Posted on 02/16/2021 12:19:49 PM PST by SJackson
A few seconds into John & Mercedes Condon’s latest YouTube video, this famous RV couple states the cold, hard truth. Known as the RV Odd Couple, the Condons are known for telling it like it is.
In the recent video, Mercedes starts by saying, “I bet you can’t wait to go camping this year.”
John’s direct realization follows, “Good luck, guys! ‘Cause America’s pretty much sold out already.”
Is this true? Are most of the campgrounds in America sold out?
Well, while we know there’s still availability (in Kansas, maybe), the tourist hot spots are booking quicker than ever this year.
We’ve got a few tips to solve this problem. The RV Odd Couple does, too! Watch the video below for John & Mercedes tips and continue reading for ours.
Between the two of us, you’ll be in a much better spot for booking those popular campsites.
Visit one of the many Lesser-Known National Parks The USA has 63 designated national parks. I can almost guarantee you haven’t heard of half of them.
And, that’s a good thing!
That means these National Parks won’t be swamped with tourists.
Sure, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, the Grand Canyon, the Smokies, and Acadia are probably already booked-out for this year. But have you heard of Isle Royale, Congaree, Voyageurs, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, or Mesa Verda?
If you visit one of these five lesser-known National Parks, you’ll have a much better chance of finding an available campsite.
Book Your Campsite During the Shoulder Season If you really want to visit a popular camping spot, do it during the shoulder season.
What is a Shoulder Season?
A shoulder-season positioned is on either side of the most popular time to visit a destination. For instance, if the Yellowstone is busiest from May-August, the shoulder season would be April and September.
The weather is still good, and the crowds are much less.
You’ll have more luck booking a campsite during the shoulder-season!
Risk it at an FCFS Campground Are you the gambling type? If so, an FCFS (first come, first served) might be the best solution for you.
Almost every National Park has a designated FCFS campground. This means it doesn’t accept reservations at all.
If you learn the cadence of tourists, you can make FCFS campgrounds work for you. Most likely, you’ll have to arrive on a Sunday morning when most campers are leaving.
If you wait until mid-day on Sunday, other campers may already snag the site.
Boondocking, Baby! Does this entire article give you a headache? If so, be like us and say screw it!
We love boondocking because we don’t need reservations. And, virtually every National Park has boondocking sites available within 10 miles.
You’ll need to equip your RV with a few off-grid accessories. But, the payoff is total freedom.
Does this mean I shouldn’t buy my Airstream Interstate?
Haha, my wife just asked me “what, you mean we can’t get it delivered until 2024?”
For camp cooking, I’ve tried propane, alcohol, heat tabs, plain old wood, you name it. Best all around is white gas, I think, as long as your fuel bottles don’t leak. I have an old Coleman Peak One that still works great.
I inherited a really old 2-burner Coleman stove, but I need to clean it up and get it working. I remember my dad cooking on that stove when I was little, so it’s at least 60 years old.
For light, there are lots of good LED lights now with long battery life, so I don’t take along a gas lantern. I use the light mostly for reading anyway, and a headlamp for walking around at night if there’s not enough moonlight.
Oh, yeah, used to love Desert Bloom! Beautiful to look at and the weather was gorgeous too.
Backpack stove wise, American and European manufactured stoves are pretty good. Primus is probably to best known and has had a hundred something years to get their gas stove just right. MSR and Optimus are well thought of for backpacking stoves.
Coleman white gas stoves and lanterns also use 100 something year old tech and are simple and proven. Gas is more finicky to start up than propane but mechanically gas stoves just work better. One reason is because Chinese crappy manufacturing has captured the low $$$ end for propane devices. High end and expensive propane stoves such as Partner are pretty rugged.
Japanese manufactures Soto and Snow Peak have started marketing in the US the last few years. Excellent quality and pricey.
For my camping, I use Coleman for stove and lighting. Usually the roll up table is setup with the stove and water jerry can on top before the tent goes up. Lol... For a portable stove, I use a basic alcohol stove. Nothing fancy and near impossible to destroy. Age and knees have caught up to me and backpacking is not something I can do any more so gear weight and size is not particularly important to me. Reliability and predictability are paramount though. Also, KISS is always in mind. Keep It Simple Stupid!!!
I'm going to spring a few bucks for a pump kit and generators before I go camping this year. It's been collecting dust for a few years while I was messing with propane. No rust at all and I have certainly not babied it any.
If you can find it, try trioxane fuel tabs. Not messy like Esbit tabs. It's good to have a simple and small backup in case of the unexpected and for heating something in the tent vestibule when hunkered from bad weather. Ebay, Amazon and military surplus stores are places to find trioxane.
I've been thinking of getting a small battery lantern this year mainly for tent use. I've been using the headlamp only for quite a time. I don't want a larger one for general area lighting because I don't want to put that much recharging load on my truck battery as i tend to stay put for awhile when I find a nice place to setup camp. So, the truck is not operating for a number of days at a time.
I’m a propane fan but there is nothing better than Coleman. Their tents are useful only in the backyard though. Pure garbage.
I live in the middle of a National Forest; I keep the gate to my farm LOCKED, don’t like tourists!
Use the old fashioned kerosine lamps, with the new lamp oils they burn clean and give plenty of light.
I have 8 of them in the house for when the power goes out (as in every winter snow storm, summer lighting storm, or forest fire) and they are plenty of light to cook or read.
I use FEUER model 276, they are light weight, tough, and easy to fill or clean.
I don’t think they are any bigger than your old propane style lights.
Thanks... I’ll look into it.
Yep re. Coleman tents are very light duty only.
My tent is a Marmot Fortress 3.
Wow. That’s nuts. I suggest looking for boondocking places. For real. You don’t need full hookups, enjoy nature and peace and quiet!
I have some trioxane tabs and a little folding stove for just such times, but it’s like the space blanket I also keep handy, for emergency use rather than everyday.
That Marmot looks like a nice tent. I have an old REI tent (1987) that’s similar, and a two-pole Kelty that I bought for last deer season because I hadn’t replaced the bent poles of the REI from a blowdown one night (I have since then; Tentpole Technologies replicated the old ones). I like the Kelty, but we’ll see how it lasts. Probably long enough, since I’d have to be still out camping at 98 to match the REI.
The beach and the desert are boondocking The beach is hard to get desert is just open desert. no reservations or sites, just desert.
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