Long trips, how long would the drive take you?

[Padlin]

Didn't want to hijack Desert Captain's thread on long distance trip costs so I'm starting another on duration. Looking to drive from Ma. to Yellowstone next summer/fall and am wondering how long those of you who are in no hurry would take for the drive, figure on one way. Thinking about going up through Niagara Falls and Sault Ste. Marie to make it more interesting, about 2300 miles one way. I just retired so have no need to do long days on the road, do you add in layover days?

[bertnspike]

It took me 2 months to drive from Morro Bay, California to Sebastian, Florida. I never drove more than 250 miles in a day and I never drove more than 2 days in a row. I stopped when I felt like it. The longest time I spent in one place was 5 nights.

Now THAT is a painless way to travel.

Susan

[Quick_trip]

We do 250 - 300 miles in one day, then stop for two or three days.
Then one day and three days.
Good Luck & Drive Safe!

[wbwood]

You are retired, so take as long as you want. For us, it's sometimes not an option, depending on where we want to go. We are limited on time and if we have a destination to get to that is far away, then we have to pack on the miles per drive. But if I had a choice, I would probably keep it to 250-300 miles a day preference. I can't see just moving a 100 miles a day, every day. To me, that would get old. I would rather drive a full day and spend several days there, than drive a couple hours and spend one night.

[frankdamp]

At my age (72) and with hamstring cramping problems, we limit our daily mileage to between 175 and 250. DW isn't tall enough to drive the MH, so I do all the driving.

The only time we do more than 250 miles a day is if it's the last day getting home. Then we're on familiar roads towards the end, and I might be able to handle a 300-mile day.

[moose888]

We drove from Oregon (Grants Pass) to maryland and we took our time and it took us 14 days. We stopped in Yellowstone , Mount Rushmore and Devil's tower .

[JamesBr]

If I had the time to travel like that I would. But I don't go by miles per day usually, I go by "travel time". I define travel time as starting right after I get on the road from the house, campground, etc until the time I stop for the night. So that includes stops for fuel, bathroom breaks, dog walks, and food. I try to limit myself to no more then 12 hours travel time per day. Straight driving is usually around 3 hours between each stop.

I have pushed that personal guideline in the past as it just did not make sense to stop less then an hour from home given the nearest campground was an hour behind me.

[Veebyes]

Did the loop this year, MD, Gulf Coast, West Coast N from SFO, Seattle, Grand Tetons, NY & back to Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay. About 10,000 trailer miles. Departed mid April, returned end of July. Longest travel day, just over 300 miles. Shortest, less than 10 miles.

Like most in no hurry, 200 or so on a travel day seems to be enough.

[bka0721]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but it does answer your question.

I travel pretty slow, just recently I left Denver to travel to my High School Reunion in Salina, Kansas. This was only a distance of 475 miles, with no interstate highway used. It took me 35 days.

No, this is not unusual for me and I do have a system in what I do, along the way. When I was racing cars at various tracks around the country, it wasn't unusual to drive 1300 miles in a day, like driving from Denver to L.A. or Nashville. Now I stop and see the towns and places I once would have driven right past.

It isn't always the speed, sometimes it is the details that one sees along the way.

Have fun, Yellowstone is a place everyone should visit, at least once in their lives.

bryan

[dsurette]

We shoot for around 300 per day. More if necessary, less if possible. I don't like to set up in the dark, and DW is very slow to get ready to travel in the morning.

[RoadXYZ]

We left our home base (we are full-timers) and first day out was 255 miles, next stop 126, next 59, and so on and noticed that none of the legs of this winter sojourn is longer than 211.

At one spot someone volunteered that our next stop should only take 2 hrs max as it is 72 miles away .. but most of our travels are along the Oregon Coast on 101 .. which can be a challenge on some days.

We found that over years we have to look at the maps which gives us the terrain so we know the hills and type of roads we need to travel. We have also posted on "Roads and Routes" when we wonder which route would be best to travel.

[Padlin]

Thanks for all the replies. I was looking at 7 days each way but that leaves no down days if I try and average 300-350 miles a day, 7 solid days just doesn't sound like fun although it is a lot shorter travel days then I've been doing up till now (500-600ish). From the sounds of it the longer I can take for the drive the better it'll be better so I'll push for more then a 5 week trip (have 3 weeks reserved at YS, Tetons, and Custer for late Aug-Sept). My wife still works part time, but is her own boss.

Being our first extended trip, we're going to try and determine if we can live with our little trailer or need to go bigger. Hopefully none of life's curve balls turn up before we go.

[Jim_Shoe]

I'm a solo traveler and retired, and those two things play a role in my trip planning. I plan my trips via expressways first. Then check to see if there's places I'd like to see on the way to or from. If its just an Interstate day, I figure 300 miles, drive about 60 MPH and with rest areas and gas stops, that turns into about 6 hours and gets me to my next FHU CG about 3PM. Then I add a day or two of slack before I make reservations for my longer stays. Most times I don't need them, but I'd rather have reservations and not need them than the other way around.

[TexasShadow]

whatever you figure it will take you, add on a couple more days for something unexpected like running into a local fair or festival or a particularly nice campground, etc.

[rfryer]

That’s sort of like asking how high is up.:) Destination driving solo that would be a hard two day trip or an easy three day. Towing would be radically different and it would solely depend on what attractions were along the route. I’m sort of a wanderer and when I plan I look for attractions along the route that interest me. Traveling, though, I may find something else that attracts me and go far off course and wind up on an entirely different route. And I have no schedules or reservations so routes and stays are strictly at whim.

The shortest distance that I recall I’ve traveled in a day is about 70 miles. On the other hand the longest was Crater Lake to Phoenix in about a day and a half. But I was working then and had to be back. So I’d say that trip could range from three days to a month or more, solely depending on what you want to see along the way. And as someone said, sometimes the trip itself can be as or more interesting than the destination.