Normally full-timers don’t travel as quickly as we are right now. I always hate these big pushes, because we have to pass dozens of interesting spots. Instead of the relaxing travel style we normally have, it’s rush-rush-rush.
Most full-timers we know don’t do more than 300 miles in a day for any reason, and usually try to cover only 100-150 miles and then stop for a few days. Today we covered 532 miles — the most miles we’ve done in a single day since we started full-timing over a year ago!
But that’s I-70 for you. There’s not much to see along I-70 in Kansas and the speed limit is 75 MPH most of the way. (We don’t tow any faster than 69 MPH, by the way, regardless of the speed limit.) Although I was glad to pass the cornfields quickly, I was disappointed to pass the “Wizard of Oz Museum“. (I love their phone #: 866-458-TOTO)
I’m always aware of when we are traveling through Missouri, whether on I-70 or I-44. It’s the only state in the Union with a sex shop at every exit! No kidding, they are everywhere. I can think of a few theories why there are so many here, but I’d probably better keep those theories to myself…
Since we have only 516 miles left to go tomorrow, we could finish the drive in one more long day, but I think instead we will do 350-400 miles and give ourselves a break tomorrow evening to walk around somewhere. That will leave a short day for Thursday and we’ll get a chance to do more while we are at Airstream’s “mother ship” in Jackson Center.
Since we are on a high-speed leg, you’ll note we aren’t bothering with campgrounds. Tonight we are in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant, for example. This saves money but more importantly it saves time. Checking into a campground at 8:30 pm is usually a procedure that takes 15-30 minutes, and for what? It’s quicker and easier just to park somewhere for free. We aren’t going to use the campground facilities anyway, so why bother with them?
We certainly aren’t lacking for anything, without a campground each night. The solar panels have given us all the power we can use, so our batteries are full again tonight. I have researched dump stations along the highway using a web site but we really don’t need to hit one. We’ll be fine without any hookups or dump stations until we reach the Airstream Terra Port on Thursday night. Being independent is a big part of why we travel this way, and it’s fun to use the capabilities to their best advantage when we are trying to cover a lot of miles quickly.
August 15th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Hey Rich,
For lack of a more tactful way to ask….
When you are staying at a Cracker Barrel for the night for example, do you have the same routines as if you were at a campground?
I’d be worried about getting run out of some place at 3am and having to answer the door in my pj’s!
Happy driving! Say hello to the family.
August 16th, 2006 at 5:21 am
I’m curious, Rich. How do you handle the fresh water situation? Do you travel with the tank relatively full? If you are not frequenting campgrounds every 2 or 3 days, how do you maintain enough fresh water? I find that we go thru a full tank of fresh water, all 39 gallons, in 3 or sometimes 4 days, but perhaps we are “overwatering” ourselves.
August 16th, 2006 at 6:43 am
Good questions, both of them.
(1) Tim, we almost always ask the management if overnight parking is OK. This ensures there isn’t a town ordinance that prohibits it. If there’s a local sheriff that likes to roust RV’ers in the middle of the night, the management usually knows about it. We’ve never been bothered at night, using this policy, except for the one time in Los Angeles when the security guard told us parking was OK but the manager came out later to say it wasn’t. See http://tour.airstreamlife.com/weblog/2005/12/free_parking.html
(2) We travel with the fresh tank full, always. We have plenty of weight left in our rated capacity, so even with full water we are 400 lbs below GVWR and 1100 lbs below our tow rating. Our tank is 30 gallons and we have learned to make it last four days without too much trouble. It does take practice, especially with showers and dishes.
August 16th, 2006 at 7:21 am
I’m not an RV-er (yet!) but I love road trips. I, too, find that 300 is a good limit for the max number of miles per day. Otherwise it can get pretty dreary behind the wheel.
August 16th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Maybe one theory is why Missouri is the ‘Show Me’ state? (Sorry couldn’t resist)
August 17th, 2006 at 6:11 am
A website, RVDumps.com ? As a part-time Indiana resident, I researched the non-interstate facilities. In Lawrenceburg, the Shell station charges $5, but with an exclamation point informs us, “we have fresh donuts all day long !”
DUMPIN’ & DUNKIN’ ?