Planning for 2023

[Nibz]

I have an Itasca Suncruiser 35A based on Vancouver Island. 2022 was our first real experience of the RV lifestyle and we toured the Canadian Rockies and looped back via Idaho and Washington state, about 2000 miles in total.

For this years trip we pre-booked all of our sites which was good in the respect that we were guaranteed somewhere to hook up, but it put us under some time pressure to meet the schedule.

For 2023 we are considering a trip south through Washington state and down the Oregon coast into Northern California for the redwoods, then looping back north via Lassen volcanic N.P., Shasta, Crater Lake and the Columbia River gorge.

My question to seasoned RV travellers is this, if we travel the route from mid May into early July, would it be feasible or even sensible to book sites ahead by only a day or two with a rig of our size? (30/50 amp full hookup preferred)

[Eagle5]

Greetings Nibz,
Always book early! Most sites have a rescheduling/cancellation option if you are still about a week out. By reducing the miles you need to travel each travel day, some of these scheduling pressures seem less important. Sometimes, traveling fewer miles is more fun!
Check out Al & Deb's Journey Log for nice places to visit:
https://mobilemosers.com/
Very glad to see you are going to travel 101 through Oregon going southbound. That is such an important safety consideration, as all of the Vistas which you will wish to see are right-hand turns both off and then back onto US 101. As a two-lane road, it has a large amount of double-yellow do-not-cross lane separation.
Did you see Island of the Sea Wolves? It is a great video on Netflix, and takes place on your island.
Welcome to the forum.
Thanks, Eagle5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJsTyhxUIY

[Nibz]

Thanks for your advice especially in regard to US101, always good to canvass opinion from those more experienced.
We have already realised the advantages of taking it easy in the MH and using the toad to explore.

[Mtn Charlie]

There are differences of opinion, when it comes to traveling west coast coastal highways. Traveling southbound does indeed make most of the turnouts right hand turns. The other side of the coin is that you are on the downhill side of the road. In an emergency, such as a blowout, the uphill side is a much safer place to be. The downhill side can be white knuckles at times. Traveling northbound puts you on the uphill side.

[creativepart]

Traveling without reservations to locales that are not popular destinations for other RVers - which means no National Parks, National Forests or Popular State Parks - is certainly do able. Avoiding weekends and June/July summer months would certainly make it easier.

Will you mind that you find it difficult to impossible to find a camping spot near where you want to be? Or maybe you want to spend 5-days somewhere but can only get 2-days... will that bother you? Lastly, how will you feel about spending a couple of hours every day lining up a place to park your rig for the next couple of days?

When we first started RVing in 2003 we almost never made reservations and it was fantastic. Then after a few years that started changing and we'd end up stuck in a place we didn't want to be in or we'd get to the area we wanted to spend a few days in only to find out we had to move an hour down the road to get a place to even spend the night.

That only needed to happen one or two times before we said No More!

Now, we make reservations BUT we have shortened our travel days from 350-400 miles a day to 200-300 miles a day. The short travel days means you're not rushing anywhere to get to a reservation for the night.

On our last trip we were going from Albuquerque to Ruidoso, NM. A short 185 mile trip. But the day before I saw a place on the map 50-miles north of Ruidoso that looked great. It was a BLM National Recreation area that looked fantastic. I could make reservations on recreation.gov for the next day so we figured we'd leave ABQ a day early and make a stop there on the way. When we got there it was really great so we cancelled our days in Ruidoso and extended our time at the Valley of Fires Recreation area.

So, it's possible to still be spontaneous and change your plans. This change didn't cost us anything - but sometimes you'll have a cancellation fee.

Perhaps you can make it a hybrid kind of plan - one where you book reservations at the most popular spots you really don't want to miss out on and then wing it for the in-between days traveling.

[Marine359]

During the time you are traveling, all public campgrounds that accept reservations will be booked several months in advance. You might be able to nab some cancellations if you make phone calls every day. If you can boondock even just a couple of days, you may be able to pull off a southbound trip without advance reservations by combining NFS/BLM, and some lot docking. We actually prefer traveling that way. It takes you to some out of the way places that would otherwise be bypassed with a fully booked itinerary. We also don’t like commercial campgrounds, but you’ll be stuck with many if you want FHU. A Suncruiser 35A is not too big to get into some of the public lands. More complicated if you have a toad. But we camped there with somewhat smaller MH and toad 30 years ago. May be a bit different now. Oregon is blessed with countless numbers of NFS and BLM sites. You may want to look at the maps: https://publiclands.org/pages/maps.

[Morich]

Quote:
As a two-lane road, it has a large amount of double-yellow do-not-cross lane separation.

I'm not at all familiar with the NW state laws and this got my attention. Maybe you folks who know that area can train me a bit?
I'm more used to the center of the country and the rules on yellow lines may be different, so that's where I'm wondering. In hill country it is very common to have two yellow lines at/near the center of the road but it doesn't say not to cross them when turning.
In my training the yellow line, if in your lane means not to pull out to pass. It's a warning that the view forward is restricted due to hills, curves, etc. or other places where passing is not safe. That means it is not at all uncommon to have yellow lines in both travel directions on a highway, especially in rolling hills.

