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Campground crowding. Discussion for September 12, 2020

Emily Woodbury
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Campground crowding. Discussion for September 12, 2020

More people than ever are taking up RVing. These newbies have determined that RVing is the safest way to travel in our pandemic times. The result is campground crowding like never before. In this weekly blog, RV Travel readers discuss their experiences. Maybe we can make some sense of this and find ways to work around the problem.

Here are a few observations from our readers.

IS TRAVELING THE WAY WE KNEW IT OVER?

Are the days of no reservations, drifting where the winds take you, “oh, we’ll drive until we’re tired then stop” over? It seems they may be. Here’s what reader Ingrid Hubbard says, “We’re fortunate to have family with property in northern Wisconsin where we’re able to park the RV for the summer. Not wanting to overstay our welcome, I wanted to plan some out-and-back trips into northern Minnesota and the UP. Unfortunately, by the time I tried booking anything this past March, I was already too late. We’ve been full-time since 2013 and I’ve never run into so many challenges. Seems our free-wheeling way of travel is over.”

SHOW UP OR DON’T SHOW UP… THAT IS THE QUESTION

“I live in Texas and we’ve been seeing a lot of Texas State Parks camping spots reserved but empty. Cancelling the spot appears to be hard to do or campers are just not cancelling.

The saddest time was at Palo Duro on a Tuesday – a lady was at the front desk asking about one overnight spot. They didn’t have any but our loop was only 1/3rd full. The empties had reserved signs on them.

Texas currently keeps the site reserved for the entire camping reservation. Maybe someday, they will do what Florida does and if you don’t show up on your first night or make arrangements, you are cancelled and refunded.” —Laura McKinney

What do you think about this?

Make sure you join our Crowded Campgrounds Group on Facebook.

HERE’S AN IDEA…

“When trying to get from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ often we just want to stop for the night to sleep, and then go the next morning. Cracker Barrel restaurants have been very accommodating, as have some sports stores. But with the economic horizon not favoring brick-and-mortar mini-malls (and the area is already plumbed and wired) I think a chain of stop-and-sleeps would be great. Like motel 6 for RVs.” —Tom B.

Full Campground
Photo by @tamikoinvestmts, Instagram

Now, on the other hand…

If you want to camp alone, go to the Grand Canyon?

“I work at a campground at the Grand Canyon and we are dead as a doorknob. I mean, we have never been more than 30% of capacity this entire season. It’s Labor Day weekend and we probably have 50 people in 300 spots. Everybody has room. Nothing’s going on. No one is here. The international borders are closed. Where are all these RV people we keep hearing about?” —Joy Hobbs

Read last week’s column on Crowded Campgrounds.

Are you finding more and more campgrounds booked up? Or are you having no problem finding places to stay? Please use the form below to tell us what you’ve experienced.

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RELATED

Reader letter: Worried about crowded campgrounds this summer

Will campgrounds be even more crowded in months ahead?

Can an RV park cancel your reservation for someone else?

Meet your fellow RVtravel.com readers, September 12, 2020

Chuck Woodbury
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We asked RVtravel.com readers to tell us about themselves. Here are a few responses.

From Dick and Sandy Kashdin. Sandy is a former school teacher while I worked on Project Apollo up to 1970 and then in the printing business for 30 years. Even though we have led parallel lives for over 30 years being at the same places, with the same people at the same time, Sandy and I did not become a couple until 2001. That is when we began our formal RV and travel adventures.

We are on our third Class A, now a 2015 Holiday Rambler Ambassador DP. Over the years we have been to all lower 48 states twice, most of Canada and a 12,806 round-trip 88-day adventure to Alaska in 2009. When they build a bridge to Hawaii we will go there also. Being that Sandy is from Tampa, FL, we stay at Lazy Days RV Resort Tampa for some of the winter months. We have attended many NASCAR events and now attend more NHRA drag racing events. We keep busy in the summer month with two show cars, a 1976 Chevy Vega V8 Street Sleeper and my former drag car, a Blown 1972 Ford Pinto Small Block now retired to the street for cruise nights and car shows.

