Pre-Positioning Question for Trans-continental Summer

[spatters]

Hi Folks,

Please re-direct me to the right forum if this is in the wrong spot. We've got a question about positioning our trailer in January for a trip from East-Coast to West-Coast in June, July, and August of 2019.

My wife and I live in San Francisco and own a 2018 International 30'RB with a GMC 2500HD tow vehicle. We've done multi-day trips along the West coast but nothing like we have in mind.

On January 1, we will wake up in Pasadena after the WBCCI Rose Parade Rally. We don't need to be back at work for 16 more days. Our thought is to move the trailer and tow vehicle as far East as we can in 15 days, not taking a lot of time to enjoy the ride, but rather getting the trailer out to the East Coast. We have to be in Washington DC over Memorial Day weekend (staying in a hotel for work) but then are off work until August 15. We hope to spend those 10 weeks taking our time wandering back to California.

We're going to buy a circle air-plane ticket from wherever we pre-position the Airstream to San Francisco then back to Washington DC in May and back to our Airstream at the end of our business.

So, we've a TON of questions but the two that seem to stump us at the start:

1) We'd need to leave the Airstream and tow vehicle in a secure location that is below the "frost line." So we're sort of thinking anywhere from Coastal South Carolina to Northern Florida. Any recommendations for the best region in which to leave our rig for January, February, March, April, and May? Once we get a region we'll probably look for either some sort of Airstream park (maybe the one in Pensacola if they are OK after the big storm) or secure storage. We really don't know for sure what region of the South to target for a secure location.

2) We think we could make it as far as Pensacola. While we've never towed across the country we've done trans-continental auto/truck trips in about 7-days. So we figured 15 days would be a patient, safe, but not very "exploring" trip along the interstate. Does anyone have any experience with trying to pre-position a rig using a short time-period that could pass forward suggestions?

Finally, we totally expect the unexpected and are aware that a January tow, even through the Southern US can be interrupted by any number of issues. We're flexible enough that if we don't make it the entire way we could adapt. But, we'd like to have a goal.

I've searched the boards under a number of terms but haven't found anything exactly on topic. Any links or re-directs would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Spatters

[TouringDan]

All I can say is that I like your idea. It is something that I would do given the opportunity.
I think you will need to be farther south than Pensacola to not have a need to winterize your Airstream. I am sure someone from Florida will chime in.
If you have driven cross country in 7 days you should be able to hit any place you need to in Florida when towing your Airstream. We don’t find towing the Airstream slows us down a lot. We probably drive 60 mph towing versus 70 mph solo.
Enjoy your trips.

Dan

[Overstreet]

Lower Alabama, LA, AKA the panhandle of Florida can have freezing temps. You'd should winterize, in that part of Florida.

In NE Florida we get "hard freezes" which are freezing temps that last maybe 2 or 3 hours. You might not need to winterize but if leaving it for months I'd do it.

"Below the frost line"...……South can be warm, hot, or frozen up under an ice storm. Some of my fondest memories were of snow, fire places, and dinners around the flickering fire in SC and south GA.

The places I'd recommend are RV parks with storage but not near an airport for you to fly back into to collect the unit. You were asking about "secure" storage. What does 'secure" mean?

[uraljohn]

Perhaps a call to one of the Florida Airstream dealers could help. They may be able to guide you to a secure facility to store your rig. It will not be inexpensive. I lived in Naples, Florida for 13 years and the price for almost everything goes up doing "High Season" (Jan, Feb, Mar). Storing in northern Florida will require you to winterize your Airstream. Anywhere north of Sarasota and I would winterize. I was in Fort Wilderness (Disneyworld) for a week In January 2018 and it was VERY COLD. I owned a home in Naples beginning in 1990. It was below 32 degrees at least 3 times between 1990 and 2001 when I moved there full time. Good luck finding storage and have a great trip.

