Need recommendations for Overnight stays

[TheGreatleys]

I'm parked behind a cracker barrel as we speak. They have a steak that's covered in batter and fried, then smothered in gravy. That and a free place to park, maybe carry-out breakfast before we head out in the morning, what's not to love?

[rmkrum]

Oh, so true. We have waited over 5 years for them to build one in Victorville, California, which is close to us.

Wife insisted on going opening day, and made us patiently wait over two hours and 45 minutes to get a table.

And yes, breakfast is also superb. When we go cross country, it’s from Cracker Barrel to Cracker Barrel with few exceptions.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by jageiss

. . .
Thank you in advance for your help.

Once again, welcome to the forum! Wondering if you are monitoring this thread, as your user info still shows only 1 post. As Bob suggested recently, you might consider adding more details about your Airstream via the User CP [link at top left in blue menu bar], so that folks might give better advice.

Have a great trip!

Peter

[eubank]

I strongly recommend the source we use a lot:

http://www.campgroundreviews.com/


Lynn

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Aviator

Topsail state park in FL (near Orange Beach)

Do you mean Topsail Hill State Park?
It seems to be booked many days and IMO, it's expensive for an overnight stop. ($43)

Originally Posted by eubank

I strongly recommend the source we use a lot:
http://www.campgroundreviews.com/

Lynn

Thanks for the tip, I added it to my bookmarks

[beachbouy]

There are two Airstream parks in Texas. Take I-10 to Beaumont TX and go north for 2 hours to Texas Airstream Harbor (TAHI) then west to North Texas Airstream Community (NTAC) close to Hillsboro, TX about four hours.


Walmarts in Florida are general not going to happen because the snowbirds abused the privledge in the past so most no longer allow it.


Check for Corp of Engineer parks along your route many are very beautiful.


The biggest question is... are you in a hurry?

[Chollabill]

Arizona has numerous RV parks and anywhere along I-10 will have plenty. A short trip south to Bisbee will get you to a lot of tourist type places in and around Bisbee, Tombstone and the Chiricahua National Monument. Bisbee is a great little mining town that still hold a lot of the wild west charm. It also has the "Shady Dell." A "motel" of vintage travel trailers that you can stay in. I don't believe they have RV spaces but there are plenty all around. Cholla Bill

[bmc5311]

Not really a specific recommendation - I use this; https://www.rvtripwizard.com it's really good trip planning software (web based), easy to use and has solid info on almost every campground in existence.. The only down side - it's not free, there's an annual subscription fee.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

[sqez435]

Originally Posted by jageiss

Hello. My husband and I are planning our maiden voyage in our "new to us" Airstream Safari 25ft. We will be traveling from central Florida to Arizona (using I-10) and are looking for suggestions and/or recommendations of where to stay overnight. We don't need to hook up, just a place to park that has a restroom! We are thinking that our first stop would most likely be along the panhandle of Florida, or somewhere in Alabama or Louisianna.

Are rest areas a good place?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Have traveled several times on I-10 across CA to FL. Here are some places I've stayed. Am member of RPI so most are affiliated with RPI.

Near AL/FL border
Wilderness RV Park 24280 Patterson Road Robertsdale, AL 36567 (251)-960-1195
In LA
Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park 46049 Hwy 445 NRobert, LA 70455 985-542-1507
In Texas
Rio RV Park 25128 Ih-10 Exit 811 Wallisville, TX 77597 (409)-389-2468
Sea Rim State Park 19335 Gulfway Drive Sabine, TX 77655 (409) 971-2559
+++Kerrville/Schreiner City Park 2385 Bandera Hwy Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 257-7300 THE BEST!
+Medina Lake RV Campground 215 Spettle Road Lakehills, TX 78063 830-751-2444
+Balmorhea State Park, Balmorhea, TX 79718(432) 375-2370 Get Reservations
Flying J 2571 N Front St Fort Stockton, TX 79735 on I-10
Mission RV Park 1420 Rv Drive El Paso, TX 79928 (800)-447-3795
In NM
+Western Sky's RV Park 16201 Las Alturas Drive Vado, NM 88072 575-233-2573
In AZ
+Valley Vista RV Resort 1060 S. Highway 80 Benson, AZ 85602 520-720-0024
++Ridgeview RV Resort 775 Bullhead Parkway Bullhead City, AZ 86429 928-754-2596
++Page Springs Resort 1951 North Page Springs Road Cornville, AZ 86325 928-634-4309 Near Sedona
Yuma Lakes RV Resort 6275 S Avenue 8 1/2 East Yuma, AZ 85365 760-663-4968

