When my parents planned our month-long camping trips each year, in January 
or February they would write to the tourism departments of each of the states we hoped to visit. Then in April or May they would receive large packages of material, including maps, tour guides, and campground information. They would pore over this happy haul to determine our route for July or August. It was a most enjoyable exercise!
With the advent of the Internet, there is a much greater volume of information available only seconds away. I guess that’s a good thing, but for someone with perfectionist tendencies, one can agonize for days over whether the ideal campsite has been chosen from the myriad available. Complicating the process are sites like Rvillage.com and Campendium.com, where people describe their favourite sites. Of course, everyone has personal needs & preferences, and what is great for one may be not-so-much for someone else.
As previously mentioned, in addition to national, state, and provincial parks, there are also thousands of private parks. Thanks to the Internet, we can 
often zoom in on individual campsites, with detailed descriptions of length, width, level, shade, grass, proximity to local attractions, etc. We can also read reviews written by other campers who have stayed there: The good, bad, and ugly.
If we are needing a quick in and out, then free Interstate rest areas, Walmart parking lots, and Flying J Truck Stops are our overnight of choice, although none of them are technically “campsites”. Courtesy for owners and other users says you don’t put down your levellers, extend your slides and awning, and set out chairs and your bbq, unless you intend to feed everyone in the vicinity…
Boondockerswelcome.com provides detailed descriptions of private properties whose owners are willing to have RVers stay for free. The owners also receive your profile, so they can decide whether or not they would like you to stay, and can accommodate you on the proposed dates. We expected to stay at more boondockerswelcome.com sites, but in one case the host’s mother had just passed away, and in another the host was also travelling out of state. The website is extremely easy to navigate, and we certainly hope to use this resource more in future.
Harvest Hosts also has an easy web site, and details free parking in vineyards and farms with large swaths of land. It is expected that you shop at their wine store, or market, but for us, that isn’t a problem. LOL.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. equivalent to crown 
land, allows free or cheap camping on many properties across the U.S. They have an app that helps in selecting an appropriate spot, whether you are tent camping, or driving a 40’ motorhome. We stayed 2 weeks on BLM land in Quartzsite, Arizona, and would definitely choose this option again, 
now that we have added solar power.
Another campsite choice is https://freecampsites.net, which provides a list of free or extremely cheap campsites on your route. We are currently staying in a municipal campground in Levelland, Texas, just outside Buddy Holly’s former home in
Lubbock. Surprisingly, our campsite comes with free 50 amp service, free water hook-up, and free dumpstation! As the sign says, there are only a few (maybe 7) large pull-through sites available on a first come, first served basis, but we had no difficulty finding a spot around 2 pm, after our drive from Roswell yesterday.
There have certainly been times when we have enjoyed the full-service parks or resorts at up to $98. for 2 nights, allowing us to visit friends, access laundries, swimming pools and other attractions. But when free is available, then Scottish roots take hold. LOL.
Other options for consideration at private parks include special rates for Passport America members (we received 50% off at the Grand Canyon), Good Sam, FMCA, Escapees, and AAA members (usually 10 % off), but sometimes you have to read the fine print, indicating that rate is not available for the time period you are considering.
I’m not sure if choosing a campsite is more or less fun than in my parent’s day. 
We still like to pick up local maps and attraction booklets at tourism offices, usually found when crossing into a new state. But one thing is for sure, there are a lot worse activities our there. Enjoy the great outdoors!
Cheers!
enough to make the urinals in a seedy biker bar at closing time smell good! Turns out our china toilet was cracked all the way around the bottom of the bowl – likely from the extreme cold and bumpy roads leaving Winnipeg. Thanks to Joseph at Sierra Mobile RV in Port Isabel, Texas, we now have a sweet new throne. LOL.
