How many nights on the road in 2015?

[Anne H]

I'm retired so it was pretty easy to get in 125 nights and 5900 miles in the camper this year before I sold it in June!

Hope to beat those numbers in 2016 when I pick up my 19 next feb

[cpaharley2008]

Nice blog there, Anne...

[Mike Lewis]

What a timely thread. Tonight is my last night on the road for my current trip. Nerd that I am, I keep a spreadsheet, and it says tonight will be my 163rd night on the road. I think this is the only trip I've made in the Escape this year.

I'm in east Texas, and should be home tomorrow evening.

[Mike Lewis]

Oh, and I am cheerfully retired!

[Ruthe]

Terry is not retired and we managed 55 nights in the Escape and I think about 6000 miles. We won't be using it again until next summer.

[LeonW]

We are retired but so far have only spent 63 nights in the Skylark this year:

• 31 in February/March, mostly in Texas, NM, and AZ.
• 29 in May / June heading to Osoyoos and back
• 4 in July visiting some friends and staying at a state park.

We will be putting another 21-28 nights in during September/October when we go to the Mississippi River Escape Rendezvous. So we will probably have 80+ for the year.

[maurerl]

Slow start, still working. Bought used 17B late April, only camped a total of 13 nights on 3 trips this year, but our semi-annual (hopefully annual starting this year!) big trip coming up in a week. 6 weeks on the road, plans for Yellowstone & Utah, and/or wherever we feel like pointing on any given day. Our #1 rule: no freeways. Our #1a rule: primary highways only if absolutely necessary. We like to stick to the "blue highways" as much as possible.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by bouterse

Jon. Since you are back home early, will we see you at the Niagara Wine Escape?

Jack Bouterse

I'll be in site 85 starting Thursday.

And for the record - Since April, 2011, I've slept in the trailer 697 nights, towed it 68,701.5 miles, averaging 15MPG (US) using the RAV4.

[Jim Bennett]

Isn't it a bit early to be asking this question? Still a few months of camping even up here cold north. Methinks it would be a good January winter discussion.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

And for the record - Since April, 2011, I've slept in the trailer 697 nights, towed it 68,701.5 miles, averaging 15MPG (US) using the RAV4.

You must keep pretty accurate records, Jon. I started to do this years ago with our tent trailer, but kept forgetting to log them. Maybe I will start up when we get a new trailer.

I would be interested to hear what practises you, or anyone else, employs to keep the records. Just diligence? I kinda fail at that sometimes, as my mind gets onto other things when I stop, and I forget to record the distance travelled. Any tricks or such?

[MyronL]

Jon, out of curiosity, could you tell me at what point in them 68+K glorious miles of trailering did you need to replace worn trailer tires?

[LarryandLiz]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Isn't it a bit early to be asking this question? Still a few months of camping even up here cold north. Methinks it would be a good January winter discussion.

perhaps this is a bit early

I thought it would be good to do a 'mid flight review'
and was curious about what others were doing.

and, not that this is a competition or anything - i was wondering how often our little egg was being used in comparison to other not-yet-retired persons

and I really enjoy reading these posts and getting a sense of what people are doing and where they are going.

Larry

[Vermilye]

I use one of the three odometer recorders to keep track of towing mileage each day, resetting it when I park the trailer. As to the number of days, I keep track of that on my web pages that cover trips. MPG is probably the least accurate - I use the RAV4's MPG readout, resetting it if I drive more than a couple of miles without the trailer. Best I've had is 18MPG on an interstate with a tailwind, worst on a Wyoming 2 lane with a 40 MPH headwind (8MPG & a lot of time in 2nd gear.)

[Jim Bennett]

Don't get me wrong Larry, I too enjoy hearing of others escapades, especially those who are retired and get to do a lot. Helps encourage me to take the plunge some day soon too.

So then Jon, you are disciplined. Maybe I am not too old to learn either.

[cpaharley2008]

Me thinks Jon wins the prize for the most use of their Escape....

[Ruthe]

i was thinking as I read these posts that we all use the Escapes in different ways. I've always opted for the long trips because I figured I was probably packing the same stuff and if I was getting the trailer ready we might as well be out for a long time. In other words I don't do weekends. But this summer we did do a couple of really short trips with the grandkids and now I'm planning next summer to stay around our New York house and go away for shorter excursions and see how that goes. The truth is I really do pack a lot less for the short hops -- there's one climate, one situation to pack for.

[Ruthe]

The other thing is that when we're in NJ fall, winter and spring, it is a bit of an ordeal getting in and out of our urban driveway and I'm sure that holds us back. And if we stored it someplace we'd never use it either. Once we are retired and living somewhere rural, pulling out and in won't be an issue.

[MyronL]

Have towed ET19 18K, from day one, not a lot compared to some of you long haulers, yet when I inspected my tires using the Lincoln's head test this week I got surprised by unexpected wear.

Makes me wonder just how many miles are these tires good for? Do I really have 50K left?

[rbryan4]

That's some seriously uneven wear comparing the back tire to the front Myron. I'd suspect a slightly off-kilter angle on the back tire - bent axle/bad camber?

[Vermilye]

I got about 20K from my first pair of Goodyear Marathons, 35K from the second pair of Maxxis 8008's, and have 15K on the current pair of Maxis 8008's.