On the road planning. Internet, Overnight parking, ...

[Fastfwd75]

Hi all,

I'm looking for the best ways to plan while on the road. We are going to be going west from Montreal towards Moab at first and then adjust as we go depending on State's tourist info booths.

I am planning to buy a nano-sim once we get to the US to get Internet data on my phone. 1-3GB/month probably so I can also do email and browse when there is no wifi at camp.

I will probably buy the allstays iphone app.
We have Apple maps and Google maps but they use data. I also have Navigon that works less well but has pre-downloaded maps for the whole USA.

I know that some wallmarts allow overnight parking. I hear that Camping World and Cabellas also do. Is there some official list somewhere or some app that can tell me which allow it and how to find them based on where I am?

Fuel and food is easy. Works the same way as Canada. Where do you go in the USA to fill up on propane. I expect that campgrounds are going to be selling at a high markup.

What are other resources Internet/App/Paper for finding good places to stay that may not be in Allstays? (National parks?) Or even just attractions along the road.

Thanks

[garyhaupt]

"the statue of liberty or some other tourist trap.

I'm not sure about the blog. Probably a good idea to do it for ourselves as a souvenir photo album but after a few days I think friends and family would not see the point as we are living it; not them. We'll try it."



Oh geeezus...okay...uhm, you and I..being from Canada might indeed have a 'view' of the Statue of Liberty. But, people in the US have very very strong views of these icons and will make any further conversation unpleasant, should they hear you talking like that. And that will apply to many of the stops you will be making. You will need to be open to the knowledge that although we...people NOT from the US, might not see or share the relevance, people FROM the US do.

And, I want to add...now having see Ms Liberty twice, that although I do not have a connection to the history of the her nor of Ellis Island, those that do...really really do. It can be a very moving experience, just being among them and seeing the emotion on their faces. And you will see that in many of the National Monuments that you will have the opportunity to visit.


Blogs...I have one and many many people that travel/sail/RV/camp/cook/make movies...do. It is a very positive way to share and develop some pretty cool connections. There are literally thousands of Blogs and although it seems that no one will read yours, it it quite surprising how many people will find yours.
A person has to learn how to use 'keywords' to attract the search engines, and so on. Letting the kids tell their own story, thru their eyes, is likely to be a very engaging exercise.



Gary Haupt

[Fastfwd75]

garyhaupt wrote:
Hey..dude...this time you guys have to travel is a gift..unwrap it slowly. I don't expect you to not do your planning and electronic wizardry, but, in the end....you will wish you had.

Get off the interstates...go the slow way. Every little town has a city park..you can stop there. I mean..Moab was just a name, there is so much to experience just hangin out in Little America. Trust me...I have done it and continue to do so. Small town rodeos, race tracks, fairs, pie eatin from farmer markets.

Another suggestion then...start a Blog...this is kind of a way to involve everyone in the adventure. Take lots of pix..every day..upload to the Blog...heck, have a bunch of Blogs. One for each person if you like..but a joint Blog has an energy. You can do and upload kids video and music and all kinds of neat..time consuming...stuff.


For what it's worth.



Gary Haupt
Canada

Good advice. Our last road trip was before we had the kids and at the time we had a single hiking gps connecter to a laptop with streets&trips. We stopped at the first tourism info center after every new state and picked up a couple brochures and went from there. Moab is just a general direction but the plan is to detour and adjust every day 🙂 The phone is our map and our guarantee that we can park soon when the kids had enough driving.

We definitely want to see all the small attractions on the way. The less tourist-y the better for us. I'd rather eat from the pastry across the park at a small village than see the statue of liberty or some other tourist trap.

I'm not sure about the blog. Probably a good idea to do it for ourselves as a souvenir photo album but after a few days I think friends and family would not see the point as we are living it; not them. We'll try it.

[garyhaupt]

Hey..dude...this time you guys have to travel is a gift..unwrap it slowly. I don't expect you to not do your planning and electronic wizardry, but, in the end....you will wish you had.

Get off the interstates...go the slow way. Every little town has a city park..you can stop there. I mean..Moab was just a name, there is so much to experience just hangin out in Little America. Trust me...I have done it and continue to do so. Small town rodeos, race tracks, fairs, pie eatin from farmer markets.

Another suggestion then...start a Blog...this is kind of a way to involve everyone in the adventure. Take lots of pix..every day..upload to the Blog...heck, have a bunch of Blogs. One for each person if you like..but a joint Blog has an energy. You can do and upload kids video and music and all kinds of neat..time consuming...stuff.


