toad or no toad
planning a major trip across country. and i have a 28' class c, and the toad consists of a dolly and a vibe to be put on the dolly. in traveling so far mainly for extended stays at one spot the toa...
Forum Discussion
Hi Folks:
We have traveled out west several times in our car, and most recently in our 27 foot Class C (last summer). We have never used a toad, so I cannot comment directly about that. But, I can say we did not miss having a car with us last summer, during our trip through the Rocky Mts., California, and return via I 40.
As for the question about parking at restaurants. Call ahead for reservations and ask them where to park. We did this with great success in small towns like Fort Collins CO, Estes Park, Jackson WY, Cody WY and many others. I think in the worse case, we needed to walk a few blocks from a grocery store lot to the restaurant. We were even able to park at the Santa Monica pier area in SoCal.
We had no problems driving around the Grand Teton or Yellowstone Parks in the RV, plus we could pull over and have lunch in the RV at some great views. A few negatives about the RV are you cannot always pull over off the road to view animals as you might in a car, and there are a few roads/attractions that you cannot drive on/to in an RV.
As for first-timers making a cross country trip, our best advice is plan carefully before leaving. If you have unlimited or virtually unlimited time, planning can be more "loose" or informal. If you have time constraints, then planning is more important. Include all traveling parties in the planning and decide on the important things to do/see. The west is big, so allow plenty of time to get from place to place. I try to max driving on the first day when I'm fresher, then reduce driving time on subsequent days. I try to limit driving to no more than 8 hours/day, and prefer 6 hours/day. I make many reservations in advance (many of my RVing friends don't like to do this), so I don't have to search for an overnight spot when I'm tired and less patient. Finally, we travel as light weight as possible.
Finding or getting gas was no problem. We would often fuel-up at truck stops because they usually have more room to turn. As noted earlier, we like to use pumps at the end of the station to allow greater clearance for rear-end swing.
Best wishes for a great New Year, and have happy and safe travels.
Bob
We have traveled out west several times in our car, and most recently in our 27 foot Class C (last summer). We have never used a toad, so I cannot comment directly about that. But, I can say we did not miss having a car with us last summer, during our trip through the Rocky Mts., California, and return via I 40.
As for the question about parking at restaurants. Call ahead for reservations and ask them where to park. We did this with great success in small towns like Fort Collins CO, Estes Park, Jackson WY, Cody WY and many others. I think in the worse case, we needed to walk a few blocks from a grocery store lot to the restaurant. We were even able to park at the Santa Monica pier area in SoCal.
We had no problems driving around the Grand Teton or Yellowstone Parks in the RV, plus we could pull over and have lunch in the RV at some great views. A few negatives about the RV are you cannot always pull over off the road to view animals as you might in a car, and there are a few roads/attractions that you cannot drive on/to in an RV.
As for first-timers making a cross country trip, our best advice is plan carefully before leaving. If you have unlimited or virtually unlimited time, planning can be more "loose" or informal. If you have time constraints, then planning is more important. Include all traveling parties in the planning and decide on the important things to do/see. The west is big, so allow plenty of time to get from place to place. I try to max driving on the first day when I'm fresher, then reduce driving time on subsequent days. I try to limit driving to no more than 8 hours/day, and prefer 6 hours/day. I make many reservations in advance (many of my RVing friends don't like to do this), so I don't have to search for an overnight spot when I'm tired and less patient. Finally, we travel as light weight as possible.
Finding or getting gas was no problem. We would often fuel-up at truck stops because they usually have more room to turn. As noted earlier, we like to use pumps at the end of the station to allow greater clearance for rear-end swing.
Best wishes for a great New Year, and have happy and safe travels.
Bob
