Newbie planning 24 day road trip to ME & back

[eharvill]

We are new to AS & pulling a camper.Hubby is an avid Bass fisherman so pulls 22' bass boat.We are 70ish with 2 spaniels.Trying to plan a late July early August trip to Bar Harbor area of Maine, leaving from LaGrange Ga. We are dog walkers,not hikers,& not interested in going through DC,not New York City.Prefer countryside areas.Will be pulling AS 2021Globetrotter 27'FBT with 2020 F250 gas truck.I am playing with Trip Wizard(first timer)& AllstaysPro(first timer). Anyone willing to suggest campgrounds or stopovers or route suggestions.Thinking about heading out to Hiawassee Ga,then Pigeon Forge Tn toward Hershey Pa,Concord NH then Bar Harbor area.No real reason for these markers other than avoiding some of the city & beach crowds.Return route along the coast may work.Thanks for any suggestions given.

[B. Cole]

Anytime running east coast, avoid the large cities.If you must, run through them late at night, or weekends.
Do a long detour around east coast if possible.
Your route will be much more enjoyable towing, as far away as possible before you head east to Maine.
Without looking at my old trucker atlas, the above can be started by taking I-65 North out of Alabama. Much better pull up north than white knuckle I-75 or even worse, I-95.
Since hubby likes to fish,maybe skirt along Great Lakes Erie/Ontario as you climb towards Maine.Stay on State routes as much as possible, avoiding the big toll roads and Interstates.Not any fun as you go east.

[Lily&Me]

Do plan to drive thru the Catskills and Adirondacks, as they are very pretty and also have a lot of parallel pullouts for fishing on the less traveled roads...and where you can spend a quiet overnight, if you are so inclined.

We saw a grey wolf in the Catskills early one morning, 10 or so years ago.

Maggie
.

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Do plan to drive thru the Catskills and Adirondacks, as they are very pretty and also have a lot of parallel pullouts for fishing on the less traveled roads...and where you can spend a quiet overnight, if you are so inclined.

We saw a grey wolf in the Catskills early one morning, 10 or so years ago.

Maggie
.

Exactly !Thats kinda where I was aiming their approach to Maine.....

[eharvill]

Thank you for those suggestions.I will keep working on our route with all the suggestions and try my luck finding campgrounds.Are there enough Harvest Hosts along the way to warrant a membership?

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum . . . Brian and SuEllen's Lucy threads would be good background reading IMO:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f42...ed-152034.html
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f42...ure-41642.html
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f42...ka-196679.html
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f42...in-170283.html

Maine . . . Nova Scotia . . . Alaska . . .

[drbrick]

Sounds like a great trip - we always begin our planning using the Motor Carriers' Road Atlas by Rand McNally. Then use the APPs on the road. The Roads Atlas provides important information about low bridges etc. - Also as stated above we avoid the Freeways and big cities. At 75 year of age we don't need the stress. We much prefer to mosey along at 60-65 mph and see to countryside. Enjoy the trip the goal is to get there not how fast you can get there..

[azflycaster]

Best lobster rolls...

https://thetravelinlobster.wixsite.c...ood-restaurant

[eharvill]

Thanks so much.We are in our 70's and just beginning camping road trips.We will heed your advice. Lucy's road trip stories are helpful with finding campgrounds to check out.I am practicing with the Trip Wizard......so much for this old brain to absorb!

[Pipsqueak]

There are so many beautiful places to go in New England. I am not sure about the best way to get there from Georgia. We took our AS Flying Cloud 25 ft. to New York this past October from Houston, TX. Virginia has a beautiful Good Sams Park in Verona called Shenandoah Valley Campground that we stayed in. It has waterfalls and is on a beautiful piece of acreage along the interstate. I would avoid driving through very much of Pennsylvania at any cost. We drove through a good bit of the state coming home to Texas and we won't be doing that again. Their Interstate has been put in by sections and is the roughest ride imaginable. It was so rough that it couldn't have been good for the AS. It broke the mounting on our heater and most everything inside had moved to places that it shouldn't have been bumping out of cabinets, etc. Going there we traveled through VA, went around DC by way of Baltimore and stayed at the Capitol KOA which is in Millersville, Maryland. We then traveled to the Newburgh KOA near The Catskills. It was our home base. We loved all three of these campgrounds. The Catskills are incredibly BEAUTIFUL as well as the state of NY. The coastline of Massachusetts is so worth seeing. You could travel through Connecticut, MA and then follow Hwy. 1 along the coast of MA to Maine. A tour of the different lighthouses is a must see. The coastline from Boston to Freeport, Maine has so many picturesque towns with cobblestone streets. It's all a piece of heaven.

[Bob Peahl]

Originally Posted by eharvill

We are new to AS & pulling a camper.Hubby is an avid Bass fisherman so pulls 22' bass boat.We are 70ish with 2 spaniels.Trying to plan a late July early August trip to Bar Harbor area of Maine, leaving from LaGrange Ga. We are dog walkers,not hikers,& not interested in going through DC,not New York City.Prefer countryside areas.Will be pulling AS 2021Globetrotter 27'FBT with 2020 F250 gas truck.I am playing with Trip Wizard(first timer)& AllstaysPro(first timer). Anyone willing to suggest campgrounds or stopovers or route suggestions.Thinking about heading out to Hiawassee Ga,then Pigeon Forge Tn toward Hershey Pa,Concord NH then Bar Harbor area.No real reason for these markers other than avoiding some of the city & beach crowds.Return route along the coast may work.Thanks for any suggestions given.

