Campground Chatter with Janet Groene, May 16, 2020

The latest news about camping and developments in North American campgrounds and RV parks from Janet Groene.

DISCLAIMER: This blog is for late-breaking news for RV travelers. Information is believed current at press time but conditions change quickly. Check ahead by phone directly with the campground. Don’t rely on websites or Facebook. Get specifics about rates, campground facilities, reservation policies, campsite specifications and the condition of access roads. No endorsement of any campground or product is implied by this reporter nor this website.

FULL ALERT: The schedules of openings, partial openings, re-closings and cancellations is in flux at this time, so we make no attempt to report them. They are determined by state, county and city authorities and may apply differently to private and public campgrounds.

DATELINE: May 16, 2020

TWO NEW TRUCK STOPS IN ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI
Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores have opened two new locations, one in Smiths Station, Alabama, and one in Walnut, Mississippi. RV travelers are welcomed with overnight spaces, a variety of food choices including eat-in and take-out, and grocery staples. The stops also have showers, supplies and fuel. To pinpoint these and other Love’s locations go here.

ALABAMA CAMPGROUND ONE YEAR NEW
Creekside RV Resort, Foley, new last year, has 61 spacious sites measuring 40 x 80. There’s a clubhouse, laundry, restrooms, pool, fishing lake, playground, and dog park. Alabama’s famous beaches are six miles away. Adjacent is a shopping-entertainment complex with restaurants and an amusement park. A water park will be added by 2021.

ALBERTA HISTORIC PARK HAS RV PARKING
One of Rimbey, Alberta’s oldest, newest attractions is PasKaPoo Historical Park. Enjoy a total time-warp historical village with buildings of all kinds, medical and truck museums and the world’s largest collection of International Trucks. See photos, artifacts and an impressive display of historic farm implements. Bring a picnic and enjoy the grounds. Unserviced RV parking is available. At this time opening information is subject to change. Also, U.S. citizens need current information about entering Canada.

IDAHO CAMPGROUND OFFERS SQUEALS
In Rigby, the new campground to be known as Yellowstone Lakeside RV Park and Campground will include 105 spaces for campers. The opening, delayed by floods, is presently scheduled for June 1. The campground adjoins Squealers Fun Park with go-karts and other family entertainments. It is soon to open under new ownership. Pricing for the fun park is being finalized. Camping rates are expected to be $52 in season, $35 off season. Jefferson County Lake is less than a mile away.

INDIANA CANCELS EVENTS, KEEPS RV CAMPING
The annual Canal Days festival in Delphi, held each July, has been canceled for this year and the canal boat is not running, but camping at Wabash Erie Canal Park is said to remain available to self-contained RVs that require no public facilities. Showers and restrooms are closed. Make reservations and the required prepay at (765-564-2870). Stroll the park’s trails and historic village for a nostalgic trip into the days when canals were busy arteries for travelers and trade goods.

IOWA HINTERLANDS HAVE MUSIC WITH CAMPING
The annual Hinterlands Festival, scheduled for July 31–August 2 this year in St. Charles, brings in such music greats as Leon Bridges, Of Monsters and Men, and Tyler Childers. Playing on Friday is the Old Crow Medicine Show from Tennessee. Campers can arrive on a first-come basis as early as 8 a.m. Friday and checkout is 10 a.m. Monday. A camping package with 30- or 50-amp power and a 20 X 40-foot site is available. Read the long list of ticketing and camping packages because not all camping packages include concert tickets.

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY FAIR IS A CAMP MEETING
The Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi, started in 1899 as a church camp and the live-in spirit continues. “Neighborhoods” throughout the fairgrounds contain “cabins” built by and for families, some of them regulars here for generations. Visiting RV travelers have a choice of 30- and 50-amp sites, which are reserved well in advance of the fair, scheduled for July 24-31. The fair itself has all the bells and whistles such as food, carnival rides, vendors, prize animals and homemade goods plus a rodeo, horse racing and politics at Founders Square. See the long list of RV camping specifications at neshobacountyfair.org

PENNSYLVANIA MUSIC FESTIVAL FOR FALL
Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock is planning a whizbang Resonance Festival for September 17-20. A long, long list of performers includes Lettuce, Emancipator, Ott and  more. The full-service, pet-friendly campground has full hook-up RV sites, a large camp store, restaurant, internet café, laundromat and a playground. Paddle the lake or fish from a boat with a trolling motor.

SOUTH CAROLINA RV RESORT HAS SALTY SIDE
North Myrtle Beach RV Resort and Dry Dock, Little River, is on the Intracoastal Waterway. It’s the newest in the area, a perfect place for RV snowbirds who also have a boat. Ask about seasonal rates. The resort has large, paved RV sites and 38 wet boat slips plus jet ski rentals, fishing and an oversized swimming pool with water slide. There’s free wi-fi and cable, a camp and marina store, nightly activities around the fire pit, snack bar at the pool and a fenced playground. The glitter of Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand is 13 miles to the south. Contact www.northmyrtlebeachrvresortanddrydock.com

TEXAS FAIRGROUNDS TO HOST GERMAN FEST
RV camping is $20 a night with water and electric at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds where A Night at Old Fredericksburg is scheduled for July 18. Return to the days when Germans settled the area and brought with them great pretzels, wursts, kuchen and beer. Wear your dirndl and lederhosen. Dance the polka. See horse racing and rodeo. Sample the chili cook-off and shop the vendors.

TEXAS TRAILER RESORT GOES VINTAGE
The Range Vintage Trailer Resort in Bristol hopes to open June 1 in Ennis, featuring on-site Airstreams for rent and open spaces with full hook-ups for visiting RVs. Amenities include complimentary high-speed wi-fi, restaurant, bar, bath house, laundry, easy hiking trails throughout the 30 acres with private entrances from each site, three ponds soon to be stocked with fish, babbling creeks with outdoor seating, tree swings, outdoor games, a natural playground, dog park, covered patios, and a communal fire pit. When possible again, The Range will host on-site activities including workshops and retreats. Their website as of May 14th says “Now Open!” but check ahead first at (972) 210·2900

Stay Tuned
Tahoe Pines Campground at the base of Echo Summit in Meyers, California, is undergoing a $1.63 million restoration. Included will be restoring flood-damaged habitats along the Upper Truckee River and creating full public access by October.

Janet Groene is the author of more than 25 books including Living Aboard Your RV, 4th Edition, available at Amazon.com. Her brand-new Farley Halladay book, “April Avenger, a Yacht Yenta Mystery,” is available at Amazon.com. See Janet Groene’s weekly Solo Woman posts at SoloWomanRV.

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