R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > Camping Adventures
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: Trip planning?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedTrip planning?

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12
Author
Message
Ghosthawk View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Location: Fargo ND
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 128
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Trip planning?
    Posted: 07 Jul 2018 at 7:00am
We have not taken a trip yet. But I already have allstays and a free/low cost camping site to use.

The one I have not seen mentioned thus far was Casino's.

Free or near free stays (seemed 5$ was average) per night with dump station.
Now I don't know about water or power. But if all I needed was a level secure spot to grab some sleep a casino seems to fit that pretty well.

They may not have showers but you know they have bathrooms and decent food.
Back to Top
Richand Cindy View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 Apr 2016
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 328
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2018 at 8:35am
All of our trips are planned almost to the minute.  We try to find destinations on our route so that we stop for two days and sight see.  If there is nothing and we just have to stop we joined Harvest Hosts.  They are wineries, farms, museums that let you park for one night free.  Some let you use their water and electricity.  All let you put the slide out and cook outside. You should call ahead a day or two before and arrive before closing and make a purchase (not required just good manners).  You can check on their website to see what is in the area for your planned route to see if it is worth paying the $45 year fee.  They will let you see what is there without giving away the name of the place.  We use this instead of Walmart/Crackerbarrel lots.  Some of them have been just beautiful and usually you are the only one there
OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel
Back to Top
mjlrpod View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Location: Massachusetts
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1214
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2018 at 9:32am
I'm leaving for washington d.c. soon (8 - 9 hours away), and i searched for cabelas locations to stay at. I found one in hamburg penn, within 2 hours of my campsite (that's not available till morning)and then chose my route to go thru there on day one. I plan to stay there for the night, and called them to make sure it's ok. I might have lucked out too, I hear THAT cabelas is huge, and many people spend 4 or 5 hours to go thru it. Anyone here been there? 
2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding
Back to Top
Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Location: Near Nashville
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1446
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2018 at 9:41am
It seems like where you stop may depend very much on whether you're retired.  I'm not retired yet, so when I go somewhere I rarely get more than a week and two weekends.  9 days.  And I often go somewhere at least a good day and a half away, sometimes more.  And I'm not wandering.  I'm on a mission to get to my destination.  I'm not very interested in spending 6 or 10, or more, waking hours enjoying some campground along the way. 

We did take a trip a couple of years ago that had some slop in the schedule, and several interim destinations as well.  I had more than 9 days that time.  It was pretty durn enjoyable and we even stumbled on to an unexpected National Park that we took the time to visit.  I plan on retiring this year, so maybe I'll slow down and do more of that kind of traveling.  That said though, I don't know that I'll give up Walmarts and truck stops for those nights I'm in between places I want to be.  I mean, you can pull of the interstate and be asleep in your Pod in 30 minutes.  In the morning, you just wake up, maybe fix a cup of coffee, and go.  It's a very rare campground where you can do that.  The only thing bertter, in my opinion, would be an interstate truck stop, but on my travels I rarely run across a state that allows overnights.  I think Alabama does, and I transit Alabama the long way, from north to south, and back, every year but never have spent the night there.

Pods give you the freedom to travel just about anyway you want, which is great.  I'm glad to hear about people who do things differently than I do -- it gives me ideas. 

TT
2010 176
FJ Cruiser
Back to Top
Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Location: Near Nashville
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1446
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2018 at 9:56am
I did plan an interim stop at a campground a few years ago.  Got there at about 9:30 pm in a pouring rain.  The gate was locked and unmanned.  Not a thing to do but back out and go find some place else.  Ended up at a Walmart. 

The campground never told me they locked the gate at a certain point.  I'm sure they would have given me the lock combination if I told them I'd be there late.  I deal with other campgrounds like that,  No big deal.  You just have to know what you're dealing with.  I made the reservation with Reserve America, which I generally hate.  I called them the next morning wanting my money back.  (I showed up and they wouldn't let me in; I figured I deserved my money back.)  Never got it and they weren't particularly nice about it.

I got soaked to the bone dealing with backing out a narrow road in the rain, and I wasted a good two hours.  Anecdotal, I know, but that doesn't happen at a truck stop.  There was no way I could have been to this campground by 4, 5, or 6 pm.  I guess I could have stopped at a campground 250 miles earlier, but then my trip to my destination would have taken 3 days instead of two.

TT
2010 176
FJ Cruiser
Back to Top
PilotPodder View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 04 May 2016
Location: Portage, MI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 305
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2018 at 2:52pm
I'll throw my last MI to FL round trip planning experience into the mix here. I was hoping to drive two days for 1200 miles, but quickly realized at 60 mph to conserve fuel, and stops for lunch, etc. it would mean super long drive days. So it broke the trip into three 400-mile sections and used AllStays to find places to overnight close to that mileage and close to the I-75 going down and I-65 coming back. It really worked pretty well. 400 miles was really my limit and I'll admit to being fairly burned out on driving after both three-day trips. I used a mix of private campgrounds and KOAs from AllStays. They were fairly cheap in winter. ~PP
Portage, MI — 2017 RPod 179 - sold / 2017 Toyota Tundra — My RPod YouTube Videos
Back to Top
VictorVance View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 31 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 7
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2018 at 10:40pm
We (a group of friends) are planning an adventures trip this coming month. We have made a lot of plan about things to do during the trip as it will be of 4-5 days long. The problem is we need to get out sports bike to the location we are going to have camping, so my aunt is referring me to hire Florida Transporter team by contacting them through this official source, for the easy hauling of our bikes to the target location. I am really much excited about this trip as we are going to do lots of adventurous stuff there.
Victor J Vance
Back to Top
fischersinpa View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2018
Location: Chicora PA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2018 at 11:30pm
In the Midwest, e.g. Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and I think other states, many small towns have camping spots in city and/or county parks. We're talking towns of 200 to 2000 people, so I use the word "city" very loosely. Most that we've used or checked out for future use had at least 30 amp hook ups and many had water hook ups as well. Not to mention, most are less than $20 a night. You can pull off the interstate and usually find one within five miles, and you don't have to listen to highway noise all night.
2016 Toyota Tundra
2017 179 "The Hodge Pod"
Back to Top
crw8sr View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 12 Oct 2017
Location: Omaha Nebraska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 328
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2018 at 11:35pm
Life on the Great Plains!
Chuck & Lyn
Izzy, Morkie. RIP
Zoe Joy & Gracie, Yorkie
2018 R Pod 190   
2019 Traverse

In moments of adversity;when life's a total wreck, I think of those worse off than me and really feel like heck.
Back to Top
Olddawgsrule View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Location: New Hampshire
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1014
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2018 at 6:21am
In the Nor'east, free is tough to come by. Yet they are there and mostly if you ask. We stayed 5 times on our Maritimes run for free at Tourist Sites (3 being lighthouses). Some of our best stays! And, of course, a few places I asked they said no. Hey, why not at least try?

I also did not wait till late in the day to start looking.

Allstays became the 'go-to' app on the run. With 'freecampsites.net' being in the mix. After talking to another on the road, I started using Google and found it works pretty well.

Being the Maritimes run was in Canada, I had 3 other apps with me dedicated (or mostly) to Canada. Never went to them..


Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
Truck Camper Build
2004 F150 My Overlander
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz