Touring the US - South in the Winter; North in the Summer

[Ernie n Tara]

It appears that you haven't considered in state mileage at all. For example, you go to Florida and spend a week. The problem arises when you find that down to key West and back is around 600 miles with a dozen spots worthy of a stay of a day or more each. A month is not enough time let alone a week!
Etc., etc.

Ernie

 

[SeilerBird]

Full timing is not a long vacation like most newbies imagine. It is an alternate way of living with a mobile house. The more time you spend driving the less time you will have at your destinations. This is not a race, it is a leisurely stroll through the park. There is no contest to see who can put the most states on their state map located on the outside or their RV. I usually spend a week at one spot and then move on Sunday morning when many people leave for home and there are a lot of sites that are opening up. Gas is a lot more expensive than sitting in a campground or an RV park.

 

[Yorick]

Full timing is not a long vacation like most newbies imagine. It is an alternate way of living with a mobile house. The more time you spend driving the less time you will have at your destinations. This is not a race, it is a leisurely stroll through the park. There is no contest to see who can put the most states on their state map located on the outside or their RV. I usually spend a week at one spot and then move on Sunday morning when many people leave for home and there are a lot of sites that are opening up. Gas is a lot more expensive than sitting in a campground or an RV park.

Thanks @SeilerBird, that's what I'm learning here and is why I'm adjusting my plan. I'm going to modify my plan to cover only a region each year. For example, spend summer in Montana and Wisconsin then head south to spend the winter in NM, TX, AZ. So, we'll stay in less states, stay longer, and drive shorter distances between sites in a given state/area.

Thanks so much!

 

[Yorick]

It appears that you haven't considered in state mileage at all. For example, you go to Florida and spend a week. The problem arises when you find that down to key West and back is around 600 miles with a dozen spots worthy of a stay of a day or more each. A month is not enough time let alone a week!
Etc., etc.

Ernie

Hi @Ernie n Tara. Thanks for calling that out. What we're actually planning is to return to a different part of a state in a later trip and not exhausting that state in one trip. For example, we may hit the San Antonio area for a month and the places within an hour drive in Year 1 then return to Texas in Year 3 to hit the eastern (Houston & Galveston) areas. What do you think about that plan?

Basically, I don't want to drive long distances once we plant down for a few weeks to a month.

 

[Yorick]

One important thing to remember is that altitude counts. While in many places in the U.S., you can go north to get cooler and south to get warmer. But out west and in some other places, there are high places in northern Arizona and northern New Mexico that are high and very cold in spring and fall. For example, you can ski in Santa Fe, NM, in March. And many of the national parks in Arizona and Utah can be very very cold in winter, even though they are supposedly "southern" states. Phoenix may be very pleasant in January, but head north to Flagstaff, and you will encounter snow at those high elevations!

In a personal example, I was once staying in Las Vegas in February and had made reservations in the mountains nearby. I called to ask about cell service and then asked about the weather. I was shocked to find out that they were skiing there!! It was about 70 in Las Vagas but in the low 30s in the mountain campground and even colder that night!!

Wow! Thanks @JudyJB, the cooler temperatures of the higher altitudes never came to mind in my plan. Thanks! That is a great way to get away from the heat of the lower valleys. I'll incorporate that into my plan. Thanks so much!

 

[Yorick]

With a couple of mobile hotspots, you should be able to get decent internet access through Verizon anywhere not too far from a freeway, although you probably won't be able to do much streaming of TV programs. I taught online college classes for 9 years while traveling and managed, although I did not always need to keep a normal business day schedule. I was online about 5 hours per day.

I had two mobile hotspots because I found having a backup of everything was really critical in case something broke while I was in the middle of Yellowstone, for example. (I did have a hard drive die in Okracoke Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and had to leave the island via ferry, get Dell to drive out to Kitty Hawk to put new hard drive in once I was on the mainland, and then I immediately drove to Best Buy in Virginia Beach to get a cheap backup computer!!) I even had a backup mouse and cords!

And actually many national parks do have cell service that you can use to get internet through Verizon.

Thanks, @JudyJB. This is very helpful. Our plan is to actually use two services: Verizon & AT&T. We'd likely carry a VZ hotspot but have our phones (with hotspot option) on AT&T. What do you think about that?

 

[Yorick]

Todays experience…
Went to Gilla Bend for fuel while traveling from Ajo, AZ to Bard, CA. Groceries (without trailer) in Yuma tomorrow.
The station we bought at last week which was much less expensive than the other 3 stations had no Diesel. We discovered this after pulling in and working our way through the congested (I don’t know why but all gas stations out here are congested all the time) station. Ok, of to next nearest. After several minutes I get to a pump but the pump won’t take any of my cards. Argh! Well, let’s try Loves, usually the most expensive but what can you do? I get there and, low and behold, they are 5 cents cheaper than the other place. Over a ten minute period, I work my way toward a pump and discover I cannot make the turn into the interior slot but I am now committed. I usually use outside pumps but here all the pumps had Diesel. I can’t get to an outside lane. Lots of maneuvering and I barely squeeze my 35’ into the lane with less than an inch of clearance. Sigh…
I buy 13gal before getting on the interstate. I had enough (half tank) to get where I was going but then I would be stuck…
Time to get fuel… 40 minutes.

One other thing… make some local weekend trips with your rig before heading out on a big trip. I am 7000 miles into this trip. Day one was 380 miles. I was really glad I had camped at 6 campgrounds before we headed out. We had no idea what we didnt know.

Thanks @Rob&Deryl! That's very helpful. I will take you up on that advice of doing a few short runs before heading out for the long one. Practice makes perfect. Thanks!

 

[Larry N.]

And the first run or two might be best in your driveway- you'd learn a lot.

