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I think a 'plus' for us was that we stayed in public parks - many that don't accept reservations

We've traveled from Arizona to Alaska one summer without reservations. It makes for a relaxing way to travel.  Once we got there we did make a reservation in Denali Nat'l Park's Teklanika campground - the farthest one you can drive in Denali but only a couple weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd be in the area. As it turned out we were a little early so we boondocked at a lovely spot and the next morning pulled into the park early and easily secured an additional 5 nights in another Denali NP campground. We saw 'THE' mountain 7 of 10 days. Many never see it because of weather.  We also saw every one of the big animals in the park - more than once.  Many people stay at a RV park outside the park and take a bus tour for one day and claim they've seen Denali. They usually don't see the big mountain or many animals. 

We found that If a campground accepts reservations they usually have sites that can't be reserved interspersed within the reservable ones, especially in public parks.  There are campgrounds in Yellowstone and others that don't even accept reservations.  Once in those campgrounds then you can stay the full two-week limit. We usually moved on Sunday - Wed and stay put for the weekend. We'd plan it so we'd arrive before noon just as others are moving out.  We've gotten many, many choice spots; quite often the best site in the park. We always aimed for the back area where it's quieter and where there's no one parked behind us . . makes for a big private yard.  We don't enjoy big cities so if near one we'd find a smaller town nearby and then do a day trip, if needed. 

We're outdoors-types and enjoy being around nature.  We certainly don't need full hookups. Dry camping is just fine.  Boondocking on national forest or BLM lands is great.  Some western states have great fishing access sites where we'd stay right near the water. Western states also have terrific county and city parks in smaller towns.  We stayed IN the big national parks; not outside them.  As full-timers we had no deadlines so if we came to a place that looked interesting we'd stop.  We found some real jewels by doing that.  We don't travel interstates unless for a short distance to get to one secondary road from another.

We've done the eastern states, Midwest and southern ones but West is our favorite.

I'm just stating that there ARE options out there as to how long of a day you drive, what kinds of parks you like what kinds of roads you drive and if you need FHU.  There are many people out there today that don't make reservations - even for Florida.  No, they're probably not going to get a site in the expensive resort parks.  Everyone is different, thankfully.

Carlos.... there's a lot to see in the area of I-10 if you'd get off the interstate. :) 

As for the SKP parks - we've stayed in every one of them without reservations. It's not beneath us to spend a night or two in their boondocking area until a site opened up. Once that happened we didn't care which site it was. Ya gotta be flexible!

Edited by 2gypsies

Full-timed for 16 Years
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Motorhome
and 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th Wheel

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4 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Carlos.... there's a lot to see in the area of I-10 if you'd get off the interstate.

Absolutely, and I've lived in and toured the area for over 30 years.  However, the point of the trip is primarily to see friends and family in FL, and we're not going to stray far from the highway at that point.  Which is part of the reason reservations are important.  Also I just found out there's some sort of event in Texas that timeframe, and every campground is expected to fill up.

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10 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I think a 'plus' for us was that we stayed in public parks - many that don't accept reservations

We've traveled from Arizona to Alaska one summer without reservations. It makes for a relaxing way to travel.  Once we got there we did make a reservation in Denali Nat'l Park's Teklanika campground - the farthest one you can drive in Denali but only a couple weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd be in the area. As it turned out we were a little early so we boondocked at a lovely spot and the next morning pulled into the park early and easily secured an additional 5 nights in another Denali NP campground. We saw 'THE' mountain 7 of 10 days. Many never see it because of weather.  We also saw every one of the big animals in the park - more than once.  Many people stay at a RV park outside the park and take a bus tour for one day and claim they've seen Denali. They usually don't see the big mountain or many animals. 

We found that If a campground accepts reservations they usually have sites that can't be reserved interspersed within the reservable ones, especially in public parks.  There are campgrounds in Yellowstone and others that don't even accept reservations.  Once in those campgrounds then you can stay the full two-week limit. We usually moved on Sunday - Wed and stay put for the weekend. We'd plan it so we'd arrive before noon just as others are moving out.  We've gotten many, many choice spots; quite often the best site in the park. We always aimed for the back area where it's quieter and where there's no one parked behind us . . makes for a big private yard.  We don't enjoy big cities so if near one we'd find a smaller town nearby and then do a day trip, if needed. 