[GMFL]

You could leave your unit with us. We are in east central AL, Lake Martin. You would need to winterize, but I could arrange for local storage and keep a look after your unit making sure truck was cranked regularly and trailer batts stayed charged. Also if you had any projects you wanted completed I’m more than capable of that also. I could also get you to and from the ATL airport. PM me if you like
Thanks
Ronnie

[uraljohn]

Originally Posted by GMFL

You could leave your unit with us. We are in east central AL, Lake Martin. You would need to winterize, but I could arrange for local storage and keep a look after your unit making sure truck was cranked regularly and trailer batts stayed charged. Also if you had any projects you wanted completed I’m more than capable of that also. I could also get you to and from the ATL airport. PM me if you like
Thanks
Ronnie

Does it get any better than this. Fantastic group of people. I have learned a bunch from this group and now this. Gives one pause to realize that there are some very special folks in this world.

[PKI]

Seems like you are doing the trip the hard way. Do your business, return to California and start the trip from here. A 10 week schedule will get you everywhere you want to go and home again too.

That approach allows you to continue using your coach in the Spring and not have to deal with the rig stored remotely.

Exception would be if you want the Mothership to do special maintenance that our local resources would be challenged to perform. Can't think what that would be but maybe?

Note - 15 days would get you to the East Coast and back, so if you chose to implement your plan, develop a route that gets you within striking distance of your ultimate storage location and enjoy a bit of touring until time to drop off the rig and head home.

Since it will be cold in January, you will have to get South or plan on using FHU campgrounds exclusively. Alternatively, you could just winterize when you start East and practice winter camping guidelines from then on. Use bottled water and replenish the propane on a regular basis on route. That would be a fun adventure as long as you miss the snow and ice. Pick a clear weather window to get through your areas of worst weather concern. That might mean waiting in an intermediate location until the weather clears.

Suggest you get and carry snow chains for trailer and Tow Vehicle. You may not ever need them, but may be required to have in some areas of winter travel.

Good luck with your trip. Pat

Edit - Have you considered Death Valley in the Spring time. Can be a wonderful flower show if we get some rain.

[spatters]

Hi Folks,

I'm totally blown away by the suggestions. By secure I was thinking that there would be people around on a regular basis that would notice if something is going on with the trailer.

I'm sorry you've all broken my fantasy of what living in the South of the US is like. Hsahahahahahahahaha.....never really pay attention to the weather (it's always sunny in California, ya know) and didn't realize it can freeze that far south. But after reading your responses my wife remembered years where the orange crop in Florida was devastated by ice and freezing temperatures.

My wife and I are new to Airstreaming and we have had our best luck when we travel very slow and stop frequently. We can push it when we have to but would rather stop at that funky thing we passed on the road than save it for another trip. We try to get off the road by 3 every day no matter how far we've gone. Last thing we need is to be tired, cranky, hungry and trying to park. So taking 10 weeks to go from East to West in the Summer gives us plenty of time to hang out, make new friends, visit old friends, and generally chill before we have to back to work in the Fall. We're both teachers if ya'll hadn't figured that out yet.

To end, I think we've found a solution. We've made arrangements for indoor storage at a facility near Atlanta. We got two "circle" tickets on Delta (Atlanta to San Francisco in January, San Francisco to DC in May, DC to Atlanta in early June) for not a ton of money. The storage wasn't inexpensive but they do provide services like cranking the truck, doing maintenance prior to pick-up in June, a ride to the airport, etc....

We will keep you posted on how it works.

Thank you again for all the information and ideas.

Spatters

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Coast to coast is roughly 2,800 miles. Four hours of driving at 60 MPH gets you 240 miles each day. (= on the road by 10, off the road at 3, an hour for breaks) Roughly speaking, there are 12 "driving days" from coast to coast. More or less if you have a 10 week one way trip, 12 days will be driving and 58 days will be "in place" days.

Bob

[GMFL]

Again if that does not work out we are 2 hours from ATL
Thanks
Ronnie