We just returned to Arizona from our beach vacation and visit with family.
Not having any experience with how traveling long distance in the Motorhome would be, we did not plan any of our stops for the first leg of the trip. I figured on driving until I was weary and finding a parking lot where I could fire up the generator and get some rest. With all of the
towing mishaps on the first two days, I do not think we would have made our goals anyway.
Driving the first leg
We took I-10 from Phoenix, AZ all the way to Crestview, FL on our way to Miramar Beach, FL. It was a pleasant drive excepting a few stretches of highway in New Mexico, San Antonio, and nearly the entire length between Houston and Louisiana. I would avoid I-10 around Beaumont, TX for the next year at least. Narrow lanes with concrete barriers on top of the yellow and white lines. Very little room for passing, and I drove it at night, in the rain for that extra white-knuckle experience.
Reflecting back on the road conditions for the entire trip, there are no bad roads like big city roads. Even the loops can be in terrible condition. (I am looking at you 1604 in San Antonio)
The mid-bay bridge (FL state road 293) was an adventure to cross while in the middle of the advance storm squalls from tropical storm Cristobal, but the winds were not high enough to cause much swaying during our transit of the bridge ($16 toll for 4 axles).
We ended up resting at Mountain View RV park in Van Horn, TX and at the Louisiana Welcome Center. The former being a friendly and quite RV park just off I-10, and the latter being the only safe place we could find after Houston. Never saw the Mountain View RV park staff, but they answered their phones in the middle of the night, and were super friendly and helpful.
The Florida stay
A pleasant stay at Geronimo Beach RV Park in Miramar Beach Florida was enjoyed by all. The staff were friendly and helpful. The hookups were all in excellent condition and the Motorhome systems functioned as hoped. The only potential issue is that they do not supply a picnic table for each spot. We did not need one, so it was not an issue for us. The Park was close to where my extended family rented a condo, which was a plus.
Some restaurants were open for outdoor seating only, and others allowed indoor seating with plenty of spacing between parties. A few stores had bouncers to keep the crowds inside down, but most did not need them. Business staff were required to wear masks, and customers were encouraged to do so.
Overall our stay in Florida was an excellent experience. We were able to enjoy the beaches while avoiding crowds. No one in the family caught any illness, and we did not feel like we were prevented from any of the activities to which we had been looking forward.
Transiting Northward
The trip north was done in two parts. A short jaunt from Miramar Beach along US Routes and State Roads, all of which were in respectable condition. After a night at my brother's place, it was onward to central Illinois via, I-85, I-65, I-24, & I-57. While they all had spots of construction, none were in terrible shape.
Extended visit in Illinois
My sister was kind enough to allow us to park in their driveway and provided power for an extended visit. Every few days we moved the Motorhome to where we could reach a sewer line cleanout and then moved back to our pad.
Dad came over one fine afternoon and helped install the rear SumoSprings to complete the set. After much consternation on my part over the installation method, the install was considerably easier than imagined. Used the leveling jacks to extend the rear suspension, and let back down on 12-ton jack stands, then implement a bottle jack to lift each set of wheels high enough to remove them, and drop the axle back down a little to create room to install the SumoSprings. (see attachments 1 & 2) During the travels, I did check the torque on the bolts for the SumoSpring installs, and they did need tightening. If you are installing them on your Motorhome, check them every day of travel until they no longer need to be re-tightened.
This portion of the trip was made possible by my employers COVID-19 WFH policy. Inspired by
YGoHom &
rsansom, I crafted a computer desktop (see attachment #3) and made the front passenger area my office for the duration of our stay. It worked quite well and there was little difference working there over my home office.
Our time in Illinois was pleasant. They just started opening up the state after we arrived and restaurants were allowing inside seating with spacing. Not that we spent much time shopping or eating out in Illinois. The majority of our time was spent with family.
Homeward bound
A desire to see part of the country we had not yet seen inspired us to take "the northern route" back to Arizona. I-57 to I-70 with a jaunt along the US Highways which make up Santa Fe trail in Kansas and Colorado to I-25, down to I-40, and back to I-17 to get home.
Eastern Kansas is beautiful with its rolling hills, but western Kansas and eastern Colorado are dry and desolate. Near desert conditions of which I am familiar in Arizona. The Rockies are a welcome sight when they finally come into view in Colorado. Here is where we had our first difficulty climbing hills. A stretch on I-25 was steep enough we could not climb it any faster than 35 mph. This was matched by another stretch on I-17 climbing out of the Verde Valley before descending back into the Valley of the Sun.
When planning this part of the trip, we picked a KOA in Kansas and a FMCA affiliated park in Santa Fe for our overnight stays. We loved the KOA and all of the families there traveling to see the 4th of July fireworks in the Rockies. The park in Santa Fe was very clean, had a park with live music, and concrete patios, but it really did not feel as welcoming or nice as the KOA. In the future we will look for more KOA parks and see if we have the same experience.
Wrapping it up
On a good day, with few hills and no headwind, we consumed about 9 gallons of gasoline per hour. On a bad day with hard hill climbing and headwinds, we consumed about 10 gallons of gasoline per hour.
Traveling at a max of 63 mph was good advice and proved to be optimal for us. At this speed, the most ground we could travel in a day was 720 miles. In our passenger van, averaging 75 mph, we could travel over 900 miles in a day. With it being 1800 miles one direction to visit family, from here on out we have to plan for 3 days of travel rather than the 2 we were accustom to. Not that this is that much of an issue. We really enjoyed traveling in our home and having it available to us during the entire trip.
Driving through a 40' wide dust-devil on the interstate caused the most dramatic wind buffeting of the entire trip. Passing semi were hardly noticeable. The vehicles with the biggest bow wave were box vans. I had to watch out for them, but with all of the suspension work done, none of it was really an issue.
Driving the Motorhome was a pleasant experience once I had 10 hours of experience and became comfortable with its handling.
After this trip, we are looking forward to the next transit to visit family over Christmas.
Arizona, Florida, Illinois and back
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