Your best tip, trick or caution for our 4 week trip

RMo

So we are about to venture out on our longest trip yet in our T@B 400 and thought we'd poll the group for some advice.  We've done numerous several-day trips and have the basics down.  For this trip we will be at campgrounds and boondocking in southern Utah (Bear's Ears, Capitol Reef and Escalante areas), Air BnBing in San Francisco, then passing through Nevada, Idaho and Montana on our way to North Dakota (Teddy Roosevelt NP) and Minnesota (Voyageurs NP) then back to Pennsylvania.  We did a similar trip last year in our Roadtrek, and years ago in a pop-up, but wanted to get any tip, tricks or cautions from this group of T@B camping experts.  Places to see, places to avoid, boondocking concerns, travel with a dog, potential T@B issues, general precautions...  anything is fair game so please send along your best!  and thanks in advance.

Sharon_is_SAM

That is a pretty ambitious itinerary for 4 weeks, but then, we tend to linger longer at any given site with a minimum of 3 nights.  I would make a list of “backup” areas to camp if you are using any BLM areas.  They are very popular these days.  In southern Utah, make a list of where you can get water - some gas stations in Moab were very helpful.  

Do you have campground reservations while in transit?

RMo

Thanks @Sharon_is_SAM, our main goal is to see our kids in San Francisco but enjoy the sights on the way.  We’re thinking the T@B won’t be as convenient for quick stops as the van was, but we’ll soon find out.  We have reservations near Bears Ears for 2 nights and after that have a number of BLM sites marked on our map.  So far we have no firm plans for the trip home.  Anyone have any insight on ability to find spots at state parks in  Idaho, Montana, North Dakota?

Mouseketab

On our recent 3-week trip with many one-night stops, and short sightseeing along the way, we found that even with pull-through sites and little to no setup, we weren't in the mood to cook like we planned. We ate out a lot more than we thought we would. We actually had all of our stops planned and pre-booked, so no advice on finding sites on the fly.

RMo

We plan to cook but having open restaurants this year versus food trucks and take out last year makes it likely we’ll eat out more - part of getting to know a place is eating their food! (or so we tell ourselves when not in the mood to cook).

webers3

Expect the unexpected 

Marceline

RMo said:

Thanks @Sharon_is_SAM, our main goal is to see our kids in San Francisco but enjoy the sights on the way.  We’re thinking the T@B won’t be as convenient for quick stops as the van was, but we’ll soon find out.  We have reservations near Bears Ears for 2 nights and after that have a number of BLM sites marked on our map.  So far we have no firm plans for the trip home.  Anyone have any insight on ability to find spots at state parks in  Idaho, Montana, North Dakota?

I'm originally from PA and live in SF. I was going to make some suggestions but it sounds like your kids will have you covered. I hope you're not bringing the T@B into the city. 

RMo

Marceline said:I'm originally from PA and live in SF. I was going to make some suggestions but it sounds like your kids will have you covered. I hope you're not bringing the T@B into the city. 

Thanks for the offer @Marceline - our kids do have us covered.  Fortunately we will be able to leave the T@B at some friends' house just south of the city - seems like having a short-term RV storage place near San Francisco would be a good business!

Denny16

And expensive…   
cheers

Marceline

RMo said: 

Thanks for the offer @Marceline - our kids do have us covered.  Fortunately we will be able to leave the T@B at some friends' house just south of the city - seems like having a short-term RV storage place near San Francisco would be a good business!

I've always kept my trailer at least 40 miles from the city. It's pretty much impossible to get anything closer. These days it's on friends' property just south of Napa. 

Denny16

I would not have been able to park even a TaB320, let alone the 400 in our SF house driveway (a 25-30 degree down incline), or get one in the garage which was below street level.  I wouldn’t even have tired.  
cheers

gophergrad

Montana Info

State Parks reservations: https://montanastateparks.reserveamerica.com/
You'll have better luck during the week, weekends are pretty full.  Most parks have a few first-come-first-served sites, but those go as soon as they are open (mostly 2 pm).

Federal lands - There are still a lot of places that are not listed on Recreation.gov, because they don't take reservations.  Something like Ultimate Campgrounds app shows them.

Glacier Park - A disaster this year. Construction on both ends of the Sun Road, entry tickets required, etc.  Go around.

RMo

gophergrad said:

Montana Info

Thank you @gophergrad, very helpful!

gophergrad

What cell phone carrier so you have?

Verizon is your best bet out here, BUT the mountains get in the way and you will definitely not always have service.

We have ATT (because of my job) and carry an el Cheapo TracFone when camping, so we can get Verizon coverage.

RMo

We have Verizon, which seems to be about the best you can do.