[gypsydad]

Well, congratulations! You have several good recommendations in this thread. We did that trip from Austin to Alumalina last year, then on to Orlando area and down to Port Charlette area and back. Both times going thru LA area...was very rainy and muggy, but we found some nice parks along the way using RV Parky apps and others recommended here.

One comment on your original post; why aren't you wanting to use your bathroom...seems one of the best parts of owning an AS is pulling along your bathroom...for the wife of course! We do use rest stops or gas stations some times, and of course if staying in a park with full service, I will use the showers and toilets, but most of the times we do use the AS...mobile bathroom is a good thing!

[nvestysly]

Hello,

Welcome to Air Forums. It appears you only made one post at this point so I hope you are not discouraged/overwhelmed with the number and types of responses you've received. We look forward to you participating in a variety of Air Forums discussions. We all made our first post at some point.

There are many good points made in the previous posts - Cracker Barrel, some rest areas (if they allow overnight parking and are not too noisy), Walmart parking lots, county/city parks, some church parking lots, traditional campgrounds, casinos - all good ideas.

Allstays is our go-to app for finding locations to park. It's the only app we've ever paid for and the best $10 we ever spent related to RVing.

Now let me put my wise @$$ hat on...

Originally Posted by jageiss

...just a place to park that has a restroom! ...

Having on on-board toilet, hot shower and running water is one of THE main reasons we travel in an RV. I'm surprised you would mention restroom as one of the criteria on locations to stop. Am I missing something?

[zapper]

"Allstays is our go-to app for finding locations to park. It's the only app we've ever paid for and the best $10 we ever spent related to RVing"

Ditto that. I also use YELP for more than one opinion.

[MamaG]

Originally Posted by GammaDog

First off, welcome and congrats.

We live just south of you in Vero Beach and used to live in Indialantic. My wife and I have made the trip west with the AS three times including to Arizona.

In my opinion, the first question you need to ask yourselves is "how hard do we want to push it to get there?". For trips of 2 weeks or more, in the first year after we got the AS, we would drive 4 hours a day (that means 6+ on the road including stops for lunch, gas, a little shopping or sightseeing, etc.). We would stay put for one day each week while in transit... longer when we got "there"... wherever that was.

In each year since, we reduced the pace to make trips more relaxed, to see and experience more things along the way and to enjoy our time together (we are retired, but not ready for assisted living quite yet, thanks).

So, what's your pace for this trip?

We stay at state or federal parks. We avoid commercial campgrounds, big box store parking lots, interstate rest areas, truck stops, etc.. We travel with generators, full fresh water, 100 pounds of propane and anything else to allow us to go days and days without hookups.

I swear by AllStays for planning trips and am devoted to Reserve America and Google Maps satellite view to scope out campground details. I use google maps driving directions to plan driving hours and distance. TripAdvisor is helpful to pick an interesting lunch spot.

Given that, our first night out from the east coast of Florida might be Steven Foster Folk Cultural Center if we are heading northwest or Rainbow Springs State Park if we want the Gulf route and a slow pace. Any of several parks on the gulf in the panhandle are a second night stop at our slower pace, but could be night 1 if you are trying to push west faster. Topsail Hill is a good choice. For us at a slow pace that has even been night 3.

So, if you need more let me know. I have spreadsheets with full itineraries (I'm a retired corporate ops exec and descended from Germans... I can't help myself). If our style of travel is what you are aiming for you may find our prior trips a helpful starting point. If you want to go faster... or a LOT faster... you might skip every other stop or even omit two out of three. Either way, I strongly recommend deciding HOW you want to travel before picking WHERE you want to stay.

