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State and national parks are great places to camp. All the ones that I have camped at had showers. This will sound weird. But, I have always thought when riding in the boonies and no place to camp near by. And it is getting dark. A cemetary would work. They are mostly isolated but are marked by road signs. And unless you are superstitious none of the residents will bother you.
KOA, I have heard of them, but never thought about them. We have one about an hour from the house off of the interstate. I don't usually travel by interstate, but, depending on city and traffic, sometimes I do. I always cross interstates traveling the back roads anyways, or, I can always make a detour to one.
KOA has a book?!? That is exactly what I have been looking for! Dang, I WILL be in HOG Heaven! When I start to get tired, I can open it and see where I am at, and look for the nearest place, or when I stop to get something to eat, I can plan my next stop for the night.
As far as AAA, I thought all they did was give hotel discounts, and towing. I never thought to look into them, but I will defiantly check them out.
I just checked the KOA website, and some of these places charge the same, if not a few dollars short of a Motel 6. I guess I will have to look into state parks, or AAA. It is not that I am trying to be a cheap bastard, it is just that I want to travel more, and further.
For instance, to ride from Lake Charles, Louisiana to Great Smokey Mountain National Park, it would cost about $150 in gas, round trip, and that includes riding around the mountains for two days, not bad. Food, at $20/day for cheap meals would be $120. We are up to $270. I would bring $100 for emergencies, so that is $370. It would cost about $50-$80/night in hotels and that is an extra $250-$400, so the total would be about $620-$770. That is what it would cost for a 6 day ride to the mountains. It is not bad mind you, but I would like to take trips once/month if possible, and even linger trips. I would like to go to the Grand Canyan, Washinton D.C., Key West, Alaska! You see, the sleeping part is about, if not more than, half my budget for travel.
State and national parks are great places to camp. All the ones that I have camped at had showers. This will sound weird. But, I have always thought when riding in the boonies and no place to camp near by. And it is getting dark. A cemetary would work. They are mostly isolated but are marked by road signs. And unless you are superstitious none of the residents will bother you.
you are definitely right about the koa's being a little pricey, but some motel 6's charge nearly as much as better motels $80+. You'll have to do your research, but check out a states dept of tourism. Many of their websites have statewide maps which show towns that have public camping (very cheap). There are also a lot of independant campgrounds (typically near the d@mn Interstate).
I, like you, would rather not travel the interstate unless absolutely necessary. I have stayed in many independant campgrounds for $15 or less a night. We typically find the approximate area we'll be stopping for the night & check the surrounding towns for campgrounds. We've only had to travel about 15 miles out of our way to get to them. Usaully less.
Good luck it can be done just takes some time.
P.S. Many of the states tourism departments will send out travel brochures to help you out.
Koa's are like any other chain,prices may very some but don't think I've ever spent over 30 bucks for a site and I've stayed in a bunch of them.I have my favorites.Twin Falls,Id.,the one just south of Glacier Natl. Park,Wisconsin Dell(except for the mosquitoes) Bend,Ore.,Astoria,Ore.just to name a few.Some Natl. and state parks are great too.
Ok, there's this tool on the internet. It's called a search engine..... But, since you need the help, I typed in "campgrounds". One of the results I got led me here, http://www.reserveamerica.com/ You'll have to fill in the blanks to fit your plans, but I got campgrounds near the Blue Ridge Parkway from $16 to $20 a night. If that's too much for you, you need to stay home.
I used reserve america in the past a few times to reserve cabins at local state parks up here in north LA, makes for a great weekend fishing/camping trip.
Don't forget RV parks in general. A lot of them have tent camping sites. Even if you don't camp at an RV park you can always get a hot shower at most of them for a few bucks.
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