stopping for a single night - rest area or rv park?

Staying at a rest area or WM type place is also a matter of convenience. They are usually located either right on the highway, or next to it, so there is no hunting down of the nearest CG.

JaxDad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

Sprink-Fitter wrote:
We are not cheap, we go to a campground.

We are not cheap either.

Nor are we inconsiderate of those on vacation while we are on route to our destination. We generally drive till 10 - 12pm then stop then get back on the road before 6am.

I guess if I had nothing better to do and was stopping mid afternoon and not pulling back out until mid morning it would be a different story.

Are you aware that almost all CG's allow ALL NIGHT late arrival without reservations?
Especially the ones right off the interstates. Only those that are gated resorts do not.

When doing sporting events I too would drive until 10 or 12 pm to get as many miles as I could to get to my destination on time. I 'always' stayed at a CG by pulling in real late at night and leaving at the crack of dawn. All without ever meeting the owners of the CG!

All you do is: see a CG sign off the interstate, doesn't matter what time of night, pull in. At the front office will be a sign and a site map, and info to just pull in and pay in the morning and/or there usually will be a drop box for your check.

All CG's set aside sites in the front for travelers.

I RV'd this way for 'years'. :C

Sorry, I thought I clearly stated INCONSIDERATE was the issue. I refuse to disturb a bunch of people on vacation by arriving late and leaving early. I'm not so self-cantered as to believe that my travel plans should disturb others.

And I clearly stated that CG's have a row/sites set up near the front for "TRAVELING" RV'ers, for just that purpose. So you would 'not' be INCONSIDERATE to vacationers by arriving late leaving early. :R

You have your mind made up where you want to stay and are doing nothing but contradicting all the suggestions forum members are offering without even ever have done it.

We usually stay at a Walmart. FlyingJ. Pilot, or some large parking lot. Most of our trips we can make in one day.

Johndanielscpa wrote:
When I "vacation," I like to relax. If I am in THAT much of a hurry to get somewhere, I would rather just fly and stay in hotels.

If my parents had taken that approach, I wouldn't have visited all of the lower 48 states before I graduated high school.

They could never have afforded plane tickets, hotel rooms, and rental cars to all of those states. A van and trailer, however, meant my mom and dad (and me, once I got my learner's permit and then license) could take turns driving through the plains states that we had already seen, and get to Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, etc.

Hell, I visited Yellowstone three times by the time I was 17. I went to Acadia twice as a kid. I saw the Grand Canyon at 12. I camped in British Columbia and Banff when I was 13. Most kids in my class (Indiana) had never been farther west than St. Louis or father east than Cincinnati.

When you are working parents who want to show this great country to your kids, making the most of the short time off you have is the most efficient way to do it.

We prefer campgrounds as we stop no later than 4PM. I personally do not want any Walmart parking lot hassles being awakened by who knows who banging on your door at 2AM............. Not an often occurrence, but has happened to friends. Rest Stops - in Washington state rest stop stays are limited to 8 hours and they are full of idling trucks and panhandlers at all hours.

We are now older, can slow down to smell the roses and we simply feel safer in a campground. Doesn't have to be fancy but just in a safe feeling area/

Happy safe travels. Only you can decide which style of travel/overnights is right for you! Happy trails.

We are retired so we stop early in the day at a campground, usually no later that 3:00 pm and out the next day at around 9:00 am. If we are in travel mode, we carry water and only hook up electric when we stop but we usually disconnect and fuel the truck. We have an auto leveling system so connecting/disconnecting is quick and easy. We have on occasion stopped somewhere other than a campground but in warm weather we would have to run the generator and the cost of fuel would be the same as campground fees. We plan our stops based on mileage if we have a destination in mind (we are full timers). We do not always make reservations but we know where we plan to stop.

rockhillmanor wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

Sprink-Fitter wrote:
We are not cheap, we go to a campground.

We are not cheap either.

Nor are we inconsiderate of those on vacation while we are on route to our destination. We generally drive till 10 - 12pm then stop then get back on the road before 6am.

I guess if I had nothing better to do and was stopping mid afternoon and not pulling back out until mid morning it would be a different story.

Are you aware that almost all CG's allow ALL NIGHT late arrival without reservations?
Especially the ones right off the interstates. Only those that are gated resorts do not.

When doing sporting events I too would drive until 10 or 12 pm to get as many miles as I could to get to my destination on time. I 'always' stayed at a CG by pulling in real late at night and leaving at the crack of dawn. All without ever meeting the owners of the CG!

All you do is: see a CG sign off the interstate, doesn't matter what time of night, pull in. At the front office will be a sign and a site map, and info to just pull in and pay in the morning and/or there usually will be a drop box for your check. All CG's set aside sites in the front for travelers.

I RV'd this way for 'years'. :C

Sorry, I thought I clearly stated INCONSIDERATE was the issue. I refuse to disturb a bunch of people on vacation by arriving late and leaving early. I'm not so self-cantered as to believe that my travel plans should disturb others.

Although the other issue is that by stopping at a c/g it means committing in advance, or at least picking several 'hard and fast' options of where to stop for the night.

By dry camping I can chose nearly any exit off the interstate or one of hundreds of places to get a fast gas up and get Java & grub at oh-dark-thirty when I want to hit the road, not go searching for it from some backroad campground.

BTW, not many of those c/g's off the interstate are there to take my money at 5 or 6am when I roll out.

There are too many variables between RVers for any one person or several people to tell you what works best.

When we were young, had to get to our destination fast and working a second job to pay for a camping trip, we stopped where ever we could that was cheap or free and usually later in the evening. So often it was a parking lot about 8:00 pm at night.

Now that we're older, financially secure and retired, we don't drive as long and are willing to pay for a nice campground each night. We get in early, relax, maybe go out to dinner and then enjoy the evening.

So.......it's all about YOUR circumstances.

JaxDad wrote:

Sprink-Fitter wrote:
We are not cheap, we go to a campground.

We are not cheap either.

Nor are we inconsiderate of those on vacation while we are on route to our destination. We generally drive till 10 - 12pm then stop then get back on the road before 6am.

I guess if I had nothing better to do and was stopping mid afternoon and not pulling back out until mid morning it would be a different story.

Are you aware that almost all CG's allow ALL NIGHT late arrival without reservations?
Especially the ones right off the interstates. Only those that are gated resorts do not.

When doing sporting events I too would drive until 10 or 12 pm to get as many miles as I could to get to my destination on time. I 'always' stayed at a CG by pulling in real late at night and leaving at the crack of dawn. All without ever meeting the owners of the CG!

All you do is: see a CG sign off the interstate, doesn't matter what time of night, pull in. At the front office will be a sign and a site map, and info to just pull in and pay in the morning and/or there usually will be a drop box for your check. All CG's set aside sites in the front for travelers.

I RV'd this way for 'years'. :C

Allworth wrote:
As you make your plans you should know that I-10 is not near the water as it passes North of Pensacola. The beaches are well South of downtown on the barrier islands.

You will loose at least a half hour getting from I-10 down to US-90 and then another half hour in the morning getting back to the Interstate.

We frequently (without the trailer) take the coastal route getting from New Orleans back to Orlando with an overnight in Panama City. I used to do it in one jump, but I'm getting too old for that poop.

Thanks - done the I-10 shuffle for many years ( East & West ). A 30 min detour would probably be worth staying near the beach. Haven't seen top many appealing RV parks right on the interstate.