# How Many Miles Do You Plan A Day?



## betegreene (Aug 25, 2009)

I'm planning out the route for our summer trip, and as this will be our first long trip with the TT (250RS) I'm trying to plan a reasonable days mileage.
My wife and I are trying to figure out the first leg of the trip from Vermont to Yellowstone in mid June.

The key is to keep the boys (11,8,6) from going nuts, we'll be stopping for at least an hour for lunch, and want to get set up in time for a swim and some out of truck time.

I'm thinking that most days we should be able to cover 350 miles without too much trouble, but until we hit the road, it's all a guess.
A few days across Iowa/Nebraska I'm thinking of trying to do 425 miles a day, am I nuts?

How much ground do you cover when on Interstates?

Thanks


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## Joonbee (Jan 18, 2008)

I have covered 350 without stopping, just a quick stop to flip aux tank switch. Around 5 hrs of driving straight back from NH (Wolfwood), DW, baby and dogs were nappin on and off. We will do the Acadia trip this year in one shot figure 500 miles in about 10-11 hours. That was no trailer and the cruise set at 70. I usually tow between 65-70, so a little bit longer when towing, but not much.

Friends of ours did "the West" last year. NJ to southern Colorada and then around and up thru Yellowstone and then back across the top. They got out there in 2 days and back in 2 days. Think he does 12 hour days, leaving early 4am ish. They have 3 kids also (boys 13, 11 and daughter 10) and the family lab. Both our families try to get where we are gong and then slow down to enjoy ourselves. We did the Outer Banks from NJ last year in under 10hrs with stops and that was about 450 miles. I think if you hit the road and the ol' "man I can't wait to get to Yellowstone" adrenaline kicks in you will be able to log more miles than you think. Unless of course you are planning on sight seeing on the way.

Good luck.

Jim


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## NAturedog2 (Jan 29, 2007)

Keep in mind that you will be going slower than normal. usually 60 mph, and some of that depends on how often you stop for gas or bathroom breaks, plus if your unhooking each night or just stopping where you don't have to unhook. For me with similar ages 4, 6,8,10 425 miles would take well over 8hrs including stopping, so if you want to stop early enough to swim you may need more time. Plus if you see something along the road you want to stop and visit it's nice to plan for some of that. A lot depends on you. I have done 425 in a day but it was a long day driving and I had plenty of movies for the kids to watch and it was late when we arrived each night. I usually look for places I can just stop and pull in for the night and not have to unhook when I am going somewhere far, and there is not much to see anyway.

Hope this helps some.

Russ


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## BritsOnTour (Sep 15, 2006)

We are traveling around for a year, our kids are 4,6,8&10. We tend to drive on a Saturday and do as much as 450 miles in one day, we leave before 8am and try to arrive by 6pm, usually we do a couple of short stops. We do have a dvd player and all the kids have a ds, both of which are well used on our long drives.

However, if you are planning to drive direct from Vermont to Yellowstone and do these kinds of days every day for a few days, that's a lot! We have found that if we do something on route or spend a couple of nights in a place, that helps.

We are also planning to be in Yellowstone mid-June, pm me once you have your yellowstone area cg's booked, our kids always love to hook up with other kids.

We missed Vermont this year, we travel there every Feb for a week's skiing at Smugg's, our friends took our condo last week and we are still jealous! LOL!

Good luck with your drive, so many wonderful things on that route: Indiana Dunes NP, Chicago, Mount Rushmore....

Ali


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

We went to Yellowstone last year. I drove about 1000 miles a day to get home. Pretty much drove 16 hours a day, only stopping for fuel. I have two kids, 9 and 12 at the time. They were fine. Played on their computers and DS games the whole way.

One word of advice, be careful on your timing going through Chicago. We happened to hit it in the afternoon on the way out, traffic was an absolute mess. Took us hours to get through. Came through at 2:00AM coming home, much better!

DAN


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I would highly recommend Nintendo dsi with car charger for the kids. It is amazing how oblivious to time they are when playing them.


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## swanny (Oct 31, 2007)

350 tops, We reach our CG of choice, put landing gear down, stay hooked up and relax until morning. I have no time constraints. Now if I had two weeks I would probably drive until I had to stop and sleep.


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## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

You would not have to stop so often if ya left the kids at home or tied them up in the back of the truck. Most parents do not start to tie their kids in the back until the third or fourth day, why wait ! Makes the trip a lot more fun for the adults and you can listen to whatever radio station that your wife wants!


