Reservation or No Reservation?

[SvilleKid]

We almost NEVER make advanced reservations. And have only been shut out once in 30+ years. We have had times where we had to pay more, go a little farther or settle for less of a room, but we are always polite about it. This includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Smokies, and many others. We got shut out in Big Springs, Texas one trip when there was a big Rodeo in town that we didn't anticipate, and we had to go 2 hours east (direction we were already headed.) A night in Moab cost us twice what we planned, because we didn't realize Moab was a big weekend retreat for desert recreation. A trip into Yellowstone that was suddenly in a blizzard meant we had to go to West Yellowstone to find a room instead of one in the park. But overall, we find rooms. We are NOT picky and limited to 4 or 5 star joints. As a matter of fact, some of our best rooms have been in small, mom and pop establishments in out-of-the-way places.