Car Camping Across the Country

Planning for the Drive:

When I accepted the promotion in Maryland, one of the many items on my long to-do list for the move was to plan my drive from Texas to Maryland. While some people may want to race across the country to get to their destination as fast as they can, I simply did not.  My work allowed a minimum of 300 miles a day and because I don't like long drives, that is what I planned for. I wanted to take my time, not be rushed. 300 miles is roughly 5 hours - without traffic - and the day would need to include restroom breaks, eating, and stopping to get gas, etc. That leads to longer than 5 hours easy.

The thing is, with a 4 1/2 day drive, where am I going to stay each night? It's important to find hotels ahead of time and make reservations. Otherwise, I might be driving around for quite a while trying to find a decent place with a decent price with rooms available. That can just lead to frustrations, which I already don't need moving across the country.

I already knew I wanted to stop each day at spots that I could walk on trails and check out possible waterfalls and/or beautiful places. I wanted to take advantage of locations I hadn't been to before - who knows when I would drive across the country like this, especially not in a rush. 

It then dawned on me: what if I stayed overnight at state parks along the way?! 

It took a bit of research and planning to figure this all out. I didn't want to veer too far off my route, as I didn't want to add time to already long days of driving. I had to plan everything carefully - which state parks were located at the end of every 300 miles, if they had good camp sites available and if the state parks had great views or water along with trails. 

This plan was better than just stopping along the way at places to walk, as in reality, that would have added more time to each long day. This new plan allowed for me to take my time during the walks, because I would be already at my destination for the night. Further, this was great for stress relief - to be able to walk each evening after a long drive to decompress was great for my body, heart, and mind. 

The locations of the camping sites at each state park were most important to me - I wanted to wake up every single morning next to water - talk about food for the soul! Water always makes my heart sing. 

I planned to car camp, as most cabins are pretty expensive and/or not available. Plus, while tent camping is fun, putting a tent up and down each day for 4 days in a row would not be fun, lol - that would be quite a lot of work. 

I have car camped a few times the last few years, so felt pretty comfortable (and actually excited) about the idea. The only wrinkle I really ran into with my planning was it was Memorial Day weekend, and state parks require a minimum 2 night stay around holidays. So, the Friday and Saturday were going to be tricky. 

I guess the other two big items to take into consideration for this car camping jaunt for 4 1/2 days was would the weather cooperate and how would I car camp with so much in my car? While movers were taking the bulk of my things, I still had to pack for a week-long diving trip and because I was going to be in temp quarters (a hotel) for 4 weeks, I had to pack for that as well. And finally, the items the movers would not take I also had to pack in my car. Things like batteries, candles, cleaning supplies, etc. So, my SUV was going to be jammed packed and I wasn't sure how I'd really get it all in my car, along with the items I needed to car camp - the bedding, pillows, etc.

Next topics to come: Why State Parks? Which State Parks? Keeping in contact.