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Route 95 - New Hampshire to the Fort need help


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Hi all, happy thanksgiving!

We will be coming to the fort for our first visit October 2017, we are so excited! Traveling with our 18 ft jayco swift bh154.

ive driven before but never with the camper to Florida. 

I have been reading a lot about which way to go and the George Washington bridge is already making me nervous but is the shortest way.  But if I do attempt it I heard it's awfully bumpy and traffic is so bad. In NJ I read there is a tunnel that trailers are not allowed. (I could have read it wrong)

Tappen Zee bridge is longer drive but is it any better and worth it?

3rd thought is up to Albany Ny and miss the bridges all together. 

Were planning on leaving on a Thursday morning and getting to Abingdon MD(late afternoon) just to stop, relax and miss the Washington traffic. Then leave a few hours later and hopefully getting to Emporia VA - Walmart for some late night sleep

leave Friday am and get to St Mary Walmart to stay the night, Saturday AM head to the fort!

does anyone have experience with any of these stops, bridges and routes?

thanks!!!!!

shelley

 

 

 

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Just a heads up for a stopping point, there is a state park in De. called Lums Pond that now has all full hook up sites ( all back in ) and is not very far from either 95, 896-301 or Route 1 and would be a nice stop over. Probably about 30 minutes north of your planned stop. Also a great place if going the 301 route instead of 95

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Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.  Many of our friends from New England traveling south to Florida will avoid I 95 in the north.  They usually take I 84 east to Scranton PA, then get on I 81 south to I 77 south to Columbia SC.  Then get on I 26 to I 95 south.  This bypasses the big cities and traffic and tunnel restrictions and allows a more calming drive (relatively speaking).  

Often, we will stop at the halfway point of our drive just south of Charlotte at the Fort Mill KOA.  There is a huge new Publix next door for getting supplies if necessary, and a couple of gas stations nearby.  If you have enough gas, try to make it to the Rock Hill SC Flying J, which has the cheapest gas we have ever found along this route.

Have a good safe and fun trip.

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I use the Kamikaze method...We leave around midnight from Mass and drive through the night...This gets us through CT, NY, NJ without much traffic...I always go by the Tappan Zee bridge as the Cross Bronx and GW in my opinion are nightmares....By 8AM we are going through DC then its smooth sailing for the rest of the day...By 7pm (give or take) we stop at the Walmart in Pooler GA for the night (right at the bottom of the ramp)...Next day we are there by noon...NOt for the faint of heart but if you want more time to play at Walley World it works!

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Tappan Zee Bridge is the way to go with a trailer. If you're coming from NH, you may want to look at taking 84 over and down 87 as well, not sure if it's any faster coming from where you are.


Traffic through the Cross Bronx and the GWB is totally unpredictable, best to avoid it if possible.

 

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I'll repeat what others have said, stay away from the GWB....  We once came back late at night and thought that it would be Ok taking the shorter route, HA!  Came to a stop in all-night construction within sight of the bridge, three hours later we finally got to the toll-booth where I proceeded to give the guy a piece of my mind. (Why they don't wave traffic thru when it's backed up like that I'll never know. but I do know they still wanted 50 something dollars! :angry:  )

Anyway, leaving SE Mass, I have settled on the following:  CT Turnpike (95) to 287 across the TappenZee to 78 thru Penn. Then 81 into VA, off at 17 to cut over back to 95SB in Fredericksburg  (Lots of RVers use 17 between 95 and 81, there are some lights closer to 95 but most of it is very nice)  

This route is well away from the 3 big cities, has no tolls except for one on 78 and the TappenZee on the way home. (I am not sure how the construction of the new bridge is affecting the TappenZee, might want to check before going that way)

From our house it's approx another 100 miles to go inland on this route, but well worth it for far lower stress levels.  :lol:

 

 

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On 11/26/2016 at 11:03 AM, shoreline99 said:

Tappan Zee Bridge is the way to go with a trailer. If you're coming from NH, you may want to look at taking 84 over and down 87 as well, not sure if it's any faster coming from where you are.


Traffic through the Cross Bronx and the GWB is totally unpredictable, best to avoid it if possible.

 

Agreed!!

We've been making the drive down from NH every year since 2006 and I think we've tried all of the ways at this point.  After getting stuck on the GWB for 2 hours at midnight, our go to is now Tappan Zee to Garden State to NJ Turnpike and then 95 the rest of the way. It's a few more miles than staying on 95 the whole time, but generally less traffic and a less stressful ride so worth it for us.

Our route these days to get there is 495 to MA Pike to 84 to 91 (you can stay on 84 but we find 91 to be a better road) to 95 into NY.

We try to leave in the evening and try to plan to go through the northern cities at night. If we're pushing it we try and at least get past DC before morning rush, but the last couple of years we stopped to sleep in MD and going through DC mid-morning wasn't a problem.

Oh and someone already noted above about not being able to go through the Baltimore tunnels.  695 goes east and west around - it's about the same distance either way.  I like the east route, but it goes over the Key Bridge which is really high and DH seriously doesn't like, so unless I'm driving and he's asleep, we go west.  ;)

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On 11/24/2016 at 6:07 PM, Clark W Griswold said:

I use the Kamikaze method...We leave around midnight from Mass and drive through the night...This gets us through CT, NY, NJ without much traffic...I always go by the Tappan Zee bridge as the Cross Bronx and GW in my opinion are nightmares....By 8AM we are going through DC then its smooth sailing for the rest of the day...

