Upcoming first long trip -I’m nervous

[Lily&Me]

Your best resource for dispersed camping would be the ranger station in the area you are looking at, also for your State Parks they will have a manned phone number who can give you information.

Get a good RV app, like AllStays, and it will give you a tremendous amount of helpful information.

And you don’t have to have every single thing planned out in advance, do your first couple of days and then plan as you go.

Lastly, confidence will come from doing...so take your baby steps, and go.

Maggie

[14tidewater]

Love the Xanax line...hilarious!

[smsasf]

I want to update and ask another question. 19 days into what I hope will be 50 day trip. Some anxiety waning. Have ventured into some state parks (Lawrence, KS) and municipal parks (Beatrice, NE) on as-available or first-come, first-served basis and got a site. Found Walmarts in Casper WY and Butte MT to be friendly and accomodating. Was able to get a site at Crators of the Moon NM, ID on first-come, first-served basis and hiked 21 miles over 2.5 days there. Now in Ely, NV at the KOA to make life easier for couple days. Without detailed NF or BLM maps I still hesitate to turn down a gravel road off a state highway for fear it will be very difficult to turn around. From Ely, NV I think I willhead toward St. George UT. Just up I-15 from St. George there is town of Leeds and appears there is NF Leeds Canyon Designated Dispersed Camping. Anyone pulled their AS up that canyon and found it to be workable. Especially if no sites available and you have to turn around and look elsewhere. Thanks, Stephen

[kpfate]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

Last year was our first year camping with an RV and we took our 20' Bambi FC to a local spot for a few days just as a tester. Repaired the problem areas and then headed out for a month and 2500 miles through Colorado. By no mean experienced, so just share how we approach it. 1) Our first trip we had several 8 hour days, but our next trip heading out we now try for 4 hours even if it means a night at a nice KOA to break up the trip. 2) We rely heavily on the most recent tripadvisor and yelp reviews for campgrounds. 3) We also reserve our stays anywhere from 2 months to a year in advance as we already have some favorite sites at favorite campgrounds. Someone more experienced can chime in, but I think Montana and Wyoming are already getting some pretty cold weather if you are going to be there over the next couple months. 4) For navigation we just use our iPhone and it is better than the built in GM nav but did take us down a narrow winding one lane dirt road for about 20 miles one time, it ended up being a very fun drive but as there would have been no way to turn around it was also a bit challenging. A simple check of a paper map before heading out would have shown us that, but then we would have missed a beautiful drive, ("small" trailers are great).

Yes, we are getting colder at night and our days have leveled off in 60's to 70's. I have a feeling our snow will be setting in earlier this season.

[Lily&Me]

Visit the Ranger office for any NF area you want to explore, and they will best be able to advise you.

Maggie

[CruizinDux]

smsasf, overnightr's aside....quite the maiden voyage.
I'm impressed. This is quite adventure. Good for you all.


WashMoBob

[waninae39]

Get a Garmin rv rated GPS device. It has all the camping p,aces, plus it will keep you away from path with low bridges and roads too narrow.

We love it

Plus it has a module that can come to to camera on the rear. We wired the module to the TV lights. It to see behind the AS, we put the lights on. The view then appears on the gos screen

[Piggy Bank]

https://www.amazon.com/DeLorme®-Cali...s%2C163&sr=8-4

There are higher detailed maps done state by state called gazetteer. This may be something you like for western open areas. Available at Amazon, REI stores, and other camping stores.

[smsasf]

Originally Posted by waninae39

Get a Garmin rv rated GPS device. It has all the camping p,aces, plus it will keep you away from path with low bridges and roads too narrow.

We love it

Plus it has a module that can come to to camera on the rear. We wired the module to the TV lights. It to see behind the AS, we put the lights on. The view then appears on the gos screen

Please advice specifics regarding the Garmin you reference. I have a Garmin I used in Middle East and when I returned to US I download US maps. What I have now not any better than Google Maps. Allstays has all the low bridges and I have used that. I also look on Google Earth to see if I can determine semi-trucks are using a particular highway.

[jmickow]

We boondock exclusively and plan as we go, usually with a general framework of what to see and where we want to end up. Last year we did a 3 1/2 week trip from San Francisco to the Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Glacier area built around one three-day reservation in Yellowstone. Everything else was ad lib, and we had no problem finding campsites in any of the other national parks by just arriving in the morning. For other days, we use freecampsites.net and Campendium to scout out good usually free or low fee camping spots. I have found them to be very reliable, provided that you scout the user reviews for a given site to help figure out if a spot is accessible and/or desirable or not. You have to be a person that is comfortable doing the research however, which my wife is not. That leaves me to do all the trip planning, which works out the best anyways. I always ID three or four possible options in an area if possible so that we have a back up plan in case they don't work out, or if we choose to go farther or stop earlier. We have always been able to find a place to stay, and some have been spectacular like Firehole Canyon at Flaming Gorge Reservoir picture below. My wife would leave me if we ever had to rely on a parking lot overnight at WM or Cracker Barrel. :-)

[Mollysdad]

Upcoming first long trip -I’m nervous excited!

There! Feel Better?👍