Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > CAMPING, TRAVEL and TRIP PLANNING > Navigation, Routes & Roads
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-06-2018, 04:37 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
I-79 0r I-81 thru PA

I'm north of Syracuse and recently drove the motorhome up here north on I-81 from Harrisburg PA to Binghamton and am still picking up the pieces that fell off from all the bumping and rattling because of the potholes and road surface conditions. I am looking for better routes and road surface southbound down to around Wytheville, VA from northern NY.

I have been eyeballing using I-79 southbound from Erie to Wytheville, VA, but don't know if the road surface on I-79 is in any better shape in PA than I-81. Can anyone share their advice on I-79? Is it better or worse than the condition of I-81 from Binghamton down to Harrisburg?

I guess I could go further west to Cleveland and head south through Ohio but if I-79 is in reasonably good shape I'd like to try it.

Thoughts and advice please

Joe
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 05-06-2018, 04:46 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
palehorse89's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 10,308
A week ago I traveled 79 to 19........79 is acceptable......and for the most part in good condition...........no construction that I ran into......
__________________
2012 Essex 4544 2011 Jeep JK, M&G Braking, 2014 MTI 27' Hog Hauler, Wireless brake control, 2006 Ultra & 1989 Springer, 2003 Harley-Davidson
FLHR Road King Anniversary
palehorse89 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2018, 05:03 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Sbrownstein's Avatar
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,799
I have driven from Rochester, NY to the west coast of Florida at least 20 times in the past 5 years, you do have choices and I agree that 81 between Harrisburg and Binghamton is the worst that PA has to offer. they have the highest gas prices and the worst roads. I avoid that route due to road surface and the grades north of Harrisburg.

I just drove from Harrisburg to Roch using 15 and 180 to Corning and then west on 15/17/390 to Rochester. Not too bad, very little grade level traffic...road is in decent shape. You could take 81 south to Binghamton and then cut over to Corning on 17 and then south from there to Harrisburg to pick up 81 from there. 81 south from Harrisburg is a great route, little traffic and good road surface (generally.)

I now avoid 77 and 79 because of incredible grades and fog (mostly in winter).

Best route is 90 to Cleveland then 271 to 71 to 75, but that is pretty far west for where you are going.
__________________
Scott Brownstein
Palm Island, Florida
2015 Georgetown 335DS
Sbrownstein is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2018, 05:33 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Winemaker2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Western NY
Posts: 6,113
Live near Corning and when heading S we take 15 (I99) to Williamsport then I180
There is construction at the S end of I180 but not bad.
Rt 11 takes you back to 15S
Rt 220 towards Harrisburg gets you on I81 S and clear sailing from there.
__________________
Don & Marge
'13 Newmar Ventana 3433 - '14 CR-V TOAD
'03 Winnebago Adventurer 31Y - SOLD
Winemaker2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2018, 06:40 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
Hmm- got some info to chew on here

Thanks for the feedback folks. Gotta chew on this a bit.

15 looks interesting. Have not traveled it in about 30 years.

I like 81 south of Harrisburg and enjoy it all the way south to 75(Knoxville is a a bit rough though)

May try I-79 as the one thing I did not like was the heavy truck traffic on I-81. Hopefully I-79 truck traffic isn't too bad?
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-06-2018, 06:47 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Delaware
Posts: 171
Two weeks ago went I-79 from mid WV to I-80 Pa. I-79 in great shape

and much better than I-81 any day. My suggestion would be I-79
__________________
Joe
2017 Dynamax DX3 37 BH
Tow: 2020 Ford F-150
joet19711 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-16-2018, 10:35 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
Well I stewed about it all and decided on I-81

So I weighed all the input here and it's much appreciated. I chewed and stewed on it for 2 nights then at the last minute when it came time to turn off I said the heck with it, kept the wheel straight, and went back down through Binghamton and into Harrisburg on 81.

Southbound to me did not seem as bad as northbound on I-81 between Harrisburg and Binghamton. Made the trip from Alexandria Bay, NY down to LaGrange, GA in 2 long days. South of Harrisburg the roads were fine. I got off I-81 onto I-26 and took it south to Asheville, the I-40 west to US 23 and down to Atlanta through Clayton GA.

I-26 between the Tri Cities and Asheville has some tough grades but we did fine with our gasser. Hands down I-26 is one of the most beautiful rides through the Appalachians found anywhere.

Thanks again for the input. I intend to use the suggestions here next time around.