But those two yellow lines do not mean you can't turn left off the highway and they may go for miles before you get a safe place to pass. Those yellow lines rarely restrict me when driving an RV!

So is there a different set of rules for yellow lines in your area?
This is what a quick search for the Texas rules gives. I admit that most of what I read on the internet needs close checking, though!

"Can you cross a double yellow line in Texas?
When can you cross a double solid yellow line? Answer:The only time you should cross a double solid yellow line is when you are making a left turn into a driveway or business entrance."

Thoughts?

[creativepart]

My thoughts are:

Richard? Where did you find this "quote" and what is its relevance?? I'm trying to figure out what you're getting at.

[Eagle5]

Hi Richard,
You are correct; it is legal.
Thanks, Eagle5

[macnut]

We’ve traveled that area many time and it is important to book early for the more famous and crowded areas these days. You may be able to find a place nearby but not necessarily in a place you would prefer. Two years ago we changed plans to drive up I-5 due to fires, and routed up 101 instead. We were able to find sites at the last minute, but usually at more expensive parks and 20-30 minutes from where we wanted to spend some time during the stay. Regardless, the Oregon coast is one of the best places to RV on earth, IMHO, of course!

[Morich]

Originally Posted by creativepart

My thoughts are:

Richard? Where did you find this "quote" and what is its relevance?? I'm trying to figure out what you're getting at.

The above quote is part of post two and they mention that one should be traveling in one direction for things to be a right hand turn and they seemed to imply that it was not allowed to turn left across the double yellow lines?

So the question was if there is an area where the direction of travel dictates which turns, left or right, we can make.
In my mind the double yellow has a different meaning than post two seemed to indicate in my reading.

What brings the question to mind is the different way traffic laws in my area are so different than other states.
Small points are very different in some states and we will be wanting totravel North from Ca.along the coast, so if the yelllow line means something different in Oregon, I would like to know if I find two yellow lines, can I turn left across them?

But I now see Eagle5 has assured me it is legal, so just a case of what they wrote is not what I read!! No big thing!

A case of me being shocked that it is legal to pass on the right in Texas. In my training when one is on the right hand side of the white line at the right pavement edge, you are no longer on the highway and therefore totally lose any right of way claims.
Locally, when I drive to the intersection to turn right, I may find somebody driving on the shoulder at 40 MPH to turn!
Checking with police, they tell that is legal as long as safe and necessary!
The local definition of "necessary" seems to mean any time you are in a hurry!

[creativepart]

OK, I get it... sort of. I've seen double white lines that you are supposed to not change lanes when they are present, like on entrance ramps and such.

But the double yellow are just like "no passing." And that is nationwide, not regional or by state.

When searching your terminology I did find an attorney in Florida that said the way the Florida law was worded that police could ticket you if you crossed a double yellow into your own driveway. But he said it was just misworded in the law and no one would actually ticket you for doing so.

By the way... I have a double yellow lines on the road in front of my home. So, I'm crossing double yellows every time I come home.

[Morich]

Sounds like we are pretty much on the same page on lines. I just missed what the post was saying apparently. Double white lines are on that says not to cross.
Then there are the white lines where we enter at on/off ramps and the solid is "not advised to cross" so that we can run up far enough to actually look behind to see we are clear.
Got to watch for the folks who don't have time to follow the rules and want to blast up beside you when they cut the paint!

[dickb46]

Originally Posted by Nibz

For 2023 we are considering a trip south through Washington state and down the Oregon coast into Northern California for the redwoods, then looping back north via Lassen volcanic N.P., Shasta, Crater Lake and the Columbia River gorge.

My question to seasoned RV travellers is this, if we travel the route from mid May into early July, would it be feasible or even sensible to book sites ahead by only a day or two with a rig of our size? (30/50 amp full hookup preferred)

I would recommend reversing your route to be driving north up the Oregon coast. US 101 in Oregon is very narrow in places with high cliffs (read 200 foot drop off to the ocean below). Driving south you are on the ocean side of the road. (very scary)

This is only the southern part of the Oregon coast highway, the north half is beautiful, but last time I was down there one side of the highway slid into the ocean and was one way for a few miles.

We travel around Washington, Oregon, Utah and Idaho every summer without making reservations in advance but that's mostly because we don't know where we want to go that far in advance.

dick

[dickb46]

Oh, and when you go through Washington to/from Canada to the coast, Get off I-5 at Burlington and head west to Whidbey Island. Go down the Island to the Coupeville/Pt Townsend ferry and take that to the Olympic Peninsula. That gets you to the beautiful part of the trip and avoids downtown Washington.
You will need to get a reservation for the ferry about a month in advance.

[Nibz]

Thanks guys for all of your thoughts and advice, plenty to think about now and start planning in detail for our next adventure in ‘23!

Bring it on!