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Hardeeville RV Park - Hardeeville SC

Nov 102011

Just spent the last 5 days at the Hardeville RV Park in Hardeeville SC. This is just across the river from Savannah and it is an easy 10 minute ride to the main Visitors Center in Savannah. The park is nice and quiet with large sites. Each site is full hookups plus cable TV and wireless internet. The cable TV has 67 channels and the wireless internet worked well.

The sites are gravel or grass and mostly level with a lot of space between sites. There are a number of long term residents but all of them are neat and clean. In fact the whole park is clean. There are no bathrooms or laundry so you will have to have full facilities in your coach. Some sites are wooded and others are open so you can use your satellite on the open sites.

I used my Passport America membership which made the daily rate $21, not a bad deal at all. I would gladly stay here again the next time I visit Savannah. Below are a few more photos of the campground.

Camping World Campground - Chattanooga TN

On The Road, RV Parks & Campgrounds No Responses »

Nov 042011

The trip today was only about 5 hours long so I slept in a bit and hit the road around 9:30AM. The drive went without a hitch but was interesting none the less. Fall colors is in full swing down here. As I got deeper into Kentucky and then into Tennessee it reminded me a bit of Michigan. A lot more enjoyable then the first le of the trip.

I also got a chance to give the Duramax a workout. While nothing like the mountains out west, there were a number of steeper hills that gave me an idea of how well the truck performs. I also wanted to see how much the scooter mounted on the front affected cooling. It passed with flying colors. I set the cruise at 62 and let the engine and transmission do its thing. There were a few climbs where the semis dropped to under 50 and I just buzzed by at 60 to 62 MPH. Then on the downhill they would buzz by me and we repeated this again on the climb. No problems with the engine getting hot, the water temp did get up to 220 deg on one 3 mile climb where the transmission downshifted into 4th gear. The cooling fan kicked on dropping it to 200 deg within a 1/2 mile or so. Otherwise it just cruised at 190 deg. I'm happy with the way the setup preformed.

Whispering Hills RV Park - Georgetown KY

On The Road, RV Parks & Campgrounds No Responses »

Nov 032011

I got on the road about 8:30 this morning. All it took was a quick stop for coffee and donuts to snack on, then I headed on south. The trip was pretty uneventful other then a couple of slowdowns near Dayton OH and the rain I had to slog through for the last 150 miles. The Covington Bridge on I-75 where it crosses the Ohio River is under construction and there are long delays so I took the I-275 bypass around Cincinnati to avoid it. I was planning on stopping just after I crossed the Kentucky border but I headed a little further south hoping the rain would stop. It didn't

I ended up stopping at Whispering Hills RV Park just north of Georgetown KY. It is about a 3 mile drive off the highway at exit 129. Early November is not the best way to enjoy an RV park and the rain didn't help any either. But looking around it appears to be a nice park. There is a fishing pond, a pavilion plus a pool on the property and the park store and a small selection of food and RV supplies. The Wifi signal was strong at my site and the connection was fairly fast. Verizon WiFi and data connection was good and it was easy to pull in all of the major OTA network channels even on my crappy Jensen antenna.

Eden Springs Park & Campground - Benton Harbor, MI

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Oct 092011

It was a beautiful weekend so I decided to head out for one last weekend of camping that would also serve as a shake down for my trip to Florida. I picked Eden Springs Park & Campground as it is a place I read a lot about and I wanted to visit it myself.

The facilities are somewhat unique. Not so much the campground itself, but the adjacent park. I'll start first with the campground. The sites are mainly grass, with most of them nice and wide. In most of them you can pull through and are large enough for any size rig, even with a toad. About half the site are full hook ups with the other half electric and water. Sites share the hookups so rigs are parked in opposite directions. I know some don't like this but it is nice if you are camping with someone else as your doors will face each other.

There is ample shading on all but a few sites so if you have satellite you'll need to pick carefully. WiFi is included and the signal was strong and the speeds fast. Verizon cell and data was also good. 30 amp and 50 amp electric is available. The bathrooms and showers are older but were in good clean shape. There appears to be a few long term residents and all but a couple were kept up. There were a couple that had a bit of stuff laying around outside and were dirty from sitting awhile. The campground is located in a populated area but there was not a lot of road noise or other disturbances. There is a swing set and volleyball nets for activities for the kids.

Overall the campground is nice and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

Wildfire Sweeps Through Top Of The Hill RV Resort

Day to Day Life, RV Parks & Campgrounds No Responses »

Jun 212011

I just read that a wildfire sweep through the Top Of The Hill RV Resort located in Boerne, TX. This interested me because I stayed in this park 2 years ago while visiting Texas Hill Country. Top Of The Hill is a nice park located just off I-10 and it gives you a great view of the country side.

