If I could look at this from a slightly different perspective....you said "early 60's" and essentially some longer trips = more days on the road. Are you thinking one night stops or staying in one location for several days and using that as your home base? We were "early 60's" just a few years ago and the daily or every other day set up/break down is a killer if you don't have the right trailer. Absolutely, positively disagree that a hybrid will get better mileage than a standard TT since we had one for going on 8 seasons. If we made a gas stop and were better than 10 mpg, it's a good day. A PUP is a totally different thing and you would get better mileage, but a hybrid is still pulling the barn door down the road. Don't think that we didn't love our hybrid, because until about a year ago we never considered ourselves with anything else. However.....about 3 years ago we took a 17 day trip to the UP and did the set up/break down thing several times - 3 of them were 1 day stops - and it almost finished us off. That was the only downside on our trip or our hybrid in general. Second, re a hybrid is that if you're planning any of these trips to be in the colder climates or during the winter, heating is not the easiest. It's doable, but there is more work involved and it's just simply not as efficient as a TT. OTOH, there is nothing like towing a 23' trailer weighing 5000 fully outfitted and when you're set up you have 30' of living space. I'd at least take a look and you can rule it in or out depending on your plans.
Do you plan on mainly sightseeing or doing some shopping along the way? Do you have any hobbies that you might want to check out shops related to them? That = needing some room to stash your treasures. How do you feel about having plenty of space for clothes vs not minding to make a laundry stop every 4 or 5 days? We don't mind the laundry stop, while some would sooner die than do laundry on vacation. Cooking - are you planning on fixing most of your meals at the campsite or eating out more often? If you're planning on cooking, make sure what you're looking at will give you the room to enjoy that and have room for the supplies you need. Bathroom/showering....do you want a real bathroom with a shower or tub - you really can't easily use it as a tub, but it's a larger shower - or is a "wet bath" plenty? That's sort of like an encapsulated bathroom like is used often in boats - commode, vanity, sink, shower all in one unit.
Back to that "early 60's" thing. We bought our hybrid in July '06 and had absolutely no problems setting it up, breaking it down, anything. Then there was the hip replacemenht, 2 hand/arm surgeries/other medical issues and we began to think maybe we were on the downhill side of camping. Especially since we were NOT going to get a TT. Take your health into account in whatever you decide.
If you feel like a smaller TT might be good for you, you might check into something like the R-Pod or other similar shaped TT - believe they get a smidge better mileage. Downside of some I've seen is that you have to convert the dinette into a bed every night, so look closely. Forest River makes a line of standard TTs called the Rockwood Mini-Lites that are nice, offer some amenities, somewhat lighter weight than others, but you're still back around that 10 mpg.
We've recently made the change from our ROO 23SS Hybrid to a Rockwood 26' TT. No noticeable difference in mileage. Lots more comfort. If you could find something in the 24' range with some of the amenities you'd like, that might be a good choice.
Re the soft side - PUPs and HTTs - yes there are parks that don't allow them due to bear issues. Most are in the Yellowstone area, but there are some that do allow them.
We tow with an '03 F-150 CC with the 5.4 and factory tow package. It's been perfect. Personal opinion is that you'd be ahead with a pickup of some kind and possibly add a topper if you wanted to. Factory tow package is pretty important. You're going to need a good WDH with sway and a brake controller.
Do as much online as you can, IMHO. You'll save yourself a lot of miles and a lot of "misinformation" from sales folks. Their job is to get you to sign and then it's your problem. You'll get better real-world answers on these forums than from the salesperson.
Suggestion might be that you check out RVWholesalers in Lakeview, OH and also RVDirect. They have a NY location and another somewhere else - when you're over "early 60's" sometimes these details get lost. We have bought both our Rockwood products from RVW and found them great to deal with, but the other upside is that they sell a bunch of brands. You can just sit and look at floorplans and usually they have pictures of both the interior and exterior for each unit. Decide what you really want, the "maybes" and the don't want. Not totally familiar with RVDirect, but believe they are very similar. Prices aren't posted, but if you see something or several somethings that look interesting, they will email you a price quote and that really is the price...no surprises down the road. Even if you decide that you'd prefer to buy from a local dealer, the price quote in hand is a dandy bargaining tool.
You've got a lot of homework to do and a list of priorities to decide about. It's good that you're doing this before rather than after you sign. Good luck and come back any time with questions. There are always folks here that have been there and done that.
