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01-19-2007, 10:57 AM
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#1
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Owendale (Bad Axe)
Posts: 380
M.O.C. #6592
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Re: Hittin' the road!!
Well,
I'm headin' for FLA tomorrow morning!! I'm excited and scared all at the same time. It's my first vacation since 2000, my first ever vacation in a trailer, and the maiden voyage for the Monty. I sure hope I can sleep tonight...LOL I'll pop on here from time to time during my trip. Thanks to everyone on here for all of the tips and knowledge, y'all sure are a great group of people! Alrighty...cover me, I'm goin' in!!LOL
Jan
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01-19-2007, 11:41 AM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Down the Road
Posts: 5,627
M.O.C. #889
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Jan,
Have a great trip as you make the journey to FL. You are going to be amazed at how well the Montana tows, I have to look back from time to time and make sure it is still there. =) Looking forward to hearing how things are going. Travel safe and travel well!
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01-19-2007, 12:37 PM
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#3
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Montana Master
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lake George
Posts: 1,078
M.O.C. #3847
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Have a great trip. Florida is a great place to be this winter!!!
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01-19-2007, 12:55 PM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Paola
Posts: 5,739
M.O.C. #4961
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Don't worry about it. You will be up to speed in no time. Now go have fun.
__________________
Dennis & Linda Ward
Paola, Kansas
Montana 3735MK Legacy Edition
1200 watts of Solar
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01-19-2007, 01:46 PM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
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Where in FL are you coming to, Jan? We made that trip in Nov from Mich to Orlando (I-75). We did do a 5 week stint in Asheville, NC before continuing on. Did have to make a couple unscheduled trips back up to MI and back down. Only challenge is I-75 around the Atlanta area.
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01-19-2007, 01:50 PM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Clearwater
Posts: 10,917
M.O.C. #420
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Come on down Jan the weathers fine and you'll find that towing that Monty is going to follow you on down here without a problem.
Where ya heading for in Fla?
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01-19-2007, 03:34 PM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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Consider the 200 mile/2 o'clock rule. Drive 200 miles in one day or stop by 2:00 PM which ever occurs first. That way you will have time to setup, relax, visit whatever, and fine a good place to eat or prepare the meal yourself. You will be rested and alert for the next days drive. Safe and happy RVing....
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01-19-2007, 05:23 PM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Down the Road
Posts: 5,627
M.O.C. #889
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Stiles,
I like that rule, but holy cow I would never get anywhere. I keep it to the 700 miles a day w/ coach and 1,200 without coach...
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01-19-2007, 06:13 PM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 703
M.O.C. #235
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OH......... for being young Dave. Stiles has our routine.....leave CG by 9 stop by 3, no later than 4 - we do make the 200 miles a day! LOL
Safe travels and enjoy your trip to Fl, you will do fine Jan.
Lorraine
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01-19-2007, 07:24 PM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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I spent my whole life rushing here and rushing there. I AM on my own time table and schedule now which includes "time to smell the roses". I decided I want to do more than to just get from here to there. The faster you go, the more you miss, a physical fact related to the loss of peripheral vision with increased velocity. I also see it as a philosophical reality.
700 miles a day pulling Monty is fatiguing. If you drive at safe speeds for towing, that is 14 hours including time to make rest stops and eat meals. Then you enter a camp ground and set up after dark, already mentally and physically tired increasing your propensity for making errors. That ain't retired. That is unnessarily driving myself beyond the comfort zone. Ain't no fun in that.
Those numbers (200/2:00) aren't absolutes, just guide lines. But I no longer want to travel more than 300 miles in a day and I certainly want to set up in a CG by 4:00PM. If I am traveling without Monty, the rules are entirely different because at the end of the trip, I don't have to set up or do any of the things associated with RVing.
That is my logic and feelings on this matter and why I state the "rule". It will probably take me three or four days to get from Central Texas to Branson.
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01-19-2007, 11:01 PM
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#11
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Clearwater
Posts: 10,917
M.O.C. #420
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Stiles, I agree with your "rule" 100%. I have one other "rule", no matter how high the speed limit may be my rig travels no faster then 65MPH. Back when I was a 30 year old I was always in a rush and I be doing the same as Dave. As we grow older we realized how time just flew by. Not any more. Ya gotta stop and smell the roses. Life's too short to be in such a rush.
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01-20-2007, 12:54 AM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sioux Falls
Posts: 1,239
M.O.C. #5906
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Jan,
Good luck, you'll do just fine. I think your adventure is kinda like sky diving, the most terrifying part is the first step.
Stiles,
After many years of cramming as much into vacations as time would allow, I can't wait to be able to slow down and smell the roses. I like your thinking.
