Mark&Laurette in AZ

[Laurizona]

Hi all, we've been lurking for years but finally signed up! We are here in
SE Arizona. Love our Casita (Spirit Deluxe 2014) and have been to several western states but are thinking we'd like to branch out with longer trips (mostly we've done 1 to 2 weeks at a shot). Now that we're a little older we've found out that we like mostly "camping" and not the "travelling" so much. Question: How do you balance the camping with the drive, drive, drive? Thanks!

[Jon in AZ]

Welcome, Mark and Laurette, from up in the White Mountains!

Random thoughts... (1) Limit miles traveled per day. (2) Take a rest day or two every so many days of travel. (3) Look for camping spots that can be used as a hub for shorter day trips to explore a region. (4) Break up a really long trip with a stay with family or even a few days in a resort hotel (make sure they can accommodate parking your rig).

[Laurizona]

Thanks for the tips. Mark and I used to teach school up in Whiteriver and Show
Low, respectively, many years ago. Love the White Mountains.��

[David B.]

Welcome Mark and Laurette, from dave and paula here in Apache Junction. Jon gave good advice. We try to set a general selection of things and places to see, then try to fit in as many fiberglass rv get togethers along the way. This tends to set the pace for us. We will be attending a Scamp Camp SW in Cottonwood at the state park this Dec 5-8 Hope you two can make it.

[Gerry]

Hey Laurettte and Mark. The wife and I traveled cross country last summer, from Maine to CA up to WA then back down south to AR then back home, in our Casita Deluxe. We were hitting the National Parks and as far as driving we set points to drive to daily. We never did over 400 miles and really took our time.
Another thing is we never drove in the dark and usually was where we were going to spend the night, at a Wal*Mart if just driving though, around 3 PM.
When we got to a National park we stayed for a few days seeing all the sights around and in the evenings routed out our next leg of the journey.
If your by chance in the New England area next May, make sure you come to my Rally the Spring Fling in New England in New Hampshire It's a great time.

[NASA42]

Mark & Laurette......

I tend to separate RVrs into two principal types...."Destination campers", and 'Road Campers'.

--->Defining "Destination campers" is simple, it's all about enjoying the destination, and the travel is an annoyance at best.
--->"Road Campers" on the other hand, often have a destination or farthest away point on loop routes, but it's really about savoring everything one tours through as one goes.

I became a Road Camper about 9 years into 45 plus of RVing (about the point the kids no longer wanted to come along). It can sneak up on you. But a basic requirement tends to be ongoing enjoyment of driving. I've found about 250 miles per day (average) is a good compromise between distance and enjoying the factors along the route.

In my observation a high proportion of those who can't transition to the Road Camper type tend to drop out of RVing eventually, moving onto another approach to getting to that ultimate point. Please note that I'm not separating folks into good or bad, or into successful or unsuccessful at the RVing they do. It's just different strokes for different folks.

And I hope to meet you somewhere down the road!

Frank

[Kai in Seattle]

I guess we're road campers. We make a big loop plan, and find out everything we can along that route ahead of time, planning to stay overnight at the best/most interesting places no more than 4-5 hours apart or less. We make an effort to stop frequently to see the local sights, go to garage sales (a danger in a trailer--you can fill up awfully fast), local events like car shows and street fairs if we come across some, walk the dog, or just stand at a viewpoint and soak in the area, like we did looking out over the Oregon mesas. I'd have bet big money Oregon had no mesas...but they did. Maybe not official ones, but they looked like mesas to me. We stood there at least an hour soaking up the light, the breeze, the view, the quiet. It was an unexpected highlight.

Good luck on your travels. We really don't like driving to a spot just to camp for 2-3 days and turn around and come back. So I guess we're the road campers, the tourist travelers, not those who like to sit at the campsite sucking suds. We used to like that, but medications and suds don't always mix. Ours don't. And we prefer to move on to new thrills though we'll stay a day to do laundry, for example. We've been to some rallies, and enjoyed them very much, but I think our real style is moving on.

We were born under wandering stars.

Thanks for the interesting insights on camping styles! It was a good spur to some deeper thinking about what we like best about camping!

BEST
"K"

[Laurizona]

Thanks, we'll have to check out that Cottonwood rally in Dec.!

[Walt]

We have been camping for 30 years and find that our trips are usually about two weeks long with a return to home for a recharge and a change to accommodate the seasons and family. Our travels are usually to a destination and a week to visit the locale while living in our Casita.
Walt and Marka

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by J.F.Y.

Mark & Laurette......

