dflick
Tomball
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Well, we decided to get into RVing and we purchased a Class C motorhome. We are traveling from Texas to Detroit, Michigan to pick it up with the family. We decided since Niagra Falls was 4 hours away, that we would stop there first. Memphis is another must see destination. Here is my dilemma, We fly in on Thursday the 5th and arrive at 11pm. We must do all the paperwork and walkthrough on Friday morning so the earliest we expect to be on the road is noon and we will likely have to stop to stock up on food so it may be around 1 or 2 before we actually get going. The goal is to be in Houston (Tomball) by Sunday night but we can bleed into Monday if necessary. Since we have never done this before, my concern is how many hours driving is realistic between 2 people (arbitrary question, I know..) and how much EXTRA time should we add to the travel time estimates since we are in an RV? I want to make this first trip as fun as possible so we don't ruin the kids! LOL
How do you find places to visit not knowing the areas? Is there a resource that is popular in the community? I bought the Woodall's directory and it will arrive later in the week so that will be a start but I was hoping for some other knowledge sources. Googling for cities and selecting "What's Here" did not work as well as I had hoped.
Thanks!
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Two drivers means you can go 24/7 if sleeping is done on the move.
Is the MH new or used? Either way one might need to stay in town over the weekend to get everything fixed that you find during the walk through on Friday.
You may be about 7 days short on time to do what you mentioned in my experience.
While I am sure you are excited you must realize few new/used MH's are fully ready for a cross country.
Not what you want to hear but two drivers with no minors might be back in TX late Sunday if no side trips are taken.
You need to find 7 more days someway in my view/experience.
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RRUGG
Newaygo, MI,USA
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If you're not going to have more than about 2 1/2 days to get home, I'd think you might as well skip anything along the way. Although the Natchez Trace is scenic (speed limit is probably 50 mph). There are three free no hookup campgrounds on the Trace. Plenty of places to stop to look at but most wouldn;t take very long. Good luck and happy travelling/camping.
RRUGG
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JaredWPhillips
Henryville, IN
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Google Maps. Just type in "RV Park Memphis TN" (for example). All RV parks and campgrounds in the area will appear on the map, and you can click links for information.
Type in "XX City to XX City" in the search bar and it will show you the route and mileage/time to travel. Add in your selected campgrounds and it gives you a good idea of your mileage and travel time for the route.
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happytrader59
league city Tx
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Even though you might calculate driving at posted speeds ,I have always calculated an average of 50 miles per hr for any trip I take. ie; 100 miles 2hrs.On long trips this will give you time for fuel stops and such.
Remember ,when you stock up on road food, get things that are microwave friendly, and cold cuts etc...
Detroit to Tomball 1350 mi. = 27hrs non-stop.
Murphy's Law = At least an extra 3hrs at the dealer.
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rexlion
Broken Arrow OK
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I would advise driving home by the shortest route. Pick out a handful of things to see or do along that direct route, things you can do in a couple of hours each. That way you won't feel so burned out on arrival home.
But... it's your life. Maybe you thrive on a fast pace? So let's see... Niagara, figure 5 hours to get there. It will be getting dark soon, so hurry to see the falls. Find a campsite for the night, maybe look at the falls again in the morning. Friday, drive all day to get very close to Memphis, and find a campsite. Spend Saturday doing whatever in Memphis. Sunday, with normal stops your drive will probably be about 12 hours. So I guess it can be done... about 1750 miles in 3.5 days... provided nothing goes wrong. You will be tired when you get home, that's for sure.
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2gypsies
Enjoying the West!
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Wow! You have 1430 miles to get from Detroit to Tomball, TX in 3+ days! If you want to make it a pleasurable trip both for the kids and for you, I would advise the most direct route and not driving more than 6 hours/day. That would leave some time to do something fun that day. It would take you 3-4 days of travel doing 6-hour days so that doesn't leave much extra time. You would probably be going interstates for speed but you shouldn't plan to be keeping up with cars. You'll be taking I-75/70/57/55/40/30/45.
