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With the purchase of Colt 2.0, and the 'financially you're good' from the financial guy, retirement is more of a reality than a some day plan. Just don't know when yet. I know life likes to mess up plans sometime, but the dreaming part can still be done.

My dream is to see as many national parks as possible, maybe some monuments, etc and if more life & time allow see more out of the way places later.

I found a few sites specific for routing the contiguous parks (below). My question is, which direction did you first start? To see family? Specific path? How do you plan you campground a year out? Far as I can tell for now is there is a 6-month range and don't want to spend every week figuring out and reserving a campground in 6 months. Would like to have at least the first year planned until I can really figure out the full timing life.

Any hints, suggestions and 'what I did' would be helpful.

http://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/news/a39479/data-scientist-maps-ultimate-american-road-trip/

http://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/news/a35084/road-trip-map/

http://www.us-parks.com/road-trip.html

Thanks Cheryl for posting that. I have trying to figure out just how to go about seeing all of the National Parks. So far I am winging it until I have my surgery. I want a loose itinerary, as I never know what I might find on the way, but need a plan. That was helpful.

I am one of the full-timers who do long-term plans. Here is kind of the thinking I go through. Understand that I have already done a lot of national parks, but I still like to stay at national parks and scenic places, but I am trying to travel a lot slower than in the past. It is cheaper and more relaxing, and I have years ahead of me.

First, I tend to plan my trips partly around family because I have kids in Ohio and California, plus have a lot of cousins in Florida. I think about when would be a good time to be somewhere--like in California when the kids are out of school and the weather is not too hot or too cold. This year, I am leaving Ohio in early May, but my younger son is taking his family to Grand Canyon, so I want to meet him there in mid-June. I take Google Maps and plot out a route that will get me there, while not rushing too much. I look at where I can find Corps of Engineering campgrounds along the way, and block out of an Excel Spreadsheet, so many days at each place. For this trip, it means about 5-7 days at each stop--no hurry.

I also know that my California kids are probably going to Hawaii in July, so I don't want to interfere with that. Getting there in late August would be about right. (My favorite campground in Napa is at the fairgrounds and county fair is not over until Aug 20.) I also know that I want to spend the summer somewhere cool--last summer was really hot some places and I do not like HOT! So maybe higher places, like Colorado for late June and July??? OK, that means after Grand Canyon and Zion, where they are also going to be, I think north and east and look for some interesting places in Colorado. I spent a ton of time online looking for places and found some good ones, but summer can really be a pain because of crowds, so I gave up one place and found someplace else a little more out of the way. (Hint: Campgrounds near big cities tend to really be full on weekends, so I avoid those on weekends.)

So, you really have to first think about what time of year is the best for various places. For example, I want to go to Yosemite, but NOT IN SUMMER because of horrible crowds, but can't go there too late because of snow. Grand Canyon is great in spring and fall, but very busy in the summer--ditto for other big national parks, so maybe May or September/October??? I will never, ever go back to Yellowstone in July!!!!

Anyway, I use a spreadsheet and just generally block things out. Then I do my research and look at climate and crowds. Here is a good place to check weather, by the way. http://www.usclimatedata.com/

When I get confident in where I want to go when, I make reservations. By this point, I will also know what is in the area and what I want to see, but I travel slowly enough that I can still be flexible and not feel hurried.

And don't try to see all the National Parks the first year on the road! There are a lot of them, and retirement means you now have time to saunter along instead of racing.

Based on the time of year, I'd say pick one area and spend some quality time at the parks in that area.

I laughed at Judy's caps but totally agree. Those road trips to see them all would be like talking a vacation in overload mode and not enjoying anything. Part of full timing is taking time. Stop and smell the roses. See what is off the beaten path. And, yes, don't skip national monuments. They are just as magnificent.

When in travel mode I plan more than most realize but make very few reservations. I learned early on I got upset when I had to pass something because I had reservations down the road. Yes, I've had a day I only went 20 miles because something called my name. Jello is good. That said, it's nice to have a general idea... And I leave with 3 or more potential destinations I can stop at if nothing better appears ... At various points along the route.

You won't know what works best for you until you get out there... But I agree, make a general trip plan for a season or two. You can't do all of one side of this country in a season... So you'll be making return trips. And you'll discover places you like enough to want to return and others maybe not.

Going to SD the three past years, I've managed to see different things and take not quite the same route each year. This year I'll be going again and will soon be looking for other interesting things to see, stop, etc.

I just looked at the first of the Country Living articles with the map. It said this was a map of the most beautiful of the national parks. I have to argue that that is VERY objective and personal! And, to make it worse, it says you can take this whole trip in about two months. Yikes!!! I can't think of anything worse. That would be like the old European "if its Tuesday, this must be Belgium" trip. I'd say that trip as they have it mapped should not be done in less than a year, or maybe even two.

