Winging it on your travels

[charming]

I've read so many people post about going with the flow when they are traveling. Normally, as I've posted on here before, I'm a planner plodder. I was amazed by peoples tales of calling and pulling into a motor home park within minutes of locating it in the Woodalls or other source.

So, We had a three month road trip where we had to be in certain places on certain dates. We had to be in Indian Wells on March 2, Houston on April 5, Tallahassee on April 21, and Skidaway Island, GA on April 28. I made those reservations months before the trip. Good thing I made the Indian Wells and Skidaway reservations when I did they both filled up!

I posted my dilemma on where to go after Indian Wells. After looking at the weather forecast we headed to Phoenix for a couple of days and then back on I-10. We worked our way over to I-20 and on to several stops at Texas state parks before we hit a wall! We wanted to swing out to the hill country before going to McKinney Falls near Austin. So many places were full, wild flowers were in bloom and so were the RVs. We should have known things were going to get difficult.

I didn't have a melt down until we arrived at Palmetto Island State Park in LA. Lovely park with many great features. I thought we would stay there a few days then move on to AL or MS. I started looking and nothing! We needed a place between LA and Tallahassee. The park where we were was full for the weekend but we scored a cancellation that gave us a full week at the park, although we had to move to another site.

That left 1 night. We thought we would check at the new Alabama Welcome Center. All the signs said no over nights and there was no one on the grounds to ask. Not wanting a knock on the door in the middle of the night, we moved on. DH driving and me on my tablet searching for a place. We ended up at 9 PM at the Cracker Barrell in Spanish Fort, AL. What a great place to spend the night. Very quiet and a good breakfast in the morning. Thank you Cracker Barrel.

So, Sometimes winging works, but spring break, special events, holidays, etc. can make it next to impossible.

We could have made the drive all the way from Tallahassee to Skidaway but they were full so we spent two nights at Stephen Foster Folk Center. Interesting place.

[travelnutz]

Trekkar,

Yes, the West Coast of Michigan is very easy to get used to!

Too late as the cat is long out of the bag! Not knowning where in Michigan you live but we don't live in Grand Rapids but about 32 miles west on the Lakeshore. The close fast growing Grand Rapids metro area is now at about 1.1 million people and very spread out unlike in most large cities. Our lakeshore county (Ottawa) is the fastest growing in the 83 in the state and Kent County to the east (Grand Rapids) is the second fastest growing. With the local surrounding area it's north of 1.5 million population and growing like a weed as it's such a fine place to live and work, very affordable with a really low cost of living, very low unemployment, truely family oriented, and so much to do everywhere both inside and outside year around.

When I was a kid the area was roughly only 350.000 population. The fine quality of living and vast recreation 360 degrees not only brings so many millions of constant visitors to the local area but then so many chose to make it their home and brought their education, skills, and desire to be a part of great all around family living. There's 17 fine colleges and universities here to choose from having ttom over 25,000 enrollment on down and is also the center of medical research and learning facilities and top notch medical care. Important to most people.

The whole area has a vast recreational resort living feel to it that is right out your home's door, not hundreds + of miles away you can only enjoy on weekends. That alone is why so many RV etc to this area and come back again until such a high percentage actually move here. It's called a "destination" and huge clean Lake Michigan, RV'ing, camping, endless boating, fishing, and water sports, all very affordable for all plus the fine clean safe invironment for all ages living and/or visiting the area over and over is a big reason.

That's why we won't ever move away nor will most others either also. We so appreciate the area so much and constantly.


Even though there's gobs of CG's in the area it's still very wise to have reservations as they are most all full all summer long. Keep building more CG's but the demand seems to out strip the needs every year. Must be a real reason!

[garmp]

If we have a particular destination, i.e. St. Augustine, FL, we generally make reservation for a site there for a couple of days. But to and from, which to us is an adventure in itself and generally takes several days each way and is a large part of the trip, is to plan park A, but also list park B & even C just in case for a night or two.
Our last trip to Texas Hill Country was the rule breaker. Virtually every State/COE park was booked for the weekend. Even forced us to spend the weekend at a private "RV Resort" much to our chagrin.
All in all it worked out to be pleasant, but not the same as a state or COE.
This was even mid April and not supposed to be crowded. Guess it's all those blasted baby boomers retiring and getting into RV'ing like us!

[Trekkar]

travelnutz wrote:
Roy&Lynne,

Yes, we do likewise and stay home on holidays being long retired so working families can have campground sites available that otherwise we'd maybe occupy. We can go anytime but they can't. Also stay away from about all the popular CG's all summer long from Memorial Day weekend until after Labor day.

We live and have lived for 77 years now in an extremely popular very busy resort area on the Lake Michigan Shoreline and see the masses of RV'ers that have to be turned away without having reservations as nearly all the local 12 CG's are totally full about all summer long. Will be building a new very large CG on the water and sand dunes that's already planned in the next couple years. 8 of the already present 12 GC's are also on the water and have navigable waterfronts with 5 having boat docks and/or 5 with boat launching ramps or next to a boat launch too.

Boating, fishing, swimming, and camping is extremely popular way of life in our gorgeous area as there is so much/many big and deep usable connected water/waterways, lakes, rivers, bayous, dunes, and pure sand beaches and has 10 marina's plus there's 3 State Parks also on the water here. Therefore we don't need to go elsewhere as the best summer action is right here!

Don't tell everyone! You'll only make it worse!;)
I do have to admit our west coast is pretty easy to get used to.

[Veebyes]

Hate to make reservations however from Thurs to Sun they are becoming more & more necessary especially in the east & near major attraction or event areas. Sun through Thurs is usually not an issue for winging it.

The smaller you are & the less demanding you are the easier it is to wing it. There is always room for the dry camping class B or small C. Once you go over that 30-35' mark & want more than simple power the options drop quickly.

[js218]

Been on the road since 10/16 and have only made one reservation.

[travelnutz]

Roy&Lynne,

Yes, we do likewise and stay home on holidays being long retired so working families can have campground sites available that otherwise we'd maybe occupy. We can go anytime but they can't. Also stay away from about all the popular CG's all summer long from Memorial Day weekend until after Labor day.

We live and have lived for 77 years now in an extremely popular very busy resort area on the Lake Michigan Shoreline and see the masses of RV'ers that have to be turned away without having reservations as nearly all the local 12 CG's are totally full about all summer long. Will be building a new very large CG on the water and sand dunes that's already planned in the next couple years. 8 of the already present 12 GC's are also on the water and have navigable waterfronts with 5 having boat docks and/or 5 with boat launching ramps or next to a boat launch too.

Boating, fishing, swimming, and camping is extremely popular way of life in our gorgeous area as there is so much/many big and deep usable connected water/waterways, lakes, rivers, bayous, dunes, and pure sand beaches and has 10 marina's plus there's 3 State Parks also on the water here. Therefore we don't need to go elsewhere as the best summer action is right here!

[Roy_Lynne]

I'm a planner myself but not so much making reservations. I plan to be out in the middle of nowhere on Holidays and in summer we leave the campgrounds to the families and stay at home. I have a trip planned for next fall/winter and when we want to visit a town that only has private campgrounds, I call ahead and find out if they have any openings. If not, we just move on. We don't mind dry camping or boondocking so we have way more options than most folks.

[travelnutz]

We never have reservations when traveling around the USA, Canada, or even Alaska during our over 54 years of extensive RV'ing. Whether, traveling in a TC, TT, 5th wheel, Class B - C or our big A's in the past. Why are so many RV'ers so particular as to where they stop for overnighting? They aren't going to buy the CG but just staying for maybe 10 - 14 hours of sleeping and eating and sometimes using the sewer, or electric, or water, or maybe even the dump station and then be gone and on the road again! Big deal??? All you get is a receipt (if charged a fee) to add to your pile of them.

Yes, perhaps to wanting a certain CG or spot for a week etc stay at a very popular final destination sometimes. Maybe usually but certainly not always. CG's usually fill up more often on weekends or during popular local events or over the 3 holidays weekends but seldom are full on the other 5 days of the week.

having an option A, B, and C is smart also as most all events are local oriented so there is usually some open sites not that far away and RV's have or are mounted on wheels that turn to get you to where there's a site open. Even if not, you still and gobs of choices and Cracker Barrel is just one of the many. The list is so long and you are only staying there for a few hours anyway. We do use Cracker Barrels a lot as our relaxing dinner is only feet away and maybe a nice breakfast in the morning also. Love them!

Never once have we gone without or driven an extra few miles to find a decent safe place to overnight most with some to full hookups with just us 2 traveling or when we took an additional 2-7 adults or kids with us anywhere in the land connected USA or Canada.

Passport America is another huge help/choice as there are nearly 2,000 CG's to choose from. We have been PA members since their beginning and also use them often.

[ppine]

The one exception I make to planning on the wing, is for festivals and other events. Then we are staying in one place and space is limited. For those I make a reservation. I don't like the confinement of staying somewhere when on the road.

[1320Fastback]

Tom/Barb wrote:
Been here done this before. Oak Harbor > -> Texas . No map, no plans, no schedule. 4 days out and we're,
Tucumcari tonight and we were set for the night by 4:00 PM

Was at Tucumcari KOA a few weeks ago heading west back to California!

[1320Fastback]

We usually plan on the way to a destination and then no plans on the way back home.

[Tom_Barb]

Been here done this before. Oak Harbor > -> Texas . No map, no plans, no schedule. 4 days out and we're,
Tucumcari tonight and we were set for the night by 4:00 PM

[stew47]

I’m a bit of a planner too. Haven’t been much of a boon docker. Occasional wal Marts. We’re taking our longest trip in June. Ohio to glacier. I have an idea of area we want to stop each day but I’m not making reservations and I want to be free to roam each day while on the road. Lol it’s terrifying. I’ve got a generator now and fifth wheel with big tanks. We’re gonna be fine however it’s so different!

[swphotobug]

We are early starters also and in by 1-2.