Bit of information about wagons and horses/mules
Hi, I am new here and as such you do not know me. But I do have experience with horses/mules and wagons and travel. I have been on three 250 mile wagon train rides, in my younger years did competitive trail riding for several yrs and resently have been on several 100 mile wagon train rides.
The thought that you can only travel 10-15 miles a day is a valid one if you are traveling west with a fully loaded conastoga wagon, carrying no feed and will have to travel several thousand miles.
However there is no reason a team in good condition (that is used frequently with muscles built up and lungs conditioned) could not pull a light wagon 30-40 miles in a day easily. Even now my mules and I can go into town to Dairy Queen (12 miles one way) and back in about 1/2 day. They aren't worn out either. And that is at a brisk walk not a trot or gallop. (Never gallop a team unless you are extremely experienced!)
Think stage coach, they traveled more than 10-15 miles. I know they had waystations but they were not every 10-15 miles apart either. It depends on the breed of horse, the weight they are pulling, and their condition and the condition of the roads (hilly, flat, rough, smooth).
TLC has a good point about being on the hwy. It is very dangerous. That is why I stick to back roads. However I have also found having a rider behind and in front with orange flags helps slow fast moving traffic down as they pass. The riders can get off the side of the road but can also wave the flags and alert drivers something is up a head and slow down. Slow moving vehicle signs on the wagon are also a must.
My mules don't mind fast moving cars or trucks that pop their air breaks. But for some reason a kid on roller skates or a bicycle becomes a mule eating monster.
As far as taking them to a store...unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt no one will mess with them do not tie them up and then go in the store. Some people are just plain stupid when it comes to animals. For the animals sake take someone to stay with them. It doesn't matter how well trained the animal is....it is the people you have to worry about.
They are easier to steal too. So greater consequences had to be placed to keep people from stealing them hence the hanging of a horse thief.
However I would like to caution people that horses and mules are not machines and there is much to learn about their care, personalities, and how they react with people. This knowledge is
not something that can be over looked or learned as you go without some serious consequences to you and the animals.
Horses and mules are not the same and do not respond to the same type of handling. So if you are a horse person you still have to learn about mules.
There is a reason they were used for hundreds of years as transportation. There are many pros as well as cons. They can be wonderful to work with if you know what you are doing. I would suggest you google wagon trains. E-mail some of the folks that go on them and pick their brains for ideas. There are also some very good books on the subject. Any book on competivite trail riding will give lots of good information about conditioning and using horses over miles even if you never compete.
The feeding, care, and management of a working horse is different than a pleasure horse.
On the Butterfield Wagon Train ride I used to go on people from several states would come each year to go the 250 miles in two weeks. Several lay over days included. On the 100 mile ride here in GA people have come as far away as New York to ride on it. There is also a big wagon train ride in AL every year. So the knowledge is out there. And people still enjoy their teams and horses for travel. I am sure there are over 100 people on each ride I have ever been on.
I would encourage you to seriously consider this type of transportation. Learn, get a horse, but do not think any horse will pull a wagon. They have to be broke to do it. Again not everyone can break horses to pull. I have seen several huge wreaks and much torn up equipment because someone thought all you have to do it hitch them up.

Not the horses fault but the people.....
FYI from one old mule skinner.
