Make reservation or not?

JNorton wrote:
I would be making a reservation. I cannot conceive driving eight hours and taking a chance there would be no place to park at the end of a loooong day.

I agree. And an 8 hr. day can easily become 10 or more in construction and weather events.

To split the difference, you can call the morning of the trip and ask if they anticipate having space that evening. If they say no problem, this will soothe the mind a bit in a big delay, and you can still decide to stop short of that cg, or confidently head for it arriving late.

We have stayed several times at interstate rest areas.

Not all states allow overnight staying at rest areas. Some will have a sign as you enter that states that overnight staying is prohibited. Best to check ahead of time.

Steve

We take off for the day and when we are about ready to call it a day, the wife looks for nearby campgrounds that offer what we are looking for, for the night, then calls to make sure that a site is available and we head there. We use apps and campground directories.

We have stayed several times at interstate rest areas. I look on Google Earth to see what the parking situation is. The large ones as you enter a state are best. Lots of space and many times the truck/rv parking is in the back away from the traffic noise.

We have been rving for 12 years now, and unless there is somewhere special we want to stay at we NEVER make reservations. You say you want to drive for 8 hours and then stop, what if at 7 hours you are just to tired and want to stop and your reservation is an hour away? Depending on traffic and road conditions, when we get to the point we are thinking of stoping we ( I should say DW) checks the RV guides and finds somewhere close that she like and calls them to be sure we have a place, if all else fails we look for the camping sticker on the exit signs, if the place looks decent we stop! Never had a problem, and I do not want to be under pressure to get somewhere specific at a given time, just laid back and nice and easy!

my cross country trip from Ga. to Calif. I locate a Flying J.

Left in Oct. and back home in the middle of Dec.

Stop before it gets dark...Fill-up,eat,find yourself a good spot.

try to get there before 6:00 p.m. so you can get a spot they tend to fill up if you arrive later.

leave your slides in..there will be traffic in and out all night but if you give it a chance...go in have breakfast and off you go.

at first you may feel uneasy..but when you try it ..you may be amazed at how handy it is...and well lit and safe..never any incidents.

If you have to walk your dog...that can be tricky with the traffic
that would be the only down side..but people do it.

Other truck stops are not the same ...Flying J is usually setup about the same...I would not park where the big trucks park..
if one overlooks you they can do big damage before they realize they have hit you..

Most rest areas allow 8 hour overnighting... as long as you don't look like you're setting up to stay longer. One more option. I'd not do a reserve for one night on the fly.

I sometimes make reservations... since I have very short vacation time slots, better to lose a reservation fee than to spend the few days I have trying to find a place and coming up short.

If I have a definite goal in mind, I will make a reservation just to be safe. Otherwise, if I'm going cross country, I may check out places, I may not, so I don't have a place reserved 100-200 miles ahead, and I'm already falling asleep.

I agree with the other poster who said Walmart parking lot. Either that or Cracker Barrel. Just go check with the manager to let them know you are there and you are good to go.

I would never make a res. for a 1 night stay. The only time we make reservations is when we need a spot at our favorite CG for a month or so. Make a res. and you may not get there in time to park in daylight OR you may get there too early and lose a few hours driving time. For one night boon docking in a truck stop, rest area, etc is the way I would do. Flying J truck stops have RV parking, fuel, dumps, propane and potable water but NO hookups.