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

As far as driving, I would agree that 350 - 400 is about tops, especially pulling a camper and with kids. We travel to NY from Iowa and try to avoid Chicago, may play with Streets and Trips to see what you would lose in time by going south. What I try to do with kids is to find a spot that looks interesting or a really nice campground so that everyone enjoys themselves, even if it means driving a little more. When the DW and I go alone, we usually get an early start, but with the kids, after they got to be 6 or 7 it was hard to get them going much before 8 so you loose some time on both end.

As far as Iowa and Neb. there are a few things interesting along I80 in both states, but they are few and far between. If you can caught a tail wind in Neb. the speed limit is 75 mph and most campers go that unless the wind changes from the N or S. You can make some good time. 
There are some great camp grounds on either side of the Missouri river to stay, so check them out. The Campground outside of Omaha is great with swimming pools, water parks and a bunch of other stuff plus right beside it is the SAC Air museum, the boys would love that.

I started planning for a trip to New Mexico and plan several stops for several days along the way, but do plan to blow off most of Neb.

Good luck and have fun. I haven't been to Yellowstone since 1974 but loved the area. We camped primitive no shower or electricity and only tents. Out there over the 4th and woke up with frost on the tent flap. Loved it back them, glad to have the heater now.


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## Not Yet (Dec 13, 2004)

We have 11,9,5,3,1 (on our last big trip) and 350 is the norm. We do push longer if there are not many days or we have a couple of day stop planned. A key planning factor for our long trips has been to plan a short day for day one. That is mostly for us, we are always up late packing and need to just get out the door and on to the road. Days 2,3,and 4 are generally the longer pushes with a couple day stop planned on 4. We like to break it up.


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

Depends... Different situations for everyone. For us, we will go 200 to 350 miles a day. That amounts to about one tank of fuel with a lot to spare. We start out with a full tank, will usually stop at a rest stop or two, make our own lunch, and be parked by 2 or 3 in the aft. Normally, we unhook and shop around for cheap fuel, but we usually stay for at least two nights. We are hardly ever in a hurry, but for those rare times when we were (snow storm chasing us), we would put on 450 miles with one fuel stop, but I don't like doing that. I usually travel at 60 mph, sometimes, depending on road conditions and how much traffic there is, I'll go up to 65 mph. I never travel at night -- the odds of an accident quadrupel when the sun goes down.

Also, with 4 years of traveling behind us, we have never not known were we going to park that night. We always have an rv park picked out, know what the price is, and have it plugged into the gps.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

My record pulling the OB is 575 miles - a totally killer day.

Where I'm heading, whether I've been there before or not, and how much time I have determines how far I go. I prefer not to exceed 300 miles under normal conditions.

I don't travel with children, but with a dog. In case it hasn't ever been pointed out here before, dogs don't do well with hand-held video games, and require regular potty breaks.


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## muttbike (Apr 27, 2009)

Usually 400-500 per day with family. I try not to arrive at campsites after 6pm. Most of the campsites I stay at are family owned and I don't like pulling in too late, just seems rude.

Now if I am going somewhere with the fellas, like to dirtbike, fishing, hunting, etc destinations, we dry camp, boondock, whatever it takes to get there quickest and get the most fun time in.

JR


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

First the disclaimer: We are probably crazy....









Ok, now here's my opinion. VT to Yellowstone at 350 miles per day will take forever. I'm not disputing that it is a more relaxing travel method, but when we go, we go. Our first day last summer was ~620 miles. It also wasn't entirely expressway, so it took us what seemed like forever (google maps claims it's 11 hours and I think it took us 16 with stops) . Our second day was I70 and we covered ~500 miles on the expressway (google maps say's that's about 8 hours and it took us 10). That day we stopped in time for dinner (~6pm) because the kids were getting a little stir crazy. When I plan, I typically consider a full day of driving to be around 9-10 hours. I'll do the extra on the way west since you get about an hour a day with time changes. Going east is harder because you are trying to adjust schedules back, and you're heading home which is less exciting.....









The other thing we do however, is not set hard stops when traveling. That way, you're not as likely to push the trip beyond what you can handle. Over the years, we've had schedules completely blown for things like flat tires, and major traffic jams. If you don't have reservations, you can just shrug and make it up the next day, or even just re-time your trip. It also gives you a little more freedom, so if things aren't going according to plan with the kids, you can make stops longer or shorter or even add in something that's on a billboard that people seem interested in (that explains how I ended up 10 miles off I-90 at the Corn Palace







).

