down, eat, etc. Add at least another day in there. Maybe once you have a feel for what it's like to travel with an RV you will decide that such long days of travel are OK for you, but I would not plan on it for the very first leg.

With a propane generator, you will be buying propane quite frequently if you run the generator much. It probably would go through two 20lb cylinders in one or two nights. It would be quieter and I think easier and less hassle to use campsites with electric (at least) hookups available. Given your long travel days (even with an additional day or two), I would suggest making reservations even if only the day before or the same day so that you know you have a place to arrive to...and what place it is.

If at all possible, I recommend setting up camp before dark, especially the first few times. Backing into a camp site when it's dark without being too obnoxious to other campers is none too easy, and seeing to get things level and situated is also much nicer when it's sunlight rather than a flashlight.

Sleeping for the night in a rest area or whatever is not necessarily poor etiquette, but it's not always very restful nor always easy to do. I would say it's poor etiquette indeed to take a truck parking space (which you'll need) if there's much chance that they would otherwise be filled with truckers who need their mandatory rest periods. If there's sufficient available that they oughtn't be filled, I have no compunctions about using one; after all, rest areas are there for rest. Many states do have time limits that are less than a full night.

There are some private businesses that often welcome overnight sleeping in RVs; the most notable are Wal-mart, Cracker Barrel, and some outdoor stores like Bass Pro Shops. In any case it's good form to ask the management first as sometimes local laws or problems will mean that overnighting is prohibited.

The television may well not support tethering to a phone. Receiving over the air broadcasts with the antenna is not too hard or too much work; you crank up the antenna (assuming it's a crank up one), make sure the little switch for it is turned on, and tell the TV to scan for channels, and then sit back and watch whatever is worth watching--if anything. Often I find that's a big "if". There's nothing wrong with not using the television.

Appreciate the feedback. We may be too ambitious, but that's the great thing about the travel trailer. Most case scenario is I realize I made a mistake and find a spot to chill for a while and recharge my batteries.


As far as the streaming goes; long as the TV has an HDMI port, I'm going to be using a cable to my iPhone that'll mirror the display to the TV. I've done a few proof of concepts testing streaming on a conference room TV at work. Works great.

I'm with DrewE Your first few days are much, much too ambitious, we normally travel 350 to 400 at most every day, some days only 250 to 300.

You will find that during the summer camp grounds a booked sometime many months in advance and fill up quickly depending on were you are, making reservations a day or so ahead is a good idea. We use the Good Sam trip planner and will not stay in anything less than a 7 and many cases 8 or above in ratings.

We like Cracker Barrel for a quick overnight stay because its most time well lit and we can get up in the morning and the DW dozen't have to cook breakfast :)
Other than that we will not overnight a Wally world or a truck stop, truck stops are for long haul truckers to sleep which they are required to do. We will stop at Fly J or Pilot to fuel and possible eat but that is all...

You will find it's a different world pulling a TT down the road, take your time and do not try to hurry, be polite on the road, I can't say that enough...

At a camp grounds have the DW keep a close eye while you back into spots, picnic
tables, power pedestals and water connects seem to always jump out an hit trailer while backing into a spot ...

You will find that setting up and taking down the 1st six or seven times will take you longer than you think.

Always, i'll say it again always walk around your trailer at least twice after
hooking up and getting ready to leave.

Make sure your turn signal are working

Check everything in your trailer to make sure they are closed and stored, if you have a slide check before closing slides, more than one person has destroyed a cabinet door or draw left open when closing a slide ..

Safe travels

As you said, it's going to be hot out which means the pavement is going to be hot also which means you're going to have to watch the trailer tires. Look at them to see what speed they're rated at - probably 65mph. You're probably used to driving the truck on long trips at well over 65mph. If the TT tires aren't rated for it, you're going to have problems. Make sure you have a hydraulic jack and the right size of lug wrench with you for the TT.

In our travels around the country during hot weather, we see way too many TTs sitting by the roadside with blown tires. These are the same people you see going down the road at 75mph.

I think you'll be surprised at how much propane the generator will use. I have a friend in Calif with a truck camper who normally flat tows a Jeep. If he heads out for a week in hot weather, he usually trailers the Jeep instead of flat towing it so that he can take along 8 propane bottles with him.

Bill

Just curious? What model is the Outback? Reason I'm asking is, because, where's the generator located. If it's not built into the trailer, then you'll need to run it outside the camper. It now subject to theft? So just wondering? I have an Outback 298RE, no place for a generator on-board on my baby.

You can use https://freecampsites.net/ to find places along your trip.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Just curious? What model is the Outback? Reason I'm asking is, because, where's the generator located. If it's not built into the trailer, then you'll need to run it outside the camper. It now subject to theft? So just wondering? I have an Outback 298RE, no place for a generator on-board on my baby.

It's separate from the trailer, mounted to a rack that the owner has. I'll be using a 1.5" thick cable and a high security padlock to ensure that if they get it, they earned it.

carbine wrote:
...
It's separate from the trailer, mounted to a rack that the owner has. ....

That will probably work OK then. Still, keep an eye on it.

FYI, "Outback" is a good build camper. We've enjoyed ours to no end! This is our 3rd travel trailer and by far, the best. Our Dutchmen (first TT) was a good camper, but we had it the shortest time. So long term, don't know how it would have held up. We have the Outback for 4 years now, and pretty much, (overall) been a trouble free camper. I do my share of preventative maintenance on it, work hard to keep it clean, and inspect roof seems often. It tows wonderful, but I also attribute the success for that to my 3500 duly diesel too. My current truck has the factory integrated brake controller which makes the truck and camper truly brake as one unit. It's still awesome after owning the truck for 3 years. My previous truck, diesel 3500 duly also, had an aftermarket brake controller that just caused the trailer brakes to grab. It was like, all brake or nothing. So the slower you went the harder it jerked. So, the new truck is a marvelous towing beast!

Our Outback is 35 feet long. We've never had problems getting into any campground we've wanted. But we did have to be selective, and some sites with narrow sites surrounded by trees would would have been near impossible to back into. So we select our sites carefully so we have no disappoints when we get there.

Considering you are doing a rental, you're approaching this from a really great advantage. When (and if) if start searching for your own travel trailer, you're going to have a hard time finding something that will beat the Outback line. In other works, your experience will spoil you! So, enjoy! enjoy! enjoy! while you have it!

Happy travels, and when the trip is all over, hope you post a follow up of how it all went.

It's a rental. Make sure they give you a spare tire or 2 and go pull the wheels off it.
Those are some long days even if you're traveling full speed. If you run slower with the TT they're even longer. Good news is you can pull over and camp whenever you're done for the day. No hotel reservations needed! Sounds like a fun road trip!

We are looking forward to it; found a few campgrounds already for ~30 a day when we'll be spending more time in some towns. The dogs should appreciate this more than a hotel room; we'll see how they do but they've always been good travelers.


FWIW, these are "short" legs for me. Generally when we do these back-east road trips, we're on the road 15 hours/1000+ miles a day. I'm planning on shorter distances/lower speeds due to pulling the trailer.

I'm very fortunate that my son, wife and dogs travel well. I'm used to driving a lot for work, so a lot of butt-time in seat isn't the end of the world for me.