Planning a Trip

[Jackkdh]

At age 81 I bought our first motorhome, a 2022 Windsport J34 and learned quickly on our first long trip to Florida that it's bear to keep in the lane during windy conditions (natural or caused by big semi trucks passing on interstates). After doing some research we had installed Safe-T-Plus with alignment. It's much easier to handle now.

We're now planning a much longer trip from our Outer Banks home west to Mt. Rushmore and then continuing west to the red woods in N. CA. I have two questions: 1. For those who have done and planned long trips what is the best planning tool to identify (a) route, (b) campsites, (c) sights worth seeing, et al. I've been looking at RV Life that seems to provide most of what I'm looking for. If you've used this tool let me know your opinion of it, or alternatively are there better planning tools?

2. We'll be flat towing a 2021 Ford Ranger 4x4. I'm a little concerned about climbing and descending mountains in the J34 which as you know is an 8 cyclinder gas engine. Does it have enough power? How difficult it is to handle on downhills, etc. Any thoughts/experience you have would be much appreciated.

Happy Easter,
Jack

[lwmcguir]

Years back we made a similar trip with a Ford 460 and a 40-foot 5th wheel. Later with a Ford 6.7 and a 41-foot 5th wheel. It was much easier with the latter setup.

A couple years back, similar trip with several detours with the Tuscany and a Towed. No issues at all.

Take your time, plan on short driving days and early stops. Don't worry about going slow up grades as others will be as well. Going down know how to use your brakes, shifting, and most of all don't get in a hurry. You're not out to win any races.

I use a combination of apps and a large road atlas. Plan several options and rarely book more than 25% of the sites. This year may be different as right now no one knows what the summer brings.

Getting close to 80 so know what you're up against.

[MJC62]

Sounds like a great trip! New RV owner at 82, I like your style!!

Last summer we did NW Indiana to South Dakoto, Wyoming, Montana and back home. We used the app RV Parky to plan our fuel stops & overnights. No app is perfect but RV Parky lists RV friendly fuel stations, bridge clearances as well as places to overnight. (RV parks, Wally World, Cracker Barrel, Rest areas etc places that you can park overnight.)
Our 2018 ACE 27.2 equipped with the V10 towed our 4500 lb 2019 Cherokee with no issues up or down the mountains. A few times it took awhile to pull the grade but hey we aren't in a hurry anyway Your Godzilla V8 has a little more HP and torque than our V10, you should have no problems.
Enjoy the journey!
Mark

[Jackkdh]

Thanks much

[Jackkdh]

Many thanks

[Mr Sunshine]

Great questions. Iam trying the RV Life site/app to plan out our trip with a 250-300 mile daily limit. Sometimes I refer to RV parky. I keep the atlas handy, too. Each day, I program my Garmin 780 for the day's route. We'll do a couple of nights at Wally Mt or Crackers Burrell and then a campground to dump and refill with water.

You probably have a Tow/Haul button that changes the shift points, helping on steep upslopes and saving your brakes on downhills. Some leave it on, I switch mine on as needed.

Here's a helpful video: https://www.getawaycouple.com/when-t...tow-haul-mode/

Happy trails!

[Lt Keefer]

If you have tow/haul use it and keep your days to around 250 miles. These two tips have made our trips all the more enjoyable. Travelling as a retiree is so much easier than when work was calling. Not having any set deadlines is a plus.

[JimOIB]

We use RV Life / Trip Wizard for all of our trips. I also program my Garmin RV 780 from the TW file my wife sends me. Only a few days ahead because plans can change.

We just left OIB, NC headed to Gouldings in Monument Valley UT then a 2 month drive north to Glacier NP and all points in between.

Our mode of travel is 2 driving days with nightly stops followed by a 2 night stop for some R&R from driving. 250 miles max per day. On the 2 day stop we try to pick someplace to be a tourist. We are in Elk City OK right now and just finished seeing the Rt 66 museum.

The first 2 days we hit Harvest Host, State Park and National Park sites for camping. Get your NP Senior Pass as it saves 50% on camping fees. For the 2 day rest stop we look for full service mom-n-pop campgrounds and shy away from the “national” chains. This allows us to get a full hookup and tend to things that need tending to.

We just came across AR and OK the past few days with horrendous winds up to 35mph gusts. My advise is to slow down and play it safe. Traffic will pass you and that’s ok. Take a break when you feel fatigued - the campground will be there when you arrive.

My bumper sticker reads - I’m retired…go around me. Nuff said.

[Jackkdh]

Great advice. Thank you

[Chateau_Nomad]

jimbo12... LOVE your travel style. We just may copy that NEXT summer when my "right-seat navigator" retires!

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by Jackkdh

At age 81 I bought our first motorhome, a 2022 Windsport J34 and learned quickly on our first long trip to Florida that it's bear to keep in the lane during windy conditions (natural or caused by big semi trucks passing on interstates). After doing some research we had installed Safe-T-Plus with alignment. It's much easier to handle now.

