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ODSCS · 11-03-2014, 04:20 PM

Starting to plan a 1300 mile trip one way and am wondering how many days it usually takes to enjoy that short a trip? Heading to Phoenix from the Oregon coast and probably going down through Nevada. Any suggestions to campgrounds along the way? I am guessing we would only make 200-250 miles a day when we have to strike camp, stop for lunch and arrive at a campsite around 4PM before it gets dark to set up camp. Looking at both RV sites and state park campgrounds along the way. This will be our 8th outing, but by far the longest. Appreciate your thoughts.

Don, ODSCS

Arcticfox · 11-03-2014, 04:40 PM

We try to travel in the "The Three Zone"

- 300 miles per day
- off the road by 3
-and stay for 3 days to enjoy the local sites

As you can see this "plan" is not built for speed. But one sure gets to take a close look at any given area you might be in!

Cheers
Doug

Bk Yd Safari · 11-03-2014, 05:07 PM

We usually try to keep miles to 350 or less.
If staying near Salt Lake City, East Bay RV Park in Springville, UT is an easy off/on location and a clean nice overnight stop.
Don't know if you will include Las Vegas, if so try Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort on the south end of the strip.
Sedona AZ is worth a day or two's visit and Rancho Sedona RV Resort, especially the river sites, is a nice place to stay.
hope you enjoy your trip

wahoonc · 11-03-2014, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcticfox

We try to travel in the "The Three Zone"

- 300 miles per day
- off the road by 3
-and stay for 3 days to enjoy the local sites

As you can see this "plan" is not built for speed. But one sure gets to take a close look at any given area you might be in!

Cheers
Doug

I like the rule... for the most part.

I once drove 680 miles in 14 hours to get ahead of a winter storm front. Glad I did, another couple that I had been talking with at the same campground the day before got stuck in the middle of nowhere along I-80 for 3 days before the road reopened.

Another time I was towing my popup and an ice storm moved in, (the weatherman lied) drove around 6 hours on the front edge of it before finding a good place to stop for the night, it was close to 8 pm before I got to a place to spend the night.

Aaron

xrvr · 11-04-2014, 05:15 AM

Four fifty, depending on the road conditions. I find traveling off interstate increases my travel time by about twenty five percent, so daily mileage is less off interstate. Four fifty is about ten hours on the road on the interstate.

Protagonist · 11-04-2014, 05:37 AM

Department of Defense has a rule for how far people are allowed to drive while on official business. It seems like a very practical rule for personal driving, too:

Distilled to simplest terms, under Joint Travel Regulations rules, you're limited to 350 miles per day if you'll be driving again the next day, 425 miles if you're not going to be driving the next day. And it doesn't matter how many people share the drive, the limit is per vehicle, not per driver. Driving three hours and riding as a passenger for another three hours is just as fatiguing as driving for six hours.

This ruling was developed after extensive research for both military and civilian Department of Defense employees. Once you've gone past 350 miles regardless of your speed, your chances of an accident due to fatigue go way up. 350 miles at 55mph is just as fatiguing as 350 miles at 70mph.

That said, when my parents were alive, I'd routinely drive 750 miles one-way all in one stretch to go visit them once a year. Now that they're gone, and now that I'm about to retire, I'll never be in that much of a hurry to get anywhere, ever again. So I'll be following the 350/425 rule from here on out.

slowmover · 11-04-2014, 06:24 AM

Is there a link to that rule set?

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dznf0g · 11-04-2014, 06:35 AM

350 - 500 miles when "on the move" is the norm for us. Next year's big trip will be Chicago to Key West....1550 miles. Planning 3 days for travel.

Protagonist · 11-04-2014, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowmover

Is there a link to that rule set?

I'm sure there is, but I've never actually looked it up. I know about it because every time I exceed those limits on official travel (more often than I'd like) I get a nasty-gram from our Logistics office reminding me not to exceed those limits and threatening not to reimburse me for the excess miles.

I go over the limit most often when visiting field sites, where it's a 250-mile trip to get there, and another 250 back later the same day.

slowmover · 11-04-2014, 07:05 AM

For some perspective is the difference between travel speed and average speed. One may set the cruise for 68-mph yet do no better than a 56-mph average on a 75-mph Interstate. The number of acceleration and deceleration events alone tends to cancel "fast" travel. With a combination rig this is unavoidable. Weather and traffic problems only exacerbate this

So, for purposes of trip planning using an average hourly rate makes for better choices to stop for food and fuel. Keeping the driver alert and rested is paramount. Time devoted to travel is best thought of as separate legs to accomplish rather than a daily total.

Perhaps the nicest benefit of a slower travel speed is that it will be much closer to the average. Fuel economy, handling and braking are much better as well. Fewer steering wheel corrections and reduced tire and vehicle wear. Broader peripheral vision as well.

I find it flat funny seeing "RV'ers" hurrying . . to grab the TV remote as soon as possible. This tends to underly "saving time" on the road.

