2gypsies

As you've told me previously, an old post might still be helpful.

I heard Newmar is coming out with a Super C.

Any pleated shade company can make you blackout ones but in colors. We had a wood valance on top that extended down the side to top it off. Looked very nice.

We full-timed in our motorhome 8 years without having to spend days or more at the service facility and never returned to our selling dealer. We called ahead to a place for maintenance in the direction we were traveling and they were waiting for us when we arrived. Service was done that day or the next morning and we left when finished. We were always able to spend the night in the motorhome on their lot; often with electric.

If you've ever used the Milepost you know that it has you flipping from one section to another. I would think this would be frustrating if trying to do it online. You're right in that internet is not available in the long stretches between towns. I don't think I'd like it at all. I still like to hold my maps!

Eastport, Idaho

For those leaving AZ in March I'd recommend traveling up 101 through CA, OR and WA and crossing in Sumas, WA around the 3rd or end of May. March/April is too early to get into the western states. We were in a big blizzard in southern Idaho the end of April one year. Naturally, this forum is great for asking questions and getting information. However, you might want to check on the RV.net forum. They have a section specifically for Alaska travelers with lots of good information, including on the top of that page on the 'Clicky' permanent post that stays there for references. They always have a yearly continuous site going for those making the trip the current year. Look for it. Have a great trip! It's one of our favorites and yes, plenty of great boondocking spots. That's how we traveled. Be sure to get Mike & Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada and the Yukon. They give some good boondocking spots along with hookup sites. That's all you'll need for finding places to stay. They lived in Fairbanks and traveled the route to the lower 48 many times so they know the parks. Also get (online) the TourSaver 2/1 book. One glacier trip will pay for the book and you'll want to do at least one. We enjoyed the one out of Valdez. The 'Milepost' is great for history, information and small maps of the areas but don't rely on it solely for campgrounds. Drive on the top 1/2 of your tank. Services of all kinds close down occasionally so don't rely on what you read, including camping spots. It's an easy trip.... but a long one. You definitely will run into areas of construction. That's the only time they can do it. Just go with the flow. Go up on the Alaskan Hwy and return on the Cassier. Stop in Hyder to see up and close bear/salmon activity in August. If you cross into Canada by the end of May you'll have plenty of time to see everything at your leisure through August. Drive the Top of the World Hwy. Dawson is a neat little town with lots of history. Banff/Jasper - a must. On your way up - beautiful snow on the mountains but less opportunity for hiking due to the snow on trails. On your return - most of the snow will be gone so you'll only see black mountains but hiking will be perfect. Reservations? The only ones we made for the whole summer were for the July 4 weekend (Alaskans like to camp, too) and 5 nights in Denali's farthest campground you can stay - Teklanika. For both of those we only made the reservations about 3 weeks prior when we could better judge when we'd be in the area. As it turned out we were early for Denali so on a whim we boondocked at a lovely spot the previous night and drove into the park early morning (in August). We easily secured an additional 5 nights in Denali's front campground, Riley Creek. So we were in Denali 10 nights and saw 'THE' mountain in full sunshine 7 of 10 days. We saw every one of the 'big' animals, many more than once. There is plenty to do in both areas of Denali. Get the TEK bus pass for Teklanika and you can ride for as long and as many times as you want during your stay. Sometimes we'd go out early morning or late afternoon just for a short time. We also got off the bus in a remote stretch and walked along the road for a while in complete silence and awe! We flagged down the next bus coming by.

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!

Geez… we full-timed 16 years are rarely made reservations, traveling constantly - even the summer in Alaska. It's not difficult to find spots. We just look ahead on a map and figure about where we'd be in 4 or 5 hours and then look for a place around there. We didn't spend hours looking for a place. I guess we're not as particular as some. If we would have had to make reservations for every night in 16 years we would have never RVd.

Here are directions to the Boomer's NEW parking site. . . sorry I gave you incorrect ones previously. I didn't know they were moving this year as they've been at the other place for many years. http://link.rm0005.net/client_files/Boomersbof/NGtB_111518.pdf

I'm not sure about the comment "unless you know the owner of that lot". I don't recall that the lot owner can let you get in easier. You have to go through the front office to see if a lot is available..... unless things have changed.

Here's an informative article to read. I definitely would not trust a car seat or anyone to think they are secure at a dinette. Also, it's advised not to sit sideways. Forward seating is best. I know many don't adhere to this but it only takes one accident...... https://csftl.org/rv-travel-children/

Sorry…. I don't agree with you. Our 40' motorhome fit in many forests - forest service campgrounds and boondocking on forest lands. We've also done the Grapevine many times and were in the mountains often.