We're outdoors-types and enjoy being around nature.  We certainly don't need full hookups. Dry camping is just fine.  Boondocking on national forest or BLM lands is great.  Some western states have great fishing access sites where we'd stay right near the water. Western states also have terrific county and city parks in smaller towns.  We stayed IN the big national parks; not outside them.  As full-timers we had no deadlines so if we came to a place that looked interesting we'd stop.  We found some real jewels by doing that.  We don't travel interstates unless for a short distance to get to one secondary road from another.

We've done the eastern states, Midwest and southern ones but West is our favorite.

I'm just stating that there ARE options out there as to how long of a day you drive, what kinds of parks you like what kinds of roads you drive and if you need FHU.  There are many people out there today that don't make reservations - even for Florida.  No, they're probably not going to get a site in the expensive resort parks.  Everyone is different, thankfully.

Carlos.... there's a lot to see in the area of I-10 if you'd get off the interstate. :) 

As for the SKP parks - we've stayed in every one of them without reservations. It's not beneath us to spend a night or two in their boondocking area until a site opened up. Once that happened we didn't care which site it was. Ya gotta be flexible!

I take it your fridge is AC/DC and gas?  Mine is a residential 110 fridge.  Do you have a geni?  I do not. So this is why I need at least water and electric. If I am only staying for 5 days or less and there is a dump station.  FHU are best as I can flush my tanks before pulling out.  I also do not like to park in cities, but there is a city park in Little Rock that ROCKS!  If you are ever there, you should check it out. The bridges light up at night as well  

https://www.passport-america.com/campgrounds/CampgroundDetails.aspx?campgroundid=2855

Edited by rynosback

2015 Ram 3500 RC DRW CTD AISIN 410 rear

2016 Mobile Suites 38RSB3

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Back to the original topic, we've made reservations at The Ranch, Branson, Livingston, and The Plantation. Lone Star Corral (Hondo) doesn't do reservations.

If we're pretty sure that we won't have any troubles getting a site for the night we may just call when we're a couple hours out to make sure. If there is any question, though, we'll make reservations. A couple of years ago we hunted for hours trying to find an open site. It wasn't any holiday, or any other reason that we could think of to fill all of the campgrounds. Finally someone mentioned that a pipeline was going in and all of the campgrounds were full of pipeline workers. Two hours past that area gave us plenty of sites.

This is one of the reasons why we're on the road by 9:00 a.m. and plan on arriving by 2:00 or so. Extending the travel day by another couple of hours doesn't hurt. We'll still be landed by dark even on the shortest day of the year.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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4 hours ago, kb0zke said:

Back to the original topic, we've made reservations at The Ranch, Branson, Livingston, and The Plantation. Lone Star Corral (Hondo) doesn't do reservations.

If we're pretty sure that we won't have any troubles getting a site for the night we may just call when we're a couple hours out to make sure. If there is any question, though, we'll make reservations. A couple of years ago we hunted for hours trying to find an open site. It wasn't any holiday, or any other reason that we could think of to fill all of the campgrounds. Finally someone mentioned that a pipeline was going in and all of the campgrounds were full of pipeline workers. Two hours past that area gave us plenty of sites.

This is one of the reasons why we're on the road by 9:00 a.m. and plan on arriving by 2:00 or so. Extending the travel day by another couple of hours doesn't hurt. We'll still be landed by dark even on the shortest day of the year.

Interesting as of at least a month ago The Ranch did not take reservations.  I am also looking looking to stay at The Roost and they also do not take reservations as well as they said that the max length is 40 ft and they have limited spaces at that size.  

2015 Ram 3500 RC DRW CTD AISIN 410 rear

2016 Mobile Suites 38RSB3

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  • 3 months later...

The Ranch doesn't take reservations anymore, but I don't know why. When we were there a couple of years ago they did.

While we were at The Ranch last month we were able to get a lot, so we have given up our spot on the list at Hondo.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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