Driving to FL for the 1st time

[Padlin]

Would appreciate any tips you folks can provide for making the drive from New England to the Vero Beach area. I have reservations at Sebastian Inlet starting Monday Feb 8th 2016.

Any preferred route? I've used 81 to 64 to get on 95 at Richmond going as far as Savannah, but I've never done it in the winter. I've always avoided 95, but again I've not done this in the winter.

Days of the week to avoid 95? Keep in mind I can't arrive till Monday, I could leave on Saturday or before.

Where do folks stay on the way south? Somewhere in VA would work well for the first night. Maybe another around the FL/GA line?

Do I need to make reservations for places to stay enroute in February? How about the return trip in mid March?

Our first winter trip, were only doing 4 weeks +/-.

[silversand]

Prince William CG- Dumfries, VA

Good to know that the Prince William Forest National Park RV campground is open in winter. We camped there in the past (during October). The other campground (Oak Ridge Campground for RVs in Prince William Forest) was closed this winter from December 1, 2014 till March 1, 2015.


Americamps- Ashland, VA

The Americamps is the KOA I mentioned in my earlier post (its called: Americamps KOA).

A good selection of camprounds along I95 in NC, SC and GA are open (if you need an emergency stop: unplanned ice storm or snow). We prefer to dead-head it right through those States to FL, because they are often nailed by ice storms/snow from January through February (if we have a clear go of it weather-wise, we count our blessings, and don't linger in this geographic region during dead of winter)...St Mary's Florida is a nice long drive, and good stop if we leave Virginia very early in the AM, and I don't mind long drives-- if weather isn't too taxing on the nerves and my back.

[wtmtnhiker]

marc515 wrote:
I'm not sure why folks are indicating there are not a lot of campgrounds open during the winter on the way down to FL?

We just did the trip down 95 in Feb to Fort Myers Beach, and there were plenty of CG's open from VA down. For example:
Prince William CG- Dumfries, VA
Americamps- Ashland, VA
South of the Border

And many more

We have stayed at Western Village RV park in Carlisle Pa many times in winter months:

http://westernvillagervpark.com/

[The_Painting_Te]

Here's our trip; you can see if it would work for you. We leave Cape Cod at 0400 on a Saturday use I-95; 287 around NYC; NJ Pike; 695 west around Baltimore; 495 west around DC and stay overnight in Fredericksburg. Next we stay on 95 down to St. George SC. We make St. Augustine around noon the following day; you can make Vero Beach later. If you want more specifics, PM me. Camp on

[marc515]

I'm not sure why folks are indicating there are not a lot of campgrounds open during the winter on the way down to FL?

We just did the trip down 95 in Feb to Fort Myers Beach, and there were plenty of CG's open from VA down. For example:
Prince William CG- Dumfries, VA
Americamps- Ashland, VA
South of the Border

And many more

[dieharder]

Fizz wrote:
We take the 81 to the 77 through Charlotte to Colombia then the 26 to the 95

This is the best route I've found to Florida. I try to keep off the 95 as long as I can.

In addition, coming down Fancy Gap will be some of the best scenery you've ever seen.

[PghBob]

As noted previously in a post, stay tuned to the weather. You may need to adjust when you leave home by a couple of days either way depending on storms. Snow and ice in the south can be particularly bad as they have less equipment and experience dealing with it. Also, plan to leave as early in the day as you can and try to drive as far as you can the first day. There are not a lot of campgrounds open in the north during that time of year. If unable to leave early or drive far, consider staying in a motel the first night. Best to be comfortable and safe during the trip. As you get close to the GA/FL line, there are two campgrounds at GA exit around St. Mary's. One is a KOA and one is Good Sam. From there it is only a short trip to the FL Welcome Center for your free morning OJ.

Best wishes for a safe trip.

[AdirondackJack]

jergeod wrote:
If you are going RT81 get off on 66 then 17 to 95.

X2. Have used that crossover for years.

[Fizz]

We take the 81 to the 77 through Charlotte to Colombia then the 26 to the 95

[silversand]

We (for past two winters) shoot straight down to Florida from Montreal region in 2 long days (staying part of Jan and Feb. i do all the driving myself, via I87 to I287, then the I95 straight down. We do extreme detailed weather forcasting, and view all live interstate cams right up to the second we leave. We have never encountered a flake of snow, and plan dry roads door to door. From quebec, i make it to Camp Springs (DC). On day 2, i am in jacksonville, FL. We go between the most brutal snowstorms you can imagine, because the road surfaces dry up very fast on major Interstates. I also have live link satellite gps, with real time road conditions, traffic, and avoidance system (the top of the line My Ford Touch nav system, with every option, 2014).

The trick is to avoid as many cities as possible (why i use I287). You are driving through Mass? You should be able to do same destination as me (or, enen North Carolina) IF you completely avoid winter precip. If you hit winter precip, all bets are off. Wait for dry interstate, and continue.

The only open campground in the north during winter is the KOA just south of Woodbridge, VA just off I95, as far as i know. The next one you will hit is in St Marys, FL (just north of Jacksonville). Never needed reservations during winter. Oh, we always hotel it in Camp Springs (near Andrews Air Force Base) because it is usually around 10F at that time of winter.

Hope this helps. One other: if you don,t have traffic avoidance electronics, you may luck out on your ETA (a random chance, impossible to calculate traffic accidents!).

We will be heading south again next winter about 1.3 weeks before you.

Cheers,
S-

[jergeod]

If you are going RT81 get off on 66 then 17 to 95.

[LynnandCarol]

I would venture to say that almost half (if not more) of the local Rockport, TX RV parks are already reserved for Winter 2016 as most Winter Texans reserve their sites before they leave. So never to early to make those plans. A plan can always be tweaked if situations change! And as alluded to earlier it is fun!!

[Padlin]

I guess I'm just concerned about if I need reservations when traveling on the weekend after the hassle getting them at Sebastian Inlet a year out. Seems everywhere I go now I have to struggle to get something a year ahead. Did Custer and Yellowstone this past fall, setting up RMNP as well as some of the more popular parks in Utah this coming fall.

I seem to remember as a kid you just sat in line at the campground and traveled with no reservations.

[Dick_B]

Feb 2016 is called thinking ahead and excited about it.