Onward to Virginia Towing a Gypsy Wagon Trailer

[Mud Pie]

Call ahead to each campsite before you roll in. A LOT of private campgrounds now have gotten very snooty. Campers can't be more than 10 years old, regardless of condition, no school bus conversions, no homemade campers.

My buddy had a 5th wheel and it had some age on it even though he bought it brand new and always kept it clean. At the time it was 15 years old. Kept getting turned away. He ended up only doing State Parks.

He even went as far as to replace all the exterior decals with new OEM, repainted anything the sun faded and sent pics of his camper as proof. Still denied. Some parks required you to show your registration for proof of age.

Shocked the hell out of me.

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[Rusty PW]

Call ahead to each campsite before you roll in. A LOT of private campgrounds now have gotten very snooty. Campers can't be more than 10 years old, regardless of condition, no school bus conversions, no homemade campers.

My buddy had a 5th wheel and it had some age on it even though he bought it brand new and always kept it clean. At the time it was 15 years old. Kept getting turned away. He ended up only doing State Parks.

He even went as far as to replace all the exterior decals with new OEM, repainted anything the sun faded and sent pics of his camper as proof. Still denied. Some parks required you to show your registration for proof of age.

Shocked the hell out of me.

You would think that those campgrounds are in cohorts with the RV manufactures. Turning campers away with older RV's. Hoping that they will buy a new one.

 

[Mud Pie]

You would think that those campgrounds are in cohorts with the RV manufactures. Turning campers away with older RV's. Hoping that they will buy a new one.

He said the campgrounds use the excuse of they don't want to "bring down the looks of the campground by letting old campers in".

What's jacked up is; HOA's have taken over most neighborhoods so people have become accustomed to made up "rules and regs" and the need to follow them. Because it's the "new norm".

 

[Rusty PW]

He said the campgrounds use the excuse of they don't want to "bring down the looks of the campground by letting old campers in".

What's jacked up is; HOA's have taken over most neighborhoods so people have become accustomed to made up "rules and regs" and the need to follow them. Because it's the "new norm".

We stayed in a camp ground in Chama NM. They had a guy that locked the gate every night at 10pm, and unlock it at 7am. We called him the gate nazi. If you came in at 10:01. Tough shit. You parked your car outside the gate and walked to your camp site.

At Lone Rock beach on Lake Powell Az. Had a guy riding up and down the beach on a quad at 10pm telling everyone to shut off their generators. And it was 105F at that time of night. We was going to pool our money together and pay who ever would take him out and deep 6 him.

 

[Tyler_OverlandJT]

Awesome custom build! I’m curious how this trailer handles crosswinds on the interstate during long hauls. That’s always one of my biggest concerns when towing.

 

[peter dragon]

Awesome custom build! I’m curious how this trailer handles crosswinds on the interstate during long hauls. That’s always one of my biggest concerns when towing.

Yeah me too. I figured I'd just use my one superpower and divert the wind around the vardo

 

[Tyler_OverlandJT]

Yeah me too. I figured I'd just use my one superpower and divert the wind around the vardo

Haha, that’s a handy superpower to have! I hate dealing with highway crosswinds when hauling a trailer.

 

[peter dragon]

Haha, that’s a handy superpower to have! I hate dealing with highway crosswinds when hauling a trailer.

That or pray real hard. At least it has the twin 3500# axles and a 4x2 frame, so it has a pretty low center of gravity. The roof actually weighs next to nothing But I guess we're gonna find out.

 

[Mud Pie]

I wish I had the skills to build something like that....

 

[Flyin6]

If you bring that through Kintuckee, some folks are liable to jump on that trailer thing, thinking it's their kin...

 

[HazMatFool]

We'll be a little south of you but I'm sure we'll make it that way eventually. I hiked the Appalachian Trail at one time and really love the scenery so I'm sure we'll make it up that way camping too

You would be very welcome. Camp and enjoy

the likes of this view, anytime.

 

[shooterrex]

If you bring that thing through Kintuckee, some folks are liable to jump on that trailer thing, thinking it's their kin...

Naw our kinfolk can't afford anything that nice.

 

[WambliSka]

Taken a road trip to Virginia from Payson. Hitting the I-40 and on to Suffolk. Never pulled a trailer that far before so a lot of planning has to go into it. I built this gypsy caravan 15 years ago and it's well suited for a long road trip. One inch tubing, skeletal structure on a 4x2" double axle frame. (~3500#) Is certain not to vibrate apart. Added an adjustable hitch, sumo springs, K Source mirrors and a rear camera.

Anyway, we'll be camping along the way, mostly at RV parks as we'll be bringing two cats in the delete-a-seat space. Hope to make it in 4 to 5 days driving only during the day, I'll be using RV Parky and Waze to navigate stops.

Anyone out there with sound advice that has done this before, I would welcome.

Cool trailer! I pulled a very heavy U-HAUL trailer from Asheville NC to Phoenix and if your plan is just to "get there" without sight seeing and are willing to travel swiftly I did it in 3 days of driving (two hotel nights). The good news is once you get out of Arizona it's all flat (and there is not much to see until you get to Mississippi River so you can travel fast. Lots of areas with zero cellular coverage too. The last night we stayed near Amarillo Texas after a GREAT steak dinner at the Big Texan and next day we just drove straight through to Phoenix (about 10 hours of driving time).

Once over the Mississippi it gets really crowded very fast and traffic around the big cities will be an issue, but there are several National Forests on the way and they would be my camping choice.

Oh, since we drive something with the aerodynamics of a brick and you're basically adding a parachute behind it your gas mileage is going to SUCK!!!!! so plan on stopping every 200 miles or so.

 

[Mud Pie]

I got with my buddy about the "bans" as he told me about that a few years ago. He said since COVID it's gotten worse. He said the current bans are now against homemades and "school bus conversions" because bus conversions have gotten very popular. He said they are REALLY hard on school buses, no matter how well it's done, because if they let in one nicely done school bus, they have to let in all the ugly ones so they can't get sued. Deny them all, no worries.

I understand the "right to refuse" and all that, this is America, but c'mon..... camping ???

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