Plus, there are a lot of smaller national parks which are very beautiful.

Thanks for the info Judy & Beth. No way do I plan to do all the parks in one season. Right now the thought is find a park, stay 2 weeks, check things out and then move on. You can do a light of sightseeing / day trips from a home base for 2 weeks I'm thinking (yea that's dangerous ). Guess I'm more worried about not having reservations somewhere. Things in IL get book quickly except for mid-week, and it may be different in other states. Then what?

Cheryl,

Not having advance reservations doesn't necessarily mean "just show up at the gate at 6:00 p.m. to find a site for the night!" As you travel, you will be stopping for lunch, a break, fuel, etc. Figure about where you will be around 3:30-4:00. Check your camping guides and call parks in and around that area to reserve a site, telling them you will arrive around 4:00 p.m. Even if you prefer public land campsites (and are hoping to get into one because most don't accept reservations at the last minute) if you get through to the park often the rangers will tell you if it's really busy and full, or that there are a lot of empty sites, etc. Also, look for RV parks within a few miles and call for a site for the night if it looks like you won't be able to get into the public park. It goes without saying that you call back and cancel if your plans change and you won't make it.

There might be times when you won't be able to find anything! Doesn't happen often, but may happen. That's when you go to Plan B: decide whether you can push on to the nearest area with camping, or stop earlier than you expected to stop for the night. Like others have said - no sense rushing through life. Life is a journey, not a destination! When all else fails and it's getting darker and you're getting more tired, you look for a parking lot, a rest area, a truck stop, a WalMart or other store, a church, whatever. Should the police or security come by just tell them you got too tired to drive. I don't think there's a cop anywhere that would insist a tired driver get out on the highway! Just don't set up a campsite, like opening slides, leveling, setting out chairs, etc.

A lot depends on when and where you will be traveling, in terms of reservations. It also depends on how you like to camp.

Summer, especially anywhere near national parks, means you need reservations. Same problems on some weekends rest of the year.

But everyone has their own style about traveling and reservations. I get very nervous without reservations. I also like to stay inside national parks instead of in outside places or commercial campgrounds, so I am not happy with just driving on or staying at a parking lot or Walmart, but that is just me. You have to decide what you feel comfortable doing.

One important point--state and national parks have cancellation or change fees of maybe $8-10, but most commercial campgrounds are more like hotels, letting you cancel 24 hours in advance with no fee. Also, unless a campground caters to families, they are usually much easier to get into at the last minute. Forget KOA or Jellystone type places on weekends!!

All good info. My home now is where I park that night, so I have to get used to that. I guess that I worry about not being near something, but I will figure it all out as I go along. I worry too much sometimes, can you tell

if you do choose to stay at Wall Mart go in and make sure it is ok with the night manager....and sometimes
that isn't enough...we stopped at one had permission to stay ...about 1:30-2:00 pounding on the door cop telling
us we had to move on as the city doesn't allow stopping in the parking lots...I think if my husband was still
alive he wouldn't stop in that town yet!!! and the area we had to go through isn't fun in the light really scary at night
I think you will get the hang of it...we do sometimes over think things...but do your research as an example we used to camp host
in Island Park Idaho about 25 miles from West Yellowstone....being it was forest service you can only stay 14 days in most of the campgrounds
some fill up quickly (ours did) some did not we always mentioned the ones that would be more than likely open...also in West there are several
FS campgrounds...you may have to move from one to another just depending also in the area we were you could boondock which not many realized so
that is a possibility...have fun
sheila

Good hint Evie about the lunch stop and looking for a place to stay the night. I never thought of that. I do hope not to do a lot of driving from place to place, maybe 4 hours or so, not like the 6 hour drives to get somewhere because time is limited while I'm still working.

Judy, I'm probably going to be like you, nervous about not having reservations. Well, at least until I get the hang of full-timing. I envy RV Sue and her just winging it to the next stop. Maybe out west near BLM, etc, but probably not a good idea for any place other than the front range or near BLM areas.

Appreciate the insight ladies!

Cheryl, Liz, turned me on to the AllStays app as it has a lot of information on RV Parks. I don't always have reservations in advance, but I do want to know where I am going to be that night. For National Parks it is not all reservations only. Many have drive up also and for those you need to know the 'leave hour' so you are there when there should be some space available.

When we took the mules down the Grand Canyon and went to Denali Nat Pk, reservations one year out were required. But the time before and after is wide open. The two Parks in Denali were the ONLY reservations we had during that 3 month stay in AK. They were made one year in advance. Also, for the Grand Canyon we reserved one year out.

Nothing wrong with plans but don't make it too hard! Plans in jello gives you wiggle room. Have fun ladies, be amazed at it all and be safe.