Traveling from WI to MA with new TT!! HELP!!

Congratulations on your new TT! We spent 17 years in a PUP before upgrading, and I think you will also love the difference.

We are not marathon drivers, so your plan to get to MA in 2 days sounds horrendous to me. :) That said, I think you will find it's quite a haul. How are your kids with long marathon drives? That should be a consideration.

Friday evening driving around Chicago - I think it's extremely ambitious to get to Cleveland before something on the order of midnight, at the earliest. I wouldn't advise it, nor would I necessarily advise the sites on the Ohio Tpke - they are right by all the trucks, so it will be noisy and no place for the kids to get out & run off steam (at least safely). There are some reasonably decent CGs in northern Indiana that could be of help to you - Elkhart CG is a possibility, nothing super special but has hookups and is pretty convenient to I-80/90, as I recall (it's been a few years). You may want to look into reserving a spot if the Friday you are leaving is Memorial Day or 4th of July weekend, too!

You will drive slower towing than you did before, so the trip will take longer than you remember. (Even if you don't feel you need to drive slower, your trailer tires will want you to; most of them are rated for 65 mph MAX.) In short - take 3 days, not 2, to get to MA. NY state is pretty big & takes a while to get across.

Don't forget tolls. If you don't already have an I-Pass or EZ-Pass, you may have time to get one (it will save you a little $ and a lot of hassle on the eastern, Indiana & Ohio tollroads). If you don't have time, make sure to have plenty of change along.

TracysCampWI wrote:
My husband is installing a camera on the back of the camper this weekend. Any suggestions on which camera to get?

Although some trailer owners do think having a rear view camera is worthwhile I found the angle of view so wide that it's difficult to get a true perspective of just how far behind the next vehicle really is ... one moment it seems to be way behind, the next moment it's right on top of you and passing, sometimes scaring the living daylights out of you, especially if it happens to pass on the right hand side. :E IMO the danger is that your eyes are too focused on the monitor rather than on the road ahead and the road behind (via your mirrors), which is where they should be focused. My advice therefore would be to ensure your TV is equipped with proper tow mirrors (factory preferably) and USE them rather than rely on a camera system that will only distract your attention.

If you're still nevertheless stuck on the idea of a rear view camera I wouldn't install one at all but instead recommend a portable system such as the Swift Hitch SH02 which I own myself. Both the transmitter / camera unit and the receiver / monitor unit are each self powered with rechargeable batteries so there's no installation required ... simply mount each unit most convenient to you and begin using it. Yes, the monitor is probably too small for rear view monitoring but the monitor unit does have a video output that can be plugged into a larger monitor if you wish. I've had mine (5 pics start here) for a year now and wouldn't be without it even though I use it only for hitching up. :B

Wireless Camera System

I just installed this system and I like it. The installation is fairly easy as you just need to tap into the running lights for powering the camera. The monitor simply plugs into the 12 volt power outlet, and the monitor mount sticks to the windshield with a suction cup.

As to your travel plans, you may be trying to push too many miles in too little time. With the Tundra, you do have to stop for gas after 150 miles or so, unless you really like to run the tank down. I prefer to stop before the tank gets down to 1/4 and I don't like pushing the speed more than 65 mph. If I were planning the trip, I'd want to be off the road around 9 p.m. on that Friday. Then get an early start on Saturday and get off the road around 5 p.m. That should leave you a very short ride to get where you're going on Sunday and you'll still have time to enjoy the day, and not be exhausted from pushing so hard. I'm thinking 200-250 miles on Friday, 500 miles on Saturday, and the balance on Sunday. You don't say how many days you have for this trip, but using 3 days to travel will make it a lot more enjoyable.

Final thought: Do you have LT tires on the Tundra? I made the swithc from P rated tires (shouldn't have towed with them) to E rated 10 ply tires on my Tundra and it is much better for towing, as well as safer.

If you are leaving at 4 PM one the fri of Memorial Day weekend you won't get to Ohio before Sat. We had a pop-up for 10 years and we go our first TT so we could use it. I would rather stop early, relax and take an extra day then drive all night and not use the TT.

I wouldn't want to make that drive in two days. I'd allow for at least 2.5 days. 3 preferably.

TracysCampWI wrote:
We upgraded last year from our pop-up to a beautiful 2015 Sunset Trail 28bh. We just LOVE it! Can't believe we waited so many years to upgrade (13 years in a pop up). We had a wonderful summer camping here in Wisconsin last year with our new trailer!