Sounds similar to what we usually do, although we try to leave around 6-7pm, which lets us avoid rush hour traffic from home all the way through NY/NJ and usually gets us past DC and at least close to Richmond by 3-4am.  We usually pull into a truck stop for a 4-5 hour nap and the rest is easy peasy.

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On 11/24/2016 at 9:04 AM, PghBob said:

Often, we will stop at the halfway point of our drive just south of Charlotte at the Fort Mill KOA.  

I would recommend spending the night at the Carrowinds campground over the Fort Mills KOA. It is much cleaner and has nicer facilities even for just an overnight. When last we stayed there the Good Sam rate was lower than the KOA membership price.

We have been planning a trip the opposite direction for a year or two now. Our plan is to go inland and take I-77/I-81 route. Having driven I-95 and its various n95's the traffic is horrendous starting around Qauntico up through New Jersey (the farthest I've driven).

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21 hours ago, Bruin12 said:

Thanks so much everyone. The advise is great!

definitely will not go over gw bridge!

 This route looks good... 287 across the TappenZee to 78 thru Penn. Then 81 into VA, off at 17 to cut over back to 95SB in Fredericksburg  

i woukdnt have to worry about tunnels on this one?

 

Correct. No tunnels, No cities except Richmond, No bridges except for the TeeZee, and as a bonus almost no tolls  B)

You will notice a lot of truck traffic (and RV's) on 81 but it's still a lot better than 95.

For those parts of 95 you do travel on there are some good places to find travel info

This one is great and has an app for your phone too

http://www.i95exitguide.com/traffic/

And if you have some time on your trip you should check:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

 

 

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I know you have already been to the fort.  Thought I would  let you know our route that we take.    We normally  The Lake Sunapee area going into Vermont hitting 91 down to Hartford.   In Hartford we get on 84 all the way to 81,  Pennsylvania Maryland and West Virginia.  We then get off route 66 to 17 and then 95 straight down to I 4.    That way we don't hit any tolls headed south and only one tall headed north no large bridges the only cities we hit are  Hartford , Richmond, and Jacksonville.  If you time it right you can miss all the big city traffic.  

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Several years ago we spent a week in Foxboro and then drove from there to DC in our 36 ft motorhome pulling an SUV. I had planned on going around over the Tappan Zee and then down, but the day before the trip I was talking to a local who advised me to just go straight down 95 and over the GWB. I'm convinced that bastard was laughing at me as I walked away.

Sent from my LG-V930 using Tapatalk

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21 hours ago, rvsqueke said:

I know you have already been to the fort.  Thought I would  let you know our route that we take.    We normally  The Lake Sunapee area going into Vermont hitting 91 down to Hartford.   In Hartford we get on 84 all the way to 81,  Pennsylvania Maryland and West Virginia.  We then get off route 66 to 17 and then 95 straight down to I 4.    That way we don't hit any tolls headed south and only one tall headed north no large bridges the only cities we hit are  Hartford , Richmond, and Jacksonville.  If you time it right you can miss all the big city traffic.  

That's close to us we're in henniker nh. We can get get to 91 easily

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/28/2016 at 6:42 PM, rvsqueke said:

I know you have already been to the fort.  Thought I would  let you know our route that we take.    We normally  The Lake Sunapee area going into Vermont hitting 91 down to Hartford.   In Hartford we get on 84 all the way to 81,  Pennsylvania Maryland and West Virginia.  We then get off route 66 to 17 and then 95 straight down to I 4.    That way we don't hit any tolls headed south and only one tall headed north no large bridges the only cities we hit are  Hartford , Richmond, and Jacksonville.  If you time it right you can miss all the big city traffic.  

 

That's another good way to go from New England. Newburgh Bridge instead of the TappenZee, further from the big cities, and even fewer tolls.  It is a little bit longer going thru Scranton on 84 to 81 instead of taking Rt 78 to 81, but a lot less chance of heavy traffic. B)

You also completely miss NJ, which is good,  but I think I remember a couple of big climbs and drops along the NY border? I think I'll go this way again on the next trip.  

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 11/24/2016 at 9:04 AM, PghBob said:

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.  Many of our friends from New England traveling south to Florida will avoid I 95 in the north.  They usually take I 84 east to Scranton PA, then get on I 81 south to I 77 south to Columbia SC.  Then get on I 26 to I 95 south.  This bypasses the big cities and traffic and tunnel restrictions and allows a more calming drive (relatively speaking).  

Often, we will stop at the halfway point of our drive just south of Charlotte at the Fort Mill KOA.  There is a huge new Publix next door for getting supplies if necessary, and a couple of gas stations nearby.  If you have enough gas, try to make it to the Rock Hill SC Flying J, which has the cheapest gas we have ever found along this route.

Have a good safe and fun trip.

That's the route we took to/from Acadia and Charlotte last summer.  It seemed to work well.

I have not seen the KOA in Ft. Mill, but Carowinds has a campground that would be a great overnight, right off I-77, pull-throughs. 

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