Overseas Visitors Touring Usa/canada 2012, Any advice welcome Options

[movannernz]

Hi everyone, enjoying reading all the posts re. caravan parks. We have just booked a Roadbear C19 to tour for 64 days, picking up and dropping off RV in Vegas. Dates travelling 4th May to the 7th July '12. Plan to do Western US and some of Western Canada. Are we able to buy a Passport America pass, if yes, should we buy it from the first campsite we use? I have downloaded the PA brochure in PDF form. We are a bit concerned about having to prebook places as we like to tour and not be committed to booking ahead for sites. Is this going to be a concern? We do try to avoid busy places as much as possible as we like the peace and quiet of the countryside. Any itinerary ideas would be good and perhaps National parks that are stunning but less visited.
Also looking forward to meeting all you RVers!
Look forward to some help.

[RLM]

Since you have some time, I'd suggest that you go online for the states you plan to be in and get a free travel guide mailed to you. The package usually comes with a free state map. Free is always a good price.

Add the US Forest Service, National Park, and Corp of Engineer campgrounds to your list. They will be in the $20/night range. If you plan on using a few Corp campgrounds, I'd recommend buying the book Camping With The Corps of Engineers. You can get a used one on Amazon.com. Use this site for planning and reserving campsites in federal parks. http://www.recreation.gov/

PA card will pay for itself in 2-3 uses.

Consider buying an America the Beautiful Pass. Check it out at this site: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/general.html You will get a huge discount for entrance to Federal Parks and depending on the exact pass, discounts as much as 50% for campgrounds.

I concur with the suggestion to get a mapping software like Streets and Trips if you plan on bringing a laptop. GPS are nice, but I much prefer to look at a larger screen when in the RV and IMHO it's easier to program waypoints into. It will interactive if you have a wi-fi connection.

I've put a trip to NZ into my bucket list next fall. Do you mind if I send a personal email about my plans?