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CALinSC
07-06-2020, 11:11 AM
In the four and a half years we were on the road full time we visited all of the lower 48 and five CDN provinces.

We never boondocked or used someone's parking lot. We did carry a Honda 2000 generator for emergencies.

We stayed at numerous RV Parks/CGs we called overnighters. Sometimes for two nights if we wanted to explore something close by the CG or just do some shopping.

These postings will not follow any particular time frame or geographical areas. Just glimpses of places - almost always FHU - we found on our long journey.

When headed for Yankee land we avoided the large coastal cities. Normally we went up I-81 to I-84 and other US highways to get into New England from the south.

We found Korn’s CG near Middletown, NY. The first time we stayed there they were developing more land for the CG and it was out behind their original CG. The sites were going to be very large and all with FHU with 50 amps. We got one of the very first ones ready for rent.

Our normal travel day was 250 – 300 miles. We normally broke camp after the early rush and got to our next stop with plenty of time to hook-up and enjoy the rest of the day. It also gave us time to find dish TV signals in the event the CG didn’t have CATV.

Here’s a picture of our monster site at Korn’s CG.

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CALinSC
07-08-2020, 07:57 AM
One afternoon heading west on I-20 we started looking for a place to spend the night. There was a billboard advertising Roosevelt State Park near Morton, MS. We seldom consider state or national parks because their sites are normally small – we want to stay connected and we are 57’ when connected - and they don’t often have FHU services. But, we did call to inquire and found that they had FHU service and the attendant said there were a couple back in sites about 60’ Available.

It proved to be a very pleasant stop and I could walk a short distance down a path behind our site and fish until dark.

The link is active and the picture can be enlarged when you click on it.

https://www.mdwfp.com/parks-destinations/state-parks/roosevelt


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CALinSC
07-13-2020, 03:26 AM
After a couple of weeks on the Texas gulf coast we headed north on US-59.

Our first overnighter was at Shady Oaks RV Park at Ganado, TX. Clean park with nice long, flat pull thru FHU sites.



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Wannabervin
07-13-2020, 08:04 PM
Don’t ya just love these for overnighters?

Dan50
07-14-2020, 09:32 AM
More Please!

CALinSC
07-14-2020, 10:50 AM
When we both retired and sold just about everything we owned, we had lived in FL for 23 years. Our children and grand children all lived there. During our full time years and even after we purchased our retirement home here in the SC foothills, we have always made an effort to spend a week or two every spring and fall in FL.

There are a lot of ways to leave FL. Were never in a hurry so we travel lots of US highways and rural state roads. One of our favorite routes north out of FL includes traveling on US-84 & US-231 up through the center of AL.

On US-231 at troy, AL you will find a very comfortable place to stay at Deer Run RV Park. For overnighters it’s great. They have large FHU pull-thru sites with CATV that are level and well manicured. We have stayed there probably a half dozen times and have always enjoyed the hospitality of the owner manager team that lives on site.


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CALinSC
07-16-2020, 09:51 AM
When traveling around the country with no particular place to go we just “wing it” (no reservations).

Our scheduled traveling days were somewhere between 250-300 miles. We avoid the rush by pulling in early and leaving CGs late.

A great number of our overnight stops were found on roadside billboard advertisements. While meandering across KS using US-54 we spotted a billboard with the Iola, KS RV Park P/N. We called and asked if they had any open sites, they had plenty.

It turned out to be a rather new and modern, smallish, RV park/storage facility. The owner/manager was a young fellow with a goal of 1st class service for all customers on the top of his list.

We spent two nights there. Had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant recommended by the RV park manager. The next day we visited the Veterans Memorial Wall and took a Trolley ride around town.

Stop by and spend a night if you’re passing through. You might extend a day to take in the atmosphere.


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CALinSC
07-20-2020, 11:11 PM
While heading west with our friends on I-80 in southwestern NB, we spotted a little golf course backed up to a reservoir lake with a huge power plant on the far side. We saw a few smallish RV trailers parked there so we decided to investigate. It was a little early in the day and we had no reservations. The little RV park at the golf course had nice large FHU sites right on the lake. The sites were level and by the time Don and I got our rigs set up for the night, we had a golf cart and were headed for the first tee. While Don and I were off golfing the girls decided to go to town so they disconnected one of the trucks and went on their adventure. The little 9 hole golf course was in very good condition and we enjoyed the afternoon chasing little white balls. Later, as the sun was going down, we had a nice supper on the lake while watching the birds coming and going. They were getting their last drink of water before heading to their roosting places.

This is one of those places you just don’t find in the books or on the internet. Thank you Sutherland, NB.

Not many pictures taken here. Some were shot into the sun and the quality isn’t very good. Just click on them to get a larger view.


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CALinSC
07-25-2020, 06:56 AM
T-Ricks RV Park

Over the years we have often traveled I40 and always have our eyes peeled for quick easy places to spend a night at an economical price. T-Ricks at exit 193 fits the bill. It’s a fueling stop with a store and a smallish - well laid out - RV park with FHU service. Stop at the store and pay the site fee and then go across the street and pick-out a site. On this stop we got there in the early afternoon and all sites were empty. By bed time it was three quarters full.

They have diesel and gas there so in the morning we topped the truck off and got some of their fresh breakfast sandwiches and hit the road all refreshed.


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CALinSC
07-28-2020, 08:41 AM
Midessa Oil Patch RV Park

We’ve been across country on just about all of the Interstate highways. This stop was while traveling west on I-20. It was just a two night stop for a little rest, shopping and to get the laundry caught-up.

