Travel Days

[exav8tr]

For those of you who are constantly on the move, what seems to be the best travel days of the week. Obviously I don't want to be travelling on holiday weekends, but what about the rest of the time. Also, are there certain hours that seem best.

Getting really anxious to get "on the road!" but would like to avoid some of the traffic anyway.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!!

Phil

BTW: Had our final garage sale yesterday, everything that didn't sell goes to Salvation Army this week.

[Cat320]

The only thing we really watch are rush hours and big cities...other wise doesn't make much difference.

[Montana Sky]

Phil,
You are now one day closer to FULL TIMING!! I bet you are really getting anxious...

Traditionally I start out around 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. and try to be off the road around 10 p.m. - 11 p.m. 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the larger cities is the time I try to avoid. The rest out on the open road does not seem to matter.

[Delaine and Lindy]

We don't move on Sundays, and we try to be moving by 9:00 am and in the next camp ground by 3:00 to 4:00 pm. We always have reservations before we move. Delaine has our plans weeks before we travel. We are retired and try hard not to be on the road after dark, just much easier to get set up in the day light vs dark. If you get to a RV park early you will get a little better site. And we try not to travel on any holiday. We try to avoid large city's the traffic is always terrible. I worked 15 yrs in DC and spent a lot of time in LA. GBY...

[adelmoll]

We try to leave around 9am and by 2pm we are ready to stop. We very seldom have a reservation unless it is over a holiday weekend or a special festival etc. Some days we don't go any further than 50 miles or so. If it looks like bad weather, we stay another day. We are so thankful that we are able to finally travel this way after always being on a schedule during our working years.

It does take awhile before you finally realize that you are not on vacation but once you do, it is wonderful.

Helen

[Imp]

We try to head out by 9 a.m. and stop by 3 p.m. This time of year you usually don't need reservations, but I call ahead to be sure they have room for our rig. I have yet to have anyone ask for a credit card no. A good time to go through big cities is Sunday morning or between 10 am and 2 pm.
Your right Helen, it does take awhile to realize you are not on vacation. I think we are coming to that reality, finally!! LOL Now we just need to stop commiting ourselves to being somewhere at a certain time. It was great during the winds in So. CA to be able to just sit it out before going on.

[rldriver]

9:00 AM is a good departure time, we try to call ahead and if they ask for a credit card we just tell them that we are on a cell phone and don't fell comfortable in giving the number out but will be there by a certain time and they usually say they will hold it until a specified time. Works great for us.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Like the others we are typically on the road by 9AM (after rush hour} and off the road by 3PM, no later than 4. Absolutely hate driving at night as finding and backing into a site can be the pits. With the exception of Rallies or holidays or special events or extended stays we rarely make reservations. Our system has worked for over 3 1/2 years and only once or twice were we not able to get a site but being off the road so early still gave us plenty of time to find another campground.

I totally agree with Helen, "It does take awhile before you finally realize that you are not on vacation but once you do, it is wonderful."

[rvfirefighter]

We try to get into campgrounds on Thursday afternoon to beat the weekenders coming in on Friday for the weekend. This is very important at National and State Campgrounds. You also have a window on Sunday afternoon when all the weekenders are leaving.
Like others have said, I try to be off the road a couple of hours before dark, I have seen too many problems happen when people are trying to set-up after dark and trying to maneuver the tight roads of a campground.
I try not to make reservations when traveling, unless I am familiar with the campground. I hate unwelcome surprises.

[mobilrvn]

Guess we're like everyone else. We're out of the CG between 9:30-10:00 and hopefully parked by 3:00 pm unless we've done some poor planning. Sometimes 50 miles is all we go, too, and rarely over 200-250 per day. Too much to see. Stay off the freeways. Few reservations unless we know the CG or it is going to be crowded. Don't make driving your new occupation.

[ols1932]

We try to leave by 9:00 am and be in place NLT 3:00 pm. We never enter a CG after dark unless we've been there before and we know where we are going to park for the night. We never travel on Sundays, and hesitate to travel on Saturday if we can avoid it at all.

Orv

[rrheik]

Like everybody 9-3 for travel times, so we miss rush hours. We normally try to go through big cities early on Saturday or Sunday mornings. We have also decided no more than 325 miles a day maximum. We normally call ahead in the morning to check on available sites in the off season. During peak time we make reservations in advance if we plan o n staying a couple of days per place while in route to our final destination.

bob

[bob n pam]

We are kind of in the start around 9:30-10:00 and stop around 3:00 catagory. We try to be in a campground on Thursday and stay over the weekend if it is in a busy area. We do make reservations if we are going to a destination park. Otherwise we call ahead to check availability.

[DonandJudy_12]

We try to avoid morning sun in the eyes going east and afternoon sun going west- Being retired, we have more time to be careful- Most US hiways are good, in fact some are better than some Interstates- Don

[simonsrf]

We try to never travel on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. We never drive more than 200 miles, and when we setup, it is for at least 3 days. We spend lots of time investigating our destinations on the internet well in advance, and these places are tentatively penciled in on the calendar. We always have a plan 'B'...(boondocking).

