One group of questions I have is about campgrounds.  As we are planning the "FT" plan, my borther-in-law has stated some "facts" about campgrounds which I'm looking for validity of the facts.

I understand length of stay rules (no squatting, same as our tent camping rules more or less)....how do you plan "how long" you're going to be able to stay at any given location in a certain season?  Are there time allowances for longer stays in the "off season"?  Or, do you really have to reach out and preplan locations?  We currently "tent camp", at times, I am reserving some locations in January for July.  And don't even talk about Yosemite or other big name sites....

Is there "age of vehicle" restrictions (E.g. no 5'ers over 8 years old etc...)?  If so, what if the vehicle (s) older, yet well maintained?

Yes, I understand "SIZE" does matter, some "FT'ers" are running 40' + rig, are there a lot of locations that accept large set-ups?  Say an HDT + a 40' 5th wheel?

Inquiring minds want to know.......

Snowman8

We don't FT yet but we do get out once or twice a month. Plus I'm an avid reader of this and a few other RV forums. Here's some answers: Length of stay restrictions may be a campground policy or local, state or federal regulation. California for example has a regulation pertaining to RV parks and length of time a non-resident can stay in the park. So you're either an overnighter or fulltime resident of the park. Nothing in between. We have stayed in privately owned parks with two week stay restrictions. These parks are usually near an attraction like Disneyland or Yosemite. One county park we stay in has a 5 day limit, once every 30 calendar days. Age of vehicle restrictions are usually established by higher end parks to keep out undesirables. We stay at a private park that is 8 miles from the Mexico border. They have a 10 year or newer restriction, although I do not believe they exercise it on a regular basis. I've seen clean. well maintained older RVs in the park. Length restrictions are usually for safety reasons. The interior roads are narrow or have tight turns or obstructions. Or in the case of some state parks the road leading up to the campground will not accomodate a long vehicle or RV. Most of the newer private parks (20 years or newer) have been designed to accomodate 40+ sized RV's with slideouts on one side. 10 years or newer parks have been built to include RVs with slideouts on both sides. We have a 14 year old 37ft 5th wheel with 2 slides on one side, I usually research where we will be staying to make sure we will fit. In the 14 years we've had the 5th wheel we've never had a problem getting into or out of a park. One time we did have to have a buddy use his 4X4 truck to hitch up and pull our trailer up a hill in a park. My two wheel drive truck just didn't have the traction to get us up the steep hill. It all turned out OK. RV and RV'ers are the life blood of most campgrounds & RV resorts, so they do what is necessary to accomodate the changes in RV's. Many parks have widen interior roads, bridges and RV sites in recent years to handle the bigger RVs. At a park a year ago, the owner had the maintenance guy cut the limb off of a tree that overhung the site he had picked out for us. Our 5th wheel sits a little higher than most. Good questions....keep 'em coming.

State and national parks usually restrict you to a maximum number of days in a given period, but commercial CG's will allow you to stay as long as you want, provided that the space hasn't been reserved by someone for a future time period.

We haven't found campground acessability to be a problem in any area, in any season. We may have to move ocassionaly, but always find a place to stay. If we have a particular CG we want to be in, during a particular time period we will make reservations, but normally we just travel without a lot of preplanning.

We often are asked the length of our rig, but hardly ever have been asked the age.

I don't think this is an issue you need be concerned about.

Good luck,
Fred

How many here "BOONDOCK"? And have you had any problems with finding places to do that? I foresee some enroute boondocking or possible places that we'd just get stuck. I've know about Wal-Mart allowing overnight enroute stops, any others that come to mind?

Truckstops are beginning to cater to RV's some even have RV designated areas away from the truck noise. Elk's Lodges have spots for members. Some K-Marts allow overnight Casinos Bureau of Land Management, state and federal, manage boondocking areas, look for locations on their websites Large event sites like race tracks, ball fields, state or county fairgrounds sometime allow use of parking areas when there are no events. Or many have fee based campgrounds.

Once you are on the road and staying in a CG don't be affraid to ask locals there about other CG in that area. You can put together a lot of information by just asking these questions while you travel....Don't forget to share all this with all of us... Have fun Joe and Sherri

All of the above plus...
I never move about without checking www.overnightrvparking.com
Yes that site charges an annual fee of $18/yr but it is the ONLY SITE to have each entry fully qualified by an RVers dated experience, is graphically map driven, and every entry is fully moderated and validated. There is often a significant difference between perception and reality and personal experience with a given location is king.