Getting there…

We started the 2131 mile drive from home, intending to take 4 days. It would have been nice to sightsee a bit on the way, but it is difficult maneuvering 54 feet total length of moving parts through windy narrow country roads or busy city streets. So 8-10 hour days straight through it was. Found it best to call ahead to make sure wherever we were planning to stay had room for parking our large length. Stayed in Mountain Home, ID the first night. Beautiful sunrise that morning:

High altitude, dry, windy Rawlings, WY was the next stop:

Next stop, Elm Creek, NE:

Events on the next day added a delay to our adventure. While on the freeway going 80mph we heard a heart stopping loud “boom”, felt the truck lift slightly, looked back and saw rubber shedding from one of the passenger side tires on the trailer. A blow out so forceful that it turned out to have warped the fender on that side and cracked one of the pvc guide poles on the back in half. From previous experience we knew we could drive a bit on one tire as long as that tire lasted, so slowly made our way 10 nail-biting miles to a Loves station. Tom took off the fender and put on the spare. We separated the truck so I could drive to a tire store (fortunately only 6 miles away) to get a new one. Then got back on the road. I made about 30 phone calls trying to find someone who could and was willing to do repairs. Finally found a place about 1 hour East of what was supposed to be our final destination. Stayed in St. Joseph, MO for the night.

Next stop Mount Vernon, IL for fender repair and overnight:

Finally arrived (backtracking a bit) to Hoppie’s Marina in Kimmswick, MO.

Tip #1: Highly recommend downloading All Stays App. We found this super helpful planning gas stops, in particular, that were just off the freeway and at the best distance from our starting point. Hauling 6500 pounds cuts your gas mileage in half so we planned to stop every 180 miles or less. We have learned that typical gas stations which have pumps oriented perpendicular to the building are difficult to maneuver around. Maverick gas stations seem to almost always have specific pull through pumps for RVs, which worked the best. Pilot, Flying J, and most travel plazas sometimes had parallel pumps, which worked ok. We thought Loves stations, being trucker stops, would be good, but the pull through spots are diesel only and if you get behind a truck starting a fill (which we did once and couldn’t maneuver back) it can take what seemed like an hour as their gas tanks are HUGE and so take a long time to fill. But thank God Loves was close by for the blowout as they had a large parking area we could stay in for hours.

Tip #2 Consider altitude effects on your vehicle. Your gas mileage will decrease further in high altitude. We also had issues with our Ford F150 stalling at low idle and found if we started in the lowest gear this kept it from happening. This resolved completely at lower altitudes.

Tip #3: Search the internet for Interstate rest stop information and take screen shots so you can time bathroom breaks and lunch stops even if you lose cell phone signal. They almost always have long pull throughs for parking, picnic tables, and grassy dog rest areas.

Tip #4: Make sure you trailer tires are new or young enough before a long haul such as this one. 5 years was too long, in our experience.