To Tow or Not to Tow: Part Two

Our July 2023 trip was a good one. We followed Interstate 75 from central Florida to its terminus at the Canadian border in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan (the “Soo” as the locals call it.)

In keeping with our effort to avoid towing a car behind the RV, we made it a priority to use alternate transportation wherever possible. We decided on a mix of Uber/Lyft ride shares, and rental cars where that option seemed a better choice.

 

Having completed the trip we can now say that the ‘no car towed behind’ strategy can be a real mixed bag. 

 

Our first stops were in Forsyth, Georgia; Jellico, Tennessee, Huntsville, Ohio, and Montrose, Michigan. Each of these was simply an overnight stop on the way to our ultimate destination: Mackinac City, Michigan. None of these first few stops held any interest for us, other than resting up for the next day’s driving chores. So, car share or car rental was not on the table.

 

When we got to our campsite in Cheboygan, Michigan (close to Mackinaw City) it was clear we would need to leave the RV at the campground and find another way to go place. We opted for a rental car. The closest rental agency was Budget at a regional airport about twenty miles from the campground. The camp host volunteered to drive us to the airport, and we picked up the car with no issues. We tipped the camp host $40 for his trouble, which is about what an Uber would cost if there were such a thing in Cheboygan, Michigan.

Mackinac Island

 

We drove the rental car into Michigan’s upper peninsula, spending two days exploring the area. The rental car was almost new (less than 1,500 miles on the odometer) and it made exploring a pleasure. We got as far north as the bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada at Sault Saint Marie, and as far west as Whitefish Point, Michigan on Lake Superior, just 17 miles south of where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Both the countryside and the weather were beautiful.

 

Heading back towards our next destination (Dearborn, Michigan) we dropped the rental off at the airport and drove south on I-75. We reached Ypsilanti, Michigan the same day, and settled in for the night at a KOA just about halfway between Ann Arbor and Detroit. 

 

The next morning, we called for an Uber, which took us to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn. After a delightful day at this iconic collection of Americana, we called another Uber to return us to the campground.

Greenfield Village

 

From Michigan, we headed to our next stop: Columbus, Ohio. We stayed at a beautiful state park (Alum Creek) near Delaware, Ohio. On our way to the park, we stopped in Delaware to rent a car, which we had reserved earlier in the week. We were informed they did not have any cars, and it would be four to six hours before they could have one available. We decided to pass and used Uber to get us from the campground to the Columbus Zoo, and back. It worked out fine, but the Uber cost as much as the rental car would have cost.

Alum Creek State Park

 

The rest of our trip included a one-night stay in Kentucky, and a two-night stay in Murphy, NC. In Kentucky we really had nowhere we wanted to go, so did not involve any transportation choices. In Murphy, we have family who graciously picked us up and took us to various local attractions and places of interest.

 

The rest of our journey was a direct drive from Murphy, NC to our home in Ocala, FL which did not require any stops along the way other than for fuel, so we didn’t need alternate transportation.

 

What we have determined after two road trips without towing a car is this: we don’t need to tow. And, surprisingly, we don’t need to rent cars or call for ride shares. Having completed these two trips there is no place we went that we could not have gone in the RV. 

 

Of course, the gas mileage in the RV is atrocious. But even at $0.38/mile (the cost of driving our RV using $3.60/gallon gas) it would have been significantly cheaper than renting or Ubering.

 

So, on our next epic journey, we will leave the tow at home and avoid rental cars and rideshares in favor of using the RV to get to the attractions we want to see. It is small enough (29’10” overall length) to park in most parking lots and can be parked along the city streets if that is the only option. And if we run into a situation where we simply cannot take the RV to a point of interest, we can always revert to Uber or car rentals. But we don’t think that will be necessary.

 

We will report back on our next adventure and let you know how our plan works (or doesn’t!)