Traveling from WI to TX, any advice?

[RVneeds]

My wife and I are going to pull our MiniLite to San Antonio sometime in September. We are planning on going down through IL and spending the night in Springfield MS. Any of you seasoned travelers have any advice as far as staying in rest stops, truck stops, Walmarts or? We are planning on taking 2-3 days and are looking for quick, pull over and sleep stops. Once in TX we have a quick job to complete and then will spend a day or two in San Antonio doing the Riverwalk and Alamo areas before heading home. We could just take the truck and not pull the Mini, but we do enjoy it and saving some $ is an added bonus. Any thoughts?

[Triguy]

The Riverwalk and Alamo are great. Enjoy and

My personal preference is to stay at state, county or city parks close to the freeway, but plenty of others utilize Wallmart and truck stops.

With Wallmart, many/most of their stores want you to ask to stay and will direct you to overnight parking in designated area's. But, not all Warmarts so best to ask. The Allstays app should help you find places as well.

Flying J truck stops are reportedly good for RV's and often offer parking away from semis.

Rest stops are the least attractive IMHO. As you know, since you live in WI, not all rest areas will allow overnight stays.

[RVneeds]

Just returned home from a great weekend trip at Road America in the mini. First time out for the wife in the unit. Only issue now is the 7mpg that the F250 gets while pulling. Round trip fuel will cost me an estimated $850 with no rv and $1520 with it in tow. The $700 I will spend on fuel would help pay for my 5-6 nights in a motel. Yes, it is not the same and I would be spending more for food, but I wouldn't have the issue of pulling it, parking, etc. Probably not taking the mini on this trip.

I am in the Madison area.

[Ole Buzzard]

We also have a 2104S mini lite and tow with a 2012 F250 6.2 gasser 3,73 rear. Was also a little dismayed in the mpg. Am going to try mid octane gas and use the manual shift which seems to help the mpg.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by RVneeds

Just returned home from a great weekend trip at Road America in the mini. First time out for the wife in the unit. Only issue now is the 7mpg that the F250 gets while pulling. Round trip fuel will cost me an estimated $850 with no rv and $1520 with it in tow. The $700 I will spend on fuel would help pay for my 5-6 nights in a motel. Yes, it is not the same and I would be spending more for food, but I wouldn't have the issue of pulling it, parking, etc. Probably not taking the mini on this trip.

I am in the Madison area.

Ouch. That's expensive.

I'm in the Oconomowoc area.

[katsmeow62]

I live in New Braunfels north of San Antonio. There are always several RVS in our Walmart parking lot. Some are there for a few days at a time. Let me know if you need any info!

[kingwood390bh]

If your path to San Antonio takes you through Amarillo, I recommend stopping. The famous Cadillac Ranch, Big Texan Steak House(Man vs Food) and Sisemore RV Museum(home of the Gornicke Flxible Bus). Fredericksburg, San Antonio and New Braunfels are among our favorite RV destinations. The Riverwalk is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Flying dutchman]

Originally Posted by kingwood390bh

If your path to San Antonio takes you through Amarillo, I recommend stopping. The famous Cadillac Ranch, Big Texan Steak House(Man vs Food) and Sisemore RV Museum(home of the Gornicke Flxible Bus). Fredericksburg, San Antonio and New Braunfels are among our favorite RV destinations. The Riverwalk is just the tip of the iceberg.

X2 on that listing. May add Palo Duro SP.

[BarryD0706]

Originally Posted by Flying dutchman

X2 on that listing. May add Palo Duro SP.

X2 on Palo Duro SP.

[SaskCampers]

Originally Posted by RVneeds

Just returned home from a great weekend trip at Road America in the mini. First time out for the wife in the unit. Only issue now is the 7mpg that the F250 gets while pulling. Round trip fuel will cost me an estimated $850 with no rv and $1520 with it in tow. The $700 I will spend on fuel would help pay for my 5-6 nights in a motel. Yes, it is not the same and I would be spending more for food, but I wouldn't have the issue of pulling it, parking, etc. Probably not taking the mini on this trip.

I am in the Madison area.

7MPG??? Holy cow. I assume a 6.2. I averaged 9.3 hand caculated over a 4300 mile trip down to Tennessee earlier this year with 4 adults towing our 34 1/2 ft V-Lite at 60 mph. I ran with the cruise on in manual mode except in city driving where I ran T/H mode. That was using 93 Octane and total cost was just under $2000 for fuel.

[Rstrahan]

There are nice RV parks, off 1610 the outside loop at SA. There is Natural Bridge Caverns just north of SA. Also, tubing on the Guadalupe near New Braunsfelds is fun. Recommend us 281 out of the DFW area rather than i35. Bad backups and construction. The small towns off 281 (Pflugerville, etc) are worth stopping in. From Springfield, take us75 south, nice scenic road. The back roads through Arkansas (US 71) are nice, but mountainous and narrow.