Campground Reservations

[paulwadley]

I finished making all of our campground reservations for our trip leaving Monday. I started making our reservations back in March 2021 knowing our route from California to Kentucky. I now planned out our return route which is a different route and finished off our campground reservations last night. Some of the campgrounds were getting low on spots. I also made a hotel reservation on the route going to Kentucky. Our last night on the road will be stopping over at the Las Vegas KOA Sam's Town in Nevada. I thought that if it is too hot and our air conditioner can't keep up(we only have the one unit), then we will walk over to the hotel and get a room for the night. Our stops include the following:

Flagstaff Arizona
Albuquerque New Mexico
Amarillo Texas
Joplin Missouri
Greyville Illinois
Walton Kentucky
Loretta Lynn's Ranch Tennessee
Branson Missouri
El Reno Oklahoma
Las Vegas New Mexico
Holbrook Arizona
Las Vegas Nevada

Paul

[Bob Denman]

Don't forget to send us postcards!
Safe travels: Bro!

[standerson]

We are about 1.5 hours from Walton, KY. Maybe we can get together and lie about how good we were when we were younger.

[paulwadley]

We plan on visiting Reds Stadium, Rabbit Hatch, Cincinnati Zoo, and Berlin(Amish Town) plus The Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat factory. We are visiting some of my wife's family in Dry Ridge as well. We stayed last time (2019) at Big Bone Lick State Park RV Campgrounds.

Paul

[paulwadley]

Here is my follow up on our nearly 5,000 mile road trip. We were gone 30 days and towed our 2014 Ford Flex on an Acme Car Tow Dolly. My overall average on diesel was 13.5 mpg. That was also with 4 grown adults and one child inside the motor home on the road. We hit some very hot weather as well as rain on this trip. We climbed some steep hills while towing. We travelled on the 91/I15/I40/44 toll/64/71/75 as well as some county/state routes through Arkansas/Ohio/Indiana/Illinois. We took a couple of local ferry rides across the Ohio River. We stayed 12 nights at the Oak Creek Campground in Walton Kentucky and 2 nights in Branson. Everywhere else were overnight stops. A couple of those overnight stops were great(Grayville Ill KOA and Las Vegas New Mexico KOA). I had a tail light go out on our Ford Flex(LED Tail Light)which will cost me $460 for the tail light since there are no bulbs inside to replace and I had to replace two tires on our Ford Flex. The Sprinter developed a fault code which looks like an Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Issue. It caused the Sprinter to go into a Limp Mode. I had to pull over each time and turn it off and on to have it reset and allow me to continue driving. I have since made an appointment at my MB Dealership to look into that issue. My OBD11 scanner gave me the fault code. The Sprinter pulled the towed vehicle with no issues.

Paul

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

Here is my follow up on our nearly 5,000 mile road trip. We were gone 30 days and towed our 2014 Ford Flex on an Acme Car Tow Dolly. My overall average on diesel was 13.5 mpg. That was also with 4 grown adults and one child inside the motor home on the road. We hit some very hot weather as well as rain on this trip. We climbed some steep hills while towing. We travelled on the 91/I15/I40/44 toll/64/71/75 as well as some county/state routes through Arkansas/Ohio/Indiana/Illinois. We took a couple of local ferry rides across the Ohio River. We stayed 12 nights at the Oak Creek Campground in Walton Kentucky and 2 nights in Branson. Everywhere else were overnight stops. A couple of those overnight stops were great(Grayville Ill KOA and Las Vegas New Mexico KOA). I had a tail light go out on our Ford Flex(LED Tail Light)which will cost me $460 for the tail light since there are no bulbs inside to replace and I had to replace two tires on our Ford Flex. The Sprinter developed a fault code which looks like an Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Issue. It caused the Sprinter to go into a Limp Mode. I had to pull over each time and turn it off and on to have it reset and allow me to continue driving. I have since made an appointment at my MB Dealership to look into that issue. My OBD11 scanner gave me the fault code. The Sprinter pulled the towed vehicle with no issues.

Paul

My guess would be that the combined weight of the Ford Flex and the car dolly would be near or over the tow rating for the Sprinter. Sounds like the Sprinter had a good workout on the trip pulling that plus the weight of 4 adults, 1 child, and luggage.

[Bob Denman]

Paul,
Glsad you're back, and had relatively few issues along the way!
So what's the next trip going to be?

[paulwadley]

Our next trip will be in early August. We head to Riverton Utah for a week to visit some friends. It will be a 1200 mile round trip.


Paul

[Bob Denman]

Shoot... That's about like a walk around the block for you...
And you've got an entire Month to get ready!

[JamieGeek]

Our next one is a 3500 mile 2 week jaunt.

I've had everything reserved (and in a spreadsheet with confirmation #'s check in/out times, etc.) now for a few months (reserved each when the window for that spot opened up--no issues getting reservations that way).

[Bob Denman]

Jamie,
Where are you pointing the nose of your rig?

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by bob denman

jamie,
where are you pointing the nose of your rig?

[Bob Denman]

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1626108453

[Oneilkeys]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Our next one is a 3500 mile 2 week jaunt.

I've had everything reserved (and in a spreadsheet with confirmation #'s check in/out times, etc.) now for a few months (reserved each when the window for that spot opened up--no issues getting reservations that way).

I just finished 8000 miles from Florida to Colorado and Utah and back - almost 8 weeks. It was great. After a week or so in Tennessee and Paducah, Ky, we took US 400 to Walsenberg, then US160 to Durango. Stayed at John Martin SP and Lathrop SP and Junction Creek NF CG. Then 5 days at Mesa Verde, five days in Moab, five days at Bryce, 3 Days at Grand Junction and a week at Ridgeway SP. Back to Durango, then the Scenic Byway to Creede and up to the NP west of Gunnison. Worked our way home back on 400 and then down US 35 to Branson, Mo, through Arkansas and Alabama and home. Beautiful country. You should have it a bit cooler than when we were there. Everyone kept saying it was the hottest they ever remembered. Had reservations for the first month and then made them a few weeks in advance after that. Weekends were the only problem. In 8 weeks we stayed at one commercial campground. All the rest were NP, NF, ACE and State Parks. Have a great time.