How far in a day ?

[Jack L]

So far all of the trips I've taken with the trailer have been 100 to 150 miles which is a very easy day involving leaving late morning and arriving early afternoon with stops any time I saw something interesting. These trips took 4 to 5 hours and had many casual stops with lots of fun.

I'm planning a trip this fall where the first 1000 miles will be all Interstate with no unnecessary stops. I'll be staying at Wal Mart's, rest areas and truck stops so no need to disconnect the trailer or hook up to utilities. The only stops will be for fuel, food and very short walks for the dog.Very little fun here. Just the desire to get to the fun!

I'm thinking 375 to 425 miles per day would be easy but maybe with a few hours of sleep, I might want to move on down the road.

Can any of you share some ideas of how you do long stretches of Interstate. How far do you go in a day? I've seen truckers stop in early afternoon and get on the road after sunset and that might be best for me but might not work for the wife. The dog is easy to travel with. The wife, not so much. I'll be the only driver.

[carlkeigley]

My first long trip I drove 892 miles before calling it a day.
Think we left around 5am and stopped at 11pm.

I'm and ex-long haul driver, so a 1,000 mile day was common.

Our last trip, the destination was about 3 hours away.

[Byron Kinnaman]

I don't have a mileage per day thing. When driving long distances I usually drive until I'm tired, then stop. From Washington down I-5 to southern CA, rest areas have worked well for us. If I stop early it's just a waste of travel time. I just as easily sit behind the wheel traveling as sit around a Wal-Mart or a rest area. I stop and take breaks and cat nap when sleepy. I stop for meals and gas usually isn't much of a stop. I think it's more important to stop every couple of hours and walk around a bit or take a nap if needed or sleep a few hours, than to worry about the number of miles. Just because you're trying to get from point A to point B doesn't mean you can't enjoy the scenery. I never drive above 60 mph while towing (CA and OR 55 is the legal limit, WA is 60.) which is a nice safe speed. I burn less gas staying below 60.

[Carol H]

If I really want to put the miles behind me then I will start out real early and often not stop until late in the evening. Like Byron I will stop every couple of hours just to walk around and have a bite to eat. Have been known to put in a few 7/800 plus mile days - not my fav thing to do but it is very do able. Dont like to do two days of those in a row though, 3/400 miles a day is far more comfortable.

[floyd]

Anticipating a Wal-Mart stay,we often leave home in the late afternoon.
Then drive until late evening, stop at Wal-Mart, rent a Redbox, and grab some deli food, spend the night, return the movie in the morning, grab something fresh for breakfast at the deli or produce, and get a fresh and early start on a whole day of travel. Leaving the night before gives us a couple hundred mile "headstart" on our trip and then the first whole day of travel is not delayed by all that last minute stuff at home.
I have always loved to drive, so 300 to 600 miles in a day is no problem, depending on the destination.
Always leave room at the end of the day for a few extra miles in case your plans don't work out. That way you can still stop before getting too tired or frustrated with driving. Stop a little early if you find a nice spot.

[Ed Harris]

When going long distance I go 1000 or more miles a day usually but I use a secret weapon too.

Books On Tape! Or iPod as it were.
I only pick unabridged titles and usually am so engrossed in the book that the times does seem to fly right by.
YMMV but thats what works for me,mostly alone though too when doing so.

Ed

[cpaharley2008]

Just drove back from a fg rally in Minden, Ne- 1400 miles, left Saturday noon, arrived home at 9 pm Sunday. Had to stop about every 250 miles or every 4 hours to get gas, food, rest room and walk the dogs, that adds up to about another 4 hours to your trip. Stopped at a rest area around midnight and slept 6 hours in the trailer Saturday night. Average speed towing 60 mph. Going out left Sunday night and drove until stopping Monday night in Iowa and arrived noon on Tuesday at the CG. Drove more the first day (20 hours) going out due to the "excitement" factor, whereas coming home I split the time over 2 days.
With satellite radio I was able to listen to CNN and HLN which carried the trial I was glued to at home.Helped pass the time.

[Nancy]

Hold it a sec. Some of us are finding it more difficult each year to keep up the long days. Having said that we just had to do a 446 mile drive because the weather would not allow a shorter drive.

A lot of how far we go depends on the weather, temperature and winds. Both heat and headwinds fatigue us. also mountains require more time and driving skill. As we age I find myself getting physically sick if we go for too long, and my driver isn't as mentally sharp if we hit an interstate with heavy city traffic at the end of the day.

There are just too many variables to say how far people can go.

Do as Byron says and quit when you are tired. Drive what is right for you. Keep safe and have a good trip.

Carol's mention of three 400 mile days would work nicely for us.

Fred tells me when he is good for another 30-60 minutes, then I start looking for overnight spots.

thoughts from Nancy who is trying to stop the 450-500 mile days.

[Carol H]

LOL Nancy I really dont enjoy the long runs either - much happier to keep the drives to under 400 miles a day. Only do the long ones if its a straight freeway run without much to see that hasnt been seen a few times already and I have a dead line to make, which thankfully are fewer and fewer.

[Nancy]

"Get on the road after sunset". Not us. We had to drive after dark once and hit a log on the road. Did small damage to the trailer. Too many deer and animals to watch for. Also our headlights are a bit high while towing and our lights would hit the oncoming driver. We just drive at night if it is necessary. the car handles very well, the lights would only be an inconvenience to the other driver. If you haven't checked your rig for headlight height with and without your trailer you might want to do that before night driving.

During the fall you won't have so many daylight hours so you may have to travel after dark.