BTW, you think we're bad now, you should have seen it when it was just the DW and I with a pop up. We once did just over 1000 miles in a day. Now that's a drive!!!


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

Nathan said:


> VT to Yellowstone at 350 miles per day will take forever. I'm not disputing that it is a more relaxing travel method, but when we go, we go.


Totally agree, unless you are retired and have no obligations beyond the vacation, it is tough to go on a trip like this and not bang out some major miles a few of the days. At 350 miles a day, it would take a week each way to make a trip to Yellowstone from Vermont!! That is two weeks of vacation just driving!

One item to also consider is the type of driving you will be doing. Most of the driving to Yellowstone from the East coast is pretty flat and straight. Very few hills, no turns, speed limit of 75 mph. On our trip last year I just set the cruise to 65-70, put on some music, set the seat to a comfortable position, and watched the miles go by. Every single mile looked exactly like the previous mile. It is not very demanding driving, especially with a diesel. It is not hard to put up a 700+ day under these conditions.

DAN


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Longest trip I've made is about 600+ miles. I usually go for about 6 hours or so and stop for the night. Gives us time to relax, hit the pool and gear up for the next day.

Could probably go further if I chose to, just don't choose to. A real long trip might make me change my mind, though.

Mark


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

When we had the truck and trailer combos anything over 400 I would start to get the death stare from the rest of the family. with the motorhomes we have had I could go over 700 before dw would say haven't you had enough. With the current rv I could have done the trip to Florida straight thru (1300 miles). They are happy and can move around a little or sleep and I just drive with my thumbs on the cruise control and pull over every 400 miles for gas.Leg room and a comfortable seat goes a long way with my company van I want to jump out after about 80 miles and scream.

John


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

johnp said:


> When we had the truck and trailer combos anything over 400 I would start to get the death stare from the rest of the family. with the motorhomes we have had I could go over 700 before dw would say haven't you had enough. With the current rv I could have done the trip to Florida straight thru (1300 miles). They are happy and can move around a little or sleep and I just drive with my thumbs on the cruise control and pull over every 400 miles for gas.Leg room and a comfortable seat goes a long way with my company van I want to jump out after about 80 miles and scream.
> 
> John


The vehicle you have makes a huge difference. Our Megacab diesel keeps the kids happy on the long drives, they can recline their seats in the back and have plenty of room to stretch out. The big diesel truck and the relatively small trailer also makes my job pretty easy. The truck barely ever strains, I just set the cruise and go. I have to keep reminding myself that I have a trailer back there.

However, it is difficult for me or the DW to move around and make a sandwich without stopping!! Doesn't matter, no eating or drinking is allowed in Daddy's truck!!

DAN


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Usually no more then 850 miles a day. Thats about the distance from Southern Maryland to Orlando Florida but thats just me. I got a 7 year old and he does great. Honestly we leave early and get in late. If I was going on a longer trip I would go hard the first day and keep the rest around 500 to 600 a day. If I get the wife to drive I will run later into the night. I hate to stop. When I replace the burb with a crew cab diesel something it will have a aftermarket tank thats larger so I can run to Florida on 1 fill up when I find cheap diesel.


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## rsm7 (Aug 8, 2009)

I guess I'm like Nathan and Dan. Trailer or no trailer, kids or no kids, I've always done 500-700 miles a day. 10-14 hrs, whatever it takes. I guess its only fair to add I'm a truck driver for UPS and I drive 500-600 miles a night but I did it before being a truck driver too. The difference is I would be alot more tired back then and now I'm used to it. I'm sure Carey does big miles in his job. Whatever the logbook allows.







You have to do what you feel comfortable with. I just wonder if 2 weeks of slow driving wouldnt be more exhausting? You may find it's not that hard to get 450-500 miles. Thats a tough call. Definately a very long trip. I do like the idea of being flexible though, stopping when you feel like it. Some days you feel better than others and some days you just dont have it.


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## Joonbee (Jan 18, 2008)

Nathan said:


> First the disclaimer: We are probably crazy....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now your talkin. DW ALWAYS HAS TO TELL ME THEY NEED A BREAK. My nickname in the Marines was "The Road Warrior". I would leave NC on Wed afternoon and drive straight 1000 miles to MO in 14-15hrs and back in time for formation first thing Monday morning.

