Well, first of all we had no internet and only one phone, to cut down on bills while we were gone. We also shut off or suspended all of our utilities at our house. I went back in forth about getting a smartphone with internet, so glad I didn't. I had bought an atlas from Wal-Mart which was a life saver. It lists all the Walmarts in the country by state and tells you the services they provide ie. tire/lube, pharmacy, supercenter, and gasoline. Walmart truly made this happen for us. Five oil changes for about $35.00 a piece. Some have large bay doors others are smaller but have pits. They also get scared when you say your driving and RV or see it just reassure them that its a regular toyota truck so they don't try to overcharge you. We also bought 3 gallon jugs of water for back up so if we couldn't find water we had some for drinking and the toilet. Once you have the jugs, which could be something you already have, you can refill them at most walmarts for 31 cents. One more Walmart tid bit, most of them are located next to or very near a Lowes, Home Depot, Sams Club, or Fed Ex Office, which all have free wifi and it's very easy to connect!
We also cooked all of our meals. We would go to costco and buy meat I would cook all day and wrap my food in saranwrap and freeze it. This came in so handy, We would decided over breakfast what we would have for dinner and take it out of the freezer and it would be thawed by dinner time. I would freeze enough food for about 16 to 18 days. Also since we weer staying at so many walmarts I never over bought food, I only threw away four potatoes that had gone bad the whole trip. Nothing was ever wasted!
As far as finding dumpstations at the beginning of the trip we signed upfor a Pilot/Flying J's card, which gave us a few cents off for each gallon of gas, propane and $5.00 dumps. Also if you have an Ipod touch you can download a Pilot App to find out where the nearest one is, and you don't need to be connected when searching for one. We then later found out that many of the TA's (travel americas) have free dumps. Also there is a website rvdumps.com that lists free or prices of dumpstations all over. We found that many water treatment plants have them and state parks in some states will let you do it free. Also just keep your eyes open, we found a free one at a car wash in Minnesota. Their is also a gas station chain in Arizona, I don't remember the name but also had free dumps.
By the way we loved Maine, we stayed in Acadia for 4 nights at Blackwoods campground. It was empty as we were there right after the snow hit around halloween, but we had beautiful weather. Also Maine is one of the most difficult places to find water, a place to stay, and services so it will get much easier when you head out.
Also I don't know what kind of camper you have but make sure your house battery is charging properly, you don't want to have to plug into charge up when your are driving so much!
We we so fortunate to have taken this trip we saw some amazing places and decided that staying at walmarts didn't take away from our trip, we stayed busy until dark, then when you close your blinds who cares where you are. Plus, savng the money by staying there allowed us to spend money elsewhere, redwoods national park, sedona, acadia, and more. We have hat pins from our trip but very few trinkets.
Also we traveled with our 95lb dog....dog parks are abundant and a great place to chat with locals on where to go and what to see on a budget, better than any guide book!
