Advice please - Travels, Flags, Fuel and Caravans

[NickSowter]

Hi there,

After 18 months of planning and dreaming, I am finally on my way to
the states in July from the UK to pick up and use my 69 Overlander.
I am using a ¾ tonne suburban to tow and will be travelling between
Albany New York, and Spokane Washington to pick it up. Once the long
haul is over I plan to take it easy around say a 300 mile radius
of Albany for two weeks, before a reluctant return to the work in the
UK.

I have been in the States only twice before on short trips only and
without an Airstream! It would be great to get some advice on where
to stay on both the trip out to Spokane with just the suburban.
And also where we can stay for the night when on the way back with
the Airstream. It is business like trip, as my young family will be
awaiting my
return. I will have a mechanic with me, courtesy of his desire to
hit the road, and a very helpful relative back in Albany.
Some advice on places to stay once I get back to Albany and travel
with my family would be great.

Also I have seen flagstaffs placed at the rear or front of Airstreams
and would like to get two or three of these - the stars and stripes,
the union jack, and an Airstream flag. I also have
an idea that it would be great to fly smaller flags on the wings or
front bumper or as you folks say fender of the suburban as you
sometimes see
on limos. Can anyone offer advice on where to get
these.
Can anyone offer advice on fuel consumption for the burb, I am
figuring on 10 miles per gallon as an average with or without the
airstream in tow; is this about right - My trip each way is 2700
miles!

It looks as if I will miss the rallies this year, but I will be back
in 2003 and we aim to go then.

One more thing - International Caravans - in around 2010 or 2015 my
wife and I will be ready to travel the world with our Airstream, does
anyone have plans to re-create the caravans of the 50s and 60s. I
imagine a group of 10 or 20 of us, with sponsership, making our way
around the world.

All the best and regards

Nick & Jackie

nicholas.sowter@email.com

[apple 1]

Nick,
Looks like you have a big first trip ahead of you. For places to stay once you pick up your Airstream you need a campground guide. I use the Trailer Life Campground Guide and Atlas. Another good book I always travel with is the Exit Source guide which lists fuel stations, resturants, campgrounds, Hotels, etc. at each Interstate exit. There are other good campground guides availiable. Your best bet would be to order them from Camping World, there web site is www.campingworld.com.
You may be able to find your flag holders at Camping World also. As to fuel economy you are very close in your 10 MPG estimitate.

Jim

[PeterH-79MH]

Nick,
State parks are a wonderful place to spend the nights and they are plentyful thru-out your journey.
If you are taking the northern route, check out glacier national park in Montana. Well worth the time it takes (without pulling the trailer)
Good luck on your journey!

[DIMMER]

I have a 89 GMC Sub. 373ger. 383sb 700R4 trans 4X4 and 73 A/S TT 31ft. on a good day i might get 11mpg more like 8or 9mpg!!!!!!

[Jim W]

You should get a Trailer Life directory. They list thousands of camp gnds & Rv parks. The web site is

www.tldirectory.com

You maybe can order it from their web site. You should see a lot of beautiful country. As stated, Glacier park is great as well as Yellowstone park. I tow with a 99 Suburban 3/4 ton with a 454 eng & 4.10 gears. Going thru mtn areas I get 9/10 mpg towing. Flat areas 11 mpg towing. Not towing around 13/14 mpg.

You will need to join WBCCI ( the Airstream club ) & see what kind of tours they have. You can go to their web site & see a lot of their listed tours.

[LeeC]

Nick and Jackie

Congrats on your new rig and welcome to the USA. Dont forget to drive on the right side of the road. . You didn't tell us much about your Suburban but none of them get great gas mileage. 10 is a nice round figure. With my 99 Chevy Tahoe, which is pretty much just a shorter Suburban, I got about 10 towing in flat country and about 16 solo. It had a 5.7 Litre Engine and 3.73 axles. We towed a 31 footer with it.

The flags can be bought in lots of places...K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and etc. They usually have small flags which you can attach to windows in your car as well as the large ones. Don't know about a fender mount. You might want to bring a Union Jack. I have seen lots of them here, but obviously not as plentiful as the stars and stripes. I have seen some collapseable flag poles and mounting brackets for RV's for sale in the WBCCI magazine, the Blue Beret. Maybe somebody else can suggest other sources.
For the Airstream flag, try www.wbcci.org.

For Interational Caravans try www.wbcci.org. They have international caravans now but from what I have seen advertised, it usually involves Airstreamers flying to the distant continent then using rented or leased units that are available there. I don't know of anybody actually shipping the Airstream overseas anymore. Wow that would be fun, but very expensive, I guess.

I hope this helps at least a little,

Best regards,

Lee

[whitsend]

Nick - Having lots of British friends, I think can say (without meaning to offend) that there is nothing quite like a Brit with No Fear (ie a massive road treck from New York to Spokane & back, AND pulling a trailer on one of those legs!!! Good on ya!!

When we were transferred from Aberdeen to London in the early 1980's, we drove the car (to see the countryside) rather than put it on a train down, and our wonderful neighbors were so worried for us - such a long drive!! They were awake as we pulled out at 4:30 am to wave good bye & tell us once more to be ever so careful on the M road.

You don't mention the size/length/weight of your trailer, but I would think your 3/4 ton Burb will pull you along quite nicely, but your mileage may fall a bit on your return trip pulling the trailer.

Be sure to keep us all posted on all the pros & cons you encounter on your adventure!!

Jim
'02 Safari 27'
'02 F250 PSD
'02 - '07 = Poverty