Very nice RV Park with all the connections we like to have. A very good country store. Our sites were close to our neighbors and we couldn’t get side-by-side with our traveling friends. (We didn't have reservations). But, the sites were easy to get into and out of, level and long enough to stay hooked-up if we wanted to do that.

The link is active.
 
http://www.midessaoilpatchrvpark.com/


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CALinSC
07-29-2020, 12:11 PM
One year while we were visiting family and friends in Maine, we decided to go west on US-2 (and other US & Rural highways) all the way to ND. It was still early in the year and there were lots of stops along the way.

Keeping with the message this thread is providing (overnighters), I’m just going to highlight short one or two night stops along this trail west.

We seldom stayed at state parks during our nearly 5 years of full time traveling. Looking back I can count them on one hand.

Coles Creek State Park is a 1,800-acre state park located on the Saint Lawrence River on the west bank of Coles Creek. The park is in the Town of Waddington in St. Lawrence County, New York.

Nearing the end of a traveling day we were searching for a place to spend the night. FHU sites were our favored places to stay. However we would accept sites with 30 amps and water providing they had a dump station. Nearing the State Park entrance we decided to see what they had to offer. We drove the rig to a ranger station/park office. A nice young man got a golf cart and drove us out to look at a site he thought we would like for an overnighter. Problem was it was a 30 AMP electric only site. On the way in to the site we could load-up the fresh water tank. Dump stations were located on the park exit roads.

Upon viewing the offered site we decided to stay for two nights because it was already late in the day. The pictures will help explain why we would accept an electric only site.

We never boondocked or used public parking lots. This was the closest we ever came to boondocking. We had a Honda 2000 generator but it was for emergencies only. We also had a 30 gallon “blue boy”. I can only remember using it twice. Once at Myrtle Beach state park and another at Walnut ridge RV Park, IN. Both places were W/E only.

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Dan50
07-30-2020, 09:40 AM
Have stayed at Coles Creek many times as well as Robert Mosed And Kring state parks not too far away. We are from Quebec but love NYS parks. Sure miss them this year.

CALinSC
08-02-2020, 04:37 AM
We have used Fort Chiswell RV Campground numerous times over the years. We usually get there when heading up to I-81 from I-26 or I-77. It’s a very comfortable place to spend a night or two. It’s quiet, has a nice camp store and a fishing pond. They provide FHU sites with basic cable.

The link below is active.

http://properties.camping.com/fort-chiswell-rv-campground/Overview?utm_source=GoodSam


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CALinSC
08-06-2020, 01:08 AM
Barstow/Calico KOA

One time when going west out of Las Vegas on I-15 I ran over a huge black road gator. Just barely missed it with the truck tires but both right side trailer tires ran over it. The lead tire exploded immediately and the aft tire was flat by the time I got stopped. Our friends were following and completely missed it. I was blinded from it by an 18 wheeler in front of me. It wasn’t until after he swerved to miss it that I saw it….too late.

We used our spare and our friends spare and went on looking for a place to get more tires. Barstow was the first place with a sizeable tire retailer so we stopped there at the KOA for a couple of days. Got some new tires and looked around the local area.

At that time the CG was being worked by local college students. They were very friendly and helpful with everything.

The CG is probably the most disarranged lay-out of any we have stayed at. There was no way they were going to cut down any trees or shrubs when they put in the infrastructure. So, sites were zigzagged and misaligned throughout the CG. But there are still some large ones and the amenities were FHU with CATV just to mention the ones we covet.

The link is active.

http://koa.com/campgrounds/barstow/overview/

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CALinSC
08-15-2020, 01:55 PM
When traveling the western states there is an abundance of Indian Casinos. Most of them offer places for RV parking. Some are very primitive with no hook-ups but free. Others may be free with some sort of W/E service. Others have FHU and fees

When we stayed at this one - Dancing Eagle - near Grants, NM, the sites were all FHU with a $10 per night fee. At that time the fee could be redeemed by going to the casino and applying for a player’s card. With each players card we got a $10 coupon good for fuel at their reservation service station. It’s right across the road from the RV parking area.

The RV Park was sparse but very easy to use. It had an eight foot concrete wall with an excess – well lit – path to the casino.

According to their web site they now have a $17 fee. They are currently closed because of the pandemic.

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CALinSC
08-24-2020, 10:16 AM
The Lafayette KOA just off I-10 at Scott, LA is very easy to use, making it a desired overnighter. We have used KOAs for overnight stops all around the country.

This one has FHU/50 AMPs and CATV. The pull thru site we were in was about 65’. Our rig is 57’ when connected and you can see in the picture there was plenty of extra room on both ends.

Sometimes on short stops like this one was, we don’t put our living room slide out. We do use the FHU services because it’s our habit to wash cloths at every stop. It might be just socks, underwear and a dish towel/hand towel.

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CALinSC
08-25-2020, 08:05 PM
We have visited numerous RV Parks/Campgrounds up and down the I-81 corridor. Often times just an overnight stop-over and others for days to weeks, and some more than once, especially the easy to use stops for quick fuel and highway access.

The Western Village RV Park falls into the category of site size and ease of access. However, over the years, to add parking sites, some of the larger pull-thru sites have been modified to accommodate two back-to-back sites for smaller trailers.

In these pictures we have another couple - Linda’s sister and her husband Tommy - traveling with us. We were on a month long journey to up-state NY and then over into New England before returning our guests home. We had to off-load nearly a thousand pounds of our stuff from the truck & trailer to accommodate our guests and their stuff. It was a great trip.

