Ok, let me start off by saying that I'm not even a pilot(yet!)and I've been dreaming of driving from NY to Oshkosh since I was 20y.o., I'm 54 now and finally have the time to do it. I'm not a rich guy, not by any stretch of the imagination, so renting a camper is out of the question. From what I've seen and read on here over the last few years, tent camping is the only affordable-ish way to do the show in it's entirety. While I haven't been camping since the Boyscouts, I'm willing to try this out----but I'm a bit skittish on it seeing on how folks with just tents are being treated on here. This is a concern for me. I'll be camping alone and with a single large tent. I plan on eating at the camp/show restaurants instead of cooking/eating on the campground as I honestly just want to do this for the show and plan on staying off the campgrounds for most of my stay there using it only really for sleeping/showering.

I know exactly nothing about camping here, and despite reading as much as I can on this forum, I'm still not very enlightened on how to even do this. Do the cars get a separate parking lot or do you set up a tent right next to it on your campground? Are there enough showering/toilet facilities there for the amount of campers that show up? I've read numerous times that this place is HUGE, any tips on where to stay to limit my amount of really long walks to said showering/toilet facilities? I figured Wednesday the week before the show to be a good time to get there to get a decent campground, is that good or earlier is better(I have the time, I'm retired)? Honestly, anyone with major tent camping experience on here giving a new guy really wanting to be there some solid advice to make my first time a good time would be really appreciated, thanks!