Tidbits and Tips from our RV adventures

Since we are not on the road for now, I thought I'd write up some of my thoughts of what I've learned after all this travel, just some tips and tricks.

First up: we've used a LOT of public restrooms. A LOT. Besides that we have been out and about at national parks, boondocking (more on that later) in Walmart parking lots, the best place to go use the restroom is NOT in the motorhome but in a public restroom.  That being said, there are some things I infinitely prefer, like being able to exit the restroom without having to touch a handle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or like this toilet stall--it had the best kind of latch AND a strip that kept people from being able to peek in.  When you're in a public restroom and there are kids in there too, let's just say they can't resist peeking into each and every stall as they go by...

 

 

Because sometimes the stalls looked like this:

There have been some real "winners" when it comes to public restrooms too, at gas stations and in campgrounds. This one was at the worst campground we ever stayed at which had a bar our front and was rockin' and rollin' the few nights we stayed there.  The bathroom had a gated, locked door, was all tile and cinder block, no stall door, no shower curtain, bathroom for one, basically.  The entire building smelled like a litter box, we had to ask for the key at the campground "office" by the bar and honestly, you can't even see how "glorious" this bathroom was.

 

The toilet is peeking from the right and straight at the end was the shower stall.

There are lots of RV park apps or other apps that can help you out while you're on the road.

ParkAdvisor was the one we used the most, sometimes RV Parky or Passport America, to find an RV park to stay at nearby.  You open the app, have it find where you are, then it shows you what is close by, including anything like a Flying J or TA truck stop, Walmart or Cabela's parking lot, and all the campgrounds available in the area.

You can read reviews, find out information and otherwise learn about the RV park before you actually call them up to make a reservation.  Interesting side note: we RARELY called days or weeks ahead to get a spot, mostly just called as we were heading there and never had a hard time find a place to be.  The worst was in Louisville, Kentucky when we were planning on truck stops and every single one in the greater Louisville area was STUFFED, absolutely no room, so we had to go find a campground instead. 

This campground was our FAVORITE by far of all the ones we stayed at.  My measuring stick for a campground? Well maintained and clean bathrooms, hot water, good water pressure, has a laundromat on site, all the rest of the campground is well maintained also, it helps when they have a pool or other amenities for the kids too! You pay more for a campground that is "resort style", like a KOA where there are playgrounds and pools, plus a meeting space or a clubhouse-style building. 

We learned about boondocking before we left on our adventure and did it a LOT! Boondocking is where you pull up and stay for free. Sometimes you can do it on BLM land, we did it outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park, sometimes you can boondock at a Cabela's or a Walmart.  Most Cabela's have an RV section, spaces marked off for semis or RVs, a dump station so you can dump your tanks and fill up again, often for free! Walmarts were nice in that most of them are 24 hours so if you really needed to go inside to use the bathroom, you could.  It was always nice to be able to pull up, go inside and get groceries if needed, make dinner, and fall in bed. A whole lot less hassle than checking into a campground and getting set up for the night!

We HEAVILY relied on Google maps for this trip. The coolest thing about Google maps is that you can rearrange the route to make the shortest drive time, in the best possible order. You can also tell it to avoid ferries or toll roads, if you don't want to do that.  (Side note: taking a ferry with a vehicle is VERY expensive. We considered it a few times but always ended up leaving our car in the parking lot and getting on the ferry without it.)

A fun "extra" when using Google maps as you are driving: Google state icons. When you cross state lines, you get a "Welcome to ________" and a little picture of someone representing that state. Utah's is a train conductor (the Transcontinental Railroad met in Utah in 1869) and the first one of these we managed to capture was Minnesota's: it's Prince, he was from Minnesota!

(or the Artist formerly known as Prince, )

You can even get one for the United States

And Canada!

When you are driving a big rig (ours was a 35 foot Class A motorhome, with a tow dolly with a small vehicle towed behind), you have to figure you will drive slower, it will take you longer to get places.  You have to spend a lot of time with Google maps satellite view to see what the parking lots look like and if there is room for your rig. Because of the car + tow dolly, we could not back up without unhooking the car, so we had to make sure there were pull through spaces or roundabouts for us to get in and out. We got ourselves in trouble at least once, on the Iowa side of the lock and dam between Iowa and Wisconsin. We could see the turnaround at the end on Google satellite view. What we didn't know is that right by the pullout below the words "Lock and Dam #11" in the picture below was a secured access gate. The general public couldn't drive to the end and use the turnaround!

When you see a sign like this:

Just know that in a big rig, you have to go THAT slow or possibly slower.  Those aren't suggestions by any means in a big rig. (This was in Saguaro National Park and it was the scenic drive that we did in our car, not the rig!)

I had ZERO idea that most national parks are FREE.  100% fee free. If you want to go to Yosemite or Grand Canyon, you will have to pay, but keep in mind that your admission fee is for 7 consecutive days. If you are military, you get a free annual pass. If you have a 4th grader, you can get one annual pass for your student while they are in 4th grade.  If you have someone in your family with a documented disability (physical OR cognitive) you can get a free lifetime pass to the national parks. The documented disability pass also gives a discount on tour tickets for the passholder and on campsites. But really, most of the parks are absolutely free to enter, you only pay if you are camping or taking a cave tour (like Mammoth Cave).

Cool thing I learned, didn't know before: each section in the National Parks passport book has a different color. When you go to that area of the United States, the stamp there is that color too!  You do not have to purchase a passport book to get the stamps, in fact, we would use the passport stamp to "write" the date on each kid's Junior Ranger booklet at every national park. I've filled this section of the book (different books) several times, gotten a few other stamps in other regions of the United States, but didn't realize that the other sections had different color of stamp pad until this trip!

The other tidbit you should know: the Junior Ranger program is AMAZING. Sometimes they have "not-so-Junior-Ranger" booklets or "Senior Ranger" booklets if adults want to do it. It's generally aimed at kids 6-12, but all age ranges can do it and it's a blast. You learn so much! Don't ever miss the park film in the visitor center. They are really well done films and help you know what you want to see and do while you're there or give a good overview of the historical aspects of the place if it's a historical site.

 

We don't know when we will be hitting the road again. We are glad you have come along with us through reading our blog!