Trip Planning

[TreeLady]

For those of you who do long distance trips with the RV, how do you plan for overnight stays?
Do you set a distance you want to make each day and look at campgrounds in that area?
Or do you just take it day by day and look for campgrounds where you
decide to stop for the night?
How many of you make reservations ahead of time?
How long a day do you drive? Do you set a mileage or a time?
While you are on the road, how easy is it to do campground reviews on the
internet?
I am a planner and like to set destinations for the day but since this will be our first long distance trip, not sure how far we will be able to drive
each day.
There will be a lot of places we will want to stop so want to be able to get
where we need to but also enjoy the trip along the way.

Thanks, K

[Enconcapt]

I am sort of new at this but we have taken three longer trips so far this year. When he had place to be that was more than one day away we just left home and had an enjoyable day traveling, site seeing, shopping and then stopped at the next Walmart or Cabelas when we felt like stopping. A few days of that schedule and we were at our destination, a campsite that we had a reservation for. That was way more fun than the day we HAD to be someplace the next day and drove and drove, and got stuck in traffic, and drove and drove for 21 1/2 hours! It should have been 12 hours with three drivers but we HAD to be there the next day. Ugh!


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[youroo]

When we Travel on Long Trips it is usually in the (Spring or Fall).Make NO reservations just Meander along. Lots too see in the (USA)! We don't Travel as fast(Shermans March to the Sea)! Deadlines too be (Somewhere at a certain time) every day is Detrimental too a Good Trip! Youroo!!

[CSMRetired]

This is a simple overview of the way we go at planning:

As a general rule, I plan well in advance. I try to base our driving on distance and time, with a goal of at least being parked and set up by 5 to 6 p.m. I backplan our departure time to allow for that.
400 miles is usually a 9 hour day for us with breaks.
If we have a destination planned, we allow plenty of time to get there so we can relax and enjoy the ride.

Depending on time of year, I will make reservations well in advance. Sometimes we just call a ahead to a camp ground in the vicinity of our distance and time the day of travel.....might be risky, but so far we have been lucky. To look up a CG in the vicinity we use the campground reviews web site on our phone and go from there. We are also Passport America members and use those CG's for overnight stays a lot. I would much rather call and get a reservation more so than just pull into a place and be told they are full.

I always allow for issues, breakdowns and so on. You never know when you may get hung up due to a repair needing to be done in route. It does happen and has happened.

Hope this may have helped and maybe given you some ideas, there are a lot of folks on this forum that have been doing this much longer than our 8 or 9 years and may have better ideas and input

Enjoy your trips however you plan them, don't rush.

[dcheatwood]

We do some of each. When I'm getting tired DW looks for cg in next few towns, calls them and gets us a spot. Other times, if we're staying a while, we reserve weeks ahead.

[CAT-RN]

I reserved one park a year in advance-- Only because that the only way to get the site we want.

But on a regular basis we will call ahead about an hour before we want to stop for the night. If we are trying to get a few extra miles for the day we just roll into a Walmart about dark.

Russell

[TreeLady]

Originally Posted by CAT-RN

I reserved one park a year in advance-- Only because that the only way to get the site we want.

But on a regular basis we will call ahead about an hour before we want to stop for the night. If we are trying to get a few extra miles for the day we just roll into a Walmart about dark.

Russell

Thanks, CAT. Appreciate the input from you and others.
Since posting, found out that Bike Week will be at Sturgis the same week we will be in the area. Not something we want to be involved with so am having to reroute the trip
to other areas and save Mt Rushmore for the second week of travel.
So, more homework!!

Karen

[dcheatwood]

Wise decision Karen. Plenty of other places to see.

[D_B Travelers]

We too are planning a long trip in June 2015. From Fort Worth to Yellowstone Nat. Pk. then to Oregon for a 6 day stay, then back home via Reno, Lost Wages, and into the barn. Just over 4,000 miles with a 35' TT, and 21 days +/- a day or two. I was looking for map/trip planning software and found MS Streets and Trips is being discontinued, plus it will not work on my new laptop's Windows 8 platform. Okay, so I am a bit of a pre-planner and was trying to see which route would be better and where CG's are located along the route. We have to be in Oregon on a certain date for an event, so we are back planning to see when we need to leave. Just going along without knowing I have a spot for the night may be tough for my psyche and the DW, but I see the point and don't want to do a 12 hour drive because of traffic or weather delays. May have to be brave and just try the "drive and find one when you get ready to park" method. Good advice all around

Has anyone tried the Delorme Street Atlas?