I HATE STOPPING. I WANT TO GET TO WHERE I AM GOING, THE DRIVE THERE IS JUST LESS TIME I GET TO BE THERE.


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## CautiousCamper (Jun 27, 2006)

I try to stay under 800 km (500 miles) in a single day if I can help it. I do what others do. That is, string together a couple of long days, followed by a double night stay somewhere to break things up. Of course, that depends on if there is anything for the kids to look forward doing. I find we can tolerate longer days on the way home from somewhere. I go by hours on the road and not necessarily distance travelled. The most productive hours seem to be in the morning, then after lunch, things start going downhill. After all, everyone wants to know "are we there yet". That is a fine balance that depends soley on your family.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

CautiousCamper said:


> I try to stay under 800 km (500 miles) in a single day if I can help it. I do what others do. That is, string together a couple of long days, followed by a double night stay somewhere to break things up. Of course, that depends on if there is anything for the kids to look forward doing. I find we can tolerate longer days on the way home from somewhere. I go by hours on the road and not necessarily distance travelled. The most productive hours seem to be in the morning, then after lunch, things start going downhill. After all, everyone wants to know "are we there yet". That is a fine balance that depends soley on your family.


Definetly agree that Afternoons tend to be the slowest part. Start early, and you can get some decent mileage before lunch (I try for 4 hours continuous since everyone is refreshed). Then you have lunch, afternoon snack, and then dinner. After dinner, especially if the kids fall asleep, we try to get some decent miles on before stopping for the night. I try to top up the tank at dinner, because it's not uncommon to do a non-stop 4-5 hours after dinner to make some good mileage.


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## rsm7 (Aug 8, 2009)

I'm a vampire. I'll drive all night long! Thats the best time to drive. We're going to Fla in June (1000 miles). I'll work Fri nite, get home Sat morn, work in a nap either at home or while DW drives, and we'll be there Sun afternoon. No planned schedule, no planned sleep, but I'll knock out big miles from Sat afternoon to Sunday Morning. We can lay the seats down in the Excursion for naps or just sleep in the trailer. We'll stop when we feel like it and get there when we get there. Of course we dont have kids with us so that makes a huge difference.


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## go6car (Jan 19, 2004)

Our longest will be (according to Good Sam Trip Planning) 524 when we go to Bristol TN next month! This should be interesting!

This is, of course, assuming that all this snow actually STOPS!!!!! UG!!! I'm hoping another month makes all the difference, LOL!

When I get the dream Phaeton, I would be happy to drive around the globe nonstop. Several times. In a row. No sleep.


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## betegreene (Aug 25, 2009)

Thanks everyone!
I'm glad we have 7 weeks to play with, so we'll probably do between 350 and 425 a day most days with one or two longer ones stuck in there.
Once we're out west, the pace will slow considerably!
Might not come home....


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

rsm7 said:


> work in a nap either at home or while DW drives


Not that I don't LOVE my wife, nor do I believe she would kill us all as soon as my eyes closed (no really...honest (you can stop laughing now)), but she has never had any interest in wanting to drive MY truck with the tt in tow. I think she said something about the traffic around Chicago...I don't know as I usually tune out the Leap Pad, DSI, the movie players and the occasional "Bingo" that gets yelled as we hammer down for a max of around 500 miles in a day.


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## rsm7 (Aug 8, 2009)

H2oSprayer said:


> work in a nap either at home or while DW drives


Not that I don't LOVE my wife, nor do I believe she would kill us all as soon as my eyes closed (no really...honest (you can stop laughing now)), but she has never had any interest in wanting to drive MY truck with the tt in tow. I think she said something about the traffic around Chicago...I don't know as I usually tune out the Leap Pad, DSI, the movie players and the occasional "Bingo" that gets yelled as we hammer down for a max of around 500 miles in a day.
[/quote]

Ha ha thats funny! I was waiting for someone to comment on that LOL! Its actually still up in the air. Depends on how the training goes, the weather, the traffic etc, etc, etc. I'm not afraid to teach her. Shes actually an excellent driver. And she's always had trucks, she hates cars. When we had the Impala she took my GMC. Now the Excursion is her daily driver and she loves it. She's just a tiny girl too! We'll see how it goes, it wouldnt be for more than an hour or so anyway and only in ideal conditions.