300 or 3 o'clock has always made sense. Free parking shoots down expense questions. Etc

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perryg114 · 11-04-2014, 07:10 AM

We probably travel 300-400 miles a day. So Protagonists federal guidelines are about right for us. Now if I had all the time in the world, I would probably do 200-300 miles a day. We usually cut our Florida trips into two segments unless we are under a time crunch or the weather will be bad the following day. Then we might do 650 miles a day but I don't like doing that while towing.

Perry

lsbrodsky · 11-04-2014, 08:35 AM

I am retired and in no hurry. I prefer no more than 5 hours per day; the mileage varies based on the route. I can do more but I find my reactions have dulled after 5 hours and driving a trailer in most places requires awareness.
Larry

slowmover · 11-04-2014, 09:52 AM

Time is the best factor to use. Knowing average speed over a given time period is what separates good from poor truck drivers. We must be able to calculate where we will be two days from now. With an RV it is the minimization of risk that is new to most.

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Woosch · 11-04-2014, 09:58 AM

I generally try and keep it to under 300 miles a day. Not sure where you will be joining I5 but, Grants Pass is a good stop. We stayed at Moon Mountain RV Resort on our last trip and it was fine for an overnight. If you go further south to Dunsmuir CA there is a campground at the Railroad Motel (I may not have the name entirely correct).
Cheers

Jaxon · 11-04-2014, 11:16 AM

We generally would do no more than 350/day and more often than not, 250-300. Main thing was to be able to get to the campsite and get everything set up before dark and also be able to look around, enjoy the campground. We did that both with the Airstream and the Foretravel MoHo. This meant we were on the road usually no more than 5-5 ½ hrs. day.

Heck, there were times we never made it more than 100-150 miles before we found things that looked interesting, so we’d lay back for a day or two.

I never liked getting up at the crack of dawn to head out anyway...

m.hony · 11-04-2014, 11:29 AM

It depends on the situation.
I would love to do 300-350 miles, but sometimes it is stretched much further due to what we need to do, where we need to be, etc.
450 miles is normal for us. We have been much further out of necessity.
Sometimes it might be 100-150 miles from one campground to the next.
Nothing set in stone/concrete.

greenflag · 11-04-2014, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODSCS

Starting to plan a 1300 mile trip one way and am wondering how many days it usually takes to enjoy that short a trip? Heading to Phoenix from the Oregon coast and probably going down through Nevada. Any suggestions to campgrounds along the way? I am guessing we would only make 200-250 miles a day when we have to strike camp, stop for lunch and arrive at a campsite around 4PM before it gets dark to set up camp. Looking at both RV sites and state park campgrounds along the way. This will be our 8th outing, but by far the longest. Appreciate your thoughts.

Don, ODSCS

Sounds like you and I travel about the same. I am retired, so what's the rush! I seldom leave RV park prior to 10 AM. I limit myelf to 6 hours of driving a day. That equates to about 250-300 miles a day. That includes a stop along the way for lunch. Also a stop to stretch your legs and use the restroom if necessary. 250 miles is preferred mileage though. I like to arrive at my destination by 4:00 PM or at least before night.

PharmGeek · 11-04-2014, 11:58 AM

Longest I have driven was straight from Philadelphia, PA to Birmingham AL in a big Uhaul truck....60-65mph mostly...I think it took us some bit over 14 hours (no kids then)...I was just out of college...I drove solo...wife was not comfortable driving it...did "fine", but now the limiting factor for me is kids, longest we have done so far is 420 miles in a day from Birmingham to Marion VA - took us about 8 hours total including a 40 min stop for supper and perhaps 30 min for a lunch stop, and a fuel stop or two...that was no fun in the last 1-1.5 hours...kids were just past the point of tolerance...

On the other hand, we have drove now 5-6 hours a number of times with no ill effects with kids, and that we like...this turns out to be in the 250-300 mile territory.

If I did not have kids though....I would run the risk of pushing myself too far....I find myself thinking of insane things like driving to the keys non-stop for say a 10 day trip and this would waste only 2 days...but then I slap myself and come back to reality...I could do it, but it would just be a bad idea...

We are considering in 6-7 years a cross country trip, but it appears my wife will only likely be able to get 3 weeks...so these questions of drive time have crossed my mind of late.

dznf0g · 11-04-2014, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenflag

Sounds like you and I travel about the same. I am retired, so what's the rush! I seldom leave RV park prior to 10 AM. I limit myelf to 6 hours of driving a day. That equates to about 250-300 miles a day. That includes a stop along the way for lunch. Also a stop to stretch your legs and use the restroom if necessary. 250 miles is preferred mileage though. I like to arrive at my destination by 4:00 PM or at least before night.

Oh....one of these days I'll travel like this...........

slowmover · 11-04-2014, 12:08 PM

Plan itinerary Pharm. We travelled distance only 1-2 days/time then spent time

Here's an idea. You want to go west. Stop at Amarillo for two days to see Palo Duro and Alibates. Then up to Bents fort for a day. Go fishing at lake. Then a long day en route

Time to read up on Ranald McKenzie plus Gwynne on Comanche. The Dust Bowl. Etc

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