Traveling with camper first time
- Thread starter Ostrowski
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
JudyJB
Well-known member
How much time do you have for this trip? That makes a big difference. And what kind of camping do you like?
Also, when are you going???
Also, when are you going???
Hfx_Cdn
Well-known member
Most of us try to travel around 300 miles when driving, and many, including us stop for 2 nights at a time to allow local touristing. The last time we left Phoenix it took us 2 days to get to Zion as there was so much to see, and that is only about 400 miles. You will want to take as much time as possible as it is a fair distance with a lot to see.
Ed
Ed
JudyJB
Well-known member
I actually try to drive about 200-250 miles per day. Here is how I plan my long trips:
Depending on how much time you have, you might want to drop down to Tucson and see Katchner Caverns on the way. Another interesting place just east of El Paso is Balmorhea Springs State Park. And there are beaches south of Galveston in Texas if you take I-10. And really nice beaches in the Florida Panhandle worth stopping at.
- I get out a paper map or go onto Google Maps and enter the start place and the end place.
- I draw a tentative line between the start and end.
- I look for interesting places along the route that I might want to visit. That usually means adjusting my route slightly. You mentioned the coast, so I would swerve down there.
- Then I decide on places I might want to stop at along that route at 200 mile intervals. For me, that is usually state parks or Corps of Engineer campgrounds.
- Then I tentatively select campgrounds and decide how many days I might want to stop at along the way. I also like to put in a rest day every two or three days, at least.
- I put together an Excel spreadsheet with columns listing date, place, miles to drive, name of campground, costs of campground, places to visit, etc.
Depending on how much time you have, you might want to drop down to Tucson and see Katchner Caverns on the way. Another interesting place just east of El Paso is Balmorhea Springs State Park. And there are beaches south of Galveston in Texas if you take I-10. And really nice beaches in the Florida Panhandle worth stopping at.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
Keep in mind that the upper Texas coast and SW Louisiana just got wiped out by the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in the last 160 years, 2 weeks ago, and over 90% of the Lake Charles, Louisiana area is still without power. So it is going to be a long time before the area recovers, when Rita hit at a Cat 3 in 2005 just about 10 miles from where Laura hit, it was 3 months before any non-resident entry for the coastal area, and 6 months before commercial power was restored, in some places it was years before commercial power was restored, but those communities were leveled without any building left standing. Of course new stronger building codes were put in place after Rita, so some structures are still standing along the coast this time, though none are likely to be undamaged.
JoelP
Well-known member
I recommend that you try RVTripWizard. It is a very useful tool for planning a longer trip with many stops. Built into this tool you can set your desired range each day. Let's say that is 5 hours. Then it has a couple of styles of range indicators to show you how far along your route you can plan to go where it takes into account the speed you can go on the route of choice. It also can show the RV campgrounds along your route and filter for only those open during the COVID pandemic. There are a few things about the tool that I would like to see changed, such as the inability to undo something you have added, but overall it is very impressive. It can help you plan gas station stops along your route if you tell it your average fuel consumption and tank size. I recommend that you use this tool on your PC with a mouse that has a scroll wheel to enable you to more easily zoom in and out on the map. Other methods exist, but none less cumbersome.
Have a good trip!
Have a good trip!