From Barb and Butch Brooker. In 2003 we retired and decided to live as full-time RVers and we did so for 10 years. Loved it! But then we decided to be 1/2-timers and move back to our hometown where we were born and raised. We winter in South Texas at Trophy Gardens in Alamo, and summer in Jefferson, Iowa. We love both worlds. We have made friends all over the country. I try to keep in touch with as many as possible through my blog, born in 2002. When we set up our summer home we made two RV sites in our backyard, one for us to park our motorhome and one for visiting friends. This past year has been a Doozy for everyone, everywhere!

From Tim Slack. Having greatly enjoyed public lands for decades, in retirement my wife Karen and I felt honored to volunteer our time to this country’s national, state & regional parks, NWRs and forests. F/T for eight years now, we’ve worked seasonally for US Forest Svc, US Fish & Wildlife, Grand Teton & Grand Canyon (see photo), Nature Conservancy preserves, several state park systems, Denali Ntl Park, along with a few other places. We enjoy exchanging stories with visitors from all over the country & world, so we’ve focused primarily on visitor center and gift store positions, although also doing interpretive tours, groundskeeping and other odd jobs — whatever’s needed by an agency to stretch their dollars. Great fun, great rewards, great life.

From Patrick Granahan. I have been a RV owner and traveler since 1983. Our family has visited (via travel trailer) just about every state and National Park in this great nation. This is the first time since 1983 that I find myself without an RV. We are searching for a lightly used class C motorhome under 28 feet in length. We just moved from the north country of the Adirondacks in New York to the Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina about 25 miles from the Tennessee State Line. When we find a class C motorhome we will be back on the road again. This virus scare has reduced available used RV inventories. We are still looking.

Meet four readers from last week’s issue.

We’ll introduce you to four more RVtravel.com readers next week!

* * *
Please tell us about yourself by using the form below. Include a photo, too (of you, but your RV will do).

Reader Letter: What does “full-time RVer” mean?

Chuck Woodbury
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Reader Letter: What does “full-time RVer” mean?

Dear Chuck,
Is there a definition of a “full time” RVer? The reason I ask is that I have noticed the term being used many ways. Examples of statements made by different people:

They say, “We full time” and then we find out they live in a New England state, store their RV in Florida and “full time” for two weeks nearly every year.

Some are more definitive when they state clearly that they “full time” every summer.

And then there are those, like my wife and I, that didn’t claim to be “full timers” until we moved out of our “sticks-and-bricks” house to make our RV (30-foot trailer) our home – wherever it is parked.

This discrepancy really isn’t a serious problem, but it is a minor one. When we’re talking with an RVer who says he or she are “full timers” and we ask where they plan to spend the next winter and they say “home in Michigan.” We ask “Why would you choose to RV in a Michigan winter?” Their answer “Oh, we are leaving our RV in Florida and will be in our home in Michigan.”

This confuses me. I wonder how they can live in one state and have their RV in another state more than a thousand miles away, yet still be RVing.

I had thought the “full time” meant that one lived in their RV full time, that the RV WAS THEIR HOME.

My wife and I go home every night – wherever it is parked.

We still own the house we used to live in in Northern California, but it hasn’t been our “home” since we moved out almost three years ago. And we never plan to return. Why sell a house in California when the rental income is more than a thousand dollars a month more than the mortgage payment – taxes and insurance included? — Sam Crabtree

Dear Sam,
I hear the term used differently, just as you do. To me, if someone says they are a full-time RVer, then it means they live in an RV full-time, as in ALL THE TIME. Nobody knows how many people are living that way, but estimates are as high as a million.

I do wonder, though, if someone who lives in an RV full-time in one place year-round, is a “full-time RVer” or simply someone whose permanent home is a recreational vehicle. Many people who buy RVs these days do so to live in, not to travel with, the vehicle. To me, someone who lives in an RV park year after year without moving is not an RVer at all, at least not as a person who uses it for recreation.

