Advice for Long Distance Towing

ChristyFord wrote:
My husband, toddler, 2 dogs, and I will be taking a 2 week road trip cross-country (Augusta, GA to Seattle, WA) with an SUV and TT. I've read mentions of how this kind of trip should be handled differently than a weekend trip to the lake. What kind of things do we need to know and keep in mind in this case?
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Note: my husband and I have no experience towing a TT yet, so lay it on me!

Hmmm looking at your recent posts you don't or are just now getting your TT. Hopefully, the final TT choice is a great match for your TV since you really don't have the best vehicle for long distance TT towing to start with. By this I mean the more overmatched your TV is to your TT the eaiser it is to safely tow long distances for multiple days at a time. It just takes extra viligence and attentiveness when towing vs. just traveling solo in a vehicle and that can become exhausting very quickly and the last thing you want to do is to be towing and not be 100% at the top of your game so to speak. Over the last 40+ years I have routinely made 1000 t0 1300 mile one way jaunts (probably will in excess of 50) along with about 10 or so coast to coast trips along with a 60day 11,000 mile grand circle of the U.S from boarder to boarder and coast to coast so I think I speak with some experience in what I would call road trips. All the coast to coast and most of the 1000/1300 mile jaunts have been with two small dogs and two sons from toddler thru HS age. As basically your maiden trip you're going 2800mi with TWO DOGS (hopefully they aren't German Sheppard sized:E), and a Toddler with most likely not the best matched TV/TT combo. If any of those three are not superb travellers you are going to be in for some interesting days :E. There is a world of difference in a 50 or 100 mi hour or two weekend trip vs. several hundred miles per day for multiple days across country.

About the only advice I have is to not plan on averaging much more than around 300 to 350 mi/day initially and to plan on a non driving day about every 4th day (i.e 3 days driving and one day resting). I can easily see it taking you almost your entire 2 weeks to drive with close to no or maybe only one or two sightseeing side trips at most.

Larry

In Savannah Georgia we were able to drop our trailer at the Visitor Center. Actually we had to drop the trailer just to park there as they did not have spots large enough. We just took 2 spots. We have run into this before as well, usually we just try to spend the night near a city we want to see. But this was one exception.

ChristyFord wrote:
Another quick road trip question. I'm looking at our route for our road trip and wondering about mid-day stops between campsites. What if we want to go into a city/town for lunch or something where it wouldn't be wise to haul our trailer with us... do we pass or do people temporarily park their trailers somewhere for this purpose? For example, do camp grounds allow short term without booking an overnight stay? ...Or is this a dumb question?

Not practical to find a place to unhook just to go for lunch or site seeing for a couple hours.
You're over thinking it because you don't know how to drive a trailer. "Towns" get their supplies to most stores in semi trucks. Some urban/city areas those are short day cab/trailers, but still 40' long rigs.
You live in Texas, go find a flatbed trailer at least 20' long from a friend/ neighbor etc, hook it up and practice towing.
You got a cool adventure in front of you that can be awesome or may be hampered somewhat by inexperience. Concentrate more on gaining experience and less on Internet questions when it comes to "spacial" questions like how to fit into parking lots.

FWIW, I have a (overall) 34' long snowmachine trailer behind a long wheelbase truck and pull it into most gas stations, strip malls, drive through small towns, up forest roads, occasional 3 pt turns using side roads or driveways. It's not an issue, BUT, you need more seat time and less screen time to pull a trailer competently. There's no app for that....
You won't be able to effectively judge where the rig wil fit until you've done some towing.

Google earth? Stay off the iPhone while pulling the trailer....

I do not know of any universal place that would allow you to unhitch your trailer and leave it there for the day. You can ask but any place that might allow it will definitely not ensure that your trailer will still be there when you get back!

An RV park is going to want payment for at least one day's stay, even if you don't actually stay there.

What people usually do is save the sight-seeing for the next day. They get to an RV park near where they want to go, and spend the night so they are rested and refreshed for the next day's adventures.

PDX.Zs wrote:
My main secret for long distance towing is to make mochas at the cheap gas stations by mixing hot chocolate and coffee. Then pack on the Fritos and peanut m and ms.

Never failed so far....

Yeah, that’s all I got.

oh boy, now you've opened a whole new subject line: road food !

I like oreos and pringles 'cuz I can eat them without getting my hands all greasy/grimy. Oreos for the sugar high, and pringles for the salt to keep the bathroom breaks to a minimum !

Health food for the road. Not.

My main secret for long distance towing is to make mochas at the cheap gas stations by mixing hot chocolate and coffee. Then pack on the Fritos and peanut m and ms.

Never failed so far....

Yeah, that’s all I got.

ChristyFord wrote:
Another quick road trip question. I'm looking at our route for our road trip and wondering about mid-day stops between campsites. What if we want to go into a city/town for lunch or something where it wouldn't be wise to haul our trailer with us... do we pass or do people temporarily park their trailers somewhere for this purpose? For example, do camp grounds allow short term without booking an overnight stay? ...Or is this a dumb question?

Never seen any private RV park allow this.
Some public govt campgrounds have day use parking but they're rarely near any urban areas.

obgraham wrote:
In an urban area you might need to consider dropping the trailer. But a better choice is just pick smaller places. That's where the good lunch stops are, anyway. Bakeries, burger places, etc. And now, unfortunately, every little town has a McD (sometimes required with little kids!)

There's almost always a side street where you can park up trailer and all, while you get your lunch or see the sight.

In addition, there are places, such as Cracker Barrel and truck stops, that cater to RV's and have long parking spots.

Google maps are your best friend. Look at where you want to go, examine the streets and parking to see how passable it is, and know where you are going before you go. The truth is that much of this actually has to do with the nature and size of your set-up. Even the Cracker Barrel option is generally off the table for us, as those spots are not long enough for us at 53'. Knowing your rig and your comfort level better than anyone, a few minutes spent on Google maps will tell you all you need to know.

As for 'dropping the trailer,' I really don't know what campgrounds would allow - some of the more private ones might have a way of accommodating. State and national parks, as well as most corporate RV parks, are likely going to make you pay. That said, if a stop was important enough to me to go through the process of dropping the trailer, I'd just spend the night there. I'm not going to go through the hassle of finding a place to be, hitching and unhitching, etc... just for a lunch stop.

What if we want to go into a city/town for lunch or something where it wouldn't be wise to haul our trailer with us.

In an urban area you might need to consider dropping the trailer. But a better choice is just pick smaller places. That's where the good lunch stops are, anyway. Bakeries, burger places, etc. And now, unfortunately, every little town has a McD (sometimes required with little kids!)

There's almost always a side street where you can park up trailer and all, while you get your lunch or see the sight.

In addition, there are places, such as Cracker Barrel and truck stops, that cater to RV's and have long parking spots.

Another quick road trip question. I'm looking at our route for our road trip and wondering about mid-day stops between campsites. What if we want to go into a city/town for lunch or something where it wouldn't be wise to haul our trailer with us... do we pass or do people temporarily park their trailers somewhere for this purpose? For example, do camp grounds allow short term without booking an overnight stay? ...Or is this a dumb question?