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Old 03-19-2013, 06:11 PM   #1
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Do you make reservations ahead for your trip?

I just read a thread on planning. It seems as though very few people plan their trip and just take off into the sunset, especially if both are retired. We are both retired as well, but it scares me to take off without making reservations at CG's before hand. I've seen too many FULL signs and staking out a place in a church parking lot or at Walmart really isn't my idea of taking off into the sunset. But, I may be all wet here. Are my fears of not getting a spot over the top?
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:17 PM   #2
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I always make reservations but I'm only a weekend camper, at the moment.
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:19 PM   #3
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Planning for us is a must. I know where I want to stay and we make sure we have reservations...wally world parking lots do not excite me !
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:51 PM   #4
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We may plan the route somewhat but we do not plan the campground's. Too many things can crop up, and have cropped up, that have required us to change at the last minute like wanting to take some extra time to visit with friends or a tire blowout or an electrical problem or traffic. We stopped trying to make the reservations ahead.

The Google Maps app on the phone lets me look up any business that we may need to find. So when we get close to where we want to stop I just pull out the cell phone, go to Google maps and in the search box I look for "RV campground resort park" putting that in there allows the app to search for almost every RV park around including all the mom & pop ones that are not in the apps like allstays. We have had good luck with mom & pops more than the chains when traveling. Usually they are cheaper and nicer.
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:51 PM   #5
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We plan ahead and make reservations months in advance, no surprises. We know where we want to go. Yes, we are retired and have the time we need to travel.

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Old 03-19-2013, 06:56 PM   #6
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we are both retired and about 90% of the time we make reservations.
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:03 PM   #7
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I makes reservations one stop at a time. First, I use campgroundreviews.com to search the target area, then choose a park and make a reservation, usually online.
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:13 PM   #8
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Don't normally plan unless we are going for a specific event at a specific location, for a specific period. In the morning we seldom know where we will spend the night. We just like to keep totally flexible so we can stop when and where we please. We are seldom on the road after 1600. We have all the info with every camping, overnight parking place etc on our tablets, phones and Laptops. Most often use google earth to look at places also.

We even carry paper books and we have already scoped places out and most often get a reservation by phone an hour or so before we want to stop if we are staying at a campground.

Have done things this way for many years but when I was under time constraints during my working years, we often drove many more hours and it was nice to have the assurance we had a place to stay more in advance. So I guess it depends on one's circumstance at the time.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:15 PM   #9
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We do not make reservations unless it is our final destination. Usually I decide about how far I want to drive, map out campgrounds and phone numbers and then call about 1 hour out if we want to stop (usually there are multiple choices around the stopping area give or take a "few" miles). There are too many times that I have my second wind and want to go further or something happened and we did not make the time we expected to and a reservation would not have worked out. In that case we get out the computer and cell wifi and the dw finds a new stopping place.
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Old 03-19-2013, 08:47 PM   #10
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If retired, plan to arrive mid-week and you'll beat all the weekenders. This may not work in a big tourist area with many weekly rentals to vacationers (like Myrtle Beach).

We often take Thursday off work before long holiday weekends. This way we can arrive at the first come, first served state park sites before the crowd. Some are close enough to home to get to on Wednesday night after work.

We have one state park in an area that we love that we do this on Memorial Day weekend, and it has worked thus far. If we don't get our first choice, there are Plan B-CGs with electric only sites that will work for a weekend.
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Old 03-19-2013, 08:56 PM   #11
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We never leave home without reservations....
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Old 03-19-2013, 09:16 PM   #12
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We are like CampDaven, make reservations only one or two stops ahead. Our routes can become quite hap hazard like this but we really don't care. The journey is half the fun and we want the option to change our minds any time we want.
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Old 03-19-2013, 09:57 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CampDaven
I makes reservations one stop at a time. First, I use campgroundreviews.com to search the target area, then choose a park and make a reservation, usually online.
When we mutate to full time RV Mutants like you, we be exactly that way. Even now and always in the past we have traveled one day and one reservation at a time. When we take 10 work days off (16 or 17 days total) with a destination spot or several - we reserve the destination long in advance. But we ramble there - or sometimes we just get into the drive and expedite. We just say - we will get where we're going in 3 or 4 days or whatever. I have even called and said I'm a day late - hit the card and hold the place. It's a seat of the pants thing. If we want to explore along the way, we do. That's what I'm looking forward to the most in full time. Exploring an area - finding the hidden jewels - boondock and non-destination places. Then BOOM - the great resort for a little extended time. And of course we've budgeted for a nice hotel every now and them. We love room service - jetted garden tubs - and there's something about a nice hotel bar every now and then. The Bullock Hotel in Deadwood and the Historic Franklin were good get aways for example. We had the Seth Bullock suite once and the Gerry Garcia Room at the Franklin. Good Times for a couple RV Mutants like me and Annie.
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Old 03-19-2013, 10:44 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jrgreen View Post
We do not make reservations unless it is our final destination. Usually I decide about how far I want to drive, map out campgrounds and phone numbers and then call about 1 hour out if we want to stop (usually there are multiple choices around the stopping area give or take a "few" miles). There are too many times that I have my second wind and want to go further or something happened and we did not make the time we expected to and a reservation would not have worked out. In that case we get out the computer and cell wifi and the dw finds a new stopping place.
That's how we do it too.

Except on the 4th of July. Always make reservations then because everybody and his brother are out.
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