On travel days, we drink a cup of coffee, a little breakfast, and then start packing....when we get it all packed, we hit the road. No clock, no timing...just when we feel like it.

We are not vacationers, we are full timers. We follow our own schedule, which only tells us where we have to be months in advance....like a rally or when meeting some one some where. We avoid daily and weekly schedules...just like the plague.

We love living our dream.

[patodonn]

9-4, 10-5 give or take..250 to 300 miles per day max, sometimes lots less. Always at least two nights at every stopover. Big city transit is best on Sundays. We try to never haul in or through major metro areas between 5:30 AM and 10 AM or 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM on week days.

We always make reservations, even if just to check on site suitability for our rig..we are 39 ft, pin to ladder. I just HATE not knowing where I'm going...some people find that to be part of the "charm" of travel. Different strokes, etc.

It took us a couple of years to figure out that there is NO hurry! In '03, we hit 53 overnight locations between July and November...insane, in retrospect. Last year, in 11 months, we visited 43 locations.

If you find a nice place, somewhere you enjoy or want to explore, say a week or a month....you don't have to be on the road, just because you can, just to be going "somewhere" It will wait for you..

One factor to consider is mail..you need to be able to get your forwarded mail, so, if there is a possibility that we would miss it at Point A, we have it sent by our mailing service to Point B or even Point C (ahead of us in travel) We ALMOST always get our mail on Fri or Sat, so frequently travel on Sunday or Monday. That's another reason for making reservations...we usually run a week or so ahead in that effort...you can always change them enroute..

Enjoy the travels!

[Glenn and Lorraine]

quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine

Like the others we are typically on the road by 9AM (after rush hour} and off the road by 3PM, no later than 4. Absolutely hate driving at night as finding and backing into a site can be the pits. With the exception of Rallies or holidays or special events or extended stays we rarely make reservations. Our system has worked for over 3 1/2 years and only once or twice were we not able to get a site but being off the road so early still gave us plenty of time to find another campground.

I totally agree with Helen, "It does take awhile before you finally realize that you are not on vacation but once you do, it is wonderful."

An addendum to our above reply....
I prefer to travel on Sundays if possible as there is considerably less traffic especially during the "rush hours" of weekdays. Even Saturdays are less crowded but rarely a travel day for us. On such holidays as Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day we always pull in on a Thursday or Friday and pull out the day after the holiday, usually Tuesday, to avoid any holiday traffic. We always try to avoid big cities as much as possible but again traveling around big cities on a Sunday is rarely a problem either.
While we travel we try to keep abreast of any road construction where the possibility of a traffic jam is eminent This is one of the biggest reasons we have a CB radio. As I approach a construction situation, I will always have the CB turned on to channel 19 for this type of info. Yes, I do put up with the truckers foul language. More times than I can count I was able to detour around back ups due to construction or accidents. Just two weeks ago, on I-81, I heard there was an accident about 15 miles ahead and the cars were backed up for miles, trucker's refer to this as a parking lot. I was able to get off at the next exit and take a parallel road around the mess probably saving me an hour or more. And again even hiway construction is less of a problem on Sundays.
We try to stick at about 65 MPH, never higher, and 300 miles, give or take, a day.

Always keep one thing in mind...
You are a RETIRED FULL TIMER and you ain't in no hurry. SLOW DOWN AND SMELL THE ROSES!!!

[rrheik]

Like everybody else 9 - 3, and no more than 300 miles in a dy. If we think the weather looks bad, we will hang out where we are at until the weather is good and the winds are gentle. Just don't feel like hurrying anymore.
Sort of like to do the big cities early Saturday or Sunday mornings about 9 or 10. We normally make reservations, but have found that every place we have stayed is flexible about changing the reservation without penalty, as long as we are still staying there for the same length of time on different date. If we are spending the weekend, like lots of folks, we like to arrive on a Thursday and leave on Monday to avoid the rush at the rv park.

bob

[sreigle]

Phil, tow on all days of the week. If we will be going through a large city on working days then I plan to avoid rush hours or go around way outside the city.

The most we've towed in one day is something over 800 miles. That's a real rarity for us, though. Our preferred day is 200 to 250 miles if on US highways. On interstates where we'll run higher speeds we prefer no more than 300. But we do have some days longer than that.

We usually make reservations, even for overnight stops. But not always. We try to stay put over holiday weekends.

Our most common time for pulling out of a park is about 9 a.m. However, we'll leave earlier or later if big city rush hours dictate or if we're doing fewer or more miles than average in that day.

[richfaa]

About the same as everyone else.Like Glenn we hate to drive at night and will be in a campground by 4Pm or 5Pm..sometimes earlier. We are normally on the road by 9AM. We share the driving and that really helps.You sort of have a feel for rush hours around large cities and plan accordingly.We rarely make a reservation because that means we would have to be in a certain place at a certain time. Will say that we had to make many phone calls to get a CG in the MT Rushmore area for 1 week but we are here at the Custer/Mt Rushmore KOA..no problem..