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Marathon driving

EMD360
Explorer
Explorer
Just finished our first cross county trip with our 25b. It was great. We drove 12 hours the first day and 8.5 the second. Stayed at 65 mph even in 75mph zones and found it to be easier driving. We were light going out but the weather was windy and cold. We drove through snow the second day and rain the first. But the driver’s seat was more comfortable than our older rv and the bed in the back was perfect for naps in between driving shifts and comfy at night. Came back west loaded but got better mileage. Some wind and rain but not as much. Worst was first out at 6.7 and 6.8, best was at the end at 9.5. Overall average was 7.8 mpg. The whole trip just made us want to get back on the road again for another trip! Everything worked for the whole trip which is great for a new used RV.
Driving in snow.

Visiting in Indiana.
2018 Minnie Winnie 25b New to us 3/2021
Former Rental Owners Club #137
2003 Itasca Spirit 22e 2009-2021
15 REPLIES 15

fourthclassC
Explorer
Explorer
Great trip report. I love to see those, especially when they highlight a problem free trip. Thank you.!!
Also, its great to see that my wife and myself are just like the rest of the folks describing their travel schedules and how they have evolved over time of becoming more "mature" See ya'all out on the road.....

Reisender
Nomad
Nomad
Heh heh. I remember those days. Now we go like 300 kilometres...on a long day...and usually less. But everyone has their own schedule.

Stay safe out there.

AJR
Explorer
Explorer
Nothing like being twenty years old and taking off from Chicago to see the Worlds Fair in New York after work on a Friday night. Drove nonstop except for gas. Switching seats without stopping in a 1964 Chevelle. As the sun rose it pointed right down the stretch of I80 we were on. How we did not kill ourselves I will never know. Never did that again. Plus the fair was so, so. The Blue ridge mountains were so much better.

Now days leave at 9:00. Stop at 3:00 wherever I land.
2007 Roadtrek 210 Popular
2015 GMC Terrain AWD

Horsedoc
Explorer II
Explorer II
I had a short (4 year approx) (after my first retirement career) with a local auto company delivering via flatbed truck to customers high dollar autos from metro-Atlanta area to the Pembroke Pines area near Ft lauderdale. Since time was money I did a few there and back trips and it always took me a couple of days to recoup. Too old and no need to do stuff like that today. Dangerous and foolish is no longer in my repertoire.
horsedoc
2008 Damon Essence
2013 Jeep Sahara Unlimited
Blue Ox tow

Matt_Colie
Explorer
Explorer
Prior to our both being retired, we do some Bonzai Driving.
With a log book that shows a 1101 mile day to show for it, we have dropped this entirely. I set the planner for 8 hours of driving and do my best to make that work. Life is better this way.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.
Charles Kuralt

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.

jjrbus
Explorer
Explorer
A long time ago in a land far away we drove NY to Bisbee AZ non stop, plus other grueling driving-thons across the nation.

Now it is the 330 rule, 330 miles or 3:30 pm and the driving is done and no driving on heavy wind or rain days. Driving in snow, not even an issue, no way no how.

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
Twenty plus hours of driving in two days isn’t for this old bottom. Heck, I’d rather be home.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
EMD360 wrote:
Good advice but we get impatient. Don’t think we’d do it with kids. We are retired! But had to clear out some out of state property quickly for a sale. The reason for a heavy return. Plus we had maximum visiting time with friends. We took it a little easier on the way home. Three days instead of two. But nice to share the adventure with old pros here!


You sound like the (not so) old pros!
Glad the trip went well. A lot of the “pros” here bemoan any real windshield time.
Which, to me, sounds counterproductive for folks if their home has wheels.
If ya dont like driving, buy a cabin or something, lol!
I can sit behind the wheel all day. And night. Once the eyes get heavy it’s time to pull over.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
Traveling solo going from one race track to another I set my driving based on my energy. I like to drive and for not the long hours away from home would have been an OTR driver. Now, dear wife will do maximum 6 hrs and there needs to be a predetermined destination. I did drive from Orange County Ca. to Ogden Utah
non stop once to pick up my new trailer but took my time coming home.

EMD360
Explorer
Explorer
Good advice but we get impatient. Don’t think we’d do it with kids. We are retired! But had to clear out some out of state property quickly for a sale. The reason for a heavy return. Plus we had maximum visiting time with friends. We took it a little easier on the way home. Three days instead of two. But nice to share the adventure with old pros here!
2018 Minnie Winnie 25b New to us 3/2021
Former Rental Owners Club #137
2003 Itasca Spirit 22e 2009-2021

wildtoad
Explorer II
Explorer II
Reminds me of an old Dick Van Dyke show where they compared notes on how long it took to drive from point A to point B without stopping. The wives were less than impressed due to no bio breaks. Glad you had a good time. As for us, our rule/guide line is 200-250 miles per day maximum. We figure with bio breaks, lunch, 55 mph average so no more than 6 hours.
Tom Wilds
Blythewood, SC
2016 Newmar Baystar Sport 3004
2015 Jeep Wrangler 2dr HT

ron_dittmer
Explorer
Explorer
Marathon driving? Try driving 24/7 at 57 mph from Chicago to places like Yosemite, Glacier, and the shorter trips to Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain.....in THIS SLUG of a rig. We did that during most of our working years with reduced vacation time with kids on-board.

We setup our two boys with Sega Genesis Nomads which helped keep them occupied, but they loved to play interactive games with each other much more. They say their fondest memories of our trips were those long days in the motorhome, not the destinations. For all they cared, we could have driven around in circles. They complained big time when we put the rig up for sale in 2007. I said, "Hey, you can buy it" which quieted them down quickly. Our oldest had just graduated with a Masters degree at the time, so he could have bought it if he didn't want to see it leave the family.

Anyways....

EMD360, I am glad you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing that.

MDKMDK
Explorer
Explorer
Depending on the purpose of the journey, been there, done that.
Happy trails.
Mike. Comments are anecdotal or personal opinions, and worth what you paid for them.
2018 (2017 Sprinter Cab Chassis) Navion24V + 2016 Wrangler JKU (sold @ ????)
2016 Sunstar 26HE, V10, 3V, 6 Speed (sold @ 4600 miles)
2002 Roadtrek C190P (sold @ 315,000kms)

Old-Biscuit
Explorer
Explorer
Short vacation time?
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31