I think this is the best option for you since you're not going to be traveling in the RV and because you're not going to buy a truck to pull it. Best of luck to you!

Schwab is noted for this. We've used Fidelity and Vanguard without any problems with the Escapees RV Club forwarding address.

packrat - if you're referring to the Boomer gathering, yes, it's around 46848 Mitchell Mine rd. One RV? The pic must have been taken mid-summer! There will be many hundreds parked along the whole road in January.

You'd have an awesome time if you parked at Boomerville - the Escapees Birds of a Feather group, the Boomers. I don't know if you are an Escapee member or not but you don't have to be. Visitors are warmly greeted and included. They will be parked together January 14-27 and people come and go and stay as long as they can. There are usually around 150 RVs coming and going throughout the time. They have many activities going on - mini-trips around the area, hiking, geocaching, 4-wheeling, mini-seminars around the campfire on various topics, happy hours daily, pancake breakfasts, pot lucks and just plain fun. You have ample opportunity to take the short drive into 'town' a few miles away. It's a very welcoming group of all ages, not just Boomer age. Pets welcome and even a pet walk in the morning. It's dry camping so come prepared. There's usually an area for solar and one for generators. Here's the parking information taken from the newsletter. Turn-by-turn directions to Boomerville: On I-10 take exit 19 and go south to the T intersection with Kuehn Rd. Turn left (E) onto what becomes a frontage road beside I-10. There will be an Escapees Boomers sign and arrow at this intersection (no guarantee). Continue East on the paved frontage road (go pass the Scadden Wash BLM area) until the pavement dead-ends and turn right (S) on an unpaved road. Again, there will be an Escapees Boomers sign and arrow at this turn. Continue on the unpaved road to the edge of the 14 day BLM area -- main road turns sharply to the left BUT you will turn right (W) at the Boomer Escapees sign and arrow. You will be able to see the gathering from this turn. Find your own spot. There will be a central “tent” area where you can sign-in and one of the hosts will be around to give you a hug and give you the low-down on what to expect. The Google Maps coordinates for the approximate center of Boomerville: 33.650011,-114.1486603 There are usually two hosts parked near the easy-up tents. Sign in with them (we just like to get a head count for fun and love to greet you.). Then you park wherever you want. You can participate as much or as little as you want. The more you "hang out", the more involved you become. Volunteering is also a great way to get to know folks...help with pancakes, the auction, etc. There is a white board for scheduling activities. It is member driven. If you want to take a walk every day at 8:00 and you’d like company, put it on the board and people will join you. If you are curious about solar, suggest a solar discussion group, put the time and place, and people will join you and tell you more than you want to know! It all just happens! Daily Boomer happy hours are at 4pm with a meeting about what happened that day and what the plans are for the next day. People will bring light snacks and their own drinks and chairs.

We easily fit in many, many public parks with our 40' motorhome & Jeep. We've stayed in national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, etc.) and without reservations. We also fit in many national forest campgrounds, state parks, Corp of Engineers, county and city parks. Get the size you think you'll be comfortable living in. You'll find your spots! Good luck!!!

We full-timed for 16 years, traveling constantly and public parks or boondocking on public lands were our first choice 'go to' spots. We never had an issue getting in a place that we wanted with our 40' motorhome - even the major national parks such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Bryce, Big Bend, etc. Same with state parks, national forest campgrounds, Corp of Engineers, county and city campgrounds. We also did not make reservations. Get the size you'd be most comfortable in!

Here's a blog of a single gal and her small trailer which is now for sale. There's a link to her trailer within this blog if you're interested. We know of several full-timer RVing couples who have a small Skamp and Casita so it can be done. Good luck to you! https://interstellarorchard.com/

Same here. We never stored clothes. All were kept in closets/drawers.

There are controllable issues with RVing - where you stay and what you pay; fuel; less eating out; less entry fees for attractions. There are plenty of free things to do. If you spend more one month then cut way back the next month. You'll soon get the hang of it and can live comfortably on what you have. Some folks need more but many need much less to be happy.

Are you going to retrack the nasty posting on Facebook about the bank president who is not the owner?

Never heard of 'upper/lower Teton view campsites'. We've dry-camped many times at Gros Ventre campground and Colter Bay campground in the park. We like Gros Ventre much better as the you can see more of the mountains and there are also more animals roaming.

This action is a little premature until the real reason is known.