Thanks for all the replies. As for the questions about our past experience, we have used our tent trailer for up to two weeks, so we are familiar with the process. The tent works best when staying at one camp site, so we will have to approach the trip a little differently. We like a hot shower in a relatively clean facility every night. This limits our camping facilities options. We have read that truck stops have clean bathrooms with showers, so we may try this option as well. We will likely balance camping against other options as we go along, using weather, prices and whatever other factors seem appropriate.
We definitely try to stay by friends and family whenever possible.
We typically eat light breakfast, so we may try to cook oatmeal and have fruit for breakfast and eat at least one full meal later in the day. We also snack on trail mix and other items.
We have already learned to pack light and we will simply use laundromat as needed along the way. We keep clothing down to shorts, jeans, t-shirts, Crocs and some shoes to hike in. The Crocs double as shower shoes.
I will add Gas Buddy, Hotwire and freecampsites.net to my web site list.
We may find that camping does not save enough to justify the compromises. We do intend to target milder weather months, maybe May & June and adjust our route with weather in mind. If we find the camper too inconvenient, we can drop it by my Mom's place a few states away and pick it up on the way back.
Has anyone tried the portable AC/DC electric coolers? I was thinking we can keep it plugged in and sitting in rear footwell while driving and plug into A/C at campsites with electric or at other places we stay. This will eliminate headache of replenishing Ice.
Thanks,
BJ