2023 Season

[Merlin]

We got our big U.S. map out at lunch today in the depths of Michigan winter and scoped out a 14 state, 6000 mile, month-long camping trip west. Most likely largely in September. We've stuck close to home the last 3 years and it will be fun to hit the road again. Our extended stays are probably in Utah, California, Oregon, and Colorado. Before then the camper gets some overhaul, with new batteries and a new heat pump A/C.

[djsamuel]

Sounds great.  We did a nice east coast trip last May from Florida up to Massachusetts.  Took us 28 days and had a great time with stops at St Augustine, Congaree National Park, NaturalBridge State Park in VA, Gettysburg, Poconos, Springfield, MA (to visit friends), Grand Canyon of PA, Flight 93 Memorial, New River Gorge National Park and finally a week in Dillard, GA to wind down before heading home.  It was great and we're starting to plan our next big trip.

[ammobob]

We got our big U.S. map out at lunch today in the depths of Michigan winter and scoped out a 14 state, 6000 mile, month-long camping trip west. Most likely largely in September. We've stuck close to home the last 3 years and it will be fun to hit the road again. Our extended stays are probably in Utah, California, Oregon, and Colorado. Before then the camper gets some overhaul, with new batteries and a new heat pump A/C.

Headed to Utah and Page AZ March 19-28. Hitting Canyonlands and Arches B4 heading to Antalope Valley at Page AZ then back to Bryce Canyon/Zion and Great Basin in NV on way home.

Spent a week at Klamath CA last year. Great coastal area and plenty of Redwoods.

[Merlin]

We got our big U.S. map out at lunch today in the depths of Michigan winter and scoped out a 14 state, 6000 mile, month-long camping trip west. Most likely largely in September. We've stuck close to home the last 3 years and it will be fun to hit the road again. Our extended stays are probably in Utah, California, Oregon, and Colorado. Before then the camper gets some overhaul, with new batteries and a new heat pump A/C.

Headed to Utah and Page AZ March 19-28. Hitting Canyonlands and Arches B4 heading to Antalope Valley at Page AZ then back to Bryce Canyon/Zion and Great Basin in NV on way home.

Spent a week at Klamath CA last year. Great coastal area and plenty of Redwoods.

Klamath is one of the areas we are heading for. Can you be more specific about camping there and can you camp right in the redwoods?

[Merlin]

We plan to stay in mostly state parks and national parks for our trip west, but in some locations we'll have to stay in other public or private campgrounds. Yesterday I made our first night's reservations in a city owned campground and for our one night in August it was $78. Yikes! I hope that's not the new normal for cost.

[Merlin]

Planning update. My plan to stay at public parks is getting rough. I'm fighting with thousands of other campers for the last available sites in each campground as the reservation windows open. I just missed the last campsite in Theodore Roosevelt NP by being a second too slow (probably literally) on the mouse button at 10:00A today when the campsites were released for reservation in August. Doing this each day for 3 weeks is not going to be any fun. Nice to see the interest in camping, but this is getting silly. We will need to modify our trip quite a bit.

[Merlin]

We don't like to stay in private campgrounds that have dozens of paved sites slotted side by side. To my traditionalist view of camping, that's not much different than an overnight in a Walmart lot. That being said, we will be forced into those some nights on our trip west because public camp sites are already booking up 6 months in advance. I just reserved a KOA pavement slot site for the night after our visit to Theodore Roosevelt NP and the KOA site with water and 30A power was $98. !! 

[Merlin]

Most of our sites for the trip are now reserved. After Labor Day, sites became a bit more available. A couple of the national parks we are visiting have a new timed entrance permit arrangement, but fortunately anyone with a camping reservation can enter the park anytime. Our solar set up will be busy because quite a few places we want to spend some time, like Arches National Park, have no power. I'm not even going to tally up the camping costs! Unless you're tent camping in national forest campgrounds, campsites are pricey these days.

We're looking forward to the Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho's Snake River canyon, the Oregon coast, the redwoods, several places in Utah, and the Rocky Mountains. All REALLY different than Michigan!

[GoElectric]

As we our preparing for our 2 mo. longest trip ever, we are running into the same issues. Split seconds count on the dates you need!  We have had some successes and some compromises, and many more to do in British Columbia which has a shorter window. Have dates marked on the calendar and alarms set on the phone. We just got fiber Internet to the home and it helps.  We would have liked a little larger camper, but went with the 16' (22' actual) so we could get in the smaller sites in the older State and National Park campgrounds which helps some.  We also noticed that the free BLM sites were getting crowded and limited too.  Also found our enroute commercial sites very high too.  Almost the same as some semi decent hotels such as a Microtel and thinking of that as an option.

I'm seeing and hearing the problem is new RV's are being produced and sold quickly and you can see many massive RV Sales lots along the interstates but no new campgrounds are being built or expanded. No more winging it and going when and where you please without planning. I read about making Florida reservations next Winter and it said planning to the second, months or years in advance is the only way and you better like it and get used to it, or go without. What bothers us is arriving at our campsite and seeing the reserved units unfilled  and nobody be able to use it for a night or two. Seems like they reserve for just in case we want to go. Also, wondering if bots are reserving similar to concert tickets for resale.

Best wishes for success on everybody's camping reservations!

[Merlin]

I suspect the use of bots to reserve multiple sites is the reason reserveamerica.com is now aggressively using anti-bot log-in credentials. Unfortunately I see where some folks have complained that in the time it takes to get through the reCAPTCHA screens someone else reserved the site they wanted. One web site I found is devoted to helping people get a site in California parks and recommended doing all the log in screens and even credit card entry so at the exact time a site becomes available there is no delay in confirmation.

And yes, we have also found private campgrounds can be quite a bit more expensive than a motel.

[Merlin]

Our camper survived another winter. Whew! I'm doing the spring fit-out this weekend in prep for a trip to state park on Lake Huron next week. Everything seems to be working ok and the only repair is a new bottom seal needed on the slide out.

[Merlin]

Our week on Lake Huron was cold! One day only made it to 47F. The migrating birds were fun to watch and hear, but we couldn't stay outside for long! We had a flat tire at the campsite but the spare got us home fine.

Our new Carefree Buena Vista screen room was a nightmare of bad design. The rafters didn't hold the weight of the side panels and collapsed repeatedly. The sewing was misaligned making the zippers hard to work. The plastic clips holding the screen covers left me with bloody fingers. The bottom skirt was at least 2 feet too long, making it difficult to get in and out without stepping on it and difficult to stake out. It's too bad Dometic doesn't make the Patty O Room anymore. Ours wore out and I would have bought another one.

[Chappy133]

Somewhere on a RV Facebook page someone recently posted using garage screens for use with an awning as a bug room.  One double width screen and two single width screens is what I recall.  Would be best to measure  the lengths to make sure this would work. 

[Merlin]

We were able to do some major modifications to our Carefree screen room that involved new rafters, removal of lots of extraneous material, and zipper fixing I think it will work now for our upcoming trip west.

I had to replace 2 clearance lights on the camper that had corroded and added some self leveling caulk to the roof corners. A new cell antenna mounted on the roof and going to the booster inside greatly improved the cell signal. 2 new FLA Interstate batteries and 2 full propane tanks (after chasing out the squirrel nest) rounded out the camper prep. I think all that remains is packing up.

[djsamuel]

ENJOY and keep us posted!  Hoping that new AC works well for you.