Here are a few pictures. You can click on any of them to get a larger view. The link to the RV Park is active

https://westernvillagervpark.com/

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CALinSC
09-21-2020, 07:06 AM
Whenever traveling across I-20 in central Alabama we will stop here at the Lakeside Landing RV Park & Marina. Sometimes it’s just for an overnighter and others for a week or longer. It really depends on the time of year and the availability of the Black Crappie. Black Crappie is the fish I covet. Easy to clean and cook and has a great taste, void of the fishy taste many other similar pan fish have.

I always carry an electric trolling motor and extra marine battery so I can rent Jon boats.

This park is always full whenever the NASCAR folks are racing at Talladega. There are at least four major fishing activities on this chain of water every year and the park will be loaded for each of them.

As you can see in the pictures; the sites are quite level and large enough to stay connected when just spending the night.

We get in early enough for me to do some pier fishing. The Park store is well equipped and has everything needed for fishing including all sorts of bait, including crickets, worms and minnows. I think shiners are seasonal.

The link is active.

https://www.lakesidelandingrvmarina.com/

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CALinSC
09-26-2020, 09:04 AM
We have traveled extensively across Interstate 40 and have found a lot of friendly places to spend the night that are not overly expensive, have a friendly family owned and managed atmosphere and are easy to access and depart.

This one is the Bean Pot Campground. If you’re traveling across TN on I40 you’re probably going to have to spend the night somewhere. During our traveling years - full time or otherwise - we never boon docked or used those free parking lots. It was just our way. So, we found a lot of overnight stop-offs. Sometimes, like this one; it’s a family campground with areas for seasonal parking and other areas with nice pull thru sites for those that just want to stop for the night or a day or two. This one has a nice office with a well stocked store.

The link is active and the pictures can be enlarger by clicking on them.


http://www.beanpotcampground.com/


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CALinSC
09-26-2020, 09:13 AM
We have traveled extensively across Interstate 40 and have found a lot of friendly places to spend the night that are not overly expensive, have a friendly family owned and managed atmosphere and are easy to access and depart.

This one is the Bean Pot Campground. If you’re traveling across TN on I40 you’re probably going to have to spend the night somewhere. During our traveling years - full time or otherwise - we never boon docked or used those free parking lots. It was just our way. So, we found a lot of overnight stop-offs. Sometimes, like this one; it’s a family campground with areas for seasonal parking and other areas with nice pull thru sites for those that just want to stop for the night or a day or two. This one has a nice office with a well stocked store.

The link is active and the pictures can be enlarger by clicking on them.


http://www.beanpotcampground.com/

p.s. Sometimes when we leave a review of a RV Park or CG we also add a picture of our parking site. In the Amenities section of the Bean Pot link, the cover page is of our rig.


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CALinSC
10-07-2020, 06:31 PM
We were Just meandering in Indiana. We were headed north to MI and were using IN-3, a beautiful highway up through central IN. We had been constantly on the move since we left FL and were hunting for a place to hunker-down for 5 days to a week. We saw a billboard advertising a CG near New Castle. We decided to drop by and have a look-see. The CG was Walnut Ridge, a beautifully appointed CG with lots of activity including pinball machines in the wash room. However, they do not have sewer connections. We took a 50 AMP with water and squeezed the holding tanks for three days before going to the dump station and leaving. They did have a honey bucket truck available by reservation with daily service. I don’t trust someone else to mess with our tanks so we said thank you and left.

We had a beautiful fully paved corner site. The owners live right across the street from the CG entrance. About a half mile down the road they own a medium sized RV dealership with about 10 servicing bays. They sell the DRV Suites luxury models.

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GeoTech
10-11-2020, 02:10 PM
Great posts @CalinSC! Love all your descriptions of the parks along with the pics! We are in the early years of our retirement & RV'ing. Though we've had 45 years of camping (all of them in a tent in some really interesting places around the U.S.A.) we are ready to expand our horizons to see all of America. Do you normally have a set destination, or are you "winging "it? Do you pick a stop early in the morning before leaving or decide after being on the road for a few hours to pick where your next overnight will be? Thanks again for such an entertaining post!

CALinSC
10-11-2020, 04:00 PM
Great posts @CalinSC! Love all your descriptions of the parks along with the pics! We are in the early years of our retirement & RV'ing. Though we've had 45 years of camping (all of them in a tent in some really interesting places around the U.S.A.) we are ready to expand our horizons to see all of America. Do you normally have a set destination, or are you "winging "it? Do you pick a stop early in the morning before leaving or decide after being on the road for a few hours to pick where your next overnight will be? Thanks again for such an entertaining post!

Because of chronic medical conditions we no longer travel full time.

We were 100% committed to a full time traveling life style when we retired. We sold our home with a pool at a golf course community in FL, and nearly everything in it. Both of our children and grand children all lived in FL so it was easy to keep it as our state of residence.

We had no set agendas other than staying warm. It took us nearly 5 years to visit 48 states and 5 CDN provinces. Our choice of RV was a mid level 38' 5th wheel - to keep the weight down - and a Dodge dually diesel tow vehicle. We traveled north in the spring and summer months and south in the fall and winter months. Snow never hit our rig. We had a very comfortable budget and never boondocked, dry camped or stayed in some parking lot.

We just winged it and seldom used or made reservations unless we were going to stop long enough for mail forwarding. Of course we always mad reservations for north/south seasonal changes, normally about 2 months and sometimes near the kids in FL. I'm from Maine and Linda is from SC so we had family connections in those areas.

