How far have you pulled your camper's to visit ft. wilderness

[mruhaak]

Any one done this distance... 1000-1400 miles with a 18 mo. old and a 4 year old? Would really like to pull our popup and stay at the wilderness campground sometime... possibly NEXT winter...

What's the campground like in the winter, weather wise that is?

 

[Escape Artist]

Any one done this distance... 1000-1400 miles with a 18 mo. old and a 4 year old? Would really like to pull our popup and stay at the wilderness campground sometime... possibly NEXT winter...

Our kids are 13, 12 & 5 now, but we've travelled a lot with them since birth.

I would *highly* recommend putting a ceiling-mounted DVD in the minivan, if you don't have one already, and stock up on kid DVD's for the trip. Put wireless headphones on the kids if their DVD's drive you nuts. Try to drive overnight as much as possible because the kids are happiest on the trip while they're sleeping, and plan to stop once along the way at a hotel or a campground with a pool where they can swim and blow off steam. 1000-1400 miles is a long time to be strapped in a carseat!

We also took toys for them to play with in the hotel/campground, so they could have a few hours of unstructured playtime. (Duplos with lots of little plastic character pieces are the family favorite for ours, and you can run them thru the washing machine in a hosiery bag if they get frighteningly dirty.) We--the adults--took turns sleeping while the other one drove/supervised the kids. In a pinch, an indoor McDonald's playground works well too. The other adult can sleep in the car while the kids get to run around and play.

I would also recommend for the older child having a carseat that can recline. On my 5YO's, the back is hinged to the bottom, so I can recline her seat and she can sleep comfortably without the bobbing head thing going on, or getting sweaty from one of those neck supports. Also for your 4YO, hand-held games (i.e. Gameboy, Nintendo DS, whatever the modern thing is) can make a lot of miles go by more painlessly. Our DD's are just as happy to play them as our DS, just with different games plugged into the system.

Travelling in the winter is great! You might want to plan your trip so you have a good long time at your destination. Nobody wants to get back in the car again just a couple of days after arriving.

Enjoy these trips before your kids start school. I used to pull mine out in early elementary--up to about 3rd grade--for during the school year trips, but now with middle school, that just doesn't work for us anymore. (The advanced kid would miss too much academically, and the special ed kid takes way too much time and effort to do an independent study packet from his teachers while travelling.) Thinking back on it, some of our best trips were during the preschool years!

Have a great trip,

Sue in TX

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Any one done this distance... 1000-1400 miles with a 18 mo. old and a 4 year old? Would really like to pull our popup and stay at the wilderness campground sometime... possibly NEXT winter...

What's the campground like in the winter, weather wise that is?

We moved from California to Pennsylvania when the kids were 1 and 3. We were pulling a 1978 Coleman pop up and camped all the way across. I learned how to set that thing up fast and could tear it down even faster. Looking back, it was a great trip (those kids are now 19 and 21), but at the time, it was misery.

 

[mruhaak]

Thanks for the advice! We actually are already the owners of the portable DVD player and know the value of that!!! BUT I had no idea there were carseats that recline!! What brand is it... if you know. I'm really curious. I just hate it when he looks so uncomfortable sleeping in the car.

I was a child back in the days before carseats and my parents really had it easy as far as us sleeping... because we would sleep the whole night laying down. BUT of course... it's not an option today! They thought nothing of it!

We have a very small popup, but hope to upgrade in the next couple years. I know you do get very efficient at organizing things.. you have to when camping in a popup!

 

[trouble]

We traveled 700 miles in January and are doing it again in Nov.

 

[Moonlight Memories]

We'll pull about 1000 each way. I'm not fond of driving long distances but at least we'll be seeing some new territory and hopefully the leaves will be colorful.

 

[aLitlGoofy]

We pull about 620 miles from Slidell, La. On the way there, we like to leave in the afternoon and drive about halfway to near Tallahassee. On the way home, we pull it straight through.

 

[Escape Artist]

...I had no idea there were carseats that recline!! What brand is it... if you know. I'm really curious. I just hate it when he looks so uncomfortable sleeping in the car.

I was a child back in the days before carseats and my parents really had it easy as far as us sleeping... because we would sleep the whole night laying down. BUT of course... it's not an option today! They thought nothing of it!

We have a very small popup, but hope to upgrade in the next couple years. I know you do get very efficient at organizing things.. you have to when camping in a popup!

