Georgia to California then Yellowstone! Suggestions?

[tsunami]

If you get to Northern California, try Patricks Point State Park. Nice campground and convenient to day drive up and down the coast. You could camp in among the stately Redwoods. Arcata, a quaint small town is a short drive south of PPSP. Grateful Dead sang about Arcata. Couple good Pizza places right in the center of town.

[Phoenix]

Would like more details on Veterans Memorial Park in Monterey, CA. --Thanks!

[Gene]

Sandra, how many months do you have? That's a pretty ambitious trip and if you want to see everything and spend a few days here and there, you'll need a few months. You can do it faster, and many do, but it'll be a different kind of trip with a lot of rushing and little rest.

And why aren't you coming to Colorado?

Gene

[gaylejoe]

As mentioned earlier, Cody, WY is a great place to visit. Another would be the Little Big Horn Battlefield just across the State line of Montana. We have been there twice and enjoyed it both times. Yellowstone, the only Park we keep going back to visit. We were just in the Park several weeks ago on a snow cat. Looking forward to going back with our AS and camping in Bridge Bay which will make our 5th trip to Yellowstone.

[TerraYacht]

We stayed a coupla years ago at the KOA in Mariposa, near a Yosemite entrance, & Mariposa was a nice little town to visit. Also want to suggest, if you get to NorCal by mid-April, take a look at the calendar for the NorCal Spring rally at Casini Ranch. The hookup sites are full but its a nice place and, of couse, lots of nice folks.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by socdiva

Bob and I are leaving around the 1st of April for "the west". This is our maiden "long" voyage (only a few 1-2 day trips previously). ...

We've had a mild winter so far in some parts of the country, but it hasn't been so everywhere. April can be early in the season for some areas, particularly in the higher elevations. When we were younger we often went without much planning... One year we arrived at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in late May only to find it was closed for camping as there was still 3' of snow in the campground! On another trip out west, we happened upon Yosemite in June only to discover they required reservations but said we could come back in the morning to check on availability due to cancellations and the campground in the valley did seem crowded. Then a ranger told us that since we were self contained, we could stay in one of the campground's about 7 miles up the hill. It wasn't officially open yet so they didn't charge us to stay there for a week. I see some don't open until July, but have no way of knowing if they still permit self contained campers into the closed campgrounds. You're doing good asking for advice. It sounds like you have a great trip planned.

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Would like more details on Veterans Memorial Park in Monterey, CA. --Thanks!

This link might help, select Veterans Memorial Park from the list...

http://monterey.org/en-us/department...ndbeaches.aspx

There is also a Memorial Park in San Mateo County (Loma Mar) that looks promising...

http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/portal/...tcurrchannel=1

[socdiva]

We're leaving March 26 from Jax, FL and driving pretty agressively to San Antonio, TX but trying to keep it around 300 miles per day. Will take us about 5 days, then we'll stop for a few days to see San Antonio. We feel that we can go back to Texas another time and spend several weeks just touring the state but we want to see all that we can in NM, AZ, CA because we may not get back there soon. I've mapped the trip thru NM but am now trying to determine how to see the coast of CA and all of the NPs on the eastern border of CA. We won't continue up thru northern CA but cut across NV from Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. We love Yellowstone and have reservations there starting June 13. Our Yosemite reservations are for May 14-18. I'm basicly planning everything else around those dates. It may sound silly but I just found out yesterday that the Trinity site of the first Atomic Bomb test is open 2 days a year and in 2012, April 7 is one of those days so I plan to be there on April 7. I'm taking all comments from everyone and incorporating them into our plan. Thank you and everyone else so very much. This is a huge "project"!!!!! and very addictive!!!!! I don't want to miss anything but we realize we can't see everything. Finally, we want to go to Alaska next year or the following year and I think we'll incorporate N. CA, Oregon, and Washington into that trip.

[Gene]

Sandra, it looks like you'll have the time. San Antonio is the nicest place we have seen in Texas (well Padre Is. is pretty cool too). Note that it can be very hot in southern NM in June.

Santa Fe is our favorite place in NM and we stay at Trailer Ranch. Best to make reservations ahead of time because SF is busy. Don't try to tow a trailer around the Plaza or older parts of the city. The state parks in NM are well kept and priced fairly.

Yosemite is crowded, very crowded, though you will be there earlier in the season. Looks like you are staying at Wawona and will be away from a lot of the turmoil, but the sites may be small (haven't stayed at that CG) and you may be next to tents and others who will not appreciate generators. We tried to run ours when no one was around, but that was pretty hard to do. The drive down to the valley floor will take some time and plan accordingly. But you will be close to the Sequoias. We haven't gone to Hetch Hetchy, but want to because it is supposed to have been as or more beautiful than the Yosemite Valley before a reservoir was built there. Might be worth seeing.

Gene

[Phoenix]

If you are going to the Trinity Site, check out the NM Museum of Space History and White Sands National Monument in/near Alamagordo:

New Mexico Museum of Space History » Alamogordo, New Mexico » Celebrating the significant role the state of New Mexico has played in the development of the U.S. Space Program

White Sands National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Best campground near Alamagordo is Valley of Fires State Park, just west of Carizozo, which is also near the north entrance to the Trinity Site:

Valley of Fires Recreation Area

Note: Valley of Fires is actually on BLM land, and managed by NM State Parks; so you can get 50% discount on camping with National Parks Senior Pass:

U.S. National Park Service America the Beautiful