We are getting ready for our first trip to MA (my husband is from MA). Over 1,000 miles away. Looking at taking I-90 almost the entire way. We are leaving on a Friday (kids last day of school) at about 4pm. We hope to make it to Cleveland that night. Maybe staying in on Ohio Turnpike RV Lot for the night (we will be able to plug in for $20, dump station and potable water). Then off early to make it to Middleboro, MA late Saturday night.

Are we giving ourselves enough time?? Other options for the night? I do need to plug in as I have a CPap that I need to sleep.

My husband is installing a camera on the back of the camper this weekend. Any suggestions on which camera to get? Just had the breaks done on the Tundra. Reservations made in MA and NH. Roadside protection on board, new Rand McNally map in hand, GPS up to date. This is not our first drive to the east coast but our first towing anything.

Anything that I am missing??? Any items to pack that I did not think of??? ANy items NOT to pack?

WI to MA two nights three days...NO PROBLEM. Just drive until you dont feel like doing it anymore and stop. You guys sound ready to me. You can only plan for so long at some point you have to loose the dock lines and shove off. Nothing you leave behind will be a fatal mistake...you can buy everything almost anywhere in the country.

Just GO and enjoy your trip...although I have to say I hate I90. But its better than I80 in that part of the country. GOOD LUCK

Hopefully some closer to Chicago can chime in with more info but a friend of mine that goes to Chicago about every 6 months for the past 10 years says the road construction around Chicago this year is the worst she has ever seen.

We have been doing the MA to Ohio route through upper state NY for 5 years now. No towing, just with the car. It is 817 miles door to door and we can do it in about 12 hours with 2 stops for gas/bathroom. We travel about 70/72 mph. Towing you will be going slower and with additional gas stops it will add at least 10 minutes each time you pull off the highway it will most likely take you a little longer. You do tend to get tired quicker while towing even if all is going good because you just have to watch everything around you that much more. Also, pulling into a place to set up or hook up at midnight is no fun.

Hope everything works out for you but just be ready incase it takes you an extra day to get there.

Check your spare (air and condition), make sure you have a jack and tools to change a tire. No reason to wait for road service for simple tire change.

TracysCampWI wrote:
We upgraded last year from our pop-up to a beautiful 2015 Sunset Trail 28bh. We just LOVE it! Can't believe we waited so many years to upgrade (13 years in a pop up). We had a wonderful summer camping here in Wisconsin last year with our new trailer!

We are getting ready for our first trip to MA (my husband is from MA). Over 1,000 miles away. Looking at taking I-90 almost the entire way. We are leaving on a Friday (kids last day of school) at about 4pm. We hope to make it to Cleveland that night. Maybe staying in on Ohio Turnpike RV Lot for the night (we will be able to plug in for $20, dump station and potable water). Then off early to make it to Middleboro, MA late Saturday night.

Are we giving ourselves enough time?? Other options for the night? I do need to plug in as I have a CPap that I need to sleep.

My husband is installing a camera on the back of the camper this weekend. Any suggestions on which camera to get? Just had the breaks done on the Tundra. Reservations made in MA and NH. Roadside protection on board, new Rand McNally map in hand, GPS up to date. This is not our first drive to the east coast but our first towing anything.

Anything that I am missing??? Any items to pack that I did not think of??? ANy items NOT to pack?

We do that drive all the time in the reverse direction. I live in Cleveland and grew up in Wisconsin. Can leave Cleveland after school and make it to Madison by midnight or shortly thereafter.

Chicago is the worst part. I've gone through and around. I've found going through the easiest although it is nerve wracking the first time.

I beg to disagree with the poster about the Ohio Travel Plaza's. The RV hook-up locations are no where near the trucks. The RV's are on the total opposite side of the rest area. They are as far apart as you can get and still be in the same rest area.

If you leverage the rest areas, you don't have to get all the way to Cleveland in your first leg. It is a 2 hour drive east from the Ohio border to Cleveland and there are 3 rest areas you can stop at with RV services. Stop when you get tired.

The kids can do the 'long haul' if they are ready for it. Drive 4 hours, stop for gas / food. Drive 4 hours, you are there. We did Cleveland to Yellowstone last summer in 3 1/2 days. The kids traveled fine. When you are retired and have all the time in the world, take it. When you have a short vacation and a long destination..make the most of it.