Transcontinental: Pennsylvania to San Diego

[LukeAmadeus]

Hi all, new member, long-time camper.

I am making the move from eastern Pennsylvania to San Diego for grad school, and I would like to stay in camp grounds along the way, rather than motels (who needs sleezy motels when there are stars, fresh air, and crickets?). I would love to hear your ideas about where to stay, or where I might find out where to stay.

I plan to make the trip at the end of this month, and to do it in three days, which will lead me to aim for two nights or two camping sites (if I ended up in need of a third night closer to California, that would be doable). I'm not too picky about camping sites — I don't plan to do any major sight-seeing; a shower or bathroom near the camp site would be nice, but I'm not too settled on it. Less expensive is better.


I can't tell you how glad I am to have found this forum and to find such a great group of people! I am very grateful in advance for your suggestions and advice.


Also, I recently wore out my old tent, so I need a new one. I'm open to suggestions for what brand and type; I was thinking 3-person size would be good for when I want to bring someone with me in the future. I'm leaning towards cheaper, but I'm open to many options.

Thanks everyone, I look forward to hearing from you,
Luke

[renodesertfox]

Howdy LukeAmadeus, first of all, thanks for signing up to the best camping boards around! People here really do go camping so sometimes it takes awhile for a question to be answered, so thanks for hanging in there. I would say check out KOA campgrounds first but those might be too expensive for you.

What you need to do is first fiqure out how many miles a day are you willing to drive and then looking on the web at that area where you have already planned to stop, and do reserach, like checking out national campgrounds and or state parks in the area. It is very hard giving anyone specific info on where to stay if no one knows your planned route or how far you will drive or any given day. You may end up just stopping in a rest area to get a few zzzz, before heading out again. Driving across country and planning on camping and only doing it in a couple of days is a real challenge. Good Luck!