We had a large place in FL for storage. When our rig weight got close to max we would send the excess to one of our kids and they would put it in our storage facility. We both had hobbies that would cause an accumulation of weight. We purchased things from yard sales and sold them on internet auctions. My interests were military things, Zippo lighters and old fishing equipment. All sold well on the net. Linda's likes were glass, pottery, 1st edition books and jewelry (mostly heavy stuff).

We both like golf and fishing, train and boat rides. We hardly ever stayed in state of federal parks but visited most all in our path.

Both of us have a hard time at altitudes above 5000' and avoided staying at them more than a day or two at a time.

Being retired military allowed us to stay at military RV Parks/CGs. Sometimes they were destination stops. In fact, because of bad weather in southern CA one year, we stayed at the Naval Air Facility RV Park at El Centro, CA for two months.

We are not photo smart but we surely know how to point and click because we have thousands of pictures.

Some of the most interesting places to spend a night or two were found by reading billboards and signs. Like a free FHU all paved city park at Concordia, KS or in a farmers yard with 12 W/E sites including a 3 course evening meal with the owners and other patrons at Kellogg, IA.

I wrote blogs and kept journals which help me go back and make some of these posts before I get too old to do it. Linda and I were married 62 years on Oct 4th this year. Traveling will keep you active and we highly recommend going out and seeing our country. We live in a smallish seniors retirement community the SC foothills and until this awful pandemic came along we went to FL at least three times a year.

CALinSC
10-11-2020, 04:20 PM
Once upon a time, meandering along in the “heartland”, we found a free RV park with paved, level parking, and 50 amp full hook-up services.

We had no particular place to go and were just enjoying the lands we were traveling thru. We didn’t have any reservation - we seldom do when just meandering along - so we start looking early for places to spend a night or two (We don’t dry camp!). We had just come out of NB and were heading south on US-81 when we entered Concordia, KS. Right after entering the city limits we saw a sign advertising a free RV park run by the city. The RV Park could not be seen from the road but the entrance road was paved so we went on in. What a nice surprise. It was very clean and well kept. The sites were large enough for just about any big rigs and very easy to get into. There wasn't any on site management. There was a message board with a few rules and a drop box for donations. The whole park was very well lit-up and the city police came thru regularly all night.

On one side the park is bordered by a National Guard compound with a big fire tower. Right across the street from the entrance road is a super Wal-Mart. We set-up, disconnected and spent two days there exploring the city and its attractions.

Here are a few pictures. They will enlarge when you click on them and the link is active.

http://www.concordiaks.org/departments/public_works/campground.php

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CALinSC
10-31-2020, 07:50 PM
This is one of our one time only stops. It was time to head south and we were going south on I-395 and decided to see if we could find a place to park for a couple of days so we could visit the vast and beautiful Foxwoods Resort Casino complex. We stopped at a rest area and started calling CGs/RV Parks in the area. It was a Thursday and everything close in was fully booked. So we went a little farther out until we found the Deer Haven CG at Lisbon. They had a FHU with 50 AMPS but only gray water dumping. We could easily stay 2-3 days with just grey water dumping so we took it.

The CG was down a narrow country road and very secluded. Our site was behind the park office/store and almost on the fishing pond. On returning to the CG late in the evenings we always saw some kind of animal on or near the road; mostly white tail deer and once a silver fox.

Being a Thursday afternoon arrival the CG was nearly empty and we wondered about only getting a gray water site. Well, by early Friday afternoon the place was packed full.

We stayed a couple of days and then took CT-2 and others across to I-84 so we could work our way around the more populated areas with their big cities.

Since we stayed there the CG has changed hands and is now a KOA CG.

https://www.parkadvisor.com/us/connecticut/lisbon/1002805/Deer+Haven+Campground

https://sunfoxcampground.com/

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CALinSC
12-02-2020, 11:52 PM
This is one of those places you find when just meandering around on rural roads.

We had got off I-81 to follow US-11 and PA-239 down a section of the Susquehanna River. When we decided to head back to I-81 we connected up with PA-289 and that’s when we saw the sign for Moyers Grove CG. It’s very rural but friendly with a well stocked CG store. It was early afternoon and I had plenty of time to fish a section of the clear stream going through the CG. Our parking site was a FHU tight back-in, under a heavy tree cover. Highway PA-289 is a narrow rural road but well marked and repaired and provided some very picturesque views.

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Dan50
12-03-2020, 11:37 AM
Just wanted you to know that I very much enjoy your posts and hope for many more. Thank you.

CALinSC
12-05-2020, 03:34 PM
When we were full timers, our granddaughter was attending Armstrong State University at Savannah. Whenever we traveled I-95 in that area we would stop for an evening or two and have dinner and gab.

The most convenient RV Parking for those visits was at the Savannah KOA. It’s a long time, well established KOA. It has all the usual KOA things. However, it’s in a low area and whenever it rains it gets muddy.

There is an USAF aircraft museum at Savannah and its iconic aircraft is situated in a display area right out where everyone traveling I-95 can see it.

There is a very large retention pond/lake in the park area and it’s loaded with pan fish and some large Black Bass. You’ll get one those bass if you use the right bait.

Our normal parking site at this KOA is any one of the FHU sites near the office/camp store. These pictures are very similar to all of the sites in the tall pines.


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CALinSC
12-12-2020, 08:43 AM
We have long time friends from our Navy days that retired in the NC country town of Four Oaks. Whenever traveling up & down I-95 we pull in here at this family owned and managed KOA and visit with our friends. The KOA has a nice sized residential section and lots of fairly large short term sites. It’s a laid-back quiet country atmosphere with great services.

The site pictured here is a long pull-thru with FHU and CATV. It’s a very easy on & off I-95 for those that just want to spend a night resting from that busy highway.

