Planning Roadtrip for June in Middle/Western USA

[tgtaylor]

Up until the pandemic, I had a 24-hour fitness "all club" membership ($29/mo). They have numerous clubs in the western states and all have showers and many with indoor pools. They even have a club in Athens, Greece but when I was there I had a hotel room and didn't need the shower or exercise facilities. Besides rest areas, there are numerous truck stops like Flying J and Luckey's. Besides cheap pump prices, they have 24-hour restaurant/coffee shop, showers ($5 is what I paid at the time), and you can camp-out in the car - just find a reasonably quite spot. The best time for photographing in the west IMO is during the winter months - after Christmas when all the campgrounds are closed so you have your choice of spots, and the motels are cheap.

[xkaes]

The best time for photographing in the west IMO is during the winter months - after Christmas when all the campgrounds are closed so you have your choice of spots, and the motels are cheap.

Best of all, you get to take pictures that no one else ever has -- instead of the guzzillianth picture of "Rainbow Falls" or "Hanging Lake" or "Delicate Arch".

[Drew Wiley]

Oregon State parks along the coastal highway generally have showers in the campgrounds, albeit not hot water!

Per Virginia Lakes camping, like John mentioned. There is a particular official FS campground along the creek which is free, first come, first serve; but the entrance road is easy to miss. It's different from the paid one further up the road with official signage. If you plan to stop there, let us know in advance and we try to describe the exact location. But Virginia Lakes offer nice day hiking opportunities themselves, and are rather close to Mono Lake down below, and the nearby beginning of the Tioga Grade back uphill to the eastern entrance of Yosemite, that is, the greater Park, not the Valley itself, which takes about another hour to reach. But snow conditions up high in June vary, as do mosquitoes! Saddlebag Lakes tend to be an overcrowded zoo; but again, hard to say that early in the season.

[Alan Klein]

Only if you're a senior. But this works if you have one senior in your party for sure.

Gee, I just noticed from that link that as a military veteran, I could have gotten a free annual pass. Well, considering all the debt the US has, maybe they needed my $80 bucks.

[Alan Klein]

Speaking of being a vet, I have that imprinted on my NJ driver's license by the State. You send them a copy of your DD-214 or Honorable Discharge certificate. It often gets me discounts in restaurants and other places including NAtional Parks, something I didn't know till just now. The town where I live provides free parking for vets too and special spots for vets at restaurants and stores. Something to keep in mind if you're a vet. I wish I had that imprinted the last time I got stopped for speeding. It may have helped.

[Alan Klein]

Best of all, you get to take pictures that no one else ever has -- instead of the guzzillianth picture of "Rainbow Falls" or "Hanging Lake" or "Delicate Arch".

Speaking of Delicate Arch, I decided the park did a good enough job for me and I didn't feel like walking all the way over there and back.

[Tin Can]

Exactly

Buy postcards and send them to friends on the spot

Wish you were here

NOT

I vastly prefer to travel ALONE

Speaking of Delicate Arch, I decided the park did a good enough job for me and I didn't feel like walking all the way over there and back.

[Alan Klein]

Exactly

Buy postcards and send them to friends on the spot

Wish you were here

NOT

I vastly prefer to travel ALONE

Better than buying postcards, just draw your own. This little girl with her parents came by with a little travel book for children showing all the sites. There was a spot in it for her to draw the Delicate Arch. I should have waited for her to finish it and taken a shot of it. Now that would be different!

[Drew Wiley]

Collecting postcards in advance is a great idea. That way you learn all the places NOT to go. You'd be amazed by what you can discover taking a walk on a desert wash on the opposite side the road from the direction the herd is heading to that "must see" / "must selfie" scenic spot. Just don't get lost on the way back.

Halfway down the road to the Delicate Arch trailhead, I pulled over and did just that. It wasn't long till I found a clay hill absolutely covered with bits of shimmering shattered agate of various colors. Then a little ways further away, a deep reddish clay field dotted with bright blue gopher mounds! They were tunneling an underlying
layer of blue clay. And I guarantee no one has ever ever published a postcard or taken a selfie of that. And probably no one other than me and some resident geologists and dinosaur bone hunters has even taken notice of it. I am a huge advocate of what someone else labeled, "micro-exploration". Find your own special spot where no one else is looking. Who needs another damn stereotypical postcard shot?

[jnantz]

I was talking about sleeping in a parking lot for a few hours, not full-on camping with a firepit and whatever.

be advised some rest areas aren't fans of people resting. so far I've witnessed people snoozing and being told by police who were patrolling the rest areas "hey, no resting here"..
it was pretty strange.