Ever not be able to find a place to stay?

[Kirk]

A minor correction: Boondocking has nothing to do with paying (it's $40 for two weeks at our Quartzsite boondocking site). Boondocking is "camping" without facilities. And many feel it is remote too, rather than being in a store parking lot or such.

I think it used to be boondocking did mean far out in remote areas and places with just parking and no hook-ups of any kind was called dry camping. In recent years it seems boondocking has come to common usage for all camping without hook-ups. I guess it is just one of those terms that can mean whatever the user wishes since no major dictionary seems to define it.

If you want to start a real argument, try to define fulltime RVing.

 

[Oldgator73]

No, never had a problem not finding a place to stay. Reason being we were always destination campers. If our destination was more than a days drive we would stay in a safe parking area for a night. The only time this did not apply is when we took our grandchildren on a month long trip. Some places we found without reservations:
T.O. Fuller State Park, Memphis, Tn
Little Rock AFB Famcamp
Gulpha Gorge Campground, Hot Springs NP
Randolph AFB Famcamp, San Antonio, TX
We stayed at an HOA campground in Ft Walton Beach, Fl thanks to friend I worked with in England.

 

[phil-t]

Have always found a spot by calling from a list of sites at noon the day of; made that list the night before. Though we have not traveled much this summer; hopefully back it next summer/fall.

 

[SRGuy]

We just did a three week tour of British Columbia with no reservations and never had a problem. We stayed mostly in Provincial parks and found a site every time, we even drove into a Provincial Park on the Friday of a long weekend and picked a nice site that was empty. There was one Prov Park that was full one night but the private campground across the highway easily accommodated us.

We drove into one campsite in the Yukon that was completely empty - 20 sites no campers.

Rough itenerary Vancouver - Prince George - Dawson Creek - Alaska Highway to Fort Nelson and then to Watson Lake Yukon. South on the Cassiar/Stewart Highway 37 through Deas Lake and then Hwy 16 through Smithers back to Prince George. South to Cache Creek then west to Lillooet - Pemberton - Whistler - Squamish and back to Vancouver.

Rough itinerary? Lol!

 

[solarman]

as a "dyed in the wool" boondocker, I have never had a situation where I could not find a place for a night when travelling. I did on one occasion remove a no overnight parking sign from a post in a rest area !!
generally if one looks hard enough and "knows" a few tricks, there is always somewhere to stay.

 

[DonTom]

if one looks hard enough and "knows" a few tricks, there is always somewhere to stay.

That's what somebody once told me about charging an electric motorcycle. He would do things like find a coke machine in front of a store and unplug it to charge his motorcycle from that outlet.

"When there is a will, there is a way."

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[jymbee]

I did on one occasion remove a no overnight parking sign from a post in a rest area !!

So, say you're trying to do an overnight in an area marked as no overnight parking. The cops knock on your door in the middle of he night to inform you that you can't stay there. You tell them that you're simply exhausted to the point where it's not safe to drive and that you'll be on your way as soon as you get some sleep.

Hard to imagine they would insist that you hit the road anyway?

 

[SeilerBird]

So, say you're trying to do an overnight in an area marked as no overnight parking. The cops knock on your door in the middle of he night to inform you that you can't stay there. You tell them that you're simply exhausted to the point where it's not safe to drive and that you'll be on your way as soon as you get some sleep.

Hard to imagine they would insist that you hit the road anyway?

Generally speaking it is not the cops who would knock on your door after hours, more than likely it will be a rent-a-cop. If you told them you were to tired to continue they would probably give you some slack.

 

[UTTransplant]

I don’t think I have ever been absolutely unable to find a spot just for the night. We seldom stay in campgrounds just overnight anyway. I do think it is much harder to find spots for 2-4 days than it was a couple of years ago.

 

[John Stephens]

I consider boondocking to be no hookups, regardless of cost. We boondocked in Goblin State Park in Utah this year for free but also boondocked in Gooseneck State Park and paid $10 per night. I call it "dry camping" if we are staying in a parking lot and "boondocking" if off the grid.

