Travel lessons learned and observations

[Shawn62]

Very nice set of observations. Now I can't wait to take it easy standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

 

[Putnam Mike]

Thanks for sharing......we just finished nearly same trip but we are from West Virgina. Our 29.3 ACE was amazing, not the first problem. We encountered winds thru South Dakota & Wyoming. Pictures or words couldn't do justice to this beautiful country. We went from snow in Utah to 105 degrees in desert in few short days. For those doing much travel I would highly recommend checking into Passport America. Saved us several hundred dollars on our two months on the road.

 

[billyabryan]

Starting a thread here in regards to lessons learned and things observed during travels/vacations/RV camping trips and excursions. Feel free to add to the thread.

My wife, 2 dogs and I returned from a 31 day trip to the west coast (Oregon and California) over a week ago after seeing 19 states and logging 6,517 miles on the Axis. We enjoyed it immensely and was a dream fulfilled as we have been wanting to do something like this for many years. Perhaps not the dogs though, as they probably would have been happy to stay home and chase squirrels.

These are some of the things I/we learned:

- My lovely wife is a great navigator/co-pilot/pilot. She helped steer me in the right direction when the GPS was being questioned and was welcomed relief when she handled the rig quite well for several hundred miles.

- The dogs are pretty good traveling companions. When the RV is moving, they find their spots between the two front seats and sleep until we stop.

- The Axis 24.1 is a great size for us and we enjoy the floor plan. It performed with great satisfaction and flawlessly. Was able to maintain no less than 50 mph traversing some pretty steep mountain grades without revving the engine to really high rpms (no toad).

- Cruise and tow/haul are good to utilize. Tow/haul works really well on the downhill grades (8% on a couple) with some curves in bedded occasionally. Never felt unsafe.

- Much, much less fun driving when winds are 20-25 mph and gusting to 45+ over Wyoming. For a couple of hundred miles, steering wheel was in near vertical position quite often until the gust hits pushing the box the other way. Concentration was required to keep it between the lines and knuckles became white. I don't have the safe-t plus steering stabilizer and I seriously doubt it would have helped much.

- The Oregon and California coast is just beautiful and the pacific coast highway (101) gives one many beautiful vantage points.

- The Redwoods are some gigantic beauties. Nature at its best. Thank God they've been preserved as much as possible.

- Take along plenty of quarters ($100. might be enough) for laundry on the long trips as very few laundromats have change machines and Wal-marts like to hang on to their quarters or don't have many available. (Thank you, young lady in the pharmacy somewhere in New Mexico for sparing the $7. In quarters or I might have had to go commando.)

- Many state parks in Missouri and Nebraska have electric only hookups. They do provide fresh water to fill tanks however and have dump stations.

- There are sooooooo many 18 wheelers on the freeways out west carrying the cargo. Long trains also. Truck, after truck, after truck abound.

- While there's much infrastructure construction going on our highways and bridges, there's so much more in need. Hear me I-5 in CA (Sacramento!) for so many miles, I-40 pretty much all the way across Arizona and I-20 around Shreveport? Just to name a few areas with potholes, unevenness, ditches and general extreme roughness.

- There are so many beautiful, changing landscapes across our great country and some are just breathtaking.

-Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona was a great side trip.

- Sunsets/sunrises over the desert are picture paintings and unforgettable.

- RVers make for some friendly, enjoyable conversations everywhere. If it's talking about the home on wheels, where ya been(?), where ya going(?), military family, or the pets, it's all good.

- The Axis still gets attention/recognition. Couldn't count the times someone commented favorably about the size and looks. One lady approached me at a gas station after she had pulled her car up to a stop nearby asking me about it. I ended up giving her the 5 cent tour while my wife walked the dogs.

I'm sure there were other lessons learned I failed to mention here, but the main takeaway is there's a lot of beautiful country and great places to visit and enjoy in our America and its just waiting for us to visit.

Can't wait until, as Willie would say, "On the road again..."

Excellent. New Axis 24.1 myself. Love it. Went East 3 weeks and 4k miles including Canada. Planning Arizona and SW in February (get out of Chicago!)
Looking to add rear trac bar!! Any suggestions?

 

[TheTravler]

Your comments about the winds in Wyoming remind me of my first drive in north Palm Springs, CA in the I-10 with gusting winds. I hate to think how white my knuckles would have been without the Saf-T-Plus that I just had installed! Good comments. We still like our 24.1 Axis and cannot wait until our next trip, no matter how short it may be.

Man can I relate. We were coming back from FL a couple of weeks ago when passing through Mississippi and southern Arkansas the wind was a constant 25-35 MPH. This was my first experience with high winds in my 34J Hurricane. I slowed down to 45 to keep it between the lines. Suddenly, there was a loud pop that sounded like it came from on the roof above the drivers seat followed by a roar of wind. My first thought was that the AC cover had blown off I slowed down as I pulled over and it stopped with another pop. So I did what any non-thinking guy would do, I climbed up on the roof in the high winds, crawled my way to the front AC and found nothing wrong.... what??? This happened 2 more times and I had no idea what was going on, until... I happened to be looking in the driver's side mirror when it happened again and saw the wind catch the full length slide awning like a sail and it started to balloon out a little. When I slowed down, it popped back into place and rolled the awning back up. Loud and scary sounding. I guess the side winds were coming at just the right angle to get under the awning and start unwinding it like a sail. When I slowed the spring inside took over and rolled it back up. Never happened before or since even when driving 75 on the interstate.

Just another happy lesson learned in "Tales from the Road"

 

[axis earl]

Wow, sounds like that could have been really bad. It pays to kick in your situational awareness when handling a RV.

 

[Grgdmsn]

Steering stabilizer

The Safe T Plus steering stabilizer does definitely help along with a Hellwig sway bar. We did a 4500 mile trip in May to Midwest and ran into some serious winds and I was glad I had installed both. Although I don't think anything will help with the really high wind gusts. Two times I was blown from the right lane to the left lane where there was nothing I could do to stop it, it happened so fast. Sounds like a great trip. We had the same basic experiences with our 24.1 on our trip that you had with yours. Sounds like you had a great time. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Larry-THOR]

The Safe T Plus steering stabilizer does definitely help along with a Hellwig sway bar. We did a 4500 mile trip in May to Midwest and ran into some serious winds and I was glad I had installed both. Although I don't think anything will help with the really high wind gusts. Two times I was blown from the right lane to the left lane where there was nothing I could do to stop it, it happened so fast. Sounds like a great trip. We had the same basic experiences with our 24.1 on our trip that you had with yours. Sounds like you had a great time. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks.
After hearing all the testimony about positive results with Safe T Plus, sway bars and Sumo Springs, I may reconsider. As you well know after your experience with the winds, it can become a bit terrifying battling it.
Appreciate all input.