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## GO WEST (May 25, 2009)

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas&#8230;

1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

With these kinds of numbers, one has to drive hard for a day just to enter another state. What I do is that long drive starting really early in the morning, around 4 a.m. I then keep going past the border until late in the evening when I get deep into New Mexico, Arizona, or Colorado (GO WEST). Then I ease off and enjoy the sights I don't have in Texas, close to home, making shorter drives until I reach my destination.

Across the plains you will probably want to keep going, but there are sights you can miss by just putting the hammer down. Just watch out and you will find some likely and interesting places to stop and spend the night. Enjoy the adventure, don't overplan.


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## luckylynn (Jan 9, 2007)

GO WEST said:


> Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas&#8230;
> 
> 1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
> 
> ...


Another thought about Texas( from someone who lives here and has traveled across it in several ways) IF you are going across the state past El Paso be sure you see a gas station be sure to STOP,and if there is a sign that says last stop for XXXX many miles Beleave IT and no mater what the price of the gas stop and get some







Don't ask me how I know and DH want ever have to hear about it from me again.

Lynn


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

GO WEST said:


> Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas&#8230;
> 
> 1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
> 
> ...


Thats a switch from my little state. 30 minutes in three directions puts me in another state and 2 miles east puts me in the ocean.

John


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

H2oSprayer said:


> work in a nap either at home or while DW drives


Not that I don't LOVE my wife, nor do I believe she would kill us all as soon as my eyes closed (no really...honest (you can stop laughing now)), but she has never had any interest in wanting to drive MY truck with the tt in tow. I think she said something about the traffic around Chicago...I don't know as I usually tune out the Leap Pad, DSI, the movie players and the occasional "Bingo" that gets yelled as we hammer down for a max of around 500 miles in a day.
[/quote]
I'm in the same boat. My DW doesn't even like driving the truck empty (She only takes it when she's running to the nursery in the spring to pick up plants). She's made it very clear that she won't even get inthe driver's seat with the trailer hitched up.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

We have found that about 8 hours a day is optimal. We have stretched it out to about 10 without too much problem, but I would not count on doing that multiple days in a row. Converting that to miles, we will see 400-500 miles a day. Interestingly, I have found that no matter how fast (or slow) I drive, after fuel, lunch and potty breaks, we always end up at a daily average of 50MPH. I can drive 55, I can drive 70, it always averages out to 50!

As has been mentioned earlier, with the kids, load them up with Nintendo's and movies. They will never notice the hours. Or, unfortunately, the sceanery. As far as pets go, our dog travels very well. He will settle in after about 10 minutes, and as long as he has a lap to lay his head in, he will sleep the whole time.

I have found the biggest thing to get by is my own internal clock. When I am first starting out in the morning, the thought of 8-10 hours of driving is almost unbearable, but once I hit about the two hour mark, I kind of get into the zone, and from that point on I could probably go 15 hours without a sweat. It's just getting rolling that is tough.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

PDX_Doug said:


> As has been mentioned earlier, with the kids, load them up with Nintendo's and movies. They will never notice the hours. Or, unfortunately, the sceanery.
> 
> Happy Trails,
> Doug


On our trip to Yellowstone last year, we made the kids put away all their toys in areas where there were things to see. I did not want them to miss the vacation staring into an electronic screen.

DAN


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## Joonbee (Jan 18, 2008)

Nathan said:


> work in a nap either at home or while DW drives


Not that I don't LOVE my wife, nor do I believe she would kill us all as soon as my eyes closed (no really...honest (you can stop laughing now)), but she has never had any interest in wanting to drive MY truck with the tt in tow. I think she said something about the traffic around Chicago...I don't know as I usually tune out the Leap Pad, DSI, the movie players and the occasional "Bingo" that gets yelled as we hammer down for a max of around 500 miles in a day.
[/quote]
I'm in the same boat. My DW doesn't even like driving the truck empty (She only takes it when she's running to the nursery in the spring to pick up plants). She's made it very clear that she won't even get inthe driver's seat with the trailer hitched up.








[/quote]

Luckily ours is actually her daily grocery getter and she actually put a few miles on the truck trailer setup last year on 2 different occasions. Just so WE know she can do it if need be. She did a great job and REALLY liked the power of her diesel. "WOW, you can't even tell the trailer is back there".


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## SouthLa26RS (Jul 10, 2006)

My DW will not drive our truck. In fact, she does not want to even sit in the drivers seat in the driveway. She just looks at me and says,"where are YOU driving us to." Although, she will run the wheels off her own vehicle.


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