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Last minute or no reservations vs. planned stops
We are planning our first trip – starting out from Texas in early July though early September – with coach as new owners. We have several decades experience of weekend to three week trips with a series of Airstreams we owned. Usually booked ahead due to the limited time frame due to our day jobs and known destinations of our trips. Now that we will be leaving for a several month trip with only a general direction and a list of destinations in mind, we are “debating” the way to go about it.
Susie is one to book every stop in advance, down to picking the particular campsite (the one with the most privacy and best views of course) at every campground, whether national park, state, local, or commercial. I tend towards the opposite end of the spectrum, drive in the general direction we want to go and stop somwhere that looks nice. This of course drives Susie nuts as she worries there will be no spots or only bad spots.
So, to the point, what success have other forum members had with finding “nice” spots in “prime” season by just showing up – or calling ahead the same or day before? Susie has conceded an OCCASIONAL night in a rest area or Walmart lot would not be the end of the world if we fail to connect with a campground, but neither of us want that to be a regular outcome of a “no reservation” strategy.
Our general path will be Texas to Michigan including the UP which we somehow managed to miss in 20 years living near Ann Arbor, across northern US or Southern Canada, Vancouver, Pacific Northwest, Eclipse Rally, back to Texas via Colorado to visit our daughter in Fort Collins.
Also many thanks to those who have posted answers to my earlier maintenance questions, your input is much appreciated and I will update the strings when I bring the issues to resolution so it might help others in the future.
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4 Replies
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We have avoided travel during the time period you list because that is when everything is full, including rest areas when you want to stop for lunch. This is especially true in the northeast, but is country wide because the kids are out of school and that is when the family vacations.
Having said that your success rate is going to depend on how early you call for reservations. It might be OK to make reservations the day of arrival for some RV parks or campgrounds. But others you may have to book you site weeks or more in advance. From September through May we generally never have an issue calling for a reservation mid day for that evening. I would suggest doing some loose trip planning and calling RV parks along the route to get a sense of when you need to make a reservation during your travel period.
Because of our size we cannot get in every site in every park.
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David, we have been ‘RVing’ for 10 yrs. this year. We have never been without a place to stay as we’ve always managed to find a RV park without having to boondock (nothing wrong with boondocking). We travel about 10,000 miles a year on average.
The most difficult place that we have encountered has been Denver. It seems to always be booked solid so we stay in RV parks ‘around’ the area (which is still nice).
I would say 20% of the time we will book in advance, especiallly, if the area is popular. Otherwise, we usually call a couple of days in advance and many times on the day of travel. It will all depend on where we are going. My driving limit is about 300 miles, I like 200-250 miles a day better but will stretch it to get to the next destination.
Safe travels,
Mark
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We started RVing 24 years ago. Summer is a popular time for family camping with kids out of school, etc. Weekends and holidays are when the campgrounds seem to fill up, especially those that are on lakes and have other recreation opportunities. People who spend their winter dealing with snow and ice really know how to maximize their leisure time. Try to have advance reservations if you think you know where you will be on Independence Day and Labor Day, but know when you can cancel without a penalty if your travel direction changes. If you want to stay in an area for a week, try booking mid-week to mid-week so you are protected over the weekend. If you are stuck with no available campground, don’t think Walmart is the only option, look around for a Cabela’s, a fairgrounds, or even a casino. Not fancy, but some casinos have hookups in their RV parking areas. Check out http://www.ourfavoritecasinos.com/casinorvparking.php for listings of casinos with RV facilities. We used a casino in Baraga, MI (in the UP) for over a week last summer as a base for exploring that part of the UP… the casino parking was not scenic, but it had full hookups and great wi-fi for $20 a night.
Also, if you’ve checked for reservations where you want to go and everything is full, try calling again in the morning of the night you want to be there to see if there were cancellations. We snagged a spot near Coeur d’Alene last summer by doing that.
Linda
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