Look at Tony go, posting on the big ol' FTE forum!

 

I was feeling a little frisky last night...

 

Had that second wine cooler did ya?

 

Nah, just one.... LOL

 

I started my route planning this morning! My wife put a bug in the pet-sitter's ears yesterday to reserve the week. It's starting to get real. We can't wait!

 

With spring starting up here, we've been doing planning for many of this years trips. As I said earlier in the thread, I wasn't sure about this year with the potential for building and moving. However, we decided to take our time on that front and enjoy the process instead of putting undue stress on ourselves with manufactured timelines. Anyways, got Mammoth booked on all fronts. Booked at XLR, booked the flight for the girls, and of course have the camp site booked. (The campground is pretty much booked overall and I couldn't extend our trip by a night or two so I'm glad we got this going early.) Now we are working on the rest of the season which is usually locked in already. We are headed to NH to do some more exploring around the area we started in last year. Then we are going to the top of Maine with the General for some riding in the Ft. Kent area. Then, Tony is coming east for an off road trip this fall with the SXS's in the Western Mountains of Maine. Aside from that, we will have shorter filler trips. Can't wait to extend the slides and get to camping... er, I mean RVing...

 

This trip alone eats half of Jodi's vacation for the year, so any other RV'ing or camping we do will be at the Jellystone 8 miles from home on the occasional weekend. Her second week of vacation will be in Vegas at NFR in December with my youngest brother and my parents.

This trip is finally breaking my road trip cherry, so with your help, I'm figuring a few things out. I will book a site 3/4 of the way between home and Mammoth for the first day (Jackson, TN) and 3/4 of the way back from Mammoth to home (Longview, TX). Hopefully, that will wear me out more on the first day of each way, and leave plenty of energy for after arrival at either Mammoth or home by having a much shorter drive on day two. As soon as I get Jodi's opinion, I'll book the sites for the road.

 

Maryann always forgets how lucky she is with vacation time earned each year at her hospital. I have to remind her after hearing what other folks get. She actually cashed in two weeks this January to put towards our land purchase and still has plenty for the 2017 RV season. LUCKY girl.

You'll be fine on the road trip Doug. I love it and really, the getting there is almost as fun as the camping. After the first 100 miles or so I get into towing mode and can go on a marathon if need be.

 

The trip from The Dells to Hugo, OK was the longest road trip I've ever done in one day, and again that was without anything behind me. It made for a long day still. That was 950 miles - which is longer than the total distance to Mammoth from home by 100 miles. My fuel stops will be more frequent with the trailer in tow and my driving speed will be lower for this trip. I'm sure we will enjoy the stops and the journey. I really enjoy getting out on the road.

Jodi has never actually asked her boss how much vacation she gets per year. The 2 weeks she is aware of is from the girl who trained her when she first started. I keep asking her to confirm with her boss how much time she actually has. It is too easy to use up two weeks of vacation. I have 6 weeks per year, and a 7 day long change every 28 days, so I always have a surplus that I end up using to spend at home on projects.

 

Switching drivers would make the long trips easier and sometimes I wish we had a drivable RV for that reason. Most grown men wouldn't tow my RV with my truck and I know Maryann wouldn't. Someday we'll switch gears to a drivable rig and she'll take over for me from time to time. How I'd love to go back and take a 20-30 minute power nap with her at the wheel! Yes, I know I could just pull over for that but if I did, I'd never sleep knowing we aren't making progress.

 

Jodi is perfectly willing to switch seats with me, but I would likely be more comfortable with that in long stretches of highway away from the big cities, or just wait until we have a fiver. A long bumper pull can get tricky if you are not accustomed to it.

 

Yep. You are correct. The biggest thing is expecting the fiver to sway just like the TT when you are passed or passing a tractor trailer and it just doesn't happen.

 

Yes. The only towing experience she has has been limited to a two horse bumper pull trailer, with wheels all the way to the rear, about 15 feet long, fairly lightweight, and not prone to any sway at all. I would put her behind the wheel with the new G/N trailer in tow before I would put her in charge of this RV at 36' overall and 10k.

 

Maryann towed our boat a lot of miles when we still owned it. It was over 30' long on the trailer and 8.5' wide. She's towed the enclosed sled trailer too. Towing our RV is a little trickier though.

 

My concern was the combination of length, width, height, and weight, but mostly with the side surface area acting like a sail. It could sway easily with a broadside wind or when passing traffic, or being passed. I think it tows very well, but I take it for granted too. With some experience, I have no doubt she will be fine at it. She does quite well with the horse trailer. She's a pretty smart girl and conscientious.