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CALinSC
12-20-2020, 12:43 AM
A very nice parking site nestled under tree cover at Whit’s End CG. My 1st cousin Jan and her husband Dan owned and managed this CG. We were real close to the Bear Champ River and the CG provided Kayaks and a ride up river a few miles to launch them. My oldest son was traveling with us at this stop and did the Kayak ride.

The site provided water/elect and gray water dumping so we could stay until we had to dump the black tank. We carry more than 200' of TV cable for the dish and need almost all of it to find a signal.

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CALinSC
12-27-2020, 04:59 AM
The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and Campground is run by the city and the RV Park is on the coal mine property. Their prices are very reasonable.

There are some tight turns getting to the RV Park but it opens up and getting into one of the FHU sites is pretty easy. The park office and surrounding grounds have numerous mining displays and they also run van tours daily.

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CALinSC
01-02-2021, 02:37 PM
The ambiance of Casino Resorts has always intrigued us. Over the years we’ve visited all of the major ones from NJ to NV. We’ve stopped at Indian casinos all across the country. Sometimes casinos have outstanding RV parks, even some of the smaller ones in meccas, like Biloxi or Tunica, MS or the monsters like Fox Woods in CT. However, we were never comfortable at any of the Atlantic Beach, NJ casinos because of the neighborhoods they were built in.

In the Tunica, MS area we’ve stayed at the four major casino RV parks. This one is at Sam’s Town. It’s a little too far to walk to the casino but they provide free van rides. All of the sites at Sam’s Town are 50 AMP FHU sites with CATV. It’s risky to stay at Sam’s during the rainy season because the lower sites will get flooded. We stay at the Hollywood when excess raining is forecasted. (That’ll be in another posting).

Like most of the Casinos in the Tunica area van tours to various points of interest are run by the RV Park office. An all day tour to Memphis, TN is highly recommended. They have a lunch stop in the famous music section of town.

We normally stay at this sort of RV Park 2-3 nights depending on the comps.

The link is active.

https://www.samstowntunica.com/stay/rv-park


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CALinSC
01-18-2021, 10:12 AM
This particular stop was for 10 days and we had made reservations. We were up north for the summer and there are lots of interesting attractions in the Buffalo area. During our reservations search we were looking for a smallish RV Park, close to the highways and centrally located. One of the major selling points the AA Royal had was van tours starting and finishing at the park office. During all of the tours we took from there, we got very good parking spaces and head-of-the-line service at every stop. One of the catches was lunch stops. They were all at cafes with good hot and cold sandwiches and trinket shops.

The RV Park is paved and the owner/manager lives on the property. The bathrooms and laundry room were always very clean. Our site was a FHU and a good size for our trailer. There was no CATV but I had no problem finding a signal for the dish.

The link below is active and looks to be updated and open for business.

http://royalmotelandcampground.com/

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CALinSC
01-24-2021, 01:22 AM
Crossing the Michigan Upper Peninsular on US-2 in the late spring/early summer time is an experience you will well remember. The campgrounds are family oriented with friendly, helpful staff members. The countryside is lush in fresh growth and wild animals are everywhere.

On this trip from east to west we were just meandering from campground to campground only calling ahead each traveling day to ask for a place to stay. Some travel days were a little longer than others but we always ended-up finding a place to park for a day or two before moving on again, and that’s how we found the Summer Breeze CG.

Our site was a FHU on a large grassy site. The section we parked in was a haphazard arrangement but easy to use once we found it. We were there on midweek days so it was quiet and restful. We were making so many stops during our travel days we were only averaging about 200 miles a day. By the time we got to Salt Lake City and turned south it was almost late fall and we even ran into some sleet in Rawlings, WY.

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Adventurous
01-24-2021, 05:30 PM
When traveling around the country with no particular place to go we just “wing it” (no reservations).

Our scheduled traveling days were somewhere between 250-300 miles. We avoid the rush by pulling in early and leaving CGs late.

A great number of our overnight stops were found on roadside billboard advertisements. While meandering across KS using US-54 we spotted a billboard with the Iola, KS RV Park P/N. We called and asked if they had any open sites, they had plenty.

It turned out to be a rather new and modern, smallish, RV park/storage facility. The owner/manager was a young fellow with a goal of 1st class service for all customers on the top of his list.

We spent two nights there. Had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant recommended by the RV park manager. The next day we visited the Veterans Memorial Wall and took a Trolley ride around town.

Stop by and spend a night if you’re passing through. You might extend a day to take in the atmosphere.


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My hometown! Glad you enjoyed your stay!

GeoTech
01-26-2021, 07:51 AM
Crossing the Michigan Upper Peninsular on US-2 in the late spring/early summer time is an experience you will well remember. The campgrounds are family oriented with friendly, helpful staff members. The countryside is lush in fresh growth and wild animals are everywhere.

On this trip from east to west we were just meandering from campground to campground only calling ahead each traveling day to ask for a place to stay. Some travel days were a little longer than others but we always ended-up finding a place to park for a day or two before moving on again, and that’s how we found the Summer Breeze CG.

Our site was a FHU on a large grassy site. The section we parked in was a haphazard arrangement but easy to use once we found it. We were there on midweek days so it was quiet and restful. We were making so many stops during our travel days we were only averaging about 200 miles a day. By the time we got to Salt Lake City and turned south it was almost late fall and we even ran into some sleet in Rawlings, WY.

