First trip across country.

[jbarringer]

My wife and I are going cross country in May, starting from New Jersey. We have an Itasca Sunova 36 ft gas class A, towing a 2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. Any suggestions or comments? We both just retired and this has been our dream to do it. Should we head south first or northern route? We’re anxious, nervous and excited 😫

Edited March 8, 2021 by jbarringer

[dbenoit]

12 minutes ago, manholt said:

The other part is Lufthansa away!  My family lives in Norway & Sweden....no Hotel needed. 

That must be freaking awesome flying in and looking out the window!

[rayin]

On 3/10/2021 at 3:56 PM, wildebill308 said:

We prefer camp grounds, and my wife likes to have a reservation so we arn't driving around/calling around trying to find some place. Makes it one less stressful thing to do.

"Because 3pm is a little early to pull over?" You say that now but how maney full days have you driven the RV? In bad/rainy wet weather? With a strong cross wind? It will probably be more like 5:00 when you add in the rest stops( I stop at least every 2 hours to stretchy and walk around ) and lunch stops. I use 50 miles an hour as a guide it comes out realey close. It will depend on where you are stopping. I never like  looking for my spot in the dark. That and setting up in the dark.

Bill

 

That's how to roll safely!

jbarringer your MH has a 5,000# towing limit, your Jeep likely weighs close to 4,700#. Take your time climbing mountain grades, driving into headwinds, etc. to reduce stress on the MH drivetrain. As previously recommended, eliminate the word hurry from  your vocabulary, there is no time-clock in retirementI  I too stop for the evening about 3PM, this offers much better odds of finding a vacant RV site at your first stop, gives you both time to relax, go swimming, walking, hiking-anything to move your body and de-stress from the days traffic and road conditions then enjoy a quiet dinner before retiring for the night. Arise next morning have breakfast, pack up and begin driving around 9AM.

IMO do not plan on averaging over 50 MPH for the day unless you are willing to risk damage to your gas MH drivetrain.

Edited April 29, 2021 by rayin

[aztec7fan]

On 3/11/2021 at 7:25 AM, richard5933 said:

Curious if you checked out the route before following the GPS? There are a few good resources for finding out about the grades before heading into the hill/mountains.

I've been on a thread over on iRV2 recently discussing GPS units, and I was reminded over there that a lot of people just plop the destination into the GPS and follow. Not always a good plan unless you do a bit of further research, as you seem to have discovered.

Yes, any trips we plan, we start with the paper rand McNally map.  We only use the GPS to see if there are any delays and for estimated drive time and milage. 

[wildebill308]

Well I wonder what happened to the OP jbarringer?

Bill

[dbenoit]

On 4/29/2021 at 10:56 PM, wildebill308 said:

Well I wonder what happened to the OP jbarringer?

Bill

Probably stuck in traffic in NJ.......

[manholt]

LOL, he took the wrong bridge! 

[wildebill308]

6 minutes ago, manholt said:

LOL, he took the wrong bridge! 

True he might still be stuck on the George Washington...

Bill