Trip planning guide/programs...

[afishinado]

Newbie trying to quasy plan our 2+ month first trip with the RV...
Here's what I do know, just haven't figured out how to plug it into a plan....
Leaving and returning to Florida..
Would like to meet with some friends for 4 days of riding near SanFrancisco (motorcycling) July 15th...
Sturgis SD for the Black Hills motorcycle Rally Aug 8th
Visit Kids in Grand Rapids MI over Labor Day,
Visit G-kids Ocean City NJ week after Labor Day
Finally meet friends for 4-5 days riding in the Smokey Mountains on the way back to FL
Want to spend time in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming as well...
So is there a planner I can download to help me lay out a plan?

[B_s_Bunch]

afishinado wrote:
I joined the Good Sams club already, I will check out their planner. Betting it's pretty good.

Thanks guys for the advice on the shakedown... I don't have a pick up yet, so I don't think a whole lot of shake downs are going to happen. BUT... I take possession April 1st and plan on bringing it home first and setting up in my driveway (neighbors are gonna love it LOL). I want to do a detailed inspection, pull the wheels, do the bearings and brakes, install the Biker Bars in the garage section, fit the bikes, fit it out... When I'm not using it, it will live in a RV park 240 miles away in Crystal River, FL. Home to the best riding area of Florida, and will be our home away from home... There is a big biker fest in Leesburg, 48 miles away April 24th, I want to be set up on the RV site in time for that.. If I feel like I need to spend any more time prior to the trip, we may take it somewhere for a weekend. We'll see.. Driving it doesn't frighten me at all. I'm betting parking the SOB the first few times will be the challenge, the rest is just a learning curve. I've had pretty big boats with all the same systems, so I'm not a total Greenhorn. Again Thanks for the input.

Can you elaborate on Crystal river riding. Thanks Larry

[ncrowley]

I use rvparkreviews to determine where I will stay overnight.

We stick to 420 miles per day or less.

We figure out where we might need to get fuel and scope out the stops. This is because we have a Class A towing a car and we want to be sure we can easily get in and out without backing up.

I use Google maps to get an aerial view of the RV parks and the fuel stops to see how I will get in and out.

I call the RV park to see if there are any suggestions on how to get in and out of the park and site recommendations.

I look at the chart of overhead clearances to make sure there are no issues. When traveling, we use a combination of a GPS and a truckers atlas.

If it is a longer trip with many stops, we put each start and stop point n Excel with the distances, RV park and fuel stop information.

I know this sounds like a lot, but we are into detailed planning for each trip. We find it makes the trip much easier with less surprises and it does not take much time.

[ependydad]

We're excessive planners. There's just no way around it.

Generally my trip planning goes as such:

1. Start an editable Google Map
   
2. On the Google map, I add pins to the map and color code them by:
   
   
   
   • The major locations that we want to hit
     
   • Surrounding attractions that we want to see (including roadside attractions that we want to stop and see)
     
   • Campgrounds in the areas that we're going/stopping over at (for me- I color code these between Thousand Trails parks vs. Encore parks vs. all other parks)
     
   
   
3. Start an Excel sheet that works as a calendar
   
   
   
   • 7 columns wide (for Sun-Sat)
     
   • I give myself 6-7 rows between each week where I include, where we'll be that evening, where we're departing from (if in transit), number of miles between each location (if in transit), cost of the night's stay (for totaling up costs), address (for mapping + GPS) and then a cell for random other comments
     
   • I have a set of rows for each week that we'll be gone
     
   
   
4. I think start route planning to get a feel for each leg of the trip. I have learned, we average about 45-50mph while traveling regardless of what roadway speeds are by the time we factor in our stops. My preferred day of travel is 200 miles but schedule often dictates up to about 425 as our maximum.
   
5. Where possible, if I see a longer leg of travel between locations, I'll go back to the map and try to find a stopping point- be it simply a stop off of the highway or near an attraction that we'd like to see.
   

[john_bet]

For a trip like that I would use a large atlas map of the US to get a big picture of trip and posiable routes. Then drive and watch the road signs for what I want and need. For me its easy pezzzy.

[Redsky]

Our friends use Excel spreadsheet software to plan out their trips. I use a Word Processor and create an initial route from a 30,000 ft. perspective. I list the sequence of towns and places in a sequence going out and coming back to our house.

I use Google Maps to determine the miles between each of these spots and this tells me the drive time involved. I don't like to drive more than 5 hours on any given day and if I see a 8 hour section I will look for a place in the middle where we can stop. I also see what the total miles and total hours of drive time is with this route. It does not have to be exact. If I see that it is going to be 4000 miles and 7-80 hours of driving over a 14 day period that works out to 285 miles a day is we do not have a day without driving and 4 or more hours of driving each day. For us this is more than we like to do so then it is a matter of either being out for more days or shortening the route.

