Reservations vs. "winging it"

[Mikebrady62]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

You want to see wildlife? Check out the COE sites in Kansas when the waterfowl are migrating .... absolutely awesome !!!

Bob

Central Kansas does have a very busy flyway for sure.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by Mikebrady62

What I would like to know is Who vacations in Kansas??

Dorothy.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by GettinAway

Very curious about this! Please post an update. I tried to leave for AZ, and TX last winter without reservations, but chickened out. I ended up having over 75% of our nights booked before we left.
The plan this summer is to head for Idaho in September with few reservations. We will see how it goes. Hope all goes well for you gypsydad!

Twin Pines RV Park, Slaton, just outside Lubbock first night; no problems getting reservation; called in around 1pm while on the road...new 25' GT next door!..very nice little overnight stop; small, with clean showers, laundry area, but its a bit "warm" here...supposed to hit 105 in Lubbock today. Off to Santa Fe this morning.

[gypsydad]

We drove to Pagosa Springs direct from Slaton (Lubbock)...long day...484 miles. Pagosa Pines RV park is where we decided to spend few nights. We stayed there before. Nice clean bathrooms/showers and full hookups. Call ahead to make sure they have spots. Nice couple running this place, and they direct you to your spot and help you park. Middle of "upper and lower" Pagosa Springs" but be careful leaving the highway...saw a rear ender with one of the guests turning in.

From Pagosa Springs, we drove thru Moab, and saw several openings in the 2 parks we drove by, but there are also state and BLM spots...BLM outside of town about 3 miles, hot, and boondocking only out there. We opted to drive on to Castle Rock RV park in Helper UT...excellent park! Fairly new, (RV Parky) very clean park, very clean bathrooms, right on the river. The town is a must see...car museum, old buildings restored, and an old gas station as you enter town...down side are the fires in the area due to lightening. Tried to get into Jordanella State Park, on the lake..full.

We passed several AS's along the way this trip; more then we remember seeing past years. We try not to drive more than 300 miles max a day so we can settle in around 2ish...Today we head to Star Valley RV Resort. Safe travels.

[GettinAway]

gypsydad, sounds like you are finding places to stay. I have to admit, we rarely stay in RV CGs, but I would think everything would be filled up if the predictions of overcrowding everywhere are coming true.
Thanks for the update.
Jeff

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I don't think anybody *really* knows what folks will be doing by the end of the summer. The expectation is that they will all be using their new RV's like crazy. That's just an assumption at this point..... Packed / fully booked campgrounds may turn a lot of folks off pretty quickly

Bob

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Mikebrady62

. . .
. . . Who vacations in Kansas??

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

Dorothy.

And Toto . . .

[jcanavera]

I'm a destination camper and especially prior to retirement I learned the lessons that if you live or will travel in areas around metropolitan areas, you stand to be disappointed if you expect to find a site, or more important a desirable site. I've also run into situations where road construction, accidents, a vehicle issues have impacted my arrival times. Nothing is more comfortable that to know that a site at the end of a day's travel is sitting there with your name on it.

With that in mind I do plan my drives and I have pre reserved my stops along the way.

Jack

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

I'm a destination camper and especially prior to retirement I learned the lessons that if you live or will travel in areas around metropolitan areas, you stand to be disappointed if you expect to find a site, or more important a desirable site. I've also run into situations where road construction, accidents, a vehicle issues have impacted my arrival times. Nothing is more comfortable that to know that a site at the end of a day's travel is sitting there with your name on it.

With that in mind I do plan my drives and I have pre reserved my stops along the way.

Jack

And I appreciate that method, Jack. We just don't like to be tied down to a schedule...too much like work! LoL If we know a destination we are heading to for a long period 3 nights or more, we will book of course if needed, but we try not to rush and prefer to take our time. Wife and I look at maps prior and during the trip, as we stop. She will then use RVParky or our "travel collection" of prior overnight stops, to plan where we will stay. We will call when on the road and so far, works fairly well, as we indicated..enjoy the journey.

[Lily&Me]

I think that, per usual, the big parks and most popular tourist destinations will be very busy this year.

I saw something on the news this morning about how busy Smoky Mountain NP has already been this year, and that people are being turned away because there is no place to park.

Still many, many beautiful places to enjoy in this country.

Find the less traveled roads, away from the most popular spots, and go there.

Maggie

[nadrad314]

This was our first year with AS. Going into it I was really worried about finding spots and usually made reservations as soon as I knew where we would be and when. The good thing about reservations (in addition to the obvious of having a spot reserved) is that you do not have to 1) find the registration spot in a campground; 2) find a pen 3) find the exact combination of bills of different denominations.

I found that every state park I stopped in (in over 7000 miles of travel across many, many states) on a weekday had a vacancy. Weekends were all packed unless it was late in the season or there was no electricity. Many forest service campsites in the Rockies were all closed. Ranger said it was lack of funds and/or fire. If you're headed out there next year, I suggest you call ahead of time and speak with rangers.

There is an app for every conceivable thing. National Forrest Service has a great app for maps and campground info. National Park service has a good one, too. Many states use the same on-line reservation service.

If you haven't found Harvest Host app, you might want to look for that one. They are really good. For pledging to spend at least $20 inside, many merchants, farms, wineries, breweries, etc, will let you park over night for free. Most do not have hook ups and most frown on generators after dark.

[gypsydad]

We just returned from a 4800 mile trip from Georgetown TX to Jackson Center, over 4 weeks. We were turned away on our first night in Arkansas as they were full. Found a KOA close by however. Same thing next night at Tom Sawyer CG near Memphis; no room...but they recommended the KOA down the road 5 miles; no problem. From Arkansas/TN border, we had no issues...went to Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky for a night...(very humid). Then to Bardstown KY, where we were able to get into My Old Kentucky Home campground for a night...(very nice location, however, this town requires more than one night, IMHO; we will go back...(1792 Whisky tasting & tour at Bards was great!)

From there we spent a week at JC for repair work. Next week we went on to Blufton, TN then to Marion NC for a fun week with 240 Airstreams (500+ people!) attending Alumalina! Lots of fun and great area (Ashville, Smoky Mtns., etc.) From there we were headed down to SC and FL; we wanted to stay on the beach so we made sure we had reservations just in case; we called ahead to the places we ended up staying. First was Myrtle Beach for 3 nights at the state park on the beach. Then down to St. Augustine area; Anastasia was full, so we stayed at North Beach camp ground for 3 nights. North Beach was very nice, but expensive; excellent uncrowded beach and nice seafood restaurant across the street. We wanted to stay in Destine area on way back for few nights on the beach...had never been to Top Sail so reserved a night there, and got 2 nights at Henderson...Top Sail was very nice, but beach is a hike to visit. Henderson, we had stayed at before. Park staff advised me to look online each day to see reservations as cancelations happen all the time. We booked Henderson from Top Sale one night before without an issue.

So my take away....it's not as easy to get into popular campgrounds as it has been in past years. RV Parky and Google Maps with RV campground specification where your going, helps locate and connect. If your going to be driving 350-450 miles a day, it's nice to know you have a spot when you get there, so a call ahead makes good sense, at least on the East Coast this trip it did.