Just back from another great adventure - a 5,000+ mile meander from Maine to Florida and back in Wu-Wei my '84 Westy WITH NO MECHANICAL PROBLEMS - NONE!
Back to the subject at hand - I almost always set the Garmin to avoid highways and toll roads and use the Ultimate Campground site (http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uc/index.php) that Loren mentions to identify campgrounds, usually with good results. On this trip I came across a few places with no cell phone service for miles at a time; a bit disconcerting, particularly� when late in the day I was 8 miles up a dirt road in search of a campsite outside Beckley, WV. I found it thanks to the Garmin. I got out of there a day before they got hit with over a foot of snow. � I carry a good set of paper maps as a back up to my GPS, I also have the LiMBO, Roadhaus and a couple other lists of helpful shops and people. A wise man once told me (on another subject) "It's not the system that counts - it's the back up." Redundancy is good.

Dake
Wu-Wei '84 Westy

________________________________
 From: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 11:39 AM
Subject: Re: Notes on traveling, internet access and rv parks
 
RE: Traveling Across The US
Great write up Ken, great information.
Let me comment on a couple of things.� Ken's experience with cell phone GPS
mimics mine.� The cell phone requires data connection for the GPS
applications (most of them that is, at least one does not) to work.� The
answer is to go to a dedicated GPS unit, all map data is onboard.
Another solution for Internet access, assuming yhou have data connection on
you cell phone, is to use a small, free program called PDAnet.� A simple
Google search will find it.� Downloaded and installed on your computer and
smart phone and with the phone connected to the USB port on the computer
you will have Internet access.� I was amazed to find this working in the
middle of the Mohave Preserve where I had no voice connection at all and
just a weak data connection.
And for those seeking campgrounds (other than commercial RV parks) there
has emerged an incredible file of around 16,000 campgrounds across the US.
Free to use online or you can buy the file to load into your GPS or Streets
& Trips for $6!� Check out <http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uc/index.php>