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Good morning Cal, and thanks for continuing the posts of your life on the road! Being from Michigan, & having travelled/camped since my youngest days (68 is knocking on my door) in Michigan, we still take at least 3-4 weeks a year to camp our own state! I just checked out the Summers Breeze RV park & will give it a try this summer! Hope all is well with you folks, & pray this craziness will end soon!

CALinSC
02-02-2021, 04:49 PM
Being born and raised in rural Maine I take a much different tack when visiting there with a RV.

Being close to costal main as a youngster I got quite familiar with all of the costal tourist attractions from Kittery to Old Orchard Beach. So I never hunt for RV parking places near the coast. Mainers love to weekend camp. They pack-up, load the kids and head for their favorite family CG. Those are the places I like to park when up there in the spring and summer.

Beaver Dam CG is a typical Maine CG. It is family owned and operated and someone in the family usually lives there. Over the years it has evolved into a modern CG with FHUs available. And it’s about a stone’s throw to the North Berwick town line, my home town. The CG is about 10 miles from US-1 (the costal tourist highway) where there are many attractions to keep the tourist busy. Sanford ME is about 12 miles north and it has all the normal shopping stores and grocery stores. There are two bowling alleys there - candle pins – that most tourists enjoy.

Because we prefer a FHU site with 50 AMPs we park up on the knoll where those larger sites are located. The waterfront sites are W&E only.

The following link is active.

https://beaverdamcampground.com/

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CALinSC
02-09-2021, 03:55 PM
After exploring up state NY we crossed the bridge into VT at Rouses Point NY. We then linked-up with US-2 going south, to travel down a chain of islands at the upper end of Lake Champlain. After having lunch at North Hero we decided to splurge and see if we could get a parking site at the Apple Island RV Resort. It’s a wonderful resort complex with just about everything you might want to do. Boating, Fishing and Golfing are all available at the resort.

We got a nice grassy FHU site overlooking a seasonal section of the resort. It was very close to the wonderfully manicured 9 hole golf course.

There are antique shops at just about all of the US-2 crossroads on the island. The University of VT is at Burlington. The down town “Battery Park” at Burlington overlooks the Lake and has numerous places to get a lunch and enjoy it on the clean park tables.

The link is active.
https://appleislandresort.com/

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CALinSC
02-15-2021, 09:46 AM
We got snubbed pretty badly at this KOA. We were headed south for some of the winter months and had left I-81 at Winchester, VA to take US-17 down to I-95 and ultimately connect to I-85. We were going to spend a couple of weeks at Greenville, SC. This was not a normal route for us but we wanted to explore US-17 – a nice drive on a well maintained US highway.

When we got to Fredericksburg we opted to drive down a 7 mile county road to the KOA. We did not call as it was a Wednesday and almost all KOAs have sites during week days. Right away the manager didn’t want to give us a site because they had a large caravan arriving on Friday. We never did figure-out why they didn’t want us there. But, we had an advantage, our KOA card was golden and once they found that out they put us in a back-in spot down in the “south forty”, even though they had nice long pull-thrus close to the CG store.

The CG is old and the sites were quite antiquated but had FHUs with CATV. While exploring a smallish lake to see if I could do some evening fishing I found there was a large family of beaver there. The management was having a hard time getting the fish and game people to move them.

This KOA is an exception from the norm in that it’s not close to any major highway. However, the CG store was well stocked and some of the CG areas were modern with a nice sized swimming pool.

This link is active but a little deceiving.

https://koa.com/campgrounds/fredericksburg-washington-dc/


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CALinSC
02-23-2021, 11:57 PM
Because we are a retired military family we have the advantage of using military RV Parks and CGs.

This is not about a military RV Park, the user base here is for veterans. To qualify you need proof of at least 6 months active duty with honorable service. A DD214 will almost always qualify a veteran to join any American Legion post. You can get a membership card (about $20) at any active post. It will allow you the use of all other posts nationwide.

The American Legion Post 137 at Jacksonville, FL has a large membership base. The main post building is quite large. There is an Olympic size pool with an active tiki bar – in season. The post has an active rod & gun club, bass fishing club and motorcycle club. The property is quite large and there is a gated, paved double boat launching area with floating docks. That’s where there are 8 large RV parking sites. Six are FHU and the other two are at the boat launching area and have W&E only. We lived in Jacksonville for 23 years and all of our grand children and their children live there, so we always visit when on the east coast.

The main club has a large meeting area, pool tables, dart machines, shuffle boards, live entertainment on Friday & Saturday nights. There are steak dinners on Friday evenings and a walk-in brunch on Sundays.

Reservations are accepted. We like site #6 because of its great view of the boat launch and the Cedar River.

Here are a few pictures.

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CALinSC
03-03-2021, 04:53 PM
Are you a frequent I-95 Traveler? The New Green Acres RV Park at Walterboro, SC, exit #53 may interest you. Their sites are mostly long pull-thru sites with 50 AMP FHU and CATV. The park is very easy to enter and depart. On both sides of the exit road there are large big rig friendly service stations. It’s a very easy overnighter or short term retreat park with a traveler’s atmosphere.

The link below is active.

http://www.newgreenacres.com/

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CALinSC
03-15-2021, 11:31 AM
Because we now live in upstate SC and Linda’s family has always lived there, we have traveled I-81 many times. And, a few times, we did it from its start in NC to its end in NY.

There are a lot of great RV Parks/CGs along I-81. Many are family oriented CGs that are always open to overnighters. This stop at Twin Bridges CG was our first. We were headed north and spotted their billboard advertisement and decided to drive in and take a look. They offered us a nice grassy 50 amp FHU site and we took it. It’s a nice clean CG with lots of activities.