 

[Yorick]

Every good plan survives until first contact with the enemy.

You seem very goal oriented and I find it a little amazing that you have a 3-year plan. I am not sure what I am having for lunch today - LOL...

It seems like you are gonna work from the RV so geography on any particular day is meaningless. If you are in Florida during the winter? So what? You'll figure out where you want to go and where you want to be over time.

Life's not a sprint. It's a marathon. I think you will find a bazillion other things to worry about before worrying about what campground you are gonna be in in May of 2024...

BTW - My second wife of 23 years was Filipina. I lived in Manila from 1985-1989 and survived the People Power revolution. Pretty crazy... Fond memories...

Thanks @Ex-Calif! Yes, I'll be working from the RV. The girls will be doing online community college. My wife will be making her jewelry and shipping from wherever we are.

Yeah, you bring up a great point about figuring out where we want to go once we get to a location. That's kinda what we are thinking. Get to a location, visit the area, check out the sights, go to the local churches, take a few weekends to enjoy and learn about that area.

Very cool that you were in the PI from '85-'89. Those were historic years in the Philippines. So, you married into the Filipino culture. I hope it was a pleasant time with the wife.

 

[JudyJB]

Thanks, @JudyJB. This is very helpful. Our plan is to actually use two services: Verizon & AT&T. We'd likely carry a VZ hotspot but have our phones (with hotspot option) on AT&T. What do you think about that?

Should be fine. Just one warning--my experience has been that commercial campgrounds will promise you excellent cell service, until you actually get there. I also had that experience once in Grand Teton National Park campground. Person I spoke to on the phone assured me I could get good cell service in this campground. Got there and discovered it was good only in two places--on the beach next to the lake if you held your phone up in the air and in the laundry room. I had to leave because you cannot conduct student conferences and listen to live student presentations in a laundry room or by holding your phone up in the air on a beach!!!!!!

And the maps provided by Verizon and such are almost as bad. They sometimes give a very optimistic view of where you can get a good signal in an area. Having two carriers is a good idea, but eventually you will get good at guessing where a signal will be good or not so good.

And for the extra few bucks per month, I would recommend two Verizon hotspots.

 

[Rob&Deryl]

Thanks, @JudyJB. This is very helpful. Our plan is to actually use two services: Verizon & AT&T. We'd likely carry a VZ hotspot but have our phones (with hotspot option) on AT&T. What do you think about that?

I would suggest a phone on each service and a hotspot on each. Check out Mobile Internet Aficionados (MIA) , [email protected]
Good info on internet access while mobile.
I have a Pepwave cellular router which provides us a LAN and WiFi from cell services. Ours let’s us put in 2 cell SIMs, one from each carrier. I plan on replacing mine with a current model next summer that includes 5G service.
On cell plans... Everyone has unlimited plans. However, they throttle down after so many gigs. My plans go 30 gigs before throttling On Verizon. I use way more than that in a month so we try to use the t-mobile service enough to make it. If you have been on a cable network, you will be shocked at your data use. We never stream video. We play some games, read forums etc. We blow through 70 gigs each month. The message, with a family make sure your plans have enough un-throttled data per month.

 

[SeilerBird]

"We blow through 70 gigs each month."

On Fi Network that would be less that $100 a month and no throttling.

 

[Yorick]

"We blow through 70 gigs each month."

On Fi Network that would be less that $100 a month and no throttling.

@SeilerBird, interesting! Are you referring to Google Fi? How has the service quality been? Do you do videos on it as well?

 

[SeilerBird]

I am permanently parked in an RV park so my video is all done on my Century Link home WIfi. I never bother with any movies or downloading. But I have used it for Face Time calls and that eats a lot of bandwidth and for when I shoot video. But the quality of service has been outstanding. I am a Googleaholic.

I love Fi because they use three services and they choose the best one at the time. I am rarely without a signal. Best thing is you and I both get $20 off our bill if I recommend you. Use this code if you order it:

Google Fi Wireless for Phone Plans & Mobile Phone Deals

Explore Google Fi Wireless and enjoy flexible plans, superior coverage, and seamless device integration for a unique mobile experience.

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I have attached a copy of my current bill showing my charges. I pay $200 in advance so I don't have to have a monthly bill. But basically it costs me $21 per month.

Almost any unlocked phone will work on Fi, but some phones that weren't specifically designed for Fi may miss out on certain features like Google's VPN and network switching. I bought a Pixel 2 XL five years ago and love using a Google phone.

I just ran a speed test on my phone and it showed 25 mbps. Not too shabby.

 

[Kirk]

One thing that you may want to consider is a cell phone signal booster. We had one for most of the years that we were traveling and it worked quite well most of the places that we visited.

 

[Ex-Calif]

One thing that you may want to consider is a cell phone signal booster. We had one for most of the years that we were traveling and it worked quite well most of the places that we visited.

Just make sure that you site the incoming antenna and the repeating antenna properly and with separation.

I had them too close together. The result was that it didn't boost and worse, it interfered with the cell tower signal.

I found out when an AT&T tech came and knocked on my door. We turned my antenna off and cleared his fault. I felt bad for a minute until I realized that this guy's whole job is driving around finding these interference faults - Lots of people mess this up, I guess.

 

[Yorick]

It appears that you haven't considered in state mileage at all. For example, you go to Florida and spend a week. The problem arises when you find that down to key West and back is around 600 miles with a dozen spots worthy of a stay of a day or more each. A month is not enough time let alone a week!
Etc., etc.

Ernie

Hi @Ernie n Tara, in our second tour, we plan to hit Florida and the eastern coast and do plan to spend at least a month in each state. In fact, we plan to be in Florida 2-3 months. Thanks for the tip.