Trying to decide...

[Chuck/Elizabeth 0]

1st post to FF!!! I want to start by saying I've been lurking for weeks and have learned so much...Thank-you all for that.  I wasn't sure if I should post this in the "camping to and from the Fort" section or not, so I apologize in advance if it's in the wrong place.

 We have finally made reservations for February, 2018 for the Fort (SO excited and Jason rocks!!) and are driving down from central South Carolina with our 25' TT and our adult Sons following in a seperate vehicle. We have 2 premium sites and our Sons are renting a trailer.  We are seriously thinking about a stop-over in Northern Florida along I-95 and then just having a short drive the day of arrival.  The thing is, we are thinking about a hotel for that one night instead of having to "set up" the trailer.  We will have use of our Sons Jeep for the night, so we don't need to unhook, but can't decide if its the right move or not...Should we just do the drive all the way, find a campground and set up for one night, or find a hotel that has room for the truck and trailer and relax?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I've done it both ways. When hubby is along, we usually get a hotel when we stop for the night. We just turn the fridge down low so it doesn't use too much battery, stop, get some sleep, and back on the road again.

I've also stopped at a campground for the night. I usually get a KOA right off the interstate with a pullthrough site, and only plug in electric, turn on the A/C and go to bed. I don't unhitch, put out stablizers, or hook up water. I use the campground bath house for my shower. (Which I do anyway because I don't have a shower). I'll stop at fast food before arriving at the campground for the night, pull out 1 chair and enjoy my dinner.

[WrigleysWagon 32]

We kind of do a combination. We usually drive on into the fort on the way in, then just set up and relax.  On our last day, we still enjoy a full day at the parks then stop off at a hotel a couple hours north. Our last trip we did the old "spend the night at a wal mart parking lot" on the way down.  Wasn't great, but we got more sleep than expected. That's going to be our plan for the next trip too.  It put us in early enough, with enough rest to really be able to enjoy the fort that first night. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Hi.  We live in Piedmont NC and are about three hours farther from the Fort than you are.  We overnight at the Pilot/Flying J in St. Augustine.  Always get a good night's sleep.  Then the next morning we have about two hours to the Fort.  Depending on what time we wake up, we check into the Fort around 6:30 - 7:30 a.m.  Park in the overflow lot and unload our golf cart.  We've been on our site as early as 8:30 a.m.

 

[keith_h 420]

Like Gwen we have 3 or 4 hours more to get to the Fort than you do. We stay overnight in Savannah which is close to halfway. Taking our time it gets us to the Fort around 12 - 1 PM. We stay at a KOA close to the interstate and don't do anything other than level the trailer and plug in. If our drive wasn't more than  6-7 hours we would probably drive straight through. 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

With quick overnights, do you all put your jacks down for the night? 

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I do not, but then, I've got a 16ft tiny trailer with a 12ft box, and for an overnight, all I'm doing is plugging in the electric and laying down to go to sleep. No moving around inside.

I would imagine with a larger unit, and using the restroom and moving around, and putting out the slides, you might want the stabilizers.

[keith_h 420]

4 hours ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

With quick overnights, do you all put your jacks down for the night? 

Most of the time I just put the two front jacks down. We also have a couple of screw jacks that we use under the stair frame that we always put in place. Between these the trailer is stable enough for us to sleep or move around without bouncing all over the place. The real time saver for us is not setting everything up inside. We leave the table stowed and use it like a couch. For meals we do easy stuff like sandwiches or something that can be microwaved and eat those at the picnic table.

[Chuck/Elizabeth 0]

Thanks all for the helpful input...We've got some time to decide what we want to do, I'm just kind of an "over-planner"

[bdm 47]

Something to consider. Will you have your TT winterized in mid February?

 

We did a trip in mid January from northern KY and our camper was winterized so on our way down we stayed at a hotel. Then when returning we winterized before departing and stayed at a hotel in the way home.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

 

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

On 8/4/2017 at 1:29 PM, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

With quick overnights, do you all put your jacks down for the night? 

We don't and we have a 33' TT.  We usually stop at a truck stop for a nap (5-6 hours) so the slides don't go out. Since we're just sleeping, there's not a lot of moving around.

On 8/6/2017 at 8:50 AM, bdm said:

Something to consider. Will you have your TT winterized in mid February?

 

We did a trip in mid January from northern KY and our camper was winterized so on our way down we stayed at a hotel. Then when returning we winterized before departing and stayed at a hotel in the way home.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

 

Coming from NH, we've had to winterize before coming down to WDW.  When we do we usually just keep a couple of gallon jugs of water in the TT for drinking, hand washing and flushing along the way.

[Chuck/Elizabeth 0]

On 8/6/2017 at 8:50 AM, bdm said:

Something to consider. Will you have your TT winterized in mid February?

 

We did a trip in mid January from northern KY and our camper was winterized so on our way down we stayed at a hotel. Then when returning we winterized before departing and stayed at a hotel in the way home.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

 

Very good point! Thanks.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

On 8/4/2017 at 10:29 AM, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

With quick overnights, do you all put your jacks down for the night? 

We have started to. I found that I get less and less restful sleep when staying at Walmarts and truck stops- I thought it was mental, the papa bear in me being protective of the family.

BUT- we started to notice a pattern that the night before moves, I'd often pull up the rear stabilizers (leaving just the front landing gear) and again started getting less and less restful sleep.

We are fairly certain, it's a matter of our wiggly worms of kids in the back- when they roll over, it rocks and bounces the camper around. That movement is stirring my sleep (but not quite waking me up).

So now- I wait to raise the rear stabilizers. And overnights at campgrounds have been with the rear jacks down. We haven't overnighted at a Walmart or truck stop since the decision because it's been hot out (we don't have a generator).

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

On 8/7/2017 at 7:56 PM, ependydad...Doug said:

We have started to. I found that I get less and less restful sleep when staying at Walmarts and truck stops- I thought it was mental, the papa bear in me being protective of the family.

BUT- we started to notice a pattern that the night before moves, I'd often pull up the rear stabilizers (leaving just the front landing gear) and again started getting less and less restful sleep.

We are fairly certain, it's a matter of our wiggly worms of kids in the back- when they roll over, it rocks and bounces the camper around. That movement is stirring my sleep (but not quite waking me up).

So now- I wait to raise the rear stabilizers. And overnights at campgrounds have been with the rear jacks down. We haven't overnighted at a Walmart or truck stop since the decision because it's been hot out (we don't have a generator).

Good point, we definitely have wiggly kids. Jacks will be going down.

[PghBob 31]

I would suggest that you make a decision based on how you like to travel.  If your family prefers shorter drives, then by all means, stop along the way.  This is not unusual, as many of our RVing friends from New England stop at motels along the way to Florida in winter.  No need to put up with a cold rig.

When we travel the mountain route from W. PA to the Fort, we generally overnight in the Fort Mill KOA in SC, just over the line from Charlotte.  We drive 9 hours the next day, and make the Fort at dinner time.  A quick trip to Trail's End for a pizza completes the trip down.

So, travel the way you like.  It's all good.