I tend to separate RVrs into two principal types...."Destination campers", and 'Road Campers'.

--->Defining "Destination campers" is simple, it's all about enjoying the destination, and the travel is an annoyance at best.
--->"Road Campers" on the other hand, often have a destination or farthest away point on loop routes, but it's really about savoring everything one tours through as one goes.

...

In my observation a high proportion of those who can't transition to the Road Camper type tend to drop out of RVing eventually, moving onto another approach to getting to that ultimate point. ...

This is a very astute and interesting observation, and it got me thinking.

At present I would have to say I fall into the "destination" category. But that is because if I don't make the effort to get to a destination of interest, I end up somewhere that at best holds no interest for me, and at worst is somewhat unpleasant. This might be more true east of the Mississippi than on the west side. I have seen people (like Glen) who claim to be perfectly satisfied spending nights at Truck-stops or at Walmart, but I much prefer to get to that picturesque water-front site that is in so much demand that I had to reserve it months in advance. To me, the appeal of having a camper is to be able to spend a little time at that special lake house, or mountain cabin, or ocean front house which I would own if I had won the state lottery jackpot.

Its not that I object so much to a few nights of idling tractor-trailers or a parking lot with no amenities other than the amusement that comes from watching the middle-of-the-night shoppers at Walmart, but for me, wanderlust does not present more appeal than “destination-lust.” Sure, sometimes aimless wandering can lead you to something special, but for me that has been the exception and not the rule.

The ideal, however, is to find destinations along the way to your destination.

That takes some planning and with the competition for nice RV sites that we have now, it requires some advanced planning. Last year my destination from North Carolina was the home of Scamp trailers in Backus in Northern Minnesota, by way of New York, Canada, etc.. I planned stops of anywhere from 2 to 7 nights at 14 different places, and I can assure you that none were truck stops. Instead, each was a destination onto itself, some of which I would like to return to and some of which I can say – been there, done that. But all were pleasant places and I am happy that I put the effort into the planning.

[k corbin]

I don't want to spend lots of driving time. I just want to be a snow bird, south for the winter, north for the summer. I don't like really cold weather or hot weather either which is good since very few travel trailers are set up to cope with those extremes.

I have already been to lots of places and lived in a few as well. There are still a few "sights" I want to see but I am in no hurry. When the time comes that I feel inclined to go see them then I will turn the ignition key and head in that direction, at a leisurely pace.

When I find a location I enjoy being in then I might stay in a camp as long as the weather holds nice and as long as they allow me to stay.

I have no rule about how many hours I will drive. But I don't like to drive into the rising or setting sun and I don't want to drive after dark in areas with a lot of wildlife such as deer, cattle, antelope, etc that might run into the road. Plus it is a lot more difficult to see where turn offs are or find a camp site in the dark. Also you might disturb people who are trying to sleep if you arrive long after dark.

It is perfectly OK to not have your trailer life all mapped out ahead of time or even have the day all mapped out with activities.

[Procyonid]

Lorraine is increasingly put off by the traveling part, so we tend to break up the miles with frequent stopovers. Ultimately, she prefers to get someplace and stay there long enough to make the set up and settling in worth the drive, and the West and Southwest have a lot of options for interesting places. I highly recommend joining us at the Durango gathering at Lightner Creek Campground next May. It’s a lovely location, and well worth the drive. We live in Chandler and spent two nights on the road getting there, but came back in one day.

[Procyonid]

We are in Chandler and would welcome suggestions for places to visit in SE AZ

[Judith Neville]

Sort of the same. Back in the seventies, a friend and I took a cross country trip from NC to CA and back. We pulled a small sailboat that we slept in. Our route was decided everyday by looking at a (paper) map and finding a body of water to sail on by day's end. We saw alot of out of the way places. Met some great sailors.

[Laurizona]

Originally Posted by Procyonid

We are in Chandler and would welcome suggestions for places to visit in SE AZ

We are located in Willcox. Nearby we have the Chiracahua National Monument, Ft. Bowie, Mt. Graham, many birding opportunities such as Wings over Willcox in Jan. starring the sandhill cranes that winter here, Ramsey Canyon birding near Sierra Vista, and many wineries in our area with several festivals a year. Willcox is at 4200 ft elevation so not as warm in the winter as say Tucson, 90 miles to our east.

[Procyonid]

Thank you Mark and Laurette. We are trying to find some options down your way, and occasionally I travel alone so that Lorraine doesn’t get burned out on “the camping thing.” Our email is homeraggie at gmail, if you are inclined to make the connection. Russell and Lorraine