When we arrived in Dallas, the connection to our new power hose reel was leaking, forming a 4” icicle from our motorhome to the ground. Also turned out not to be a bad thing, as everyone was encouraged to leave their taps dripping a little, to prevent them from freezing in the unseasonable temperatures.
as the brakes on our Smart car were totally seized up! (I think it had to do with the damp salty sea air that deposits rust on anything metal within minutes.) A call to AAA brought a flatbed truck from Brownsville, taking our little seizer (LOL) to a “garage” in Port Isabel. I use the term garage advisedly, because it looked nothing like Canadian Tire. Of course it didn’t have the overhead either, and Dan did an excellent job of getting us mobile again. Working outside, which was his usual practice, he replaced the rear brakes, but couldn’t look at the front brakes because it was too cold! He promised to look at them for free when it warmed up, and I said I’d bring it back then. I did and he did. If you ever need mechanical assistance in Port Isabel, Dan’s Auto Specialists is the place to go.
Last week in Albuquerque, we made an appointment at Camping World to have a tire pressure monitoring system (tpms) installed. Unfortunately, the new young “technician” (and I use the term advisedly) had no idea what he was doing. It took him 5 ½ hours to do a 1 ½ hour job, and he still didn’t get it right. After complaining to the manager, the head of the service department hooked it up, admitting that the young guy had never installed a tpms before. One of our transmitters is still not working, but I hope to have it fixed in Oklahoma City, at the latest.
almost impossible to leave our motorhome. Even though we kept all the windows shut, a layer of dusty sand is now covering everything inside and outside of our motorhome. Each of our slide-outs is covered by a fabric topper, which flapped and ripped in the wind. When the wind died down, I climbed up and taped the tears, but we now have an appointment to have them replaced in Oklahoma.
neither did the levelers, slideouts, lights and radio, water pump, to name a few things in our coach. I plugged back in right away and got the slideouts in and the levelers up and started the engine. We drove to the nearest rv service centre, but being Sunday, it turned out the service area was closed, requiring me to disconnect the car so that we could turn around and go somewhere else. We called a 24/7 emergency rv repair place, and got a recorded message. We left a message that we were on our way to their shop in Albuquerque, but when we arrived, no one was there, and there was still no one answering the phone. We decided to drive to Roswell, today’s destination, and are staying at a full-service rv park until we can go to a garage in the morning.
Ok, with supreme apologies to Dionne Warwick and the city of San Jose, I kept humming this 1968 song all the way from our campsite just north of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Santa Fe this week. Unbeknownst to me, Betty was humming the same song all the way there also. LOL!
We had difficulty finding a campground in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and ended up in the municipal Coronado Campground in Bernalillo, New Mexico, about half an hour north of New Mexico’s largest city (Albuquerque), and an hour south of its capital (Santa Fe). Of course again we 
didn’t know what to expect, but decided to book a week’s stay in order to receive a discount and have time to visit both cities.
and firepit for $21./ night, including water and electricity, in a delightful little campground on the banks of the Rio Grande River!
appropriate for this angel!
The large downtown section of Santa Fe is a very cohesive, regulated area: You won’t find any fast food restaurants with their gaudy neon signs there. With no highrises, nearly all buildings are smooth earthtone adobe structures, providing a very calming 
impression: Santa Fe style. Artwork is everywhere, and there are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of art galleries in the city. (I didn’t google the exact number, which I’m sure is available, but the volume of art is most impressive!) Again, attached are just a few of the many 
galleries we passed.
part of the community.
what we can currently carry and exhibit — Some very attractive pieces by extremely talented artisans!
large assortment of petrified wood, which looks amazingly like both wood and granite, but would surely break any chainsaw attempting to cut it. Millions of years old, it sits in a large area of arid land, which was once a tropical forest.
In the same park is the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark. The many surrounding hills contain an amazing range of colours and shapes, as can been seen in the accompanying photos.
was more about selecting a free campsite half way between the Grand Canyon and Albuquerque, but the spectacular sights and the delicious chicken soup both turned out to be good for the soul, as well as the solar…
It is a very sad time when the people, who have promised to take me on their adventures, go to the Grand Canyon not once but twice and forget me both times!
Today we decided to go back to the Grand Canyon to capture what we were told are amazing rock colourings as the sun goes down. Unfortunately, as Betty & I approached the park toward dusk, so did a big black cloud from the west. While we didn’t receive any rain, we also didn’t get the sunset light show we were anticipating.