In regard to the OP's original question, we are finding it more difficult to get a spot without reservations this past year because of all the new people getting into RV'ing. I prefer to go where I want, when I want, and stay for as long as I want, but unless you're really off the grid, that is. becoming more and more difficult. We are touring the national parks, so that is why we find it necessary to make reservations, sometimes as much as a year in advance at the most popular places. And we are finding that we can't be picky about amenities like we used to be. Sometimes, we have to settle for 30A service instead of 50A, and oftentimes, we get a back-in space rather than a pull-through. When we plan out our trips now, we try to stay off-grid as much as possible, but when we get close to the bigger parks, we know reservations are going to be a necessity.

 

[Fastlane Tracks]

Here’s some food for thought
In the states most mid sized towns have one of three or four fraternal organizations such as the Elks,Moose or Eagles of which most offer their property for traveling “members” to have a place to camp as well as serving food and beverage.
In a pinch its nice to have a friend almost any where offerings a place to park your RV night

 

[DonTom]

Sometimes, we have to settle for 30A service instead of 50A,

Other than needing to run both A/C units, does that often become an issue? What else will cause the need to be over 30 amps / 3,600 watts?

Other than charging my electric motorcycle! With my external chargers, I can charge the small one I take with my RV up to 6.4KW. But I am rarely in a hurry to charge it up anyway.

With my new RV, 50 amp service will be a new thing to me. I was wondering why or when I would need it, in December, when I do most of my RVing.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[UTTransplant]

Other than needing to run both A/C units, does that often become an issue? What else will cause the need to be over 30 amps / 3,600 watts?

-Don- Reno, NV

Using the dryer (if you have one), induction cooktop, and a convection oven along with an AC is challenging on 30 amp. We just do one or two at a time.

 

[DonTom]

Using the dryer (if you have one), induction cooktop, and a convection oven along with an AC is challenging on 30 amp. We just do one or two at a time.

IOW, all the stuff I don't have or would never use.

That includes the A/C in December.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Old_Crow]

You only think you'd never use the washer/dryer because you don't have one.

 

[DonTom]

You only think you'd never use the washer/dryer because you don't have one.

That is probably true, at least if at an RV park where they have such anyway. But do RV washers and driers get used often while boondocked?

The water waste for washing as well as the current drain for drying I would think would be major issues when boondocked.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[UTTransplant]

You only think you'd never use the washer/dryer because you don't have one.

Absolutely true! So glad my tshirts and jeans no longer get over dried in a commercial laundromat!

That is probably true, at least if at an RV park where they have such anyway. But do RV washers and driers get used often while boondocked?

The water waste for washing as well as the current drain for drying I would think would be major issues when boondocked.

-Don- Reno, NV

Didn’t think we were talking about only boondocking. Our “normal” boondocking is to spend 5-7 days without hookups then head into a full hookup site to do laundry and stuff like grocery shopping. Particularly in popular locations, places get busy and noisy on weekends, so we frequently leave the boondock spots to the working locals who only get weekends to enjoy. And I have run a quick load of laundry occassionally since our tanks are actually good for 7-9 days. I just do it on a day when we will have the generator on for other things like baking in the convection oven or running the AC.

 

[Old_Crow]

My boondocking habits, when I travel, are pretty much the same as Kevin's. I've got enough clothes that I can go a couple of weeks if I have to. In that case, if the next park I check in to has a decent laundry facility, I might use it just to save time. If the laundry room is nasty, I'll just use my own.
I've used the washer on the road, but usually only if it's a place I can drain gray water on the ground(there are places that allow that).

 

[Rob&Deryl]

I spent an entire day this week unsuccessfully looking for a site for March in AZ. Back to it tomorrow.

 

[DonTom]

if it's a place I can drain gray water on the ground(there are places that allow that).

I thought I heard here before that doing such was illegal everywhere.

-Don- Reno, NV