For what it's worth.



Gary Haupt
Canada

[NinerBikes]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Hi,

A lot of local gas stations also sell propane. During a cross country trip, I only filled once in a welding supply store with propane, most where at gas stations. Look for the large white tank.

There are a couple of free campgrounds between Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. It is just west of Flagg Ranch, a full hookup campground that is between the two National Parks.

Just don't tell the people at the Canadian border that you are un-employed and don't own a house. They did not let me in for those reasons. It is ILLEGAL to let a poor person into Canada. I guess if you are returning, you can get in though. I guess it did not matter that I had just sold my home for $360,000 and most of the profit was still in the bank at that time, giving me time to travel. I hope you have a fun time traveling around the US. I had a wonderful time in 2006 and 2007. I found many boondocking places, and stayed as long as possible at each one!

Fred.

Campsites at Flagg Ranch have been shut down and closed by Obama. A year ago, I tried to stay there, and they been blocked by a couple of dumps from a dump truck, preventing entry.

[Fastfwd75]

Padlin wrote:

Fastfwd75 wrote:

I am planning to buy a nano-sim once we get to the US to get Internet data on my phone. 1-3GB/month probably so I can also do email and browse when there is no wifi at camp.

I'm not familiar with this idea, is this just so you have additional memory for storage? I don't see where buying a nano-sim gets you data, am I just missing it?

I mean a data plan so I can use email, allstays app, navigation, ...

It's much less expensive to get a prepaid US carrier sim than pay the roaming fee of my Canadian carrier.

[lasparrot]

We went from Ottawa to Lake Louise last year - I used Microsoft Streets & Trips on a netbook. There are lots of overlays, and you can pre-plan to your hearts content. Does not require internet access. Enjoy your trip.

[Padlin]

Fastfwd75 wrote:

I am planning to buy a nano-sim once we get to the US to get Internet data on my phone. 1-3GB/month probably so I can also do email and browse when there is no wifi at camp.

I'm not familiar with this idea, is this just so you have additional memory for storage? I don't see where buying a nano-sim gets you data, am I just missing it?

[Redsky]

It takes time but I plan the routes in advance and know how far we will want to travel on any given day and then in that area I use Google Maps to do a search around the area for camping locations. I get mapped locations for private RV parks and public campgrounds.

The states all operate websites for their state parks and the federal government also has websites for BLM (blm.gov) the US forests, and national parks. In a state like Utah for example there are state and federal parks, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands with camping areas, and national forests.

For private RV parks what also works is to use www.yellowpages.com to do a search for campgrounds for a specified town and it will provide a listing of contact information and display them on a map. This also works for finding restaurants and service stations that pump diesel or when looking for a grocery store or other type of business in an area.

I use yelp.com a lot to look for restaurants in an area and 80% of the time it is useful for finding a good place to eat.

I have never in my life had to stay in a parking lot anywhere at night in four decades of travel. If you like to stay in such places then go for it but it is in no way necessary unless you are too lazy to look for a decent place to stay.

[jweb98]

Allstays is great! Has much more than just RV parks.

[2oldman]

Don't forget about a weather app. Driving into a storm can really mess up your day.

[LindsayRichards]

In the begining, we tended to over plan and I think that is common. Now we don't have a set plan and just start thinking about where to stay in the early afternoon. We have seen so much that we didn't know was there until we got where ever. We also like to stay two days at a spot. We explore the full middle day and leave the next day. We normally go only a few hundred miles. If you travel every day, you miss a lot. Talk to locals about out of the way spots to eat and you get some wonderful, cheap meals. Allstays phone app has almost everything you need and is very up to date. Have a great time and always go where you wife says.

[Matt_Colie]

You are planning to work way too hard....
Get one of the navigator packages with a GPS puck.
Learn to work it.
Get a way to power your laptop when you are underway.
Go to Discovery owners site and look for the overlays you want. I'm not going to tell you what all is there because there are too many.
Now you will have all the information you need at your finger tips when ever and where ever you need it.
You will still want internet access to get GasBuddy.

Safe Travel

Matt

[wxtoad]

We are big fans of The Ultimate US Public Campground Project app for Apple devices. With over 20,000 locations, it seems to be the most comprehensive source for public campgrounds of all types and dozens of filters make finding the right campground for your interests an easy task.

Ted H.

[Fastfwd75]

Desert Captain wrote:
Get the free Gas Buddy app it will save you serious $$$.

:C

thanks. Already have that from the Canadian iTunes store; hope it works south of the border too.