Marathon driving

[EMD360]

Just finished our first cross county trip with our 25b. It was great. We drove 12 hours the first day and 8.5 the second. Stayed at 65 mph even in 75mph zones and found it to be easier driving. We were light going out but the weather was windy and cold. We drove through snow the second day and rain the first. But the driver’s seat was more comfortable than our older rv and the bed in the back was perfect for naps in between driving shifts and comfy at night. Came back west loaded but got better mileage. Some wind and rain but not as much. Worst was first out at 6.7 and 6.8, best was at the end at 9.5. Overall average was 7.8 mpg. The whole trip just made us want to get back on the road again for another trip! Everything worked for the whole trip which is great for a new used RV.
Driving in snow.

Visiting in Indiana.

[fourthclassC]

Great trip report. I love to see those, especially when they highlight a problem free trip. Thank you.!!
Also, its great to see that my wife and myself are just like the rest of the folks describing their travel schedules and how they have evolved over time of becoming more "mature" See ya'all out on the road.....

[Reisender]

Heh heh. I remember those days. Now we go like 300 kilometres...on a long day...and usually less. But everyone has their own schedule.

Stay safe out there.

[AJR]

Nothing like being twenty years old and taking off from Chicago to see the Worlds Fair in New York after work on a Friday night. Drove nonstop except for gas. Switching seats without stopping in a 1964 Chevelle. As the sun rose it pointed right down the stretch of I80 we were on. How we did not kill ourselves I will never know. Never did that again. Plus the fair was so, so. The Blue ridge mountains were so much better.

Now days leave at 9:00. Stop at 3:00 wherever I land.

[Horsedoc]

I had a short (4 year approx) (after my first retirement career) with a local auto company delivering via flatbed truck to customers high dollar autos from metro-Atlanta area to the Pembroke Pines area near Ft lauderdale. Since time was money I did a few there and back trips and it always took me a couple of days to recoup. Too old and no need to do stuff like that today. Dangerous and foolish is no longer in my repertoire.

[Matt_Colie]

Prior to our both being retired, we do some Bonzai Driving.
With a log book that shows a 1101 mile day to show for it, we have dropped this entirely. I set the planner for 8 hours of driving and do my best to make that work. Life is better this way.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.
Charles Kuralt

Matt

[jjrbus]

A long time ago in a land far away we drove NY to Bisbee AZ non stop, plus other grueling driving-thons across the nation.

Now it is the 330 rule, 330 miles or 3:30 pm and the driving is done and no driving on heavy wind or rain days. Driving in snow, not even an issue, no way no how.

[Lwiddis]

Twenty plus hours of driving in two days isn’t for this old bottom. Heck, I’d rather be home.

[Grit_dog]

EMD360 wrote:
Good advice but we get impatient. Don’t think we’d do it with kids. We are retired! But had to clear out some out of state property quickly for a sale. The reason for a heavy return. Plus we had maximum visiting time with friends. We took it a little easier on the way home. Three days instead of two. But nice to share the adventure with old pros here!

You sound like the (not so) old pros!
Glad the trip went well. A lot of the “pros” here bemoan any real windshield time.
Which, to me, sounds counterproductive for folks if their home has wheels.
If ya dont like driving, buy a cabin or something, lol!
I can sit behind the wheel all day. And night. Once the eyes get heavy it’s time to pull over.

[klutchdust]

Traveling solo going from one race track to another I set my driving based on my energy. I like to drive and for not the long hours away from home would have been an OTR driver. Now, dear wife will do maximum 6 hrs and there needs to be a predetermined destination. I did drive from Orange County Ca. to Ogden Utah
non stop once to pick up my new trailer but took my time coming home.

[EMD360]

Good advice but we get impatient. Don’t think we’d do it with kids. We are retired! But had to clear out some out of state property quickly for a sale. The reason for a heavy return. Plus we had maximum visiting time with friends. We took it a little easier on the way home. Three days instead of two. But nice to share the adventure with old pros here!

[wildtoad]

Reminds me of an old Dick Van Dyke show where they compared notes on how long it took to drive from point A to point B without stopping. The wives were less than impressed due to no bio breaks. Glad you had a good time. As for us, our rule/guide line is 200-250 miles per day maximum. We figure with bio breaks, lunch, 55 mph average so no more than 6 hours.

[ron_dittmer]

Marathon driving? Try driving 24/7 at 57 mph from Chicago to places like Yosemite, Glacier, and the shorter trips to Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain.....in THIS SLUG of a rig. We did that during most of our working years with reduced vacation time with kids on-board.

We setup our two boys with Sega Genesis Nomads which helped keep them occupied, but they loved to play interactive games with each other much more. They say their fondest memories of our trips were those long days in the motorhome, not the destinations. For all they cared, we could have driven around in circles. They complained big time when we put the rig up for sale in 2007. I said, "Hey, you can buy it" which quieted them down quickly. Our oldest had just graduated with a Masters degree at the time, so he could have bought it if he didn't want to see it leave the family.

Anyways....

EMD360, I am glad you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing that.

[MDKMDK]

Depending on the purpose of the journey, been there, done that.
Happy trails.

[Old-Biscuit]

Short vacation time?