Community Forums

TGA2016 · 10-17-2015, 12:35 PM

Pat and I will begin our full time ride on the rainbow in about 3 weeks. We're heading up 95 to 10 turning left and crossing the Gulf States as speedily as possible. We've short tripped to anywhere we wanted to visit there. For us it gets real when we see the Welcome to Texas sign,then we'll slow down and go where we wish when we as the mood takes us. I understand that weekends are not great to travel and the thought crossed my mind as to exactly what are the best days...if there any. Are roads less travelled on Wednesday for instance, are campgrounds,parks etc more stable as far as arrivals and departures on any particular day?
Obviously not a biggie, I just thought I'd throw it out there.
Thank you.

Barry and Pat, RVM114

DSL417 · 10-17-2015, 12:59 PM

Did the same thing 4 years ago this December...what a 43000 mile ride, never looked back. Have fun, expect a few challenges, be safe, and enjoy the ride. Most say they'd love to take your new ride...they just can't take that first step. Congrats!

missourijan · 10-17-2015, 04:01 PM

Well, actually weekends are great days to travel through big cities, like Salt Lake City, Houston, Albuquerque, OKC, etc. We always try to park as close as we can the night before then travel through on a Sat or Sun morning OR about 10:30 on weekdays (after they are all at work and before the lunch hour). That strategy has worked well for us for 9 1/2 years.
It depends on the campground what days are best, in the summer the state parks are full of locals and you need to plan well ahead of time. We try not to plan too much, we went from CA to the east coast in 2011 and didn't plan much. Sometimes it was hard to find a campground but we were patient and it worked out.

Doggy Daddy · 10-18-2015, 12:27 AM

JMHO, First off, do not rush. Added tension and stress leads to mishaps and accidents. Cruise, use rest stops and enjoy the journey. As a full timer I try not to enter any campgrounds on Fri-Monday as that is when weekend warriors fill and exit the parks. Selection of a quality camp spot is greater Tues-Thur. I get off the road around 4-4:30 pm to avoid business traffic and allow myself daylight for parking and set-up. If just stopping for the nite en route to point B allows you time to maneuver the RV into position for the morning departure. Doing this at dust and nite increases the odds and opportunity for damaging the RV.
When needing an overnight like Walmart or BassPro I am always a good samaritan and call ahead and ask for permission. As a member of numerous organization like Elks, VFW, and American Legion, I sometimes spend the night in their parking lots or RV lots. Many take advantage of truck stops but I try to avoid them as I don't care for the constant noise of refers and big rigs moving in and out.

Ramets · 10-18-2015, 07:13 AM

It seems no matter what time we travel through a large city there's a lot of traffic. I always wonder where in the hell they're all going at say 11am. Don't they have jobs?

Barbaraok · 10-18-2015, 08:18 AM

We try to move on Mondays, especially on the west coast. That way we get to enjoy the quiet Sunday afternoon/evening at the park and head out at a leisurely pace on Monday morning without having to worry about the backup at the dump site (lots of west coast parks are w/e only). The only time we change that routine is if we have a large (i.e. LA) metro area to go around/through, then we go on the weekends. 2 weeks ago we did Pismo Beach to Valencia on Saturday, Valencia to Palm Springs on Sunday (and in the rain!), and then on Monday the run from Palm Springs to Mesa, AZ (again in the rain). We left Palm Springs at 8:30 am and were in our spot in Mesa at 3:30 pm. Only slow point was a wreck on I-10 on the west side of Phoenix which caused us about 30 minutes stuck in very slow moving traffic until we got by the accident, then the spend picked up and we moved right along.

Barb

NITEHAWK · 10-18-2015, 08:29 AM

When we first retired we would go north (to the resort areas) on Fridays and come home on Sundays, with everybody else. It was interesting to watch the empty highway on the other side!
Finally realized we were doing it wrong. So, after that we went north on Sundays and came back on Fridays. Very little traffic in our lane and less people during the week "up North".
We now apply the same reasoning whether we are "up North" or below the Mason-Dixie line.

JFNM · 10-21-2015, 03:50 PM

Congratulations Barry and Pat!

It sounds like you are headed west. Out here during the off-season (which it is), it doesn't matter too much in terms of site capacity but during the week is typically better. During the peak season, I prefer mid-week moves for the reasons already cited (and I generally hunker down for the rush of weekend'ers and try to stay out of their way). Reservations have become popular and having one is sometimes the only way to get a spot at the campground you want to be in (there are some odd rules out there).

Big cities were mentioned. I find very early morning to be my preferred time for getting thru them - like 3 am. I sleep in a rest area/truck stop outside of town, get up early, and get thru before most people have woken up. Kinda ruins the sightseeing though. The good news is that they are few and far between out here (mostly).

Others made some very good points - don't be in a hurry, don't make big leaps (100 miles a week is plenty (keeps costs down and allows you to see an area), always arrive during daylight hours (I keep having to re-learn this lesson).

alpha99 · 10-21-2015, 10:21 PM

Congratulations and safe travels, for you - now every day is Sunday.

But, best to travel through/around big cities early Sunday morning. Be where you want to be before 2pm, when folks start heading home from their weekend.

Cheers!