The CG office/store is well stocked and has live fishing bait. Because of the stream across the road in front of our site we decided to stay two nights. We got some nice pan sized catfish from the stream and got our laundry done. We try to wash at least once at every stop because of the load size of our washer/dryer. Changing sheets and towels will normally require three loads.

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CALinSC
04-30-2021, 05:19 AM
I-20 is one of those east/west highways we used often. This Safe Harbor RV Park is very convenient for a quick overnight stop. Just drive in and find a site, pay at a drop box and get a FHU with 50 AMPS and CATV.

I really like to get an overnight stop with a well stocked fishing pond/lake. Hardly any of the RV patron’s fish in the pond and I’ve always got a nice catch from its waters.

We’ve stayed here numerous times. Pictures 1&2 was at a different site and time than picture 3.

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Dan50
04-30-2021, 09:57 AM
Thank you. Enjoy your campground reports immensely.

CALinSC
07-26-2021, 12:57 AM
We have stayed at RV parks near or at Tucson. We were never able to get advance reservations into the RV Park at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. They have a huge overflow section but only water & elect. So we stay at civilian RV Parks.

Our favorite is the Prince of Tucson. It is well maintained and has individual mail boxes in the main building. It usually took about 10 days to get our mail shipped there. Even though the park is old it is not antiquated. All hook-ups are modern and well maintained. Entrance and departure from the park is easy and blends right into the main flow of traffic. Parking was easy for all size rigs and all pavement was in good condition.

On this trip it had rained and there were flowers all along I8 into Tucson.

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CALinSC
09-05-2021, 09:17 AM
This is a RV park that we often use. We highly recommend it for those that enjoy flea markets and yard sales.

There are two distinct sections in this park. One is for long term or seasonal patrons and the other is for shorter periods. Everything is FHU with many sites large enough for the largest Motor Homes and whatever they are hauling.

The adjacent Flea Market is their main drawing point. There is another Flea Market about a half mile down the road in an old drive-in movie theatre. It is about three quarters open air with less regular venders than the one at Barnyard.

Don’t miss the Flight Deck Restaurant in downtown Lexington. Aviation buffs will love the motif.

http://www.flightdeckrestaurant.net/

The pictures below were taken at different times of the year to show that the foliage does change significantly with the seasons in central SC.

In one picture there are two brownish Motor Homes parked side-by-side. They were nearly identical as were the brothers driving them.

Another picture is an example of the size of the larger sites. The red roofs in the picture’s background are part of the flea market.


Another picture shows some young men trying-out their purchases from some flea market vendor.

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CALinSC
10-24-2021, 01:00 AM
During our full time traveling years we wintered three times at Yuma, AZ. Because the seasonal RVers will often start north early, we decided to do the same and explore some of central AZ. It’s pretty easy at that time of year to travel without reservations. We wanted to visit the attractions in and around Sedona, AZ. We found the Rancho Verde RV Park at Camp Verde, AZ to be in a great location for many side trips in the area. We got a nice pull-thru, FHU site with the camp office and laundry/rec room just a short walk across the camp road. The owners/managers lived on site and were very helpful in pointing out shortcuts to places we wanted to visit. Our traveling companions in the Montana were traveling with us and we got side by side parking.

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CALinSC
12-19-2021, 03:13 PM
Pelican Roost RV Park, Naval Station, Mayport, FL

I did 31 years of active duty with the USN. Because of that and a service-connected disability I can stay at all military CGs and RV Parks (FAMCAMP – USAF). In the past I’ve not posted any of them in this thread because of the “authorized users” restrictions. Many of the ones we’ve stayed at in the past now allow guests with authorized users. Pelican Roost is one of them.

The Pelican Roost RV Park is situated out near the very end of the south jetties where the St. Johns River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. From the RV Park there is a full view of the “Mayport Basin” where the USN ships are moored. Everything that enters by sea to the ports at Jacksonville, FL will pass the RV Park. Needless to say, fishing from the jetties is very productive and exciting, because you never know what you might hook.

The normal parking limit is 14 days. Every time we’ve stayed there it’s been for 14 days. Just south of the RV Park there are military beaches. They have restaurants, bath facilities and game courts such as beach volleyball. The base has a true links 18-hole golf course which also has a wonderful restaurant. The MWR office has all sorts of recreational equipment for rent and they also have a large assortment of fishing equipment and baits.

At the town of Mayport there is a state-run ferry boat that crosses the St. Johns. The dunes on the north jetties are very popular with off road vehicle riders; there are a couple very popular sea food restaurants there, right on the river.

The following link will provide additional info.

https://www.militarycampgrounds.us/florida/pelican-roost-rv-park


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Dan50
12-20-2021, 02:49 PM
Missed your reports. Glad you're back and thank you for your service.

CALinSC
12-26-2021, 08:59 AM
Admiral Baker RV Park is in a naval recreational area in the heart of San Diego, CA. It is a large complex that offers numerous recreational activities.

When we last stayed there it was not open to the public. It now allows the civilian public to park there without a sponsor. Reservations can be made, and a stay limit of 14 days is allowed for civilians.

Basically, the RV park is shaped like a big horseshoe with all back-in sites. Behind the sites is a large activities field. The link below has all the information about costs and amenities. The location is excellent for visiting the city and all it offers.

A short distance away you can park and take a harbor tour. The USS Midway (CV-41) is a military museum and a popular downtown attraction. The bridge over to Coranado will get you to sandy beaches right on the ocean. The Del Coranado Hotel is a popular landmark and has been a backdrop for many movies. We once drove out there and took pictures of its Christmas decorations.

