RV parks on the fly

[JimSpy]

We have wanted to plan a nice road trip for several years now, only problem is, now that we're retired, we're busier than when we worked! Consequently, it's impossible for us to plan far ahead enough to reserve space at rv parks. So we wind up driving till we get tired, and then panic calling a half dozen parks to get in. I'm sure that's the 180 degrees wrong way to do it...but I'm also sure we're far from alone! And it wouldn't be that big a deal, except it seems no one man's the phones at RV parks after 6pm! Anyone else out there doing this by the seat of your pants? Any hot tips?

[Judge]

It has been getting tougher to find campgrounds over the past few years... especially on popular dates..... but it was possible. But now after COVID caused the industry to explode, it is even tougher to just say "hey... lets spend the night at this campground... or spend the night in this area."

We booked most of our reservations in January this year for that reason and we have already started booking next year as well. As I type this my wife is looking at Alaska for 2023. We are considering a 60-day caravan tour through RV Fantasy Tours and 2022 is already sold out and June 2023 only has 6 spots left for the one we are looking at now.

If it is a week night and not a trourist destination, it should not be too difficult to find a spot. You will need to do a little planning because some CG's do stop manning the phones after 6pm. It is best to get an idea when you will want to stop and start calling around before 3:00PM if you don't want to start scrambling.

But if you want to find a spot on a weekend, you are going to have a difficult time in many areas. It's not impossible but you aren't going to call on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday and hear "we have plenty of spots" the first place you call.

[Bob Denman]

If you want to avoid the stress of how you,currently travel: change how you travel...
Set yourself up a day at a time. Pick a stopping point at the START of each day... and stick with it!

[JimSpy]

Originally Posted by Judge

It has been getting tougher to find campgrounds over the past few years... especially on popular dates..... but it was possible. But now after COVID caused the industry to explode, it is even tougher to just say "hey... lets spend the night at this campground... or spend the night in this area."

We booked most of our reservations in January this year for that reason and we have already started booking next year as well. As I type this my wife is looking at Alaska for 2023. We are considering a 60-day caravan tour through RV Fantasy Tours and 2022 is already sold out and June 2023 only has 6 spots left for the one we are looking at now.

If it is a week night and not a trourist destination, it should not be too difficult to find a spot. You will need to do a little planning because some CG's do stop manning the phones after 6pm. It is best to get an idea when you will want to stop and start calling around before 3:00PM if you don't want to start scrambling.

But if you want to find a spot on a weekend, you are going to have a difficult time in many areas. It's not impossible but you aren't going to call on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday and hear "we have plenty of spots" the first place you call.

I just wonder if there isn't a niche for an independent 24 hour booking service that will f8nd you a spot in a squeeze. I thought maybe Good Sam might provide that service, but apparently not...

[JimSpy]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

If you want to avoid the stress of how you,currently travel: change how you travel...
Set yourself up a day at a time. Pick a stopping point at the START of each day... and stick with it!

We've tried that route....now if we could only agree on how far we can get on a given day.....

[Scubawise]

If you get stuck Walmart..cracker barrel etc good luck

[Lt Keefer]

We used to do the same thing, but changed our routine on our last trip. We used google maps to find out what was 200 miles down the road, 200 miles was our agreed upon time on the road. At the 200 mile mark we looked for a campground and made a one night reservation. We repeated this for every travel day. Stress of knowing when and where we were stopping vanished.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by JimSpy

I just wonder if there isn't a niche for an independent 24 hour booking service that will f8nd you a spot in a squeeze. I thought maybe Good Sam might provide that service, but apparently not...

Might be worth a call to AAA to see if they offer something like that but..... a service is going to cost money to do the work.

I just think we are at a time now where the RV Life is going to require planning more often than not and the spontaneity of it is over..... at least for the time being.

I actually miss last year a bit when COVID had most people staying home. We had no issues getting campgrounds any time we wanted.... as long as state or local restrictions didn't close them down.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by JimSpy

We've tried that route....now if we could only agree on how far we can get on a given day.....

Just pick a "reasonable" distance: and go no farther...
If you can drive 500 miles each and every day; regardless of road and traffic conditions: go for it.
If it's more like 300 miles: that's just as good!
The point is to develop a routine for your daily planning, and do not allow yourselves to vary from it.
But you have to remember: I live for my routines...