Joe
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2018, 04:57 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 374
Glad it all worked out for you but out of curiosity how many more miles would have been added if you took the 79 route?
__________________
2017 River Stone Legacy 38mb
2001 Kenworth T2000
2016 Smart on the deck
dblr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2018, 03:59 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
about 50 plus or minus

All the routes were within 50 or so miles of each other so mileage was not much of a factor. I have traveled the entire continent (Florida to AK x2 and east west X2 and north south several times) and I guess in my old age road surface conditions and traffic congestion have come to be the most important factors to me.

I have to make this trip up and back each year once or twice a year for the next few years (family at Ft Drum) so I plan on trying I-79. I-85 to I-77 to I-81 keeps coming up the shortest and most direct route from our home in west GA on all the route planners and I do like I-81 except for Harrisburg to Binghamton. But I do not like running up the east side or any part of Atlanta when going north. Sometimes just can't avoid it.

I also was not pleased with road surface conditions on I-40 through Knoxville which I used on the way north to catch 81. But if I am not going to trek through Atlanta when northbound I'm probably stuck going through Knoxville.

Thus I usually use US 27 to shoot north up to I-75 at Calhoun GA when I head north to avoid ATL. So I plan on checking out a variety of route options and likely will use I-79 my next run when I get up that way.

I also will probably shy away from the NY State Thruway tolls with 4 axles. This run home we did a bit too fast (2 days and I think it wound up almost exactly 1100 miles). We really need to slow it down and make it 3 relaxing days.

Joe
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2018, 04:52 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 374
Ok thanks for the info and if you do this twice a year it sounds as if you are the expert with this route. What stops do you make? I usually use Fort Chiswell when I head that way but always looking for other options, my trip is usually De - Crossville Tn. that is the closest I have found to half way
__________________
2017 River Stone Legacy 38mb
2001 Kenworth T2000
2016 Smart on the deck
dblr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2018, 01:02 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
We're pretty familiar and active with the southern part of the trip from GA to northern VA on I-81 but were not with the northern part of I-81 from PA north. We used to drive in PA and NY frequently 40 or so years ago but have not done so for several decades and are just relarning it- hence our initial query.

We've used I-85 and I-95 corridor from here to DC and back but I just don't like the congestion in GA and SC and all the cities- so we started using 81 more frequently.

Yes Ft Chiswell/ Wytheville is always a fuel stop and overnight stay (KOA and Ft Chiswell RV park) for us on that route northbound (about 400-450 miles from here) regardless of whether we go up the east or west side of ATL. Seems to fit well for a first day run.

I'm still working on sizing the legs of the trip from there north. 2 days is and was on this trip just pushing too hard with a 40' moho towing a dolly and Focus and we'll likely move to a 3 day run from now on. We found a nice RV park a bit off the road at Marathon NY off I-81 we really liked. That was a nice stopping point for a 2 1/2 day run from here after Ft Chiswell. But the problem for me is the quality of the road surface on I-81 from Harrisburg to Binghamton.

One of the things that spooked us about using I-79 when southbound was finding well rated RV parks with FHU along the I-79 corridor in western PA . Could not put our fingers on one. I probably could have boondocked it but I am kinda picky about wanting my creature comforts in my old age- LOL. Please let me know if you have a good spot pegged along the I-79 corridor in that area.

I'm also considering using the US 15 corridor in PA and NY up to Cortland or north of the finger lakes. Looked like more RV parks along that route??

Joe
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2018, 04:32 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 374
I also have not found much on the I-79 section up in the Pa area, but in regards to the 15/11 up thru Pa there are a few choices between Harrisburg and say before crossing I-80 and going north they are on the north side along the river, not sure of the names but south of the Selingsgrove area is where they are if that helps.
__________________
2017 River Stone Legacy 38mb
2001 Kenworth T2000
2016 Smart on the deck
dblr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-29-2018, 04:54 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
Americanrascal's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 998
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
Americanrascal is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Thru Chicago Route Chickadee Navigation, Routes & Roads 13 04-05-2009 06:27 AM
Surround sound thru my DirecTV H20 footdoc Technology: Internet, TV, Satellite, Cell Phones, etc. 9 01-03-2009 02:18 PM
Woops! I put 220 V thru the coach....ideas on locating the short? tnsharon07 Newmar Owner's Forum 17 12-30-2008 08:59 PM
Where to put Moho from12/28 thru 1/11 kenkap Camping Locations, Plans & Trip Reports 1 12-21-2005 11:26 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:34 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.