Anyone who lives in their RV half the year, well, I don’t think he or she can claim to be “full-timers.”

But like you said, it’s not really a big deal. It’s just words. —Chuck

##RVT965

Building an RV park: Information overload with so much exciting news!

RV Staff
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Building an RV park: Information overload with so much exciting news!

By Machelle James
My head is about to POP! Information overload today and it is all exciting news! We had our septic salesman, Dan, and our septic engineer, Marc, come walk the property two weeks ago. They helped us decide on a septic system that would work best for us and to work with our projected gallon use per day (GPD). They helped us choose a location for the tank, the reserve field and the primary field so we can keep our trees, and whatever else we need to do to make this work within Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) standards.

We are over the moon to announce we chose a simple SeptiTech Staar Commercial Textile Filter Treatment System. If you are in need of a commercial septic tank and want options, I would definitely look into this product. It’s way less expensive than the other brand that was previously recommended and it has less moving parts to break as well. It also uses a smaller field for drainage and this is a WIN-WIN for us for use of land space.

This also means we have final paperwork to submit to ADEQ for their approval! The application papers have been signed and the check is in the mail. For ADEQ and the type of Septic Permit we need, this will cost us $3,600 for them to review our plans and either approve it as is OR they will ask for changes before they approve it. The system is already on their approved septic systems for Arizona, so it shouldn’t be that hard to get our septic project approved.

We also had a Zoom meeting with our civil engineer, Will, and our septic engineer, Marc, last week. Now that we know how much room we need for the septic, we needed to rearrange our retention field for drainage and flooding concerns. Will is working on this right now so we can submit this to the county for the flood control engineer to approve. We also can apply for our grading permit as soon as we have this.

Today, we met with our building engineer to design our store and check-in area. We want more of a Country-Western look and feel of this area with wraparound porches to sit on and drink coffee to welcome the day, and to welcome our guests to our campground. As soon as we get a final drawing, I’ll share it with you here!

We have been continuing to work on the property and cut limbs from downed trees to sell as firewood to our guests. We also had an unfortunate event happen during the middle of the night. We had someone dump an entire truckload of tree stumps on the corner of our property. This is because we live in an unincorporated town and we have limited options for tree stump removal. It costs us A LOT of money to rent a dump-bed-style trash bin and no one wants to pay it, so illegal dumping out here is a HUGE problem. It starts at $450 for a 6-ton dumpster and you are charged extra if you go over the 6-ton limit. Some of these tree stumps are so big, you need a tractor to even lift them up. Hence you will easily hit your 6-ton mark with a few of those stumps.

I made a post on our town’s Facebook page and not only were people SUPER angry someone did this to us, but they also came together and helped us chop them up. The stumps are currently in our burn pits. I will say we do have some truly wonderful people here to help out in times like that.

We had Jenna’s 24th birthday party here and she had such a good time. In fact, we all had a good time! She is really into Super Smash Brother characters, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and root beer. So we had family and friends buy her T-shirts with all her favorite things and she went CRAZY with joy when she opened her gifts. We barbecued for everyone and had an ice cream cake at the end. It was so good to see our friends from the valley who came up for the weekend to be with her on her big day!

I can’t wait to fill you in on the next two weeks, as we really are starting to get the ball rolling. This process takes so long, and everyone said it would take two years to open. Well, I think that is going to be us as well.

Thank you for following our campground journey and as always, see you in the trees! And please leave a comment!

AJ, Machelle and Jenna

Read previous articles here.

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

##RVT965

RV ready: Easy peasy Instant Pot spaghetti

Nanci Dixon
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RV ready: Easy peasy Instant Pot spaghetti

By Nanci Dixon

Keeping the Instant Pot® on the counter is working (read my post about that here)! The weather is getting cooler, Labor Day is over and the campsites are clearing out. Time for some warm comfort food. This week I made easy peasy spaghetti in the Instant Pot. I love pasta but hesitate to make it in the RV because I don’t want to steam up the motorhome boiling water for the noodles or use up so much propane. The Instant Pot is so quick and easy and has plenty of leftovers. I had all the ingredients on hand and didn’t even have to go shopping. It was simple to add favorite ingredients or use up a few straggler veggies. Added benefit? Only one pot to clean!

