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Old 08-11-2017, 07:43 PM   #1
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Orlando to Yosemite and in between

My wife and I will be taking our first cross country trip. We work together managing the residential division of our families air conditioning and heating company in Central Florida and have been working through some unfortunate administrative personnel issues for about 2 years. Other than a weekend here and there, we haven't been able to take a decent vacation. Our hard work is finally paying off and we have the staff and confidence to take a 3 week out and back stopping in Sedona for 3 days, and then meeting my brother and his girlfriend in Three Rivers, CA for 3 days, and then Coarsegold, CA for 4 days.

So, I thought I would journal the planning and progress of our trip and hopefully get some good comments, advice and input on the process or maybe some thoughts about what not to miss along the way.

Our route is pretty much planned and now I'm booking the campgrounds we will be staying at. Our plan is to drive roughly 7 hours per day not including stops. I'm guessing our net time will be 8 hours traveling per day.

Our rig is a 2017 Tiffin Phaeton 40QBH towing a heavily modified 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.

So far I've booked our sites at Sequoia RV Ranch in Three Rivers, CA where we'll visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks and Yosemite RV Resort in Coarsegold, CA where we'll visit Yosemite National Park. Now I'm looking to plan our overnight stops so hoping for premium pull throughs so we don't have to unhook our towed every night.

Any input, advice, thoughts, criticism is welcome.

Rob
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Old 08-13-2017, 06:42 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AirManFL View Post
My wife and I will be taking our first cross country trip. We work together managing the residential division of our families air conditioning and heating company in Central Florida and have been working through some unfortunate administrative personnel issues for about 2 years. Other than a weekend here and there, we haven't been able to take a decent vacation. Our hard work is finally paying off and we have the staff and confidence to take a 3 week out and back stopping in Sedona for 3 days, and then meeting my brother and his girlfriend in Three Rivers, CA for 3 days, and then Coarsegold, CA for 4 days.

So, I thought I would journal the planning and progress of our trip and hopefully get some good comments, advice and input on the process or maybe some thoughts about what not to miss along the way.

Our route is pretty much planned and now I'm booking the campgrounds we will be staying at. Our plan is to drive roughly 7 hours per day not including stops. I'm guessing our net time will be 8 hours traveling per day.

Our rig is a 2017 Tiffin Phaeton 40QBH towing a heavily modified 2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.

So far I've booked our sites at Sequoia RV Ranch in Three Rivers, CA where we'll visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks and Yosemite RV Resort in Coarsegold, CA where we'll visit Yosemite National Park. Now I'm looking to plan our overnight stops so hoping for premium pull throughs so we don't have to unhook our towed every night.

Any input, advice, thoughts, criticism is welcome.

Rob
Might just be my math but unless you are really - no Really pushing it, your 7 hour days will turn into long 12 hour + days.

When I do the math 2700 + miles divided by 50 = 54/7 = 8 days driving out and the same driving back = 16 plus the planned days = 10 + 16 = 26?

Three weeks Out and three weeks Back?

Other than that sounds great.

Best of Luck,
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Old 08-13-2017, 10:27 AM   #3
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How many drivers do you have to keep up that pace? I suggest you drop the Sedona stop and you might have a chance. I have been to Sedona a couple of times and while it is a beautiful place, I would be bored in 2 days... If you want to spend time in that area try the Grand Canyon. If you want to go off-roading go to Moab
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Old 08-13-2017, 05:13 PM   #4
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More of a driving challenge than a vacation. We are native Californians and now live in Central Florida. We have done the trip three times now.

Coarsegold campground is nothing fancy but very adequate and comfortable. There is a fantastic Mexican food restaurant on the way to Yosemite from Coarsegold.

If you can be missed for three weeks, why not four weeks. There is plenty of cell phone coverage along the way and you will be able to enjoy the journey and not just the destination.

You may never be able to make this trip again. Make it special. A truck could drop on you tomorrow and you might get the chance.

I just lived through a truck dropping on me. Fortunately not severely injured but it will make you appreciate every day.
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Old 08-13-2017, 05:47 PM   #5
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I agree with the previous posters. More like a 3 month trip than three weeks. I suppose that if you and your wife traded off driving every couple of hours you could do it but most of your trip will be spent in the rig driving.
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Old 08-16-2017, 05:12 AM   #6
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I appreciate everyone's comments and you're right, 7 hours driving isn't going to happen. I believe it will be more like 8 1/2 to 9 hours. We drive to upstate SC and back quite a bit and when we take the route to the east to avoid Atlanta it typically takes us 8 1/2 to 9 hours (502 miles) with 1 stop 1/2 way in Savannah and 1 stop to refuel near the end so we don't have to refuel before we leave. My wife and I will split time driving and I realize it's aggressive and not as relaxing as most would want. Our overnights are close to the interstate and are just stops for us to recharge for another days drive.

My older brother is on a 5 month trek around the Western US hiking for several weeks at a time, then moving on to the next location and meeting him and his girlfriend in Three Rivers, CA on Oct. 2, a couple days after they finish their last hike for the year.

Then we're moving a couple hours north to Coarsegold on Oct. 5th to meet my parents and visit Yosemite NP. We'll be leaving Oct. 8th and we may add a couple days for the drive home which would make it more like 3 1/2 weeks. After that we're back to work for a few days and then off on a 7 night cruise with some other family.

We're going to re-evaluate and probably stay in Flagstaff, AZ because the Sedona campground is full. I booked in Camp Verde but I'm going to cancel that reservation today.

