We are heading out this summer for the longest trip we have taken with our TT. Our longest trip we have taken has been 250 miles for 5 days. Now we will be going 862 miles (Md to FL) and will be gone for 11 days.
Any advice? How many times would you stop along the way? We will be traveling with our 3 kids, 10, 8 and 7. We plan to leave on a Friday and will be checking in in Florida on Sunday. Ideally I would like to make it to South of the Border by Friday night. Stay there on Friday. Leave SOB Saturday morning and be in ST. Augustine by late afternoon. So that one Sunday we will have roughly a 2 hour Drive. Hubby would be content to sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots along the way.
I am at a loss as to what all we should pack. Hubby wants to food shop when we get there, I want to have everything ready. He wants to take a small amount of clothes and do laundry, I want to take tons of clothes and skip doing laundry.
We have decided to buy and carry with us 2 new tires for the TT, just in case. Gas prices are scaring me. When we planned this trip I figured the cost of gas at $4.00 a gallon and we are above that already.
As far as stopping, we stop when we need to go potty! We try to plan everything around that including getting gas - If we have to use the restroom and the gas tank isn't empty, we'll top it off.
Food, for long trips like the one you're describing, we buy everything at the destination. Not sure if that works for others but its how we've always done it and it makes my DW happy.
Clothes, I think that depends on the amount of clothing you own or can store. DW always plans on spending one day just hanging out at camp in the middle of the trip to do laundry. We found that most of the campgrounds we stayed at in Florida had at least one coin operated washer and dryer. In some places we have needed to find a laundromat.
It really is up to you as it is personal preference. In my family when it comes to those two topics, I'll do whatever DW wants.
Eric, Melissa, Morgan, Andrew and Sam the Camping Canine
2006 Starcraft Antigua 235SRG
2004 Toyota Tundra SR5 Double Cab V8 www.thelovedays.com
Food - combination. we like to pre-prepare a few things and freeze them. Especially those travel nights or first nights at camp. Ideally though we like to be at camp at least a day or two before we have to go out. The fridge will be on the entire way, might as well use it.
Clothes. St. Augustine with kids = beach. No matter how many clothes you take, you'll be washing towels within a week. Plus with the hot weather, you may end up changing a couple of times a day.
Otherwise, plan as you would any vacation. St. Augustine is a great place to go.
Plan the clothes for 5 days. Do laundry half way through. Buy food as you go - keep beer on hand. Plan on no more than 250 miles per day. That leaves time to unwind and enjoy the rest of the day at your next stop. Depart by 10:00 am to let morning traffic clear and make driving easier. Allow time for driving between 60-65mph to conserve fuel.
Have fun!
Fred Cory
Mineral Bluff, GA
2008 20' Cruiser RV Toy Hauler
Dodge Durango 5.9L
Harley 06 VRod
It depends on how much storage you have. We stopped and bought extra clothes once so we could go 14 days without having to wash one load at a time. Now we take extra clothes or go into town to wash all of the clothes at once, buy food and eat out.
I fill our freezer before we leave and make sure that I have all of the things that I will need for meals for the first few days we will we anywhere.
Because I am on a very restrictive diet I make sure that I have food with us that I can eat on the way wihout extra work.
Take ear plugs for for the one who is not driving if you are taking turns driving.
Perhaps muzzles for the children might be a better idea. Sorry I had to say it, thinking of long trips with our children.
About those tires you're going to buy, wouldn't it be easier to get them mounted on the trailer before you leave home? This would save the possibility of having a tire failure on the highway at some location where it's unsafe or impractical to change the tire. If your TT has four tires, pick the worst two and have the tire shop mount them before you leave, probably won't charge you for the service. As others have stated, take a couple days food with you in the fridge and stock up at the grocery store when you get there. Publix is a fine supermarket chain to do your major shopping while in FL; but while you're traveling, you may need to stop at a store to replenish some things that you consumed along the way, or forgot to bring. Clothing is hard to manage; about five days worth should be enough with the thought that you can do laundry while at the CG. Have the kids help with laundry, maybe they will take it easy and not mess up their clothes so much if they know they're going to the laundromat with you.
facory wrote: Plan the clothes for 5 days. Do laundry half way through. Buy food as you go - keep beer on hand. Plan on no more than 250 miles per day. That leaves time to unwind and enjoy the rest of the day at your next stop. Depart by 10:00 am to let morning traffic clear and make driving easier. Allow time for driving between 60-65mph to conserve fuel.
Have fun!
I agree on the miles! 300 is my limit pretty much. About 5-6 hour at most. Get whooped driving any more than that pulling.
Clothes equal weight. We bring enough for almost a week then wash. We used to bring left overs from our home freezer to save money but to us it somewhat gets boring. Now we shop when we get to where we are going and cook or grill fresh daily. We do bring all the condiments that we can.
As another poster suggested we try and combine restroom breaks with fuel stops. If we are overly anxious we will stop for about twenty minutes at a rest stop to stretch our legs.
Flying J in St. Augustine is a good place to stop. We always overnight there the day before checking into WDW.
As for food, I fill our freezer with everything we'll need for the entire trip. Staples stay in the MH year round.
As to tires, I might take one spare tire but certainly not two -- unless your tires are in bad condition already. In that case I'd change them before the trip.
Laundry -- if you're planning a week long trip, I wouldn't bother with the laundromat -- two week trip, do laundry midway through the trip to avoid having to pack so many clothes. We traveled with 3 kids for years and this worked well for us.
Country Coach Intrigue
Miata and golf cart trailered on Featherlite
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Kassie, our Miniature Schnauzer copilot
chrisandmargie ~ Good luck. We haven't ventured that far from Southern Maryland yet either, but we are in talks of Disney in January. So, PLEASE post any tips you may have in the planning and the actual trip to FL. We have been talking about going halfway and stopping and then finish driving on the second day. Alot of DVDs for the player and headphones so we don't have to hear Mickey over and over.
I do know someone that towed from down here to Disney and she said it took 17 hours for them. They have 3 kids, like 10,3,1.
Islandman wrote: About those tires you're going to buy, wouldn't it be easier to get them mounted on the trailer before you leave home? This would save the possibility of having a tire failure on the highway at some location where it's unsafe or impractical to change the tire. If your TT has four tires, pick the worst two and have the tire shop mount them before you leave, probably won't charge you for the service. As others have stated, take a couple days food with you in the fridge and stock up at the grocery store when you get there. Publix is a fine supermarket chain to do your major shopping while in FL; but while you're traveling, you may need to stop at a store to replenish some things that you consumed along the way, or forgot to bring. Clothing is hard to manage; about five days worth should be enough with the thought that you can do laundry while at the CG. Have the kids help with laundry, maybe they will take it easy and not mess up their clothes so much if they know they're going to the laundromat with you.
Hubby wants to take 2 tires just in case. He doesn't want something to happen and us to be stuck somewhere. He wants a spare.
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