Hi! Sorry to take so long posting back...we just got back from a trip to San Antonio in the popup. I love that thing, but with three growing kids, I'm seriously considering upgrading to a trailer with slideouts and a bunkhouse!

Anyway, to answer your question, I think her carseat is a Graco Turbo Booster. We bought it at either Target or Toys R Us about a year ago, and hers has princess purple trim, but it comes in lots of different styles. What I like about it is that the back is hinged to the bottom, so I can recline her chair and with the decent-sized "wings" near her head, it supports her head while she sleeps. Here's a link to one--in a much more guy-worthy style--at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Turbo-B...2/104-7767090-0165545?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products. If you can't get that to work, I just went to amazon and typed in "carseat booster" in the search field for baby products.

I was a kid back in the pre-carseat days, too. I clearly remember my parents taking me from Ohio to Florida when I was 4, and I rode on the floor of the backseat almost the whole way. I couldn't believe it when my mom said she used to just carry me in her arms while my dad drove when I was a baby! It's amazing how things change in a generation.

Have a great trip!

Sue in TX

 

[mruhaak]

Hi! Sorry to take so long posting back...we just got back from a trip to San Antonio in the popup. I love that thing, but with three growing kids, I'm seriously considering upgrading to a trailer with slideouts and a bunkhouse!

Anyway, to answer your question, I think her carseat is a Graco Turbo Booster. We bought it at either Target or Toys R Us about a year ago, and hers has princess purple trim, but it comes in lots of different styles. What I like about it is that the back is hinged to the bottom, so I can recline her chair and with the decent-sized "wings" near her head, it supports her head while she sleeps. Here's a link to one--in a much more guy-worthy style--at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Turbo-B...2/104-7767090-0165545?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products. If you can't get that to work, I just went to amazon and typed in "carseat booster" in the search field for baby products.

I was a kid back in the pre-carseat days, too. I clearly remember my parents taking me from Ohio to Florida when I was 4, and I rode on the floor of the backseat almost the whole way. I couldn't believe it when my mom said she used to just carry me in her arms while my dad drove when I was a baby! It's amazing how things change in a generation.

Have a great trip!

Sue in TX

Thanks so much for in the info!!! We may be going on a trip in November (700 miles) and this would be invaluable if we can get one. It is time for our 3 yo DS to "upgrade" anyway as he is just over the 30 lb. mark.

Wow... you really can get good ideas on this website!

I hear you about the camper with slideout and bunkhouse. We have a small popup, but in a few years I'd like to upgrade to one of those. IMHO the only thing bad about a popup is the lack of storage while you are traveling. Ours is very small. Which was fine for 2 of us and a toddler... but now we have 2 kids and it's only gonna get worse.

I bring all of our clothes in plastic bins, which works pretty good. But it would be nice to be able to put more things away in the camper instead of having to haul everything out everytime you park.

 

[my3princes]

It's about 1500 miles each way. FW is awesome and we get to take long vacations. It takes us about 28 hours each way and we drive straight through.

Deb

 

[Mac and Us]

We make the drive in a Class A motorhome. We buy annual passes and get 6 weeks out of them as we go in the spring/christmas and the following spring each for 2 weeks.

We usually leave on a Friday around noon, drive till around 11pm, sleep for 3-4 hours and arrive at FW around 7 pm. It takes us approx. 30-31 hours total including stops for gas/food/rest.

The trip back we leave FW around 4am, drive til around 9-10pm then finish the drive after we wake up.

It's approx. 1400 miles each way and well worth it!

 

[my3princes]

We make the drive in a Class A motorhome. We buy annual passes and get 6 weeks out of them as we go in the spring/christmas and the following spring each for 2 weeks.

We usually leave on a Friday around noon, drive till around 11pm, sleep for 3-4 hours and arrive at FW around 7 pm. It takes us approx. 30-31 hours total including stops for gas/food/rest.

The trip back we leave FW around 4am, drive til around 9-10pm then finish the drive after we wake up.

It's approx. 1400 miles each way and well worth it!

Mac you must live fairly close to us. We live just outside of White River Junction, Vermont. It takes us about 28 hours only stopping for gas breaks.

Deb

 

[reneritch]

We have a class A motorhome and our trip is about 589 miles one way.

We will be going back November 10th for 8 nights. Can't wait.

 

[DogDawg]

We drive 1000 miles each way with 5er from Houston. Drive straight through on way there, leaving around midnight and getting in the site before dark. Stop at the "staging" area (re: casino) on way back to clean the camper