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Posts
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First Timers
It’s so exciting, the prospect of that first cross-country trip! All the planning, the dreaming of what lies ahead down the open road, left many a sleepless night imagining how great it will be, taking the nearly one year old class A motor coach from Northern California to Fort Wilderness in Florida and back.This exciting journey included stops at the Grand Canyon, Nashville Tennessee (where I had scheduled to have side-view cameras installed on the coach at the local Camping World), Charlotte NC, and an RV factory tour in Northern Indiana.
I scheduled every single day, and made reservations for every single night at the campgrounds where we would be staying for the night.
I admit,this itinerary was ambitious, in hindsight, but a great lesson was learned – Always plan your stops with daylight left over, so it’s easier to hook up the RV, and you won’t be so exhausted when you arrive in the afternoon or evening. 700 mile days are no fun, and night driving can prove to be somewhat treacherous, especially driving in the mountains.
Thankfully, I had planned shorter driving days on the way back to California. It was nice to take it easy and enjoy the shorter driving days. On the way back from Indiana, these shorter legs included Lincoln NE, Laramie WY, Salt Lake City UT, and Reno NV. Salt Lake to Reno was exhausting, however, due to most of the 500 miles of treacherous winds in the desert.
All in all, it was a great adventure, long days notwithstanding, it was also a great learning experience. I’m sure the next cross-country will be less stressful, shorter driving days, and more relaxing and maybe some hiking.
I am glad you had a great time. Awesome advise concerning the amount of hours spent driving.Regardless of what you are driving, you have to be on your toes every second, and it drains you. It is not really your driving you have to worry about as much as everyone else’s! There are some crazy drivers out there! It is all about building memories and it sounds like you really covered some ground!
I totally agree about driving less hours than you might in a car and arriving before dark. After all, travelling in your RV is about leisure and recreation, so why go crazy on daily hours.
And like Michael points out, watching other people’s driving is very important. I get more tired driving an RV just because there’s so much more to consider and keep in mind with your driving and others’ than in a car.
Safe and happy trails!
Thanks! I learned from that experience that if you have the time (months to travel), then you can really get around the country and cover a lot of mileage and see a lot of great sights. For the vacation RV’er with maybe 3 weeks to go camping and get back home in time for work, there’s so much to go out and see in our own regions, like going to Washington state, or Utah, for example from California. There’s a lot to enjoy, so that a cross country drive to the other end of the country wouldn’t be so necessary. On weekend trips, I may drive to a campground as much as 100 miles, or as little as 13 miles. Just depending on the occasion. If its just a relaxing weekend, then the local campgrounds in the hills away from the city are just fine to take off and arrive at on a Friday evening. If its a family event, or an invitation from friends, then 100 miles is ok.
I agree that there are so many distractions and safety hazards out there to be aware of (omg, i nearly ended that sentence with a preposition! (Lol)), so the nice shorter driving days really do help with being safe. It does drain you when there is so much to consider while driving a much bigger vehicle.
I mentioned that I had some side view cameras installed, because of a near miss one day coming home on the freeway. I was trying to change lanes to the right, and i had a little trouble seeing a Prius on my right. Fortunately, the driver of the Prius sped up to pass me, and then I was able to change lanes safely. The side view cameras are a great tool, using the mirrors primarily, and a quick glance to double check with the cameras. At night, with limited visibility, that could have turned out much worse.
I can’t wait to get back out there!
Safe and happy trails to you as well!
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