Help needed planning drive time

Busskipper wrote:

ppine wrote:
I cannot imagine "camping" in a Walmart or truck stop even for one night, except in an emergency.

Don't know what your Missing.

We've been doing it for almost 50 years ... Must be Why RV'ing is so Great.

JMHO,

Home less and derelict people and in Ariz. many people are carrying concealed guns while shopping in Wallmarts in Ariz. but I always feel better knowing that many of them have concealed weapon permits:)

ppine wrote:
I cannot imagine "camping" in a Walmart or truck stop even for one night, except in an emergency.

Don't know what your Missing.

We've been doing it for almost 50 years ... Must be Why RV'ing is so Great.

JMHO,

I cannot imagine "camping" in a Walmart or truck stop even for one night, except in an emergency.

ACZL wrote:
rvnutts,

You may also want to check all the major truck stops web sites to find their locations to aid you in how spaced out they are. If not 1 chain, try another, but some are right across the road from each other. If you figure 9-10 mpg towing and say a 50 gallon tank, in theory, that puts you around 360-400 miles (40 gallons) leaving you approx 10 gallons to spare. Kinda gives you an idea on distances. Personally, I wouldn't go past the 400 mile mark(40 gallons) as I'd be looking/planning on fuel.

Its not perfect but I've actually used Good Sam's trip planning for both the mileage and stops for gas with Pilot/Flying J too for breakfast or lunch.

I see to it I'm in next campsite at the latest late afternoon or very early evening with the 300 miles self imposed limit.

We live in Wisconsin and love to vacation in the Rockies. We are both morning people and usually wake up before 6:00 on our days off. When traveling west, we start at 3:00 (CDT)am and get to the Badlands by 3:00pm (MDT). This is about 700 miles in 13 hours. We stay off of the interstate most of the time. Most of the days after that are about 300 miles.

ACZL wrote:
rvnutts,

You may also want to check all the major truck stops web sites to find their locations to aid you in how spaced out they are. If not 1 chain, try another, but some are right across the road from each other. If you figure 9-10 mpg towing and say a 50 gallon tank, in theory, that puts you around 360-400 miles (40 gallons) leaving you approx 10 gallons to spare. Kinda gives you an idea on distances. Personally, I wouldn't go past the 400 mile mark(40 gallons) as I'd be looking/planning on fuel.

X1, I never go below 1/4 of my fuel tank!

2gypsies wrote:
For the places you're considering I'd recommend Sept/Oct. You'll have a 'little less' crowds to deal with and the children will be back in school. You'll have nicer weather, also.

I use to have an RV friend and when we went to a resturant he would always ask the waitress to be seated in a NON-KID area:):):)

There are a lot of posts by people coming from the East for a 2 week trip "out West." It is very ambitious but possible to do a couple of big travel days and get from the Mid West to Colorado. But it wears everyone out and can make them cranky unless they are young. We used to drive from Denver to Chicago non-stop which is 1,000 miles but we were young and crazy then. I would not do that now on a bet.

rvnutts wrote:
Wow, thanks for all the replies. I've been gone most of the day and just now checking in. The trip will just be dh and me. We will be going to Branson Mo first and next destination is Davenport Iowa. I can break that up with a stop in Hannibal MO. The rest of our trip will be Florence, IN and the Noah's Ark museum, Niagra Falls, Fredericksburg to tour Washington DC, Ashville, NC, then back to AR by way of Nashville, West memphis, then south AR. I am still trying to see if we can fit this into 4-5 weeks,hence my question about long drive days. Now to do some more homework!

Something like This Map?

Interesting Loop - Guessing you are visiting some Friends along the way The 33-3500 miles it should be easily doable in your time frame, as 6-8 hours will yield 300-400 miles in a day = 11 driving days out of the 35 you have set aside for the trip.

Now the question is what can you add to make it more Fun when going from one stop to another?

You will be close to many other "Attractions" as you travel - what might interest you?

Not that far from the Beach?

Upstate NY, is filled with Great Parks and Places with water and Trees.

Williamsburg?

Blue Ridge Parkway?

October will usually be the beginning of the Fall Color, so timing is also a consideration. August is still pretty HOT.

Planning is always Fun - Keep us in the Loop will love to see the final Plan.

Best of Luck,

Edit - remember that Labor day is in your time frame - reservations will likely be needed no matter where you are.

rvnutts,

You may also want to check all the major truck stops web sites to find their locations to aid you in how spaced out they are. If not 1 chain, try another, but some are right across the road from each other. If you figure 9-10 mpg towing and say a 50 gallon tank, in theory, that puts you around 360-400 miles (40 gallons) leaving you approx 10 gallons to spare. Kinda gives you an idea on distances. Personally, I wouldn't go past the 400 mile mark(40 gallons) as I'd be looking/planning on fuel.