Unless tragedy strikes, we'll get plenty of time to take longer trips after June of 2019 when my employment agreement comes to an end. We're 48 years old and recently sold / converted our company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. We're looking forward to spending a lot of time in our motor home.

Thank you again for the input and well wishes.
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Old 08-16-2017, 07:00 AM   #7
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I've been in your shoes at 48 and owning my own company. You try to cram as much as you can in the little time you can get away. At this point in your life, it's about the 'destination' and not necessarily the 'journey'.

When you're on the road, you're driving. I wake up at 4am and start driving and I'll have 250 miles done before my wife even wakes up. We stop for a nice breakfast, drive, nice lunch, drive, nice dinner, drive and stop at a rest area/Walmart/truck stop around 9pm. Take a shower and go to sleep. Repeat.

So get the driving done efficiently and enjoy your planned stops with your family.

Just be aware that its about 2 hours from Coarsegold to the Yosemite Valley where all the tourist activities are. Leave early to beat the crowds.

Safe travels! 2019 will be here before you know it!
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Old 08-16-2017, 09:29 AM   #8
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I've been in your shoes at 48 and owning my own company. You try to cram as much as you can in the little time you can get away. At this point in your life, it's about the 'destination' and not necessarily the 'journey'.

When you're on the road, you're driving. I wake up at 4am and start driving and I'll have 250 miles done before my wife even wakes up. We stop for a nice breakfast, drive, nice lunch, drive, nice dinner, drive and stop at a rest area/Walmart/truck stop around 9pm. Take a shower and go to sleep. Repeat.

So get the driving done efficiently and enjoy your planned stops with your family.

Just be aware that its about 2 hours from Coarsegold to the Yosemite Valley where all the tourist activities are. Leave early to beat the crowds.

Safe travels! 2019 will be here before you know it!
I was trying to think of the right words and you pretty much nailed it. We'll be on a mission to get to where we're going and enjoy the time we have while we're there. Don't get me wrong, we'll actually enjoy the drive as well. Maybe after this trip, that part will change.
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Old 08-16-2017, 06:34 PM   #9
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Your coach and toad will be a great combo.

We've done a forced march from Orlando to the Central Coast of CA. in 2 1/2 days, stopping for rest three times. That is about as fast as it can be done without wings.

Ordinarily, when emergency situations don't exist, and we merely want to make some miles I have a different approach.

Wake early, 0300-0400, and drive until 0900, shower breakfast, and cheats over the coach and toad. On the road by 0945 and drive until 1300 for a lunch break. On the road by 1400 solid until around 1800-1900 for a dinner break. Press on until 2200-2300 and conk out until the next day. That schedule results in a 15 hour driving day. Depending upon the geography and density that will ordinarily result in a 600-750 mile day without considering fuel stops or mechanical issues.

One thing on long range driving, it is an acquired skill and highly sensitive to driver fatigue. I'm really tuned in to my personal signs of fatigue and have taught my wife what they are so she can help identify when I'm smoked.

When in doubt, stop and simply move your body for :15 minutes. This is a cheap way to recharge and refresh. While you're walking around, start thinking about good places to stop within the next :20-30 minutes.

DO NOT preplan your overnights.

Here's why: Stuff happens. All the time. If you set out from home and have a fixed destination in mind, that will consume you. In fact, it's quite likely you will ignore signs you should stop driving in favor of making your planned stop. In some circles, this is known as Completion Bias.

Stop when your body needs it, regardless of progress made (or not).

NOT having a fixed destination changes the bias to your state of wakefulness, or alertness.

There is simply no substitute for rest. Your body will get it, one way or another. The trick is to manage your rest in such a manner that it doesn't hazard your safety.

Coming home the day before yesterday, my wife and I discussed the merits of pressing on, versus stopping short. Some of the arguments in favor of stopping included the avoidance of night driving when I was already tired. Additionally, we had a decent campground in mind, and that avoids refer noise and other undesirable effects of rest stops or truck stops.

We called it a day at 500 miles. I'm very glad we did.

One possibility for you might be to drive out, visit, then fly home for a week, fly back out and continue your adventure. Constant driving takes a lot of the fun out of these trips.

Personally, I'd even be in favor of scrapping the RV part of this altogether until time isn't such a factor.

I hope this helps some,

-Matt
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Old 09-23-2017, 07:49 AM   #10
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Well, off we go on this driving adventure. Work tried it's best to keep us from leaving but we kicked its rearend and we were able to leave 1/2 a day early. We drove about 2 1/2 hours north from Orlando to Lake City RV Resort. The pull through site was a little tight on the width but plenty long and quiet for the night. Nothing exciting to report which is kind of nice. A great way to warmup for the drive heavy vacation. Off to Pensacola today leaving about 10:30 am and my wife wants to start off the day in the captains chair. Hard to argue with that so here we go.
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Old 09-23-2017, 07:59 AM   #11
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Well, off we go on this driving adventure. Work tried it's best to keep us from leaving but we kicked its rearend and we were able to leave 1/2 a day early. We drove about 2 1/2 hours north from Orlando to Lake City RV Resort. The pull through site was a little tight on the width but plenty long and quiet for the night. Nothing exciting to report which is kind of nice. A great way to warmup for the drive heavy vacation. Off to Pensacola today leaving about 10:30 am and my wife wants to start off the day in the captains chair. Hard to argue with that so here we go.
Good Luck - Take a picture of your site each night so as to Remember.

Best of Luck,
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