Your stopping days would be around Indianapolis, Memphis and Dallas. Since you're new to RVing and picking up a new RV you really should allow one night near the RV dealer in case you have any problems to contend with. You'll find that RVs are not perfect!  You should expect something to go wrong. If not, you're lucky! Therefore, it's advisable to just head back home and forget about Niagra Falls this trip. You really need more time. Even by skipping that you are going to be tired and the kids are, too for your long drive home. Just make it as simple as possible for this first trip out.
So taking those three cities, Google them for "things to do with kids" and hopefully you'll find something. You didn't say what time of year you're doing this but if the weather is nice, perhaps a lakeside state park or Corp of Engineers park in the Dallas area just for some relaxin' time before hitting home. Best of luck and safe travels.
For your first few trips just go somewhere closer to home and the kids will have fun. State parks are wonderful and they will have some activities for the kids and probably a hiking trail or some water to putz around in. Don't try to drive long days. Everyone will be grouchy. RVing will be fun for them - and you, too!
For future reference you might try posting some inquiries in the "Family Camping" section of the forum. You'll probably get lots of help there. Good luck with your new adverture.
* This post was
edited 03/27/12 12:15am by 2gypsies *
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travisc
Pacific NW
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Having traveled to Alaska an back about 2 years ago and driving over 7000 miles in 4 weeks- a few words of advice- not sure the age of your kids- but your route takes you over I-75 and I-40 I think I would take the most direct route- home- you are buying either a "new" or used RV that you won't be used to and travelling almost 1300 miles- depending on the kids ages they are going to be getting pretty bored- I'd look at what kind of stops off the interstate that you can do that are fairly close-
We used microsoft streets and trips with a notebook computer with a GPS to track our current position and sites/stops withing a certian distance from our route- that hits a lot of the historical and other types of places and sometimes use this to plan our stops-
Walmart/Costco/Sams club are good places for gas and getting things you may need- there are several stores that allow you to overnight with no charge- you probably aren't going somewhere for the "amenities" as you won't have time- so pick the stops accordingly.
We found that 700 miles in 1 day was really hard- to drive a day and see how it works for you and adjust how you need to.
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M GO BLUE
Southgate, MI
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So which General RV location did you purchase from?
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dflick
Tomball
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Thanks for all of the responses. They are all very helpful! U will be sure to move this post to the "Family Camping" section as well. Based on everyone's advise, we decided to add in Monday and shoot for a Monday night arrival. We feel we just can't pass up Niagra Falls as we will likely never get that far North again and the kids are most excited about crossing the Canadian border. By doing the Canadian loop that puts us back near the dealership on Saturday (or even late Friday) if we have an issue that does not disable us (great suggestion). Jayco has a tow service included for the first 2 years and I have AAA RV service as a backup. I am also trying to find the time to look into Good Sam towing services as I am a new member there as well. We are getting an in motion satellite with Dish Network to help with the boredom and we already have a Internet hotspot on board courtesy of Verizon so we are hoping that will help. I think we are going to do the straight shot back from Niagra though and not worry about any side trips. We are planning on dry camping to help with the time and to not disturb anyone at a park by arriving late. That being said, does anyone know of anything historical (monuments, caves, historical significance) that may be right off of the route (70, 71, 55) that may be of interest that would not add too much time? I will likely drive late in the night and my wife will pick up early in the morning (I am a night owl and she is an early bird) which should give us some daylight time to poke around. My wife was able to do all 4 Disney parks TWICE in 5 days so the pace will likely be quite lively! Usually we need a vacation from our vacations! Everyone is in the mindset that this will be an adventure and everyone is on board so we are really hoping to pull this one off. I can guarantee that our next vacation will be closer to home though. LOL. We rented a class C for this coming weekend to practice for next weekend's marathon!
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