Nancy

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Nancy

"Get on the road after sunset". Not us. We had to drive after dark once and hit a log on the road. Did small damage to the trailer. Too many deer and animals to watch for. Also our headlights are a bit high while towing and our lights would hit the oncoming driver. We just drive at night if it is necessary. the car handles very well, the lights would only be an inconvenience to the other driver. If you haven't checked your rig for headlight height with and without your trailer you might want to do that before night driving.

During the fall you won't have so many daylight hours so you may have to travel after dark.

Nancy

Driving at night is not for everybody.
I like to drive at night. There's a lot less traffic.
Head lights are adjustable so if trailer makes them point high, adjust them down before hitting the road. Most of the time a little low isn't going to be bad.
Night vision tricks.....
Turn down the dash lights to just enough light to see the gauges. If you have to readjust down after a bit, do so.
Turn off fog lights. They only light the 15' in front of the tow vehicle, not down the road where you need to see.
Keep your eyes moving and looking as far down the road as possible. Don't stare at one point, even if you think you see something, keep your eyes moving.
Don't look directly at on coming head lights, keep your eyes moving and be aware of what the on coming vehicle is doing while still keeping your eyes moving.

Things to watch... Watch the road side reflectors on culvert markers and mile markers as far down the road as possible If the center line has reflective markers look down to road to where they disappear. What you're looking for is something block the reflection. If something blocks that reflection slow down, keep your eyes moving and determine what it is.

Notice that I've repeated keeping your eyes moving a lot. If you stare you'll burn out the part of your eye (rods or cones I don't remember which) that sees best at night. Once burned out it takes a few seconds to replenish, that few seconds can be critical.

It's truly amazing how much difference those few things make.


PS People with cataracts will have a problem with glare from on coming vehicles. Which is another matter.

[David Tilston]

When I traveled in the poop fly from Calgary to Seattle, and back, I did it in two days. According to the odometer, 2600 km, (1600 miles).

[dbailey]

Ottawa to Regina (2700km) in 2 days (2 of us, trading off driving), but that was unusual circumstances. Another year Edmonton to Ottawa in 4 days (that was driving by myself). Again, unusual circumstances.

I'm comfortable with 500 or 600km a day at most. I want to be able to poke around on the way, and still arrive in daylight.

[Bob Miller]

Me? On days that are just "Travel" daysI try to get 300 miles in daylight hours by leaving early in the morning and resting in the evening and getting a good nights sleep, usually at a WalMart or other similar venue.

But, I sure hope none of us are putting in 1000 mile days towning our little trailers. That comes out to over 16 hours of drving averaging 60 MPH, not counting gas and food stops.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Me? On days that are just "Travel" daysI try to get 300 miles in daylight hours by leaving early in the morning and resting in the evening and getting a good nights sleep, usually at a WalMart or other similar venue.

But, I sure hope none of us are putting in 1000 mile days towning our little trailers. That comes out to over 16 hours of drving averaging 60 MPH, not counting gas and food stops.

Guess you didn't see my post Bob?

No trouble for me,I just want to get to Rallies with Floyd sooner!

What is the big deal? Is this the same as when we compare the Purity if the experience on any other topic?

Or am I being irresponsible for going farther than you might?

I have been an ambitious long distance driver for a long time and am slowing down some but when I need to be somewhere,sometimes I have a deadline too.

Also is everyone here really saying they drive 60mph in places where the limit is 70 or 75mph?

I am not.

[carlkeigley]

Destination, time restraints, capabilities............there are many variables as to when or why one would want to drive long ways. Thankfully, today I have no place to go and all day to get there. So anything like that for me today would be from habits. I like to slow down most of the time and see what's there. It's more the journey than the destination these days.

I'm hoping in the near future that the restraining responsibilities will be less and less and we can go full-time or partial full-time. My trailer is sure looking lonely in it's garage as we can't get the timing or weather right. I'd like to visit all the parks state by state. Then there might be two nights or so in one, drive an hour, spend more time, drive three hours, more time......etc. etc.

BUT.................heading to designated "rallies," that would be cause to drive longer distances at a whack.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by carlkeigley

BUT.................heading to designated "rallies," that would be cause to drive longer distances at a whack.

Why? I don't understand.

[carlkeigley]

If I were going to a rally a long way off, or not so far off, that would be my destination.
I would want to get there and get set up and start visiting. I could take a month to get
there, but with a rally at the other end I would be in anticipation mode.

These are personal preferences.............not a one deal fits all.

[Ed Harris]

Obviously,that is all I am trying to say too.

It just seemed that you said you were in no hurry but then......so thanks for explaining.

Most of what we do is a matter of personal preference,to suggest any of us do it wrong is a little silly most of the time.

[Joy A]

Originally Posted by Ed Harris

Also is everyone here really saying they drive 60mph in places where the limit is 70 or 75mph?

Yes....even though cars can go 70 or 75 mph in California, vehicles pulling trailers are only supposed to 55 mph. I drive generally 60/62 when on those freeways. If you are pulling a trailer going that slow posted speed the Cops won't get you.

But if you are in a car they might pull you over for going to slow because you are supposed to keep up the speed of the traffic which actually could average out at maybe 80 mph and in car you'd be consider a hazardous driver for not keeping up. Kind of dumb, huh. I always say if that's the case why do we even have speed limits for cars. What if the general traffic is going 100 mph in a 75 mph posted area and you decide to stay at 75 mph. Guesswhat, they could pull you over for going to slow. It's so wonderful living in California.