This was our first long trip with our new 2014 35' Flagstaff Classic Super Lite trailer. We went from Connecticut to South Dakota, Black Hills area and back. Before we left, I replaced the original tires with Maxxis which performed flawlessly. I follow RV.net regularly and avoided a lot of problems by learning from the experiences of all you folks. It was a great 3 week trip and we had no truck or trailer problems. I did make a couple of observations along the way, the first of which I should have listened to most of you RVers.·300 miles is about right for a day’s drive if you are driving multiple days in a row. You can do more if it will get you to your final destination, but not every day.·All gas stations are not equal when it comes to trailer access. Why do some gas stations place the pumps perpendicular to the travel lanes? Flying J has the best with its RV friendly gas/diesel lanes.·Cross winds eat almost as much gas as head winds and are a lot less fun.·Don’t accidentally pass the entrance to the campground on a busy country road. You may have to drive 25 miles to find a place to turn around.·We bring way too many clothes. Even my wife admitted that, although I suspect she will do it again.There's probably more, but those are the ones that jumped out at me. Thanks for sharing all of your years of camping wisdom.

If you have young kids plan on 250 miles or less every day. You will drive faster than you planned. Preparing meals while traveling is hard without a lot of planning in advance.The more tired you are the more likely the campground you pick is to have 1000 trains going by.The unplanned stops are the best.No matter how much you prepare, your vehicle can/will break down.Windy days are always crosswindsThe more you need to do laundry the more likely that the next campground will not have facilities You will meet some amazing people, I ran into the same people 3 times (SD,OR,BC)BC has the worst drivers.Don't drive through Chicago if you can possibly avoid it.Do not stop for the night in Shelby MT unless you really like trains. Every town no matter how small has an auto parts store.The only reason you get full hookups is because that's what they have on the pull through sites. You'll want to spend another night and the site you are in will be booked. 48 days is too long to spend in a trailer with 3 kids and a dog.48 days isn't long enough time to spend traveling with your kids and dog in a trailer....see above.You'll always want to go somewhere that wasn't part of the plan.

This list could have been written by me....I complain every time I see a gas station with perpendicular (vs Parallel) lanes. UGH!Too many clothes, check!300 miles a day is ideal. I have pushed many trips "to get there ASAP" and end up doing close to 600 miles in one day driving. Not fun, very tiring, and I am slowly working that number down. But with limited vac days, its "hurry up" and get there to relax. Sometimes!

"Don't drive through Chicago if you can possibly avoid it."+1000 on that and especially on a summer Sunday afternoon. Worse than rush hour IME although it always seems to suck. And don't forget, you can buy just about anything you need. Don't go nuts trying to make sure you bring everything you MIGHT need

PureMI wrote:"Don't drive through Chicago if you can possibly avoid it."We successfully executed a "Chicago bypass" on the way out. On the way home we followed the same routes and sat in traffic for about an hour. Timing is everything.

Earlier this summer I left the daughter's home with the 9 year old granddaughter and her friend and drove 202 miles to the 5th wheel. Spent 45 minutes unloading the truck and hooking up to the 5th wheel. Then we drove an additional 379 miles to Lazy Day Campground Danville, MO arriving with 15 minutes to spare before they closed the swimming pool for the night.Next day we drove 449 miles to Sioux Falls, NE arriving with 20 minutes to spare so the girls could go swimming before they closed the pool.We did the final leg 402 miles the next day arriving in Grand Forks, ND where we met grandma.I couldn't have asked for two better young ladies to accompany me on that trip.We spent a week out there drove about 200 miles spent another week there in the Nisswa MN area before heading home with grandma.We took 4 days to get home driving a more manageable 300 miles per day on our Maxxis tires.Including our trip last year we have now put around 13,000 miles on those 3 year old tires with nary a problem.This is my first set of Maxxis and I haven't changed my driving style. This compares to 2 blowouts on factory installed that were less than 2 years old and 5,000 miles.With my other 5th wheel I had 4 blowouts. 2 were dry rotted but the other 2 blowouts came on fairly new tires with very little miles on them.

Things learned on first cross country trip | Good Sam Community

PureMI
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
"Don't drive through Chicago if you can possibly avoid it."

+1000 on that and especially on a summer Sunday afternoon. Worse than rush hour IME although it always seems to suck.

And don't forget, you can buy just about anything you need. Don't go nuts trying to make sure you bring everything you MIGHT need
mleekamp
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
This list could have been written by me....

I complain every time I see a gas station with perpendicular (vs Parallel) lanes. UGH!

Too many clothes, check!

300 miles a day is ideal. I have pushed many trips "to get there ASAP" and end up doing close to 600 miles in one day driving. Not fun, very tiring, and I am slowly working that number down. But with limited vac days, its "hurry up" and get there to relax. Sometimes!
jspence1
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
If you have young kids plan on 250 miles or less every day.

You will drive faster than you planned.

Preparing meals while traveling is hard without a lot of planning in advance.

The more tired you are the more likely the campground you pick is to have 1000 trains going by.

The unplanned stops are the best.

No matter how much you prepare, your vehicle can/will break down.

Windy days are always crosswinds

The more you need to do laundry the more likely that the next campground will not have facilities

You will meet some amazing people, I ran into the same people 3 times (SD,OR,BC)

BC has the worst drivers.

Don't drive through Chicago if you can possibly avoid it.

Do not stop for the night in Shelby MT unless you really like trains.

Every town no matter how small has an auto parts store.

The only reason you get full hookups is because that's what they have on the pull through sites.

You'll want to spend another night and the site you are in will be booked.

48 days is too long to spend in a trailer with 3 kids and a dog.

48 days isn't long enough time to spend traveling with your kids and dog in a trailer....see above.

You'll always want to go somewhere that wasn't part of the plan.

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