Operating an RV park: Ongoing progress, and a visit from RVtravel.com readers!

By Machelle James
As I write this, I am tired. I’ve been using our new 18” chainsaw for the past 3 days and my arms feel like they are going to fall off. We have a 12” electric chainsaw that I love using, but it can’t cut the bigger tree trunks in the RV park down. We have sites we have been taking notes on that need improvement and maintenance. Some of our sites have scrub trees so close you can barely let the slide out. We really tried to save as many green shrubs as we could, but now we realize it’s not feasible. But we’re not cutting any pine trees down, just the scrubs that are in the way.

We have been lucky enough to have a great weather week and are taking advantage of this time to do a major cleanup. AJ has been busy installing the roof sheeting and he is almost done. Our next step is passing a framing inspection. However, we have hired the company that put our trusses up to install our patio. They are coming next week and I will have some pretty cool photos to share with you.

During this time, we found out the source of our water leaks. At the hydrants, there is a cold solder joint that wasn’t soldered correctly. Hence, we still would have not found it until we closed as there was usually a little water on the ground when campers were here. Well, when we received over an $800 water bill when we were closed, we knew we had a problem. Needless to say, we shut off the water in the park until we can get our contractor out here to fix the leaks.

We’re open for Spring Break

We have been getting calls asking if we are taking reservations for Spring Break in March. We decided to open up with a disclaimer that we will still be working on our store and check-in area. I have no idea if we will be successful or not as we only made the announcement today!

I was voted for another 2 years as Secretary for the Chamber of Commerce. It is a lot of work and there’s a lot of cleanup to do. I have been working hard on updating By-Laws and working with the Arizona Corporation Commission to update Members and the like. What I like about being on the Board is meeting members of our community as well as meeting with our County Officials, Sheriff and Fire Department.

I am in charge of organizing an RV Park/Campground Emergency Evacuation presentation for the parks up here. Everyone has their own exits to evacuate, and which way to get off the mountain, depending on what side of town they live on. We need to be educated, in case of a fire or other emergency situation, on which way to go so we can all leave safely. I also like knowing the dates of what is coming to town and what events we will be working on. This is great as I can also market events to our Campers so they can enjoy the events our town has to offer.

A nice visit from RVtravel.com readers

I’d like to say Thank You to the folks from the two RVs that came in last night for a stopover. The ladies are sisters and their husbands travel all over the country together. They said they found us as they are readers from RVtravel.com. They were so lovely to meet as they have followed our journey and wanted to stay here! Safe travels to the Meyers and Ruszkowskis—as they really are traveling across the ENTIRE country!

Thank you for following our campground journey, and See You in the Trees!

And please leave a message!

AJ, Machelle and Jenna

Read previous articles here.

Machelle James and her husband, AJ, built, from the ground up, a 15-acre RV park in Heber-Overgaard, Arizona, in the beautiful White Mountains 140 miles from Phoenix. Follow them at their website, or on Facebook @ AJ’s Getaway RV Park, or on Instagram at ajsgetawayrvpark.

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