To get to/from New England, we generally avoid I95 and the East Coast cities by picking routes that take us near Albany, NY, then turn east from there. We usually follow the eastern mountains toward Albany. The mileage difference isn't dramatic and the trip is much more pleasant.

[ejami5]

I made a Texas to Maine trip from July through October. Took different routes there and back. Be sure to check Maine's Covid requirements. When I was almost to Maine in Sept, the state requirement was to have a Covid test within 72 hrs of crossing the state line. I stopped in MA at an Urgent Care type of facility, got the test and went on to the first Maine campground where I had made a reservation for 14 days. Maine's requirement at that time, was to either self isolate for 14 days or until the negative result came back before the 14 days. Obviously, if the result was positive, I would have sought medical attention. My test was back within 21 hrs so I only stayed at the campground 2 days and was then on my way to Acadia.


I checked every state along my route. In S. Dakota, I was rerouted around an Indian reservation when my Texas license plates were spotted. It added an extra hour to get to Badlands Nat'l Park.


In New York, a museum director saw me getting out of my truck and upon my entrance into the museum, stopped me. He explained that since I was from Texas, I was not allowed into the museum without a quarantine of 14 days. I mentioned I was coming down from Maine so with a big smile he said, no problem.


I documented each stay either with a paper or email receipt so that if/when I encountered a state with strict Covid requirements, I could prove I hadn't just come from Texas. It may sound like overkill, but I didn't want to be turned away from a campground. Right now, New York is requiring travelers from a non-contiguous state lines with NY, covid tests and a 3 day quarantine. https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/co...ravel-advisory. I only point out NY since someone else mentioned to drive through the Catskills and Adirondacks. Another thing, I found that in general, if you're just passing through a state, you don't have to adhere to the covid guidelines but check first. Stop for gas, groceries, or to pick up your to go dinner and keep moving.


Maine is lovely and I can't wait to return. Be sure to check out Mt. Dessert Pies in Portland. They were still located in Bar Harbor when I was there but have since moved. Their wild blueberry pie is so very delicious.

[GammaDog]

Good suggestions above on longer trip with stops at other fishin’ holes.

For a direct route without DC or NYC entanglements consider I81 to I84 (toward Boston) or I88 (through Albany).

I’m an AllStays user. Lots of good campgrounds on those routes. We tend to use State Parks versus commercial, but your preferences should guide you. If you enjoy more rustic/scenic/slower routes, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive parallel I81 much of the way. Many National Park campgrounds along that route.

If you add specific questions to this post, the brain trust that has offered ideas so far will certainly have more ideas for you.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by eharvill

. . .
. . . We are in our 70's and just beginning camping road trips.
. . .

Welcome to the crowd in that age group . . . no worries . . . there are many folks here who consider us youngsters!



This Steinbeck quote is always a good "road atlas" to carry along IMO:
__________________________________________________

“Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” [emphasis added]
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
__________________________________________________

Happy trails . . . and . . .

[Piggy Bank]

I don't have route advice to give you, but i do have some travel advice.

We too drive at 60-63 MPH. Here is how i plan the day's drive for us.

Assume an "average" speed of 55 MPH- plus add 45 minutes for every smaller city (Omaha) and add 1 hour 15 minutes for every larger city (Denver). This will average out just about right with drive time, traffic, stopping to get gas/bathroom breaks, and snacks and lunch in the airstream. Pay attention to crossing any time zones.

Aim to be off the road by about 3 pm. This allows you to decompress, take a nap if you like, get in a little walk, have dinner, enjoy your evening, and get to bed ready to roll for the next day.

It's best to gas up your truck when you arrive in the afternoon. Gas stations are a hot mess in the morning.

This way you wake up, have some coffee, and shove off in the morning ready to go.

It also gives you some built in cushion so that if anything delays you, that you can still arrive before dark.

If you need to do a really long day driving, better to get up very early and aim to get off the road mid/late afternoon, than to drive later into the evening. Other drives are fresher and more attentive at dawn. Sunrise on the road is lovely.

[gamakai]

We've made that trip many times from Woodbine, GA. If you are an interstate traveler, from LaGrange take I-85 to I-77 to I-81 to I-84 to I-495 to I-95. This route avoids the VA-DC-NYC-CT miserable portion of I-95. I try to avoid interstate driving when possible. Take a few minutes and an atlas and you should be able to plan a route of mostly non-interstate roads. Some of our favorite routes include US 29 into VA, US 15 in MD and PA and US 2 VT, NH and ME. Any good road in the finger lakes region and the Adirondacks of NY is worth taking. It all depends on what you like and the time you have. We, too, are in our 70's and travel with a Lab.

[jim wade]

As a 10 year resident of Maine, I use the following for trips around the beautiful state:
www. onlyinyour state.com

then click on the state you are interested in.

Be aware that we have vicious biting bugs from May thru July.

[airmaine]

One tip that springs to mind, make sure you're aware of height restrictions on Parkways, especially in Connecticut. They're beautiful routes, but some have low bridges. This may apply to some other out-of-the-way destinations as well. Just plan ahead. We've lived in Maine for 35 years and have still not explored all the beautiful places here. It's popular to say the least--book ahead!