2gypsies

I would do this discussion with your family or close friend.

The BLM land at the entrance of Thousand Trails is now closed. Be careful where in set up camp in the area as there are a lot of restrictions, especially in the Red Rock District. There's also Coconino Nat'l Forest and BLM lands outside of the Red Rock District. It's best to stop at Sedona's Visitor Center for up-to-date information and purchasing the Red Rock Pass.

That's a good link but be careful if it doesn't state 'Resident' or 'Non-Resident'. Most states give residents perks.

Did you ask why you were rejected? Try another doctor? No, never heard of filling out an application.

I agree!

.... and then above D&J posted about Chief Timothy Park. It is listed under Washington State Parks but if you read the description it states "managed FOR Army Corp of Engineers by Northwest Land Management". That's three different agencies involved. Very interesting. https://parks.state.wa.us/704/Chief-Timothy-Park

Yes, we stayed at the Vineyards in Grapevine, TX when visiting daughter when it was a Corp park. Now it makes sense when I think more about it.

I'm not sure what you mean. I've not heard of a Corps campground that is a state park. They're two different agencies. I just used your link and clicked on S. Dakota and there are 6 Corps campgrounds to click on. None are state parks.

Even for concessionaire campgrounds of the Corp and national forest campgrounds we've always gotten the discount. It's up to the concessionaire but I would say most of the time you'll get the discount for the base rate; not the added hookups.

Cochise Stronghold is a pleasant campground... gravel road to get to it but in good condition. Very suitable for visiting Chiricahua NM. There are also BLM areas around and some national forest lands for boondocking. Popular area in Jan/Feb when the Sandhill Cranes are there. Big birding festival in January. If coming from the east via I-10 take Hwy 80 on the other side of the Chiricahuas. Rusty's Ranch RV is popular and there are also some nice forest service campgrounds at Portal. Continue south to Douglas - nice courthouse tour - and then to Bisbee from the south. The mine tour at Bisbee is worthwhile. You don a yellow slicker and hardhat w/miner's light and hop on a mining car for the tour given by ex-miners. If you stay at the Escapee park in Benson you can to all of this as a day tour along with Kartchner Caverns and the birding canyons at Sierra Vista. Pretty country!

Both are tops in our book. We volunteered at Kartchner and hiked Chiricahua many times.

Check out the Escapees Co-Op parks. Most are very nice. Also the Rainbow parks. If full they have a boondocking section to stay and you'll be next in line to get a hookup site. It might take 2-3 days of boondocking. There are parks in Alabama, Texas, Arizona and California - all in the southern part for winter. There are others recommended for summer. There will always be places to stay without reservations if you're not next door to a popular attraction. Look off the main drag. There are also state parks, Corp of Engineer parks, county and city parks. If we would have had to make reservations for our 16 years of full-timing (5,840 nights) then we would have never done it. We like to move and check out all areas and not spend a long time in a park.

Hwy 60 is the way we go all the time with our 40' motorhome towing. It's a gorgeous drive. Salt River Canyon is a definite downhill. Get into lower gear before even starting and you'll be just fine. There's a place to pull over at the bottom at the river to admire the scenery. Then you'll have the same kind of uphill to get out of the canyon and on to Show Low. It's a very popular route for RVers of all sizes.

I just did a quick Google and this one is sold but you may want to check around for others. Newmar Diesel All Star: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKHhCFuZwKE

Agree!!!

What size RV are you considering?

Call Miller Insurance in Oregon. They are very familiar with full-timers and their needs.

Google Maps shows: 238 mi. via 395, I-15; 215 289 mi. via 395 to 14 near Ridgecrest then to I-5 296 mi. via 395 to 14 to 405

Don't you wish we could flip a light switch and look at what's really going on in the tanks?

I don't think RVers have enough time before dumping for bacteria to really work as one hopes. Some use Rid-X for that purpose but again, we dump to fast. OP: Regarding your gauges.... they are notorious for not working all the time. As Barb said, you can really get an accurate 'feel' for when the tanks are full by making note of your own use. Good luck!

Yes, that appears to be the problem. When we stopped RVing we dropped the membership after 18 yr. of use.

Since we boondocked a lot we often dumped our soapy dishwater into the toilet. Naturally, we had to drive to get to a dump station so we figured the soapy water cut down on some of the 'wall' stuff. That.... and water .... works.

Hmmmm..... I just Googled Escapees and this is the link that came up. Under 'Benefits', it's not listed. Guess I'm missing something. https://www.escapees.com/

Why use chemicals when plain water does the job? Why do you need a spotless tank? You're just going to dirty it back up immediately. We've RV'd for 50+ years and water did the trick... never any stoppages..... never any smells.

I can't find RV Exchange on the Escapees web site. I think that Kyle from RV Insurance Exchange is no longer affiliated with the Exchange program.