The last time there we had planned on spending a month, but a heavy rainstorm caused huge mud slides in the area, and we moved over the mountains to the Naval Air Facility at El Centro, CA.

https://www.militarycampgrounds.us/california/admiral-baker-field-campground

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CALinSC
01-20-2022, 05:15 AM
Nostalgia memories of what used to be a great country casino gaming establishment.

This is going back about 17 years. It’s an unplanned story that can only happen out on the road looking for places to park a RV rig.

In early 2005 we were traveling with some long-time companions from our Navy years. At that time, we had all known each other for nearly 40 years.

We were finishing a long-extended tour of the northern states from IL to NV. Our destination was Las Vegas where we had reservations at the Circus Circus RV Park just off the Vegas strip. (Don’s daughter was going to get married at a Vegas wedding chapel). After leaving Reno and heading south on US 95 we were about 4-5 days early for our reservations. If you’ve ever traveled US-95 between Reno and Vegas, you know how scarce RV parking along the way is. We all used Verizon cell phone services and at Beatty, NV we finally got good reception. Using our RV Parking catalogs we searched for a place to spend 3-4 days. We found a place near Pahrump, NV called Terrible’s Casino. They didn’t have any sites available. Before we could start another hunt, they called us back and said they had a 6-trailer caravan cancellation and they could give us two, nice side-by-side back-ins. At that time the casino was about 6 miles down a sort of rutted road and we were very worried that the place would be just like the roads. All those worries were set aside when we got there and were greeted by a RV parking attendant in a golf cart. Our days there were a great relaxing experience and we have always been sad of their closing. The owners ended-up building at a new location out on I-15.


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CALinSC
02-05-2022, 11:49 AM
Peoria, IL

During our full-time traveling years, we traveled almost exclusively with another retired Navy couple we had known for many years, Don & Betty Doole.

After wintering in Fl, we headed north. Betty is from Peoria; IL and we were going to spend a couple of weeks in the early springtime there before going on out trip across country. Our plans were to go north to the Michigan, UP and travel west on US-2. We traveled a lot of US highways because we were not time or reservation travelers. On our way to Peoria, we traveled most of the state north on US-51, all the way to I-74.

At Peoria, Betty knew of a Mobile Home Park that had nice sized RV spaces. Its name is Mt. Hawley Mobile Home & RV Park. It had nice FHU (50 AMP) sites well off the highway. Being a Mobile Home Park, each site had mail delivery. They also have a game room next to the laundry room. The area golf courses had opened and were lush green. Don & I played a lot of golf while the girls shopped and visited Betty’s family. After our two weeks stay, we headed north. We would winter in CA.

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Dan50
02-05-2022, 02:04 PM
Thank you, sir.

CALinSC
03-01-2022, 06:08 AM
Bozrah, CT

Odetha CG and Bozrah are unique names or places in CT and are the only ones to have those names.

Many Years ago, when we were on our first full time venture, we wanted to visit the huge Foxwoods Resort and Casino in rural CT. Because the casino – at that time – only offered dry parking for RVs we searched our RV Parks catalog and found the Odetha CG. We did not have reservations and all they had available was water and electric and gray water hook-ups. We had never used one and didn’t know what a gray water hook-up was. Every site in the gray water section had a normal looking wastewater connection. However, atop it was an unremovable garden hose connection. We did not have a connector for the trailer to use a garden hose, but the CG office did. With the two of us we could probably go 10 days without having to dump the black tank. We stayed 5 days and dumped and rinsed the black tank at the CG dump station on the exit road.


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The Odetha Resort and CG is a full-service CG. It has a nice sized lake where there is a small sandy beach area and an assortment of rental watercraft. Over the years we have stayed there at least a half dozen times, but never again on a gray water site.


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CALinSC
05-20-2022, 06:09 AM
Myrtle Beach State Park - Myrtle Beach, SC

We originally expected to stay two weeks but dallied too long before actually calling for reservations and in the end could only get a W&E site. We had a ditch out behind our trailer so I dumped the gray water in it every night but still had to use the blue boy (30 gal) one time to dump black water because of all the visitors we had.

The facilities at the fishing pier and CG store provide just about anything one needs to stay there without having to leave the grounds. You’d have to be extremely unlucky not to catch some fish when using the pier. We were after trout and drum and ate a lot of fish that week.

Our trailer is 38’ but we had no problems transiting the park roads to get to our site or when maneuvering to get parked. The site was pretty flat and the trailer was easy to get level. (Deep Woods Off recommended). We had a very short walk to a bathroom with warm water showers. That was a life safer because of all the visitors we had.

https://southcarolinaparks.com/myrtle-beach/camping

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CALinSC
09-13-2022, 04:33 PM
Fort Amarillo RV Park


On cross-country trip while traveling west to east on I-40, we caught up with a huge Midwestern storm front that was threatening the Mississippi delta country in the Memphis area. We decided to hunker down in Amarillo, TX. After browsing all of our campground references for the area we decided on the Fort Amarillo RV Park & Resort. When we got there the storm was less than 35 miles out in front of us. The sites there were all level pull thru and plenty long enough. They were narrow but divided. The access to I40 is simple and easy. A super Walmart is less than five miles away.

Save some time for the Lizzie Mae Mercantile. Trinkets galore!

We ended up spending five days there. The Mississippi crested well below flood levels and I-40 was wide open all the way past Memphis. But, even after spending a couple of nights each in OK and AR, the Mississippi was still over its banks as we crossed into TN, and it was still heavily overcast.

http://fortrvparks.com/

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Dan50
09-14-2022, 10:26 AM
Glad to see that you are back.