Ingredients

1 lb ground Italian turkey (can use hamburger or ground Italian pork)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp jarred minced

1 stalk celery if desired, chopped

1 med or 2 small tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 4 oz can of sliced mushrooms (if desired)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper as desired

1 24 oz jar spaghetti sauce

1 24 oz jar of water

8 oz spaghetti noodles (about 1/2 of 16 oz package)

Recipe

1.) Set the Instant pot on Sauté and add olive oil.

2.) When hot add the onion. Sauté until soft. I had celery and carrots in the fridge, so I chopped them up and added those too.

3.) Add garlic and choice of meat. Sauté, stirring occasionally until cooked.

4.) Add bay leaf, Italian seasoning and oregano. Stir.

5.) Break spaghetti noodles in half and spread evenly over meat.

6.) Pour spaghetti sauce over noodles.

7.) Fill the sauce jar with water, shake and add over sauce and noodles. Note: If you like thicker sauce use only about 3/4 jar of water.

8.) Push noodles down into liquid. Do NOT stir.

9.) Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure for 10 minutes. (9 minutes for firmer noodles)

Quick-release when done.

Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Stir, serve and enjoy!

##RVT965

So did they want a motorhome or a fifth wheel? Don’t try this at home!

Emily Woodbury
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So did they want a motorhome or a fifth wheel? Don’t try this at home!

You probably know at least one person who has trouble deciding what they want. Do you know anyone who has had trouble deciding what type of RV they want? Motorhome or fifth wheel? Well, if you know the person who designed (we say design lightly…) this RV, you do.

Did they want a motorhome? Did they want a fifth wheel? Well, we’re not sure, but they ended up with both.

Instagram user full.timervliving posted this with the caption, “Well this is interesting…” It sure is. It suuuuuuuure is.

What would you think if you saw this in a parking lot?

##RVT965

I’ve been bitten by the RV bug. Did it happen to you once too?

Keith Ward
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I’ve been bitten by the RV bug. Did it happen to you once too?

By Keith Ward
I’ve been bitten by the RV bug. And, like so many of you, it happened for one reason:

I’m starting to lose my mind.

It happens as we age. When I became eligible for the “Senior Discount” at iHop on my last birthday, I realized that I could only continue to refer to myself as “middle-aged” if I was going to live to be 110.

And as our synapses dry up and our neurons stop firing — or whatever synapses and neurons used to do that they don’t do nearly as much anymore — strange thoughts start to occur to us. Thoughts like:

  • What do I need retirement savings for? Instead, I’ll buy a moving house!
  • Age is only a number; you know, like 277,000, which is the number of dollars I’m about to fork over for that Class A diesel pusher.
  • The kids are all grown and living on their own now, so I won’t feel as guilty about packing up and leaving for three months.
  • I need the adventure of the great outdoors! Which is why I’m buying an RV with a full bath, granite countertops, two air conditioners, and 184 electrical and USB outlets.

Once these ideas begin infecting your brain, they’re as hard to shut off as the black water hose the first time you dump your tank. And many of those ideas have about the same value as what you’re dumping.

Doesn’t matter, though: Once you’ve got the fever, the only prescription is not More Cowbell! but More Tow Vehicle! I swear to you that eight weeks ago, I couldn’t have told you the difference between half-ton, three-quarter ton, and one-ton pickup trucks if you’d paid me $20 million for the correct answer.

I’m no psychiatrist, but I have a pretty decent working definition of the word “obsession,” because it’s what’s happened to me this year. I’ve spent an uncountable number of hours on RV forums, watching YouTube videos, and scouring places like Facebook in my quest to learn more about this strange world. It’s a world in which people use phrases like “shore power” and “30-amp pedestal,” and an untraceable leak is akin to Armageddon. Where refrigerators can be powered three different ways and backing into a campsite with a fifth wheel is an art form.

