Travels thru cities or around them?

[cjmgranny]

Hi all,
Is there an easy way to find out if it is a good idea to travel through a city with a travel trailer or if going around the city is preferable?
I grew up in Boston MA and although it is a great city, I would rather drive around it than thru it with my travel trailer if Boston were not my destination.
We are planning a cross country trip and are wondering specifically about Indianapolis IN, E St Louis IL and St Louis MO.
Thank you,
cjmgranny

[solismaris]

Well, my wife did request a drive through NYC one time, to pick up some bagels from H&H. While we were towing a 22 foot trailer! For some reason I agreed. I drove around the blocks a couple of times while she made her purchases. Just barely managed to squeeze through the side streets without incident.

I wouldn't do it again, and certainly not with our longer 28 foot trailer.

Now, I don't even do the Cross Bronx Expressway on our drive down south. That was bad enough; there's NEVER no traffic there. We stay well to the west, through Pennsylvania, and as a bonus avoid paying New Jersey a single cent of their ridiculously expensive tolls.

[wintersun]

It all depends. Often the only bridges across a river are at city locations. Or the alternative route means going on secondary streets and not on freeways or can involve a steep grade.

Time of day and day of the week makes all the difference in the world. I cannot think of a city that would be a problem on a Sunday morning and not many that would not be a problem on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon. We avoid coming back on a Sunday afternoon as that is when the most people are returning from weekend trips and are likely to be the most insane with their driving as they are 100% focused on getting home and saving 10 minutes is worth risking life and limb of themselves, their passengers, and anyone else on the road.

[Veebyes]

My navigator gets more stressed going around the big city bypasses than I do. Everyone seems to think that they are on a NASCAR track & I am the big lumbering hazard to get around. Too bad on them.

She hates doing the Washington Beltway. Atlanta is not much better. St Louis is avoided if at all possible. Denver is a piece of cake except for the Mouse Trap area.

[ericsmith32]

Whatever the DW wants! I've gotten yelled at for doing both so I always consult the copilot before making the decision.

I've been through Dallas, Houston and few others I chosen to forget. The best advise is above.. just stay cool/relax and you'll be fine.

[stickdog]

It depends on how good a driver you are and yes the time of day makes a big difference. I've pulled through Indy, ST Louis, Salt Lake, Portland OR, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Louisville. No I wasn't a trucker but drove Chicago x ways for 40 years. You just have to stay kool.

[tpi]

cjmgranny wrote:
Hi all,
I am thrilled to get this much feedback to my question. We have a small T@B trailer and this will be our first cross country trip. I appreciate all of your help! Keep thoses suggestions coming!
Thanks,
"Granny"
PS... I did not know bypasses had 3 numbers.

I agree if there's no need to be in these urban environments, skirt around them. Some of the infrastructure is older and narrower, traffic is more densely packed, and lets say the action can be more lively-which has it's disadvantages. If you want to be there you can make it work.

The one thing going for you with the Tab trailer-it is short and narrow. 80 inches wide if I read specs correctly. If your tow vehicle is mid sized or smaller, the whole rig is about as congestion friendly as possible. A Tacoma/4Runner towing a Tab is a far different creature than an F350 towing a 102" wide 5er.

[Carb_Cleaner]

Double double, post post.

[2gypsies1]

pitch wrote:
Since we are not in a hurry to get any where,we don't go near any cities. Detours of hundred plus miles have occurred. We do not tow though cities!

That's what we do, too. We try to stay away from interstates.

Also, for a more relaxing trip, don't plan it all out as to where you're stopping for a night, especially if you're driving interstates. All the RV parks along interstates are the same parking lots. If you stop driving around 4pm you'll get a site. No reservations needed.

[Carb_Cleaner]

If you'd like to be adventurous, go through cities. Keep your sense of humor, give respect and fuel-up early.
Nobody cares about you or your RV. They gotta get to work, soccer practice and/or their therapist, and their time is more important than yours. Besides, they're already ticked-off because you're on holiday and they're not.

[Rough2000]

Looking at the cities you would be going through...you may want to watch/re watch the movie "Vacation ". ??

[dfrost]

Drove thru St Louis once....never again!! It was horrible! The lane exchanges are terrible with traffic, ppl not wanting to get behind the RV so we had to basically stop in our lane and wait for someone to finally let us in! (Hanging out the passenger window interacting with the other drivers worked).

We will opt for looping around cities rather than going through them.

[ncrowley]

I use the interstate but will use bypasses around big cities when they are available. I really do not like driving through cities because if there is a lot of traffic, you cannot maintain a safe stopping distance between you and the car in front of you. If you leave any space, someone will come and fill that space.

[rhagfo]

john&bet wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

FrankShore wrote:
That would depend on the type of rig you're pulling or driving. A travel trailer isn't bad, but if you've got a huge diesel pusher, I'd think twice about it.

What difference does it make? My rig is 8'+ wide, 13.5' tall and 50'+ long. If you are on the interstate the lanes are 10' to 12' wide, that would be a cake walk compared to this!

Rus, those pic's look a lot like the same as US-95/US-12 in Idaho that we drove last summer. We really enjoyed it.

These are on Oregon 26 from Portland to the coast meets 101 between Seaside and canon Beach. There are a couple rough spots on it, but with Bil's on the TV and shocks on both axles on the 5er it is a joy to drive.

Interstates are great for making time, but you can't beat the scenery on these state routes.

[cjmgranny]

THANK YOU!!
I have edited our route in order to drive around instead of thru Columbus OH, Indianapolis IN, E St Louis IL and St Louis MO

We will be traveling from MA to NM on Rt 70 so it looks like we could camp at the GS campground in Mulberry Grove, IL (Cedarbrook RV Park & Campground) Has anyone stayed in this area before?

We can then take Rt. 70 as far as Rt. 55/40 to Rt. 255 in order to cross the M River.
Rt. 255 to Rt. 270 loops back to Rt. 44 South to Tulsa.
We plan to camp at the GS campground in Tulsa (Mingo Park) and then go around
instead of thru OK City and on to Albuquerque NM.

Comments are welcome if I am driving thru any other spots that should be avoided.
This forum has been incredibly helpful.
“Granny”