Once you have tried various and sundry parks and campgrounds, you'll come to a conclusion of what you like. With one more year until retirement, I usually move every week or two and prefer Federal/State/City&County parks for their serenity. I use U.S. Campgrounds and occasionally, Passport America. Last year I spent the winter in Florida on family acreage.
This year has been a little warmer. Thank goodness because I'm in the Carolinas on a commitment and currently at a county park that offers an extended stay with a reduced price.
I find it funny that you used the "idiot's guide" as I just loaned my copy out to a friend that's interested in the RVing lifestyle! It's a great reference.
As for campground guide, if you have internet connection, then I'd use that as a primary. I keep a paper copy of one of the campground guides (can't remember which one right now) for whenever you don't have internet access.
Woodalls and Good Sams are in the process of being combined and also undergoing a major revision so would wait awhile for any printed book. Use either on line, with RV reviews and you will be in good shape. All the other suggestions above are also good--no need for a printed guide unless you are looking for the night while driving down the road.
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That's a nice interface map but quite incomplete. For example I know there are at least 5 locations in Minot--and the map lists but two.
The US campgrounds link has a similar interface--and at 11,500 campsites it would take over 31 years to visit them all spending just one night in each!
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 09:41am by pianotuna *
Woodall's or Trailer Life can each be purchased for around $20.00. There is a ton of information in either. Yes, much of it is advertising, but that is useful if you are wanting some specific services such as 50 AMP electrical, laundry facilities, tours originating from the park, a location near an attraction, and a myriad of other information. The guides also rate the parks, and while many will disagree with the exact ratings, they do give at least some guidance as to how nice the park is. My biggest complaint about them are they aren't really user friendly to metropolitan areas. The parks are listed by their legal city addresses, which are often small suburbs. Take a city like Dallas and you will find few, if any parks listed in Dallas. You have to know Sachse, The Colony, Hebron, Farmersville, Melissa and a hundred other little towns by name and then look up those towns to see if they have a park. The guides shouldn't be your only resource, but I find them very helpful when out of the road. We start looking at the book about 2 in the afternoon and try to find a place to stay by 6 or 7. I can find a whole lot of information on potential parks in a few minutes, much faster than I can navigate surfing the web on my smartphone.
That's a nice interface map but quite incomplete. For example I know there are at least 5 locations in Minot--and the map lists but two.
The US campgrounds link has a similar interface--and at 11,500 campsites it would take over 31 years to visit them all spending just one night in each!
Very true... I'm not sure what they used to determine which campsites are on the map.
We also use Reserve America's website.. They have a search tool... We for example will input a date, length of stay, RV, 30 amp electric, near a city...and see what campsites might be available to reserve there as well.
I"ll be bookmarking your link too... Awesome site!!
Can't have too many campsites to choose from. Life is just too short! Wish I could see them all....or at least the good ones.
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 10:15am by chuggs *
Thanks everyone for answering. Which brings me to a new question. I'll definitely be going online for
places to stay rather than purchase a book (other than the Idiot's Guide...) but I hate to sound stupid.
We have internet & DirecTV at home. When we're ready to go, do we transfer those services to our motor home or is there an extra fee?. I'm not sure when it says there's cable TV & wiFi at a site, if you still have to pay for the service to originate. I know I could call our internet service & DTV & ask but I'm reluctant to tell very many people for safety reasons that our house will be sitting empty. Have been reading good advice on that on the Snowbird Forum. I don't WANT to leave our house empty. Wish we could rent it out or have a house sitter but husb is rather set in his opinions. You can't fight everything & we've been married 32 yrs so have to pick your battles for the sake of peace. The first winter will be trial & error. We might be happy to come to our home when winter is over, who knows?
I think we'd rather be in a 'resort' type atmosphere than 'camping' but have been to neither. Money IS an object as we'll be living on retirement money & I'm going to try to odd-job-it to supplement. I saw Oasis Resort in Vegas on the web last night & it looked packed in like sardines which doesn't seem appealing. We will bring bark collars for our two toy dogs but wonder if there'll be a senior section in some of the parks.
Again, thanks for great info. Will look at the websites suggested.
We have been using the Trailer Life Directory on CD for several years. You can load it on your laptop and don't need an internet connection to use it. It will provide just about everything you need in planning your trip, including campground information along the way. Although a new edition comes out yearly, we only buy every other year since the information doesn't change that much. It will also show hotels, RV service centers, dining establishments and a lot more. The campsite information portion will tell you if WiFi is available, cable, etc.
You can take your Direct TV satellite receiver from home and use it in your RV. If you do not have a satellite antenna built in, you can take a portable dish and use that. I use a Wineguard Carry-out - got tired of searching for the signal.
You've come to the right place for information. There is a ton of information here.
Happy RVing.
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