[TreeLady]

We only have one firm place to be at the end of day one and that is Davenport, Iowa. That will make just about a 400 mile day for us.
We will look over the information we have accumulated at the welcome centers and the maps (I use paper maps so I can see the entire state/area)
and decide where we want to go from there. We might get another 400 mils down the road and might not. We don't have any particular place to be, have decided to just wander and see what there is. I think there are going to be so many places that will be of interest that it will be hard to
decide!
I use AllStays on my phone for campground locations and also internet for campground reviews. Some campgrounds that have beautiful brochures
don't have good reviews.
So, with that settled, I can now turn my attention to my checklist for getting the camper, tow vehicle and myself ready for this trip!!
The focus is seeing the country and have a safe, fun trip!!
That is why we go, isn't it??
All enjoy!!

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by TreeLady

We only have one firm place to be at the end of day one and that is Davenport, Iowa. That will make just about a 400 mile day for us.
We will look over the information we have accumulated at the welcome centers and the maps (I use paper maps so I can see the entire state/area)
and decide where we want to go from there. We might get another 400 mils down the road and might not. We don't have any particular place to be, have decided to just wander and see what there is. I think there are going to be so many places that will be of interest that it will be hard to
decide!
I use AllStays on my phone for campground locations and also internet for campground reviews. Some campgrounds that have beautiful brochures
don't have good reviews.
So, with that settled, I can now turn my attention to my checklist for getting the camper, tow vehicle and myself ready for this trip!!
The focus is seeing the country and have a safe, fun trip!!
That is why we go, isn't it??
All enjoy!!

Where you staying in Davenport?
Scott county park?
West lake park?

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[RSchleder]

Turbo
Which park is off to the right, kinda on a hill, on the 4 lane a few of miles after you turn off I80 heading for the Quad Cities airport? That looks like a great place to stay as we admire it every time we pass to pickup a relative at the airport.

[TURBS]

West lake park.
We've stayed there a few times.

IMO scott county park north and just east of Davenport is way nicer.




"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[TreeLady]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

Where you staying in Davenport?
Scott county park?
West lake park?

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

Haven't made any reservations yet, where do you suggest?

We thought we would try to stay a little further west of Davenport on I-80 in order to
be out of the hustle and bustle of Davenport, any suggestions??

Thanks Mucho!!

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by TreeLady

Haven't made any reservations yet, where do you suggest?

We thought we would try to stay a little further west of Davenport on I-80 in order to
be out of the hustle and bustle of Davenport, any suggestions??

Thanks Mucho!!

Davenport on i80 isnt busy per say like "Desmoines" for example.

Id wholly recommend scott county park.
About 15 minutes north of i80 on hiway 61 north

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[TURBS]

Website.
http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/conservation/scottco.php

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[TreeLady]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

Website.
Scott County Park

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

Thanks turbs! I looked this place up, it looks awesome! I have never seen a county
park this big! Will definitely stay here!
and it looks like Iowa has several other county parks that are just as nice!

Karen

[iowaborn]

Originally Posted by TreeLady

For those of you who do long distance trips with the RV, how do you plan for overnight stays?
Do you set a distance you want to make each day and look at campgrounds in that area?
Or do you just take it day by day and look for campgrounds where you
decide to stop for the night?
How many of you make reservations ahead of time?
How long a day do you drive? Do you set a mileage or a time?
While you are on the road, how easy is it to do campground reviews on the
internet?
I am a planner and like to set destinations for the day but since this will be our first long distance trip, not sure how far we will be able to drive
each day.
There will be a lot of places we will want to stop so want to be able to get
where we need to but also enjoy the trip along the way.

Thanks, K

Originally Posted by TreeLady

Thanks turbs! I looked this place up, it looks awesome! I have never seen a county
park this big! Will definitely stay here!
and it looks like Iowa has several other county parks that are just as nice!

Karen

I like Scott County Park too, (Bald Eagle campground), only problem is, first come first served, so it could be a crap shoot depending on the time of year. Weekends are always the busiest.

[TURBS]

Iowa has some GREAT county parks!
Backbone
Baileys ford
Swiss valley
Lake mc bride
Eden valley


"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[rattleNsmoke]

Now I for one would not mind bike week at all...hmmmm...wonder why.