Planning a cross country trip - questions

Some people prefer to make reservations months in advance. For cross country travel, I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. In this day and age, the iPhone makes it pretty easy to find and get campsites the day you need them. If you cancel reservations, you will probably end up having to pay for the site anyway. When long distance travelling, things can and do go wrong. If you have any troubles, and you are delayed, you will end up paying for sites you never use. You would then have to decide if you want to skip all those destinations to get back on track with your remaining reservations. If you have never been where you are going, you might find something interesting you didn't know was there, and want to stay an extra day or two. Not having reservations gives you the flexibility to change plans at whim. We have logged 30 or 40k miles, and have never had an advanced reservation. Some prefer to have the entire trip booked ahead. Others, like me, like to be able to change plans if required. We have had blown tires, transmissions, electrical issues delay us days on several trips. Weather is another factor that can delay you. You don't want to have to drive in high winds or storms, just to keep a schedule. You can even book things a few days ahead when you are assured that the destination is manageable on the timeline. Things can and do happen. Good luck and safe travels.

Thanks to all of you for your input. We are very flexible as far as this trip goes. It is still very early in the planning stage.

The trailer gets new tires this Spring (had a blow out last fall and rightfully caught hell from my mechanic for not changing them earlier). All financial things are already on line and most are on auto pay so that is not a problem. So we will just need to sit down and plan this thing. And it may be split into different years too, one area one year, one another.

Keep that input coming though and thanks again.

Last summer went from Ohio to glacier park. Just used rv Parky app and stayed at some free spots and stayed at some pay spots. Wasn’t a holiday so had no trouble. Even glacier had fair amount of vacancies. Lol just be flexible. There will be things come up like mosquitos in a Corp of engineer campground in Minnesota wher they were so bad we had to leave! Just have fun.

YOur trailer will fit most places, although you may have to disconnect your truck sometimes. The main problems are the old USFS campgrounds that have not been upgraded. Some of those are lined with trees and awkward for larger trailers. YOu can always find an RV park.

Go for it! You should have no trouble finding sites big enough. I would plan on reservations and multi day stays for Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day weekends, however, as these weekends see unusually large campsite demands with campgrounds everywhere filling completely.

Making such a trip is a GREAT idea. As lovely as our home area is, there is nothing remotely like the Grand Canyon, or Glacier NP or Death Valley (just to name a few) anywhere near here. All of those and many more can only be appreciated by experiencing them. Seeing them in National Geographic, as nice as that might be, is the barest shadow of being there. Even more, spending some time getting to know folks from those places when you visit will broaden your education and understanding so much more than you could ever imagine.

Do that trip several times while you are still young enough and able enough to make the journey. It took me years to convince my wife it was a good idea, but now she can hardly wait to do it again, even though she’s always been a “crispy traveler.”

Have fun, your rig will not be a problem. Been there, done it.

With the exception of CA SPs generally the further west you go the the easier it is to get larger sites.

On our first cross country trip we went from East Tennessee to MT. Rushmore to the Olympic Penn to the Greand Canyon then to the Guf Coast at Gavleston TX and then accross to Mobile AL. and back home some 9000 miles and NEVER had one issue of fitting in with our 30ft. Coleman. Never made reservations except at our destinations where we stayed more than 3 or more days.

We used the RVPARKY app and started looking for stops at about 3pm for places about 100 miles ahead to be off the road about 5pm. The app has all the info you need even phone numbers to call the CG. Worse comes to worse there is always a Walmart for the night.

I also have a 2500HD and never encountered any grade that I had trouble with. The trip was truly an experience and something you don't want to put off. Figure out what you will do with your mail. Set up automatic payments for some bills and online access to your bank and other such financial things. Examine your doctors appointments and medications and plan accordingly. As mentioned do a complete mechanical inspection and service before you leave and take a small compressor and other basic tools in case you need them.

Now here is the most important advice I can give you, don't be afraid to get off the expressway and take some secondary roads and see some of backroad America. Take your time and stay in some places at least 3 days and explore the local areas. We were gone 10 weeks and it still wasn't enough time. Hit the road and have fun.

Hokiehall wrote:
I am planning to retire in the very near future. My wife already is retired. We are discussing taking a cross country trip in the next year or so but are somewhat wondering if it is a good idea. We currently have a 35' Flagstaff 831FLSS that we tow with a 2500HD GMC. That is not a problem. While we realize that there are much larger rigs out there, ae there any issues with finding suitable campgrounds along the way that we can fit it in? We would be starting from our home in Central Virginia.

Thanks in advance.

1. download an Application like "Good Sam RV Park" or something similar to help you search for RV Parks.
2. Make reservations well in advance for RV Parks all along your planned cross country trip. This is especially true in popular areas/parks. "Reservations" do not restrict your freedom to make changes in your plans, just call and cancel. Make sure you know the cancel policy when you make your reservations.
3. Make sure you have the Good Sam Road Side Assistance plan in case you break down. I also have the GS Sam Travel Assist plan. There are other RS plans from different companies. Do your research.
4. Do a complete mechanical up and if your trailer tires are 6 years old, replace them with new ones.

I wouldn't expect much difficulty, particularly if you're willing to be a little flexible and make reservations for times and places when it's likely to be busy. The East (and more particularly the Northeast) tend to have campgrounds with smaller sites than many other places in the country, and even here it's not all that hard to find a site when you need one...maybe not the perfectest site, but one that works fine.

Needless to say, the more picky you are about what is an acceptable site, the harder it will be to find one. If you demand full hookups and waterside camping and a perfectly level pull-through cement pad, you'll have a lot harder time than if you're willing to accept electric only (or no hookups) in a non-waterfront state park or something like that. Likewise if you travel with a couple of large dogs of a breed deemed to be aggressive....