Need Campground suggestions from Montana to FW

[MontanaCowgirl]

I know we have lots of time, but we are so busy in the summer months there is no way we will have time to plan our route from the start without rushing & I want to do it right! I would really appreciate any campground suggestions along this route outlined below. Also any suggestions of campgrounds of where NOT to stay are even more appreciated!!!

We will have to spend a minimum of 5 nights at campgrounds along the route in order to get there on time. We plan on leaving here in North-central Montana 1st week of November. Our first stop will be in Billings to load up on any supplies we don't all ready have. (That is a 3 hour drive.) We will not spend the night there. We estimate our first stop to be somewhere close to the Wyoming/South Dakota border along I-90. From there we will continue on I-90 to Sioux Falls & will probably make our 2nd stop after we go thru Sioux Falls & turn South on I-29. Probably around Sioux City, Iowa. Of course a lot will depend on the weather & road conditions. I drive slow on icy roads...whether DH likes it or not LOL! We will continue on to Kansas City, MO on I-29, then head East on I-70. (I hate this road! When we traveled on it almost 3 years ago (but we came across from CO) it was the roughest portion of our trip!) We will travel I-70 thru to St. Louis, MO. We figure we will make our 3rd stop just before we get to St. Louis. If me make good enough time I would rather go thru St. Louis, turn South on I-55, & then stop for the night. We would have to travel thru St. Louis in the morning rush hour when we leave the next morning, if we stopped before we get there. That's going to be a "wait & see" thing I spose. Looks like we may stop around Columbia, MO. St. Louis may be pushing it. Any suggestions along that long stretch would be greatly appreciated!!! OK, on with the trip! Like I said we will be heading South on I-55. We will travel that route until we get to Memphis. Hmmmmmm Graceland? We will probably stay near Memphis for our 4th stop. From Memphis we will head Southeast on I-78 to Birmingham, AL. Then we will turn East onto I-20 to Atlanta, GA. From Atlanta to FW we will travel I-75. We will stop for our 5th stop somewhere in Georgia. I have stayed at the Atlanta KOA but they put me on a 45 degree angle & it was too steep to even consider using my levelers. I was afraid we would slip off in the middle of the night. It's a nice campground, but I will be sure to tell them if it's not flat we aren't staying! We will head to FW from GA. If we arrive early no problem...my mother lives in Orlando.

Any & all suggestions will be greatly appreciated! We do not want to stay in any campgrounds that are noisy with traffic, ie; right on an interstate. Too used to living in the boonies to sleep thru that. I am avoiding the mountains as much as possible since I deal with them enough at home! We can travel them in the summer months!

I am so excited about this trip!!! DH has never been to anything bigger than our county fairs here in Montana! I have been lucky enough to have been to WDW 100's of times. This will be our honeymoon finally after 11 years of marriage & the last kid has graduated & now in college! We were supposed to go this past November but DH was thrown from his horse & broke his neck really bad. I wanted him to be able to do it all, & now he has recovered enough to do everything he could do before!

Thank you all in advance!

Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait!!!!!

 

[campingcorgi]

Somebody is getting excited! I have sure been there!! I know you are doubly excited to be taking your husband for his first trip!

Okay, I've been playing with the Rand McNally Tripmaker (bored, what can I say) and going through Memphis and Birmingham seems to add about 2 to 3 hours to your trip. We went through Birmingham and over to Atlanta instead of Chattanooga to Atlanta this last trip and it added every bit of 3 hours, and I-20 to Atlanta was very bumpy and only two lanes instead of three.

We had hoped it would be a good alternative to Monteagle on I-24 before Chattanooga, but timewise it just isn't worth it to us.

I can't help you with the campgrounds--we stop at one of the three GA Flying J truckstops to overnight.

Have fun planning!

 

[MontanaCowgirl]

Thanks CC for the input. I sure am getting excited!!!!! We were sposed to have been there & back!!! Almost down to the 200's!!!

We (my friend & I) took the shorter route in the summer months, summer before last. I would go that way again but not in November. I'll take the distance over the rough terrain any day in the winter months! We are giving ourselves 2 extra traveling days so the extra 3 hours is nothing. Plus DH wants to see certain parts of the country this trip. I liked the drive thru KY & Nashville last time...but not in snow season! Like I said...I get enough of that at home!

I'd never get any sleep in a truckstop!!!! I envy those of you who are sound sleepers!

 

[campingcorgi]

I don't sleep super soundly in the truckstops, but with the generator cranked up I sure can't hear any trucks! We have always needed the AC when we stop so the generator is a must!

I think you're going in early November, right? If so, I don't think you'll have to worry about any snow in our area--I can't ever recall seeing a snowflake much before Thanksgiving, and really nothing measurable much before Christmas. I bet you could handle our 1/4 inch blizzards with ease!

Isn't it fun to watch that countdown!

 

[MontanaCowgirl]

I think we will end up having the southern half of our trip dictated by the weather...I'll bring my laptop & keeps tabs on the road reports & weather!

We will be leaving here on Nov. 3rd & leaving FW on Nov. 21st! Long trip but I wish we were leaving tomorrow!!!!





We need a pacman chomping smilie to chomp on our countdown! hahahahaha

 

[daughtersrus]

The first thought that came into my mind was NOT to stay at the KOA in Lake City FL. We stayed there on our way down last July and I would have to say that it was the worst campground that we've ever seen. To start off, the electric outlets were so bad that when we plugged in and tried to turn on our air conditioner, the electric outlet sparked and blew everything in the trailer. My husband was fit to be tied. We moved to another site (the fuse in the air conditioner reset and we finally cooled off). We spent the entire night in our trailer. There were "fire ants" everywhere outside, the pool was GREEN and to top it off, we woke up to the sound of roosters crowing at sunrise. Yes, they have chickens and roosters running around as pets. Need I say more!

If you head north on I55 for a while, you can stay at our house( Chicago suburbs). Just kidding. That would only be about 5 hours north!

Not sure if you'll be anywhere near Louisville KY but the KOA there is right off the highway. It's pretty loud there but that doesn't bother us. Our home is on a small private airport so we're used to noise.

Have a great trip!

 

[MontanaCowgirl]

LOL sorry bout the roosters but those kinds of things I'm used to. We won't be anywhere near KY except maybe to cross over the extreme western tip of the state. We will make our last overnight stop in GA. After that we will go straight thru to Orlando. Ummm I think Chicago is just a little out of our way! hahahahaha But thanks!

 

[MontanaCowgirl]

Wooooo hooooooooooo! Broke the 200 mark!!!! Looks a lot better than a 3 as the 1st number in my coutdown!

One thing I noticed in my search for campsites is a LOT of them are closed from October 1st thru March or whenever! So the 1st 1/2 of our journey will be depending a lot on the campground's schedules! The 2nd half is a little easier to do since not so much planning will have to be done!

Chomping at the bit here!!! I can't wait to get to FW!!!!