Route planning

In 2016, we took our first cross country trip, camping the whole way.  That trip is detailed at brothersbrt.blogspot.com.  A few planning aids from that trip will be used again this time.

- Furkot.com  This is a cloud based travel program that helps with the "big picture".  I can input the gas mileage, how many hours per day we plan to drive, how long each stop will be and even search for campgrounds and points of interest along the way.  It gives me a pretty good idea of where we will be on a given day.  We don't pre-book our lodging as we often fall behind a day, or get ahead by two days.  We stop at a nicer campground once a week for Ken to work remotely and to do laundry, buy groceries, let the kids swim, etc.  But, overall, Furkot has been a great help with general planning.

- The Next Exit.  This book details what is at the next exit on the interstates.  

Simply look up the state, interstate, then look for the exit number.  Items in red are easy on - easy off for RVs.  It is great for finding gasoline, food, and basic services as well as department stores and RV parks.  Everything listed is supposed to be within a mile of the exit ramp.  We get a lot of use out of this book.  I decided not to get a new one for this trip as the one I have is from 2016 and should still be fairly up to date.

The Mountain Directory is all about navigating the mountain roads in an RV, Tractor Trailer, or with a tow vehicle.  There is an East and West version of The Mountain Directory.  Each is organized by State.  On the State map, there are numbers.  Look up the number, and it will tell you about the potential warnings.

Knowing that a significant downgrade is ahead gives the driver time to prepare mentally, and the descriptions are very detailed and helpful.  They even note any runaway ramps which are open for emergencies.  These books helped me decide on exact routes when I got to detailed planning in 2016.  This time, most of our mountain driving will be in Canada, and The Mountain Directory is US only, as is The Next Exit.

The Milepost is celebrating its 70th year.  It is the western Canadian version of The Next Exit and The Mountain Directory, combined.  It is THE book for driving the Alaskan Highway.  It is wordier that the US books, giving the traveler information about sights to see, cautions about steep or curvy sections of road, what is a "must see" in the next town, resteraunts,  lodging, wildlife, etc.  There are long stretches of road with no services or gasoline or cell signal.  The Milepost makes sure the driver is aware that they need to "fuel up now!"  It does cover part of Alaska as well as the western provinces of Canada.

So, there you have it.  The major planning tools I use for our long cross continental road trip, towing a camper.