We're now planning a much longer trip from our Outer Banks home west to Mt. Rushmore and then continuing west to the red woods in N. CA. I have two questions: 1. For those who have done and planned long trips what is the best planning tool to identify (a) route, (b) campsites, (c) sights worth seeing, et al. I've been looking at RV Life that seems to provide most of what I'm looking for. If you've used this tool let me know your opinion of it, or alternatively are there better planning tools?

2. We'll be flat towing a 2021 Ford Ranger 4x4. I'm a little concerned about climbing and descending mountains in the J34 which as you know is an 8 cyclinder gas engine. Does it have enough power? How difficult it is to handle on downhills, etc. Any thoughts/experience you have would be much appreciated.

Happy Easter,
Jack

Welcome to the Forum and you made a great choice! I have a 2018 Windsport 29m. It has the V-10 and I love everything about my coach. I don't know about the new V-8 but I can't imagine it will be a problem. We live in Rockwell, NC and in 2019 we went from Nashville to St. louis to Kansas City to Souix Falls to Rushmore to Yellowstone to Washington, you got to see Grand Coolee Dam thru Oregon into Ca. to The Reagan Library to Hoover Dam to The Grand Canyon to Winslow Ar. we're musicians, to The Wizard of Oz museum to home. Did not pull a car but rented one for Yellowstone. I would suggest you boondock as much as possible. Wal-Marts, Cracker Barrels, Sams Club, Bob Evans and lots more. Only book a site when you need to get water and dump your tanks. You'll safe a ton of money. Allow as many days as your able in between siteseeing. You never know when something will break. One last piece of advice----buy a Roadmaster tire rack for the back hitch and get a rim and spare tire. These tires are not in every town and if you have a flat you can have your tire waiting for the service truck to change it!!!! As far as route planning I did my own and I'd look at your route or what your interested in seeing and just go there. Also, you'll want to book two nights at a RV park about every week or so, how ever long till you need to wash clothes and towels. Safe travels; Bob Trice

[cruzin101]

Originally Posted by lwmcguir

Years back we made a similar trip with a Ford 460 and a 40-foot 5th wheel. Later with a Ford 6.7 and a 41-foot 5th wheel. It was much easier with the latter setup.

A couple years back, similar trip with several detours with the Tuscany and a Towed. No issues at all.

Take your time, plan on short driving days and early stops. Don't worry about going slow up grades as others will be as well. Going down know how to use your brakes, shifting, and most of all don't get in a hurry. You're not out to win any races.

I use a combination of apps and a large road atlas. Plan several options and rarely book more than 25% of the sites. This year may be different as right now no one knows what the summer brings.

Getting close to 80 so know what you're up against.

Not sure about the answers to your questions but you’re my hero. I hope to tripping like that next year!

[71_340]

You already got a lot of good driving/planning advice, so I add this. If you stay any time around Mount Rushmore, try to make Ellsworth AFB your base for that time as they have an excellent RV park. We spent a week there last August.

[Pabs4]

We traveled from Texas up to Hill City, South Dakota last September. We then traveled West through Cody, Wyoming to West Yellowstone, back to Hill City, and then home. 2019 Vegas 24.1 flat towing a 4 door Jeep Wrangler. We had no trouble at all. As someone else said, make certain you know how to tap your brake to downshift on the descents, and take your time going up the steep grades. There are lots of places to pull over and let faster moving traffic go by. We especially enjoyed the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore, but seeing it in the daytime is a must! The bluebonnet campground in Custer State Park was beautiful! Yellowstone was AMAZING! Enjoy your trip! We also use RV Trip Wizard to plan.

Pam

[Jackkdh]

Many thanks Pam. Good info

[DNS]

It seems with trip planning tools 1 size doesn’t fit all. We just got home from a 6 week 6500 mile trip from Ohio to some of the NP’s out west. I tried RV Life Trip Wizard, but didn’t really like parts of it. We use a combination Good Sam Trip Planner, Google Maps, Flying J Trip Planner (for gas stops), Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas, Garmin RV 780, and RV Life Campground Reviews. I haven’t found just 1 tool that does everything I want, but this combination works for us.

We typically make reservations before we leave, but this seemed like too much detail planning for a trip that long. Probably a good thing we didn’t since the 4th day going through a little town in NM, someone heading toward us turned left right in front of us. We have damage to the right headlight area, but fortunately no one was hurt. We had to stay an extra 2 days in NM to get the MH evaluated to make sure we could safely continue on. We did lose deposits for those 2 nights at the next planned stops, but since we didn’t have reservations much beyond that it could have been worse.

We tow a 2020 CR-V on a dolly and most of the time don’t even know its back there. Going up the mountains can be pretty slow, but like was already said, don’t worry about it there’s a slow lane for that reason. I always have Tow/Haul engaged, it’s a great feature, especially going down the mountains.

Some of the roads are pretty terrible and we had several things break, so I always carry some basic tools. I also have an assortment of wire ties, small nuts/bolts, self tapping screws, Gorilla tape and a ladder. Had to use all of them several times.

Take your time and enjoy the trip.

[Jackkdh]

Very much appreciate your thoughts that will guide us.