With Google Maps I can easily see if I save drive time or miles driven by using the interstate instead of a more scenic road between two places. Often the difference is so little that we almost always take the scenic route and this process makes it seem like less of an issue one way or the other.

At stopping points were we plan to stay for one or more nights I will use Google Maps at a location to search nearby for campgrounds or RV parks and then look for reviews of the places to decide which is the best and which is the next best should the first choice be full when we arrive.

For reviewing places to visit I use guidebooks and websites and for where to stay I use Yelp.com, tripadvisor.com, rvparkreviews.com, and rvbuddy.com. The reviews need to be filtered as not everyone cares about the same things so comments on hot water in the showers I do care about and comments about them not being immaculate I ignore. It is also very different at most places during the peak seasons when they are crowded and likely to be much noisier than at other times of the year.

It helps to know if you prefer public campgrounds or boondocking or being in a RV park with full hookups and cable TV and a general store. One night in ten we are at an RV park. Others may choose to be in a RV Park every night and this is completely subjective but nonetheless important when you do your trip planning.
At many public campgrounds reservations are not an option so you may need to get there early in the day to be sure of getting a space and the longer your RV the fewer campsites there will be into which you can fit - seldom a problem at a private RV park.

[Greentow]

If I was running that trip, here's my route: Utah, San Fran, Colorado, Wyoming, Sturgis, Michigan, Ocean City, "Smokies", then back home. Maybe a little circuitous but just my 2 cents worth.

[Veebyes]

dverstra wrote:
Microsoft Streets and Trips for the mapping.
Allstays for campgrounds

Pretty good combination right there. There are other sites online which are type of CG specific then there are CGs you find by stumbling upon them using Google Earth or Bing Maps.

The MS S&Ts is well worth the $. Set your start. Set your end. Set your most distant destination. Set your preferences for type of roads you want to drive & start plotting & revising.

Oh yeah, compared to boats? Much much simpler & far cheaper to maintain & operate. Compared to the cost of a gallon of bottom paint you will be amazed what the same money will buy for a RV.

[Matt_Colie]

Hey Afishinado?

Do you know what the difference between a boat and a RV is???
=> Water can leak out of an RV.......

You won't be lost with the new toy hauler, but the only real difference is how you move it and navigate.

Really, Unless you plan to carry wire, get an learn to run one of the navigators. Get it with the GPS and you have a road map with a "You Are Here" flag. There are overlays available that will tell you what you need to know.

Matt

[afishinado]

I joined the Good Sams club already, I will check out their planner. Betting it's pretty good.

Thanks guys for the advice on the shakedown... I don't have a pick up yet, so I don't think a whole lot of shake downs are going to happen. BUT... I take possession April 1st and plan on bringing it home first and setting up in my driveway (neighbors are gonna love it LOL). I want to do a detailed inspection, pull the wheels, do the bearings and brakes, install the Biker Bars in the garage section, fit the bikes, fit it out... When I'm not using it, it will live in a RV park 240 miles away in Crystal River, FL. Home to the best riding area of Florida, and will be our home away from home... There is a big biker fest in Leesburg, 48 miles away April 24th, I want to be set up on the RV site in time for that.. If I feel like I need to spend any more time prior to the trip, we may take it somewhere for a weekend. We'll see.. Driving it doesn't frighten me at all. I'm betting parking the SOB the first few times will be the challenge, the rest is just a learning curve. I've had pretty big boats with all the same systems, so I'm not a total Greenhorn. Again Thanks for the input.

[uncle_t]

I use the koa directory to see campgrounds to avoid at any cost..

[dalenoel]

I use RVParkReviews along with MS Streets & Trips. If we are only one night in a certain area then I may use KOA directory or the state park online directories as I find them.

[bsinmich]

Take that TT out a couple of times and see what you will want to drive in a normal day on the road. Add the time for hitching up and setting up in the afternoon. We have been RVing since '69 and have gone from Atlanta to N. Detroit with a 35'MH and toad in one day and another time took 5 days for the same trip. The 1 day was only because of a SIL killed in a motorcycle accident. Leisure travel is easier.

[harley-dave]

While planning we use RV Park reviews to check on our selected RV Parks and campgrounds before reserving.

Dave

[LynnandCarol]

Yes, Agree that the shake down trips are invaluable! We just went to a state park for a weekend. There were many trips to wallyworld and other stores for things forgotten or unforeseen. Some folks just hookup and spend the night in there driveway.