Trip Planning

[jerseypete]

here is another piece of the pie to the seniors and the elderly folks.
Just got married last month. Last June had left lobectomy to balance the right one done before. No heart attks since the 3rd one a few yrs ago. Selling my chopper because my wife wants to ride on the back of our new 1300cc, (this one's gt a back rest). Fishin's startin to pick up here in Cape May now. Life is sweet. Oh, I'm 72. See you down the road, jerseypete.

[Dallas Baillio]

Those of you new to motorhome travel may not know that the hundreds of picnic areas in Texas, formerly known as roadside parks, allow overnight stays. While many are not suitable being too small for a BF, dumpy, or unsafe many are great places for an overnight stop. I stayed at one near the LBJ ranch on the Perdnales (sp?) river that was near perfect. There is one in West Texas just north of Alpine in the Davis Mountains that is almost the size of a small campground.

Available for download online and in paper form at Texas welcome centers is a guide to all public campgrounds in the state. I've not found another for any other state that is as inclusive. It contains federal, state, city, county as well as governmental authority (river control districts for example) campgrounds.

[Ray]

Great info - thanx Dallas

[shezonit]

Thank you all for great tips...feeling more confident now about heading out on a long trip. I'm guessing that if you are over-nighting at Walmart or Cracker Barrel, you check with store management and perhaps make purchases or have a meal as a courtesy first? That'll be our plan I guess. Wendy

If I am in the store, I will ask at customer service. I usually word it in the assumptive: "where do you prefer RVs to park?" and I thank them. I tend to use Walmarts as a stop because I can get a Redbox movie, and return it in the morning. Since those are near the doors, I can walk my little dog both ways, too.
I have also noticed that occasionally, a WalMart will have a "no overnight parking" sign. Then I look for the semis. There are almost always trucks in a Walmart lot waiting to unload. Or. Sometimes there is a little security truck/ golf cart buzzing around. I have asked them, and they have directed me to a certain area.

[baxmd]

We just got back to Maryland after a trip to Iowa. I used [b]RV Trip Wizard[/b] online to plan, which is a subscription service. We like state and local campgrounds and found some incredible places using this. It let me choose our preferred travel miles in a day (actually, you can choose 3 limits which show up like a bulls eye from your starting point), which type of parks I want displayed, along with points of interest, gas stations, etc. It uses Google, so if you have the time you can likely do the same planning without the service, but I found this easier. Even if we feel like winging it, I like knowing ahead of time what parks are in the area. It has a tutorial on the site that can help folks decide it it's worth purchasing. It seems like a mom and pop operation, so don't expect mind blowing graphics.

~Paula and Tom