Don
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01-20-2007, 04:12 AM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Naples
Posts: 658
M.O.C. #4049
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We too always used to pack as many miles into a day as possible. Everything was planned out well in advance with itineraries written out and reservations made for every night. No time was made for seeing anything when we stopped because we had to get on the road early the next morning to make the next destination before 6:00pm. When we finally got to our destination, each day was totally planned out as to what we were going to do each day. Schedules were made and strictly adhered too. Then the trip back home was the same with everything planned out. Did that for every vacation and trip for almost 15 years. I don't know how many things we never got to see because we were always in a hurry.
Now that we have the wisdom (??) of being older, we leave when we are ready and drive until we are tired. Usually we are on the road about 6 hours a day, and travel anywhere from 200-350 miles each day. We also now look to see what attractions are in the area that we might like to see, so we may have to spend an extra day in a particular location.
We still have a time limit on our trips because we aren't truly retired yet, but we have found that we can take our time and still make the drive from Northern Illinois to Southwestern Florida in the fall and the return trip in the spring well within our time constraints. This fall, it took us all of 7 days to make our annual trek south because we stopped and visited with relatives in central Illinois, southern Indiana, and Nashville.
It only took us 15 years to realize there is a huge wide open country called the United States that is calling to us. To use an old cliche, we now "stop and smell the roses" and they smell great.
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01-20-2007, 04:17 AM
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#14
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: La Pine
Posts: 2,654
M.O.C. #2018
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Jan - Safe travels. As has been said, the Monty tows like there is nothing behind you. I'm sure you will enjoy the new adventure.
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01-20-2007, 05:09 AM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lake George
Posts: 1,078
M.O.C. #3847
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How many miles you travel per day may have something to do with whether you are on vacation on a limited time frame or retired and in no hurry. We usually drive hard the first day and try to arrive fairly early the next. We both still work and usually only have a week or two. When we retire in a couple years, that will all change. We will then have time to stop to smell the roses, driving 200-300 miles per day as Stiles suggested. Vacation Mode is definately different than retirement mode unless you can get 3-4 weeks vacation, which we are unable to do.
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01-20-2007, 05:47 AM
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#16
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: anywhere
Posts: 912
M.O.C. #6260
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We used to do the rush, rush, rush thing until we retired. Now the 2/200 rule is a little too stringent. We sleep till we feel like getting up; leave when we are ready and go down any road that strikes our fancy. If we see something we like we stop for an hour or a week, then move on to an undefined destination. We haven't made a reservation in years because we don't know where we will be. Somehow I like it like this. If we HAVE to be someplace fast we fly.
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01-20-2007, 11:35 AM
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#17
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Malta
Posts: 3,075
M.O.C. #607
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Have a safe trip and keep in touch!
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01-20-2007, 12:39 PM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location:
Posts: 1,502
M.O.C. #3142
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Jan, relax and have a safe fun trip! Think of us back here in the cold and snow...lol
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01-20-2007, 03:04 PM
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#19
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location:
Posts: 2,232
M.O.C. #2975
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Have a safe trip. You will be fine.
We usually leave by 6AM from our stick house then stop by 4 for the night. We try to not go over 400 miles in a day but we both drive.
Don still works about 2 days a week and he takes off anytime we want. So he has a nice set up. We are going to be in Missouri for 3 weeks after we leave Branson visiting friends and relatives.
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01-20-2007, 03:05 PM
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#20
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Owendale (Bad Axe)
Posts: 380
M.O.C. #6592
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Hey everybody...:-)
Thanks for the well wishes and advice!! We have decided to drive six hours or til 5:00 p.m., whichever comes first. My friend is in her own rig, so we're piggy backin' on down. I told her I have no desire to try and set up when it's late. I don't know what I'm doing in the light, I sure as heck can't be getting a routine down in the dark...LOL We stopped at a really nice place outside Lexington KY. It's the Lexington Horse Farm. Really beautiful place, and hardly anyone here. There's no water hookup, but the Monty is still winterized anyway, so I don't mind. Just opening her up was a thrill. Sitting here on the couch in front of the fireplace....this is wonderful!!
They're gonna have 1-3 inches of snow here tomorrow between 5-10 a.m. They're all freaking out cuz they're not used to that around here...LOL If we don't feel comfortable about driving in that stuff tomorrow, then we'll just sit for a day. I'm on vacation, and the idea is to have fun. So, I'm making myself slow down, relax, and try to live in the moment. One thing I learned after my injury, I was in such a hurry to get where I was going...I totally lost the enjoyment of the journey. Not anymore...and thank God I learned it in time to do something about it...:-) But I digress...
We're headed to the St. Pete area. When I lived in FL, I lived in St. Pete, Madeira Beach and Seminole. So, that area is where I want to hang out. I'll visit a friend in Tampa, and see my father (I don't know him very well, but better late than never). And there's a spot on the beach I used to love going to late at night after all the tourists went home...I can't wait to go there again. Ahhhh...I'm just waiting to exhale...:-) I'll check in again soon. And y'all were right!! Unless it's rough road, I hardly even know that baby is back there. Thanks again everyone...
Jan
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