And following all this education, what I’ve learned is that I’m still a baby when it comes to knowing about this lifestyle. The more I know, the more I realize I’m Sergeant Schultz: I know nothing! I’m almost afraid, for instance, to dive more fully into RV electricity — I’m the guy, after all, who once unthinkingly plugged a pair of tweezers into an extension cord. Imagine me trying to troubleshoot a tripped circuit breaker. The mind reels.

But discovery is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Learning things you didn’t know before is great fun, and none of us knows even a fraction of what’s out there. Getting in an RV and driving is like the last installation of “Calvin and Hobbes,” the greatest comic strip of all time. It has snowed the night before, and Calvin takes his sled to the top of a hill.

They’re excited by the possibilities ahead. “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy,” Calvin says. “Let’s go exploring!”

Here’s to the obsessed, slightly screwy 6-year-old in all of us that wants to hurtle down the hill. We only use a different form of transportation.

Keith is a journalist with more than 30 years of writing and editing experience. He was bitten by the RV bug in 2020, and takes delivery of his very own rig in May 2021. In addition to non-fiction, he also writes fiction, including fantasy, thriller, and drama. Find his books here.

##RVT965

RV Tire Safety: What is the “10% safety margin” for tire inflation referring to?

Roger Marble
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RV Tire Safety: What is the “10% safety margin” for tire inflation referring to?

By Roger Marble

Roger: “When you refer to a 10% safety factor, is the tire any safer at 10% over its rated load psi? If it is, why don’t the manufacturers recommend a higher psi for the load? Or, is the 10% factor to cover the days when the ambient temp is lower, which would lower the CIP eliminating the need to adjust the pressure? Whenever I have run tires above the load charts, the center of the tread will wear more than the outer sides. That tells me that the tire was not making optimum contact with the road for best wear and traction. Admittedly, it’s a minor issue, but an inquisitive mind has to ask.” —Crasher

My response:
My +10% is on the set inflation and is NOT a “safety factor” in the normal sense. We know that tire inflation changes by about 2% for each 10° F change in temperature. The intent of this “flex range” of inflation is to avoid the need to mess with inflation on a daily basis.

Assume you needed 70 psi to support your heaviest ever expected load (this is why we say get on the scales when fully loaded to your heaviest). So assume you set your inflation to 70 psi and the ambient temperature is 80 F. What happens the next day if the ambient drops to 70 F? Your tire pressure will have dropped by 2% to about 68 psi, which is below what is needed to support the measured heavy load. So you get out and increase your tire pressure back up to 70 psi. A few days later it’s 90 F so tire pressure is now (90 F – 70 F = 20 F) so 2% per 10 F = 4% increase of the 70 psi. So now your tires are at about 73 psi cold, so you drop your tire pressure.

See the problem? You are messing around with your tire pressure – almost every day.

However, if you have a +10% “flex range” above your needed inflation, or in our example +7 psi, you can ignore the day-to-day pressure variation unless or until the temperature has dropped 50° F.

Tires can tolerate the increase in pressure with essentially no damage, but low pressure can result in increased operating temperature which accelerates the “aging” of the belt rubber, which can shorten tire life.

Also, if you have to mess with your tires a lot, soon you will tire of the chore and stop monitoring and adjusting tire pressure, which can lead to low inflation. This extra work can get old quickly and then you stop checking and setting your pressure. I Do Not Want That To Happen.

Regarding center wear on the tire. That was an issue with bias tires but I do wonder what micrometer you are using to measure tire tread wear to 0.001″, especially given that tire tread wear is normally in the .001″ per 1,000-mile range, and I doubt that your pressure remains constant over each thousand miles of operation. Road surface (concrete vs. asphalt) has a much bigger impact on tread wear.

 

Read more from Roger Marble on his blog at RVtiresafety.net or on RVtravel.com.