First news report

News reports says that 7 out of 70 rigs were destroyed along with the park's club house, laundry and bath house. Reports where there were a number of explosions from propane tanks and ammunition going off. I was parked across the street from the laundry when I was there so it really made me think about what was there and if my rig would have survive if I would have been there at this time.

Second news report

Lake Hudson Recreation Area - Clinton, MI

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Jun 032011

It was the middle of May before it dawned on me that I needed to get some campground reservations for Memorial Day weekend. Since most Michigan campgrounds are booked solid months in advance for holiday weekends I didn't hold out much hope of finding any openings. I searched many state and private campgrounds in the area and none of them had openings for the 3 day weekend. I wasn't giving up yet and started searching some of the smaller less equipped campgrounds.

I finally found some openings at Lake Hudson Recreation Area near Clinton Michigan. It is only about 2 hours away from me and even though the sites only have electric hookups and no other facilities it sounded like a good place to try.

The Lake Hudson Recreation Area is a Michigan State Park that is considered a semi-modern. What that means is minimal services with only electric hookups, pit toilets and no dump station. The roads will be dirt with the sites carved out of the local landscape with minimal disruption to the vegetation. There are no playgrounds or other activities for kids but there is a nice sandy beach about 1.5 miles from the campground and a boat launch if you want to catch a few Walleye.

The Spring weather here in Michigan has not been very good. There had been rain for 25 of the past 30 days which made for soggy ground. As we entered the park the ranger warned us to be careful picking a site as many of them were very soft. You don't reserve a particular site, you are just guaranteed to have a site available to you so it is best to get here as early as possible for the best selection.

Kartchner Caverns State Park Campground

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Mar 042011

This afternoon I drove over to Kartchner Caverns State Park from Tucson. It was only a bit over an hour to get there. Once I arrived I saw they had a sign out that the campground was full. When I stopped at the entrance gate they said to double check at the reservation desk to see if there were any opening. When I did I found they had one spot open so I took it.

My plan was to only stay here for 2 nights but while waiting to get my site reservation I overheard that all but a few of the cavern tours were already full for Saturday and Sunday. Tombstone and other attractions are only a short drive away so I decided to stay 3 nights and just visit some of the other attractions on Saturday and Sunday then take the cavern tour on Monday when it wasn't so busy. This also falls in good with the weather as a cold front is suppose to move through Monday so might as well to the outdoor activities when it's warmer.

Holt's Shell RV Park - Gila Bend AZ

RV Parks & Campgrounds No Responses »

Feb 272011

Located on the east side of Gila Bend Arizona just off of I-8 is Holt's Shell RV Park. The park is located just behind the Shell station and provides easy access to I-8. A great place for an overnight or short stay considering the $12 per night fee using Passport America. The campground has 24 full hook up sites (50, 30, 20 amp, water, sewer), restrooms, shower, laundry and free WiFi.

All of the facilities were clean when I was here. The sites are fairly close together (maybe 20' wide), are gravel with no picnic tables, fire pit or BBQ. The WiFi is decent and the Verizon voice and data connection is strong. Most of the sites are pull through and should accommodate all but the longest rigs. If you have a 40' rig with a toad or trailer you might have to unhook the toad or trailer. Just a short walk away is the gas station, Subway and Mexican fast food restaurant. There is a bit of noise from the trucks at the gas station and there is plenty of lighting that spills over from the parking lot. There is not much else in the area.

McDowell Mountain Regional Park

Destinations, RV Parks & Campgrounds No Responses »

Jan 172011

When I got up this morning I decided to head back to the Phoenix area and spend a couple of days at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction. Many of us have watched it on TV and I figured this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see it. There is a lot more going on there besides the auction. They have a big car show, lots of vendors, ride & drives in addition to the auction.

It took me about 3 1/2 hours to get to the McDowell Mountain Regional Park located north of town. It's about a 45 minute drive to the auction but I had heard the park was really nice. It is part of the Maricopa County Park System. I stayed at Usery Mountain Regional Park (also part of the Maricopa County Park System) a few weeks ago and it was an awesome park. McDowell Mountain park did not disappoint.

BLM Camping Near Quartzsite

RV Parks & Campgrounds 1 Response »

Jan 112011

This is my first year traveling to Quartzsite. When trying to find out about camping on BLM land I found a lot of helpful advice on the different areas but it was all a bit short on details. I just didn't know what to expect when I got there. Since I have been here a week I drove around to the different areas available and took a few pictures to give you an idea of what to expect. I am far from an expert but can give a newbies view of what is here.

One thing common to all of the areas is the surface you will be camping on. The dirt roads are hard packed but they do have rocks in them so you speeds will be held down to 10MPH or so. The camping surface is mainly rock and fairly level. You should not have any problem driving in no matter what vehicle you are using and you'll need a minimum of leveling blocks.