Oklahoma City, Houston, Daytona Beach

[dogear]

Featherlite H3-45 dragging a 30ft stacker ultimately going to Daytona Beach Fl for Biktoberfest. I could use some recommendations for overnight stays around Oklahoma City, Houston and New Orleans. I actually need to stay near Houston for a couple of days. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. JR

[Gary Carmichael]

Jim, Oklahoma City Twin Fountains,I stayed there last fall on the way to OSU homecoming. I believe that POG was having a rally at that time A lot of Prevost in the park. Good place! Funny my wife went in to register and when she got back in the coach she said those folks in side know how to put on a party Little did I know that I would be driving a Prevost a year later, New Orleans French Quarter if you can get in! Houston can't help .

[dogear]

Appreciate the post. Problem with a 30 Ft stacker is you get stuck not being able to get in most places. Going to NOLA late January early February and have a reservation at French Quarter RV and the largest pull through that they have is 60ft so I am leaving the stacker home. Daytona Biketoberfest I gotta have the bikes and a car so I think that I will throw in the towel and fly down to Houston. I can still get back to Lead, SD in time to get the rig down to Daytona for Biketoberfest. Again thanks so much for the reply! Cheers

[Loc]

In Houston there are a couple of places to consider. Probably the best for a rig that long would be Lakeview RV Resort which is on the south side of Houston by the Astrodome / Medical Center (www.lakeviewrvresort.com). They have several sites near the front entrance that are not limited in length and would work, but their regular sites would be too short. The other choice would be Rayford Crossing which is located north of Houston in the burbs (www.rayfordcrossing.com). They have concrete roads and sites, but you will want to call in advance to make sure they can accomodate 75 feet plus setup.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

In Houston there are a couple of places to consider. Probably the best for a rig that long would be Lakeview RV Resort which is on the south side of Houston by the Astrodome / Medical Center (www.lakeviewrvresort.com). They have several sites near the front entrance that are not limited in length and would work, but their regular sites would be too short. The other choice would be Rayford Crossing which is located north of Houston in the burbs (www.rayfordcrossing.com). They have concrete roads and sites, but you will want to call in advance to make sure they can accomodate 75 feet plus setup.

Jim, I don't think you can get your rig into the last place Loc suggested ( Rayford RV ), especially towing anything other than a vehicle ( 4 down ). Just not enough room for your rig, but the first suggestion would work for sure. Just my opinion ! Rayford is one of our favorite resorts close to home for a weekend getaway, but you really want to know how to get there, BEFORE you go ! Especially towing a 30' stacker.

Gary S.

[dogear]

Thanks all for all the great info! After much consideration I decided that I would take the airlines to Houston. This decision was made pretty easy because of the fact that my coach developed an air leak and we just don't have the facilities to troubleshoot that kind of a thing here in South Dakota. Since I was going to Florida anyway I decided to take the coach down there a couple of weeks early and get Featherlite to fix a number of things before Biketoberfest. Of course once I got down into warmer temps the thing isn't leaking down anymore! Again thanks for all the advice on where to stay in Houston. Cheers.......JR

[Will Garner]

Jim,

Is a combination vehicle totalling at least 75 feet legal in South Dakota? I know it is not in most states, the legal length limit is either 63 or 65 feet. You might want to check into that before traveling with the 30' stacker tagged onto the 45 H3-45.

[dogear]

There are quite a few posts on this forum on this very subject the gist of which is that even though the rig is over length in many states, it is tolerated unless you get pulled over for some other infraction. According to some on this site Alabama is pretty tough on over length. In South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana 75 feet is cool. I have run this rig from South Dakota to Florida at least 4 times so far and passed many a cop and never had problems. We even got pulled over in Tennessee (where 75 feet is over the limit) and nothing was mentioned about being over length. Anyway my experiences so far have been positive, that is not to say that one day I will have a problem. I guess that I will cross that bridge when I come to it! Thanks

[Sid Tuls]

They say if you are just staying on the interstate you won't have a problem. It's when you get off is when they get you here in Broke Calif.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Dogear, When we had a rally in SD we had the state police weigh our coaches at each wheel and then they did a short seminar. They clearly understand that we are not commercial vehicles and they are not concerned about us. They recognize the impact of tourist dollars and unless we are doing something stupid they consider us below their radar.

I did speak to a Prevost owner in Jacksonville FL who had just been ticketed in SD. It was an expensive ticket but he admitted that although he was speeding, they only gave him a ticket for overlength. I guess the moral of the story is to not draw attention to yourself.

In TN the state police are stopping and ticketing entertainer coaches towing trailers. The quirk in the law appears that commercial buses may not tow anything in TN and they enforce that. If you were stopped in TN it may be because they wanted to verify you were not a commercial operator. Commercial operators have to unhitch and hire someone or rent a vehicle to tow the trailer to the state line.

It is my opinion if you keep your nose clean, do not speed, do not tailgate, do not drive unsafely most cops will ignore you.

[dogear]

We were pulled for going too slow if you can imagine that! The guy didn't even mention commercial operator/ non commercial. From what I have read on this site South Dakota allows 75 foot rigs as does Montana and Wyoming. Interestingly just got off the phone with a bud who drives a coach for NASCAR and he says about the same thing you do if you don't attract attention you are cool. He did say California is bad and Texas can be bad as well about over length. He mentioned something interesting to me anyway he said that I should stop at agricultural inspection sites in Florida. He said it's no big deal, they don't weigh you they are just making sure that you don't have any agricultural products that could damage Florida's farms. To be honest I haven't stopped in 3 round trips to Florida and back and nothing has happened. Can you shed any light on that? Thanks.......JR

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I cannot speak for others, but I have passed the FL agricultural check points and never stopped in 20 years of driving Prevost coaches. Often multiple times a year.

Don't intend to start doing it any time soon.

The difference between an entertainer's coach and a motorhome conversion is quite profound looking at the outside so it is possible the police knew without even bringing up the subject.

[bonhall41]

We live in FL and pass the agricultural inspection stations often. We do not go through them, even when pulling our stacker trailer. We have never had a problem.

[dogear]

Good info thanks so much!