[sportcoupe]

I did a month long father-daughter trip Sept 2020. Campsites were easy to get on a daily schedule. I called and reserved before breaking camp in the morning. Stress free.

Once my Vegas arrives soon, I have a two week father-daughter trip planned for this Sept.

Disclaimer: Adult daughter, she is 23 and loves traveling with her dad. I very much enjoy her company.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by sportcoupe

I did a month long father-daughter trip Sept 2020. Campsites were easy to get on a daily schedule. I called and reserved before breaking camp in the morning. Stress free.

Once my Vegas arrives soon, I have a two week father-daughter trip planned for this Sept.

Disclaimer: Adult daughter, she is 23 and loves traveling with her dad. I very much enjoy her company.

You might be better off after Labor Day but right now reservations are tight.

We tried making, rather extending, a reservation a couple of days. The campgrounds website said they had 3 sites available. We called and they said the only thing they had open is a back in electric only that will only hold something 25 foot long or smaller, basically a pop-up site.

[standerson]

We use KOA, Good Sam and Harvest Host to find sites. Like someone said, they are tough to come by right now.

If you use Harvest Host, look for "unusual" places, they normally don't get much traffic.

[JamieGeek]

Being a working stiff with limited time I don't think I've ever took a trip (RV or otherwise for that matter) that wasn't 100% reserved from day one.

We have a long 3500 mile trip planned for this summer. I have every campground reserved on my list (started reserving each campground the minute each "window" opened up for them). This included having to make a campground reservation while camping over Memorial Day weekend LOL.

Sure it isn't very flexible at all...our flexibility comes in with the fact that we don't pre-schedule all the activities just the "lodging".

Even the one trip where we did an "emergency replace" of the tires worked out--didn't have to change any of the reservations and didn't miss anything.

Given my family this is less stressful knowing we'll have somewhere to stop than having to look for it.

[Bob Denman]

We do the same thing... for the same reasons!
At the start of any trip: we know where each stop will be...
It's not spontaneous: but it works for us!

[sportcoupe]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

You might be better off after Labor Day but right now reservations are tight.

We tried making, rather extending, a reservation a couple of days. The campgrounds website said they had 3 sites available. We called and they said the only thing they had open is a back in electric only that will only hold something 25 foot long or smaller, basically a pop-up site.

Sept is after Labor Day pretty much.

I always do my trips in Sept. Each and every year. Even years are 4 weeks, odd years are 2 weeks.

Never had a problem yet, school is back in most places.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by JimSpy

We have wanted to plan a nice road trip for several years now, only problem is, now that we're retired, we're busier than when we worked! Consequently, it's impossible for us to plan far ahead enough to reserve space at rv parks. So we wind up driving till we get tired, and then panic calling a half dozen parks to get in. I'm sure that's the 180 degrees wrong way to do it...but I'm also sure we're far from alone! And it wouldn't be that big a deal, except it seems no one man's the phones at RV parks after 6pm! Anyone else out there doing this by the seat of your pants? Any hot tips?

We usually make the decision on how far we are going to travel that day at the lunch break. We pick a town along our route near where we want to stop and use the Garmin POI memory (by Rivopom) to show us campgrounds around the selected town. Selecting a campground will bring up a phone number to call and ask about sites available. We are usually towing and need a 52" long pull through. After the reservation is made, I simply select "add POI to current trip" and let Jill (Garmin's voice) direct me to the campground's office.

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by Beau388

We usually make the decision on how far we are going to travel that day at the lunch break. We pick a town along our route near where we want to stop and use the Garmin POI memory (by Rivopom) to show us campgrounds around the selected town. Selecting a campground will bring up a phone number to call and ask about sites available. We are usually towing and need a 52" long pull through. After the reservation is made, I simply select "add POI to current trip" and let Jill (Garmin's voice) direct me to the campground's office.

I have POI (point of interest). It has campgrounds? Dang!

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

I have POI (point of interest). It has campgrounds? Dang!

That depends: are you interested in campgrounds?

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

I have POI (point of interest). It has campgrounds? Dang!

You can always download all the POIs you want from the POI Factory. The ones I use is 22,876 NA Campgrounds by Rivopom and Military RV Parks by donald530. A 256GB memory card will holds plenty of POIs.

[Bob Denman]

POIs?
Hmmm...
Casinos
Liquor stores
Gun Shops
Brothels

Check!