Hi , we would love to see your spreadsheet. We are leaving from Mississippi on the 3rd or 4th of oct headed to the balloon fest in Albuquerque the 8th. There are so many options on our apps allstays and roadtrippper. dreamfields39452@yahoo.com. We are newbies traveling in our interstate van with our two dogs. Thank you for any pointers you are willing to share.

[akarakos]

Originally Posted by jageiss

Hello. My husband and I are planning our maiden voyage in our "new to us" Airstream Safari 25ft. We will be traveling from central Florida to Arizona (using I-10) and are looking for suggestions and/or recommendations of where to stay overnight. We don't need to hook up, just a place to park that has a restroom! We are thinking that our first stop would most likely be along the panhandle of Florida, or somewhere in Alabama or Louisianna.

Are rest areas a good place?

Thank you in advance for your help.

My wife and I left NC and took I-20 to I-10 to I-8 and stayed at the Carlsbad state beach for a week, then Escondido & the returned to NC. If you have a smart phone I recommend you download the AllStays App. The App allows you to look select state and cities you’re travelling near and see where you can pay or stay free like Walmarts. Most Cracker Barrels allow you to stay overnight. We ate dinner & then breakfast before leaving. Also, recommend googling “Harvest Hosts”. For about $40 you join and then can download free places to stay in every state. Wineries & museums for example. You download to a laptop and the info is on your drive so you don’t need wifi to search along your route. Good luck!

[snappykelly]

Originally Posted by daytripper

Check out Harvesthosts.com! It's a website that lists participating vineyards and farms that offer their parking lot space for free in return for you coming in and sampling (and presumably purchasing) their wares. You get a free overnight spot in a pretty place, and some great wine. They get free advertising. Win-win!!

It’s not free- it’s $49/yr.???

[sctinman44]

[QUOTE=jageiss;2157371]Hello. My husband and I are planning our maiden voyage in our "new to us" Airstream Safari 25ft. We will be traveling from central Florida to Arizona (using I-10) and are looking for suggestions and/or recommendations of where to stay overnight. We don't need to hook up, just a place to park that has a restroom! We are thinking that our first stop would most likely be along the panhandle of Florida, or somewhere in Alabama or Louisianna.

Are rest areas a good place?

Thank you in advance for your help.[/QUOTE. We stayed at several Cabelas on our way from S.C. to Salem, OR this year.

[zapper]

A caution tip, a bit off topic regarding I-10 west bound when traveling thru El Paso TX. You may want to consider taking the northern by-pass loop ( I think it’s 375) going around El Paso as I-10 on the west side of El Paso always has construction and always looses at least 2 lanes in a very short distance with little or no warning. Managed to lock up my trailer brakes ( my bad). Once you enter New Mexico the highway opens up and easy driving. Makes you wonder why El Paso can never get it right.

[rowiebowie]

[QUOTE=sctinman44;2163377]

Originally Posted by jageiss

Hello. My husband and I are planning our maiden voyage in our "new to us" Airstream Safari 25ft. We will be traveling from central Florida to Arizona (using I-10) and are looking for suggestions and/or recommendations of where to stay overnight. We don't need to hook up, just a place to park that has a restroom! We are thinking that our first stop would most likely be along the panhandle of Florida, or somewhere in Alabama or Louisianna.

Are rest areas a good place?

Thank you in advance for your help.[/QUOTE. We stayed at several Cabelas on our way from S.C. to Salem, OR this year.

Can't say about staying in rest areas, as I've never done it. But I believe Mississippi (and on another recent thread, someone said Louisiana) Rest Areas have dump stations. This may give you options between boondocking. Texas allows overnight at Rest Areas, but no dump stations that I'm aware of.


.

[PKI]

Other threads with similar discussions:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ht-142789.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ht-145233.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...as-171678.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f48/...tops-6310.html

Good luck on your trip. Travel safe. Pat