Campgrounds and Calendars

Overall Map of our Journey

Chat GPT, "Make me a one year itinerary of an RV trip around the US starting and ending in Tucson, AZ, June 14, 2025 using the following rules:  Travel no more than 200 miles per day; Stay at each campsite at least 2 nights*; No travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays;  Hit the following waypoints en route; Suggest boondocking sites but stay at a high rated RV Campsite every 2 weeks or so."  

Later: "Add National Parks and Points of interest along the route, put calendar dates and days in a grid format."

And again: "Map this route with waypoints."

That start was informative giving a bird's eye view of timelines, distances, RV parks, National parks.  Allowed me to ponder and imagine the overall trip.  

Attended the Arizona Airstream Club rally in Wilcox, AZ and learned a ton from those who venture.  Downloaded RV Life Trip Wizard and Steve, who happened to be be going earlier and in the opposite direction, kindly shared his itinerary along the Pacific coast which I used more or less in reverse.

In order to ensure campsites at the most popular places, we have to reserve up to 6 months in advance.  This varies by Nation (Canada, US), State and Province, from 6 months, 4 months, 12 weeks, etc.  and many have releases at different times (e.g. 6 months, and some sites held until 4 days prior to allow more spontaneous travel).  

The most dauting experience: Banff National Park in Alberta.  The website reservations for the entire summer season opened on one day.  I happened to be in an in person leadership meeting and was (trying to be) discretely logged in on my personal laptop.  I excused myself from the meeting at 2 minutes before 8 and the website stated we would be randomly queued up, those that joined after 8 would be added at the end.  At 8 o'clock on the button, the website churned and told me I was queued up at number 15,358!!!  And that it would take approximately 30 minutes to get to me.  Thirty minutes to go through 15k people!  Wow.  I had perhaps 60 tabs open on my tiny laptop and needed to reference the dates on Trip Wizard--I started to sweat with panic when I couldn't initially find my way back to the reservation tab to input the dates. I finally got there completing the reservation, Alhamdulillah!

One other illustration: I needed a double slot for friends to join us outside of Vancouver.  There were few doubles, and on a whim, as this time I was at home, I had both my work laptop and my personal laptop teed up, this time at 07:00. I tested 2 minutes before and no go. So I waited for the 0:700 alarm I set to go off and immediately clicked "reserve" on both campsites exactly simultaneously.  Was beat on one but won a site on the work laptop. The competition is fierce sometimes!

On Trip Wizard, then, I put together the itinerary (and can download to my google calendar) but I kept a separate listing on my phone/google calendar for reservation days and review before I go to bed to be ready.  I used the total trip cost for each location to identify the date.  For example, If the site can be reserved on April 21, it will appear to cost $421.  It would enhance trip wizard to add a field for reservation day. Once I have the reservation, I lock the date, and the app knows not to move it and alerts if we do something inconsistent.

When fully retired, I would be inclined to go where the wind blows, but for this inaugural trip, I need to know where I will be to get set up to work, thus the diligent plan. 

Joyce will be my Saathi for most of the trip, but she'll need her breaks, so have arranged to swap her out with a son, or brother for parts of the trip.  For example, Sean will join from Boulder CO to Jackson Hole WY.  A family friend is in Boulder and will pick up Sean, camp with us, and take Joyce with her.  My brother Paul joins from Jackson Hole to Glacier National Park and can also work remote! 

Our waypoints include dear friends we have met over the years in different locations and situations.  First stop is Whiteriver, AZ, my first Family Practice job where dear friends I trained and practiced with reside.  Then a dear friend in Colorado.  Our overall itinerary is here for those interested.