In hopes that the sun would still appear, I set up the camera on a tripod facing one of the thousands of amazing vistas. In this post are a number of pictures taken from that single location.
again on April 30, 2020, and again November 3, 2020, so we’ll just have to hope for better sunsets then! LOL
those occasions on our overlandish adventure when an exclamation was more than appropriate. We have just returned from the Grand Canyon and are trying to put words to what we have just seen. In an unusual turn of events, words escape us both! LOL
Of course everyone who has been raves about this one of seven natural wonders of the world. Ya, ya, can the reality live up to the hype? Well, yes it can! I limited myself to 87 pictures from the southern rim of the canyon, which stretches 446 river km long, up to 29 km wide, and 1.6 km deep. This post only includes seven pictures, but we’re not yet ready to delete the rest!
to be seeing it differently each time. The way the light changed throughout the day; the variations in rock formations; the changing colouring and striations on the cliffs, all affected our visual experience. It was one “wow” moment after another for the 20 km we hiked today. Ya, it was a great workout!
On return to our campsite at the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel RV Park in Williams, Arizona, we selected the pictures to add to this post, knowing that none of them fully capture the panoramic experience at the cliff face.
from Williams, others see the park via helicopter or mule ride down a steep path in the cliff. Some hire 4x4s to take them to the bottom, while others go white water rafting down the Colorado River at the base of the canyon. All of these are expensive propositions, and we have to admit to connecting to our thrifty Scottish roots and our fixed income.
We used the America the Beautiful pass purchased in New Mexico, so entry to this National Park didn’t cost us anything extra. We used our Passport America membership at the campground, so we received half off the regular price for accommodation. We left our motorhome in the campground and drove our Smart car through the park, so parking was always convenient, and when I topped up the tank at Pilot, I was able to use my Flying J card to get 6 or 8 cents off a gallon. A very economical visit!
moving on to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, so don’t be surprised if you see more pics of this natural wonder. And don’t be surprised if you hear Bet exclaim again “That’s a frickken big hole!”
with fresh tasty pastries. I picked up both grass fed and grain finished rib eye steak, and am really looking forward to comparing them at our next official campsite in Williams, Arizona.
Major holidays for us have always been times for family gatherings, so it was a bittersweet experience for Betty and me to be thousands of miles from our children and grandchildren during the Easter weekend. Despite how much we enjoy the hot weather and unique scenery, we miss our family, and were so relieved to be able to see them all together for Easter dinner through the marvels of FaceTime. There is no doubt it was the highlight of our weekend!
On arriving in Phoenix, we chased off the Quartzsite desert dust by treating our motorhome to a full service wash and hand dry, back to its sparkling full body paint job. Yeah! We then checked into the Phoenix Metro RV Park, in close proximity to all local attractions, and took advantage of the on-site laundromat and swimming pool to freshen up our clothes and ourselves.
Feeling refreshed we went on a tour of the town, although it was a very quick visit. The attached downtown pictures were taken by Betty from a moving car in moderate traffic, so please excuse the shaky framing… As we exited a tunnel into the downtown, I 
was reminded of a Christian Worthington painting we have in Winnipeg, showing Lazarus transitioning from darkness to light – a very dramatic image. Because we were leaving Phoenix on Easter Sunday morning, Betty & I attended a Saturday evening service where we were again inspired by the recounting of Jesus’ transition from death to life. Hallelujah! He is risen!
Our next stop was the Lake Pleasant Regional Park, just north of Phoenix, where we found another picturesque campsite with more dramatic backyard sunsets over the 
surrounding mountains. You may tire of seeing so many sunset pictures, but we continue to be amazed at the beauty of the land and sky as the sun goes down each night! Being Easter Sunday, we ended the day with a fabulous feast of lamb (with mint sauce, of course), potatoes and asparagus, all cooked on our trusty barbie, and paired with a bottle of Mouton 
Cadet, a tasty Bordeaux.
