US tour - west & midwest states, 2014

Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park is one of our favorite destinations.  We have been there every season, with Fall and the elk being our favorite.  And the Omaha zoo is great with a fabulous aquarium.  We can't do it this summer but maybe next fall.

Wish we could hit every stop, but in the end our kids will have seen far more of the US than I did.  Our plan is to take long, slow camping trips when we are retired.  We'll hit every stop then!

A few Years ago we stayed at the Cortez, Colorado KOA. Which is a few minutes drive from Mesa Verde. At that time it was ranked the second best KOA in the nation. Very impressive!

I've gotta second Grandpod's suggestion of Custer State Park; and Mount Rushmore is even sweeter if you do Needles Highway beforehand. You get a series of peeks at the Monument. It's like foreplay.

Actually there are several places that are ok with RVs overnight - Cracker Barrel, most Wal-Marts, truck stops. There is a camping store I can't think of right now which apparently has a breakfast buffet.  Nobody laughs, lol.

There is no charge to stay at these places but the unwritten rule is you should buy something from them. Not hard to do, I always fill up with gas at the truck stops and we always seem to need something from Wal-Mart. Haven't done Cracker Barrel but I would certainly get breakfast if we did.

Two more rules. Always ask the manager, and never make it look like you are camping - no chairs, no awnings, if possible keep slide-outs in. Running a generator is fine, just don't use a cheap contractor screamer. We always look up the number for the next Wal-Mart and call ahead. Some cities have made it illegal to stay in any parking lot so there are some Wal-Marts where they'll tell you no. If they say yes we ask where they want us, usually it is around back or on the sides. While I fill up gas at a truck stop my wife will go in and ask if we can stay and where they want us (pointing out our camper so they see we are buying their gas). They usually do NOT want you to take up a truck bay and will point to a corner of the parking lot. I prefer that anyway since that gets you away from the diesel fumes. No reason to call ahead since they are always in locations where it is legal, obviously. I would call ahead to the other places like Cracker Barrel.

We prefer truck stops over Wal-Mart. We've had a few experiences with locals - they know the RVs are there every night and like to mess around or worse, if there isn't overnight security (some have it). We've had a car do a burnout down the line of RVs at 3 am, kids checking things out a little too closely, etc. Locals will not mess with truckers if they value their life and the trucks are moving through all night - lots of eyeballs keeping watch - so that is our preferred stop.