 ##RVT965

RVelectricity: First-hand report on Hurricane Laura recovery operations

Mike Sokol
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RVelectricity: First-hand report on Hurricane Laura recovery operations

By Mike Sokol

Dear Readers,
Mike Zimmerman is one of our administrators from the RVelectricity Facebook group currently working in Lake Charles, LA. He’s part of the team restoring electric power to the area in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. While it’s not getting a lot of news coverage right now, there will be months (if not years) of recovery work on the Gulf Coast just to restore basic utilities and housing to millions of residents. I believe the latest estimate was $25 billion in damage.

Previously unpublished photos

I’ve asked Mike Zimmerman to share some photos (and his descriptions) of what he observed on-site last week that show the type of the work needed to put the electrical grid back together, and the various crews that are making it happen. All of these pictures (including the one above) were taken just days ago around Lake Charles. Volunteers are desperately needed for this type of recovery work after any disaster, and I’m sure the West Coast will be next on the list after the fires are extinguished.

Here comes the flood

Hurricane Laura’s eye wall, which brings the most damaging winds and intense rainfall, passed directly over Lake Charles, Louisiana, causing widespread damage to that area. The damage from Hurricane Laura’s historic intensity caused catastrophic damage to the electric grid across Louisiana and Texas.

Even though there wasn’t as severe of a storm surge as was originally projected, there was still plenty of water damage from localized flooding. That not only wiped out houses and business buildings, it took out much of the electrical grid.

Towers of Power down…

There were a number of 500,000-volt high-tension towers that collapsed due to high winds. The transmission system is the backbone of the electric grid and helps move power from the power plant to the lines serving customers’ neighborhoods. These large lines are like the interstate highway system. Without these lines in service, it makes it difficult to move power across the system to customers in the affected areas.

Boots on the ground

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors are installing temporary generators at one of the sites requested by the state of Louisiana. Emergency power installation is one of the Corps’ primary missions during emergency recovery operations, in addition to supporting the temporary housing mission, providing temporary roofing and conducting infrastructure assessments.

There are also a lot of FEMA trailers being installed in what were previously RV parks, but now have become temporary housing trailers for those displaced by Hurricane Laura. I’m guessing there will be few if any operational RV parks in the area for quite a while.

Lots of resource planning

Steve Hill, USACE Director of Contingency Operations, visits with us in Lake Charles on Sept. 6, 2020, as part of the Corps’ response to Hurricane Laura. There’s a real shortage in technical labor to put electrical systems back together, so a lot of support involves teaching new crew proper safety and installation procedures.

Remember, there’s water and downed electric lines everywhere, which can be extremely dangerous if you’re not properly trained. Safety of the crews is their #1 concern.

Out-of-state support

Members of the Memphis District’s Emergency Power Planning and Response Team are on the ground at Esler Field (Esler Regional Airport), near Pineville, Louisiana, to support the Hurricane Laura recovery effort. They are working around-the-clock 12-hour shifts and are ready to respond to any FEMA mission assignments.

The photo above shows the team setting up the Generator Staging Base at the airfield. In addition to portable generators, fuel supplies and other equipment are pre-positioned in this location. A Deployable Tactical Operations System vehicle is also on scene to support the team with office space and communications capabilities. —Mike Zimmerman

Keep your RV ready for evacuation

National Forests closed
Stock image

Hey, it’s me (Mike Sokol) again. I should remind you all that if you have an RV, it should be kept stocked to make a quick evacuation if there’s a fire, hurricane, flood or earthquake in your area. Having a properly stocked RV is the best way to keep your family safe in case something goes wrong that requires evacuation or long-term sheltering in place.

For example, a number of my colleagues in California were notified with only 15 minutes to evacuate. You DO NOT want to try and ride out any hurricane in an RV (look at the picture at the top), nor do you want to be crossing any moving water or driving through a wall of fire with your car or RV. When the time comes to evacuate, get the heck out of Dodge. Don’t make rescue crews go into danger to get you and your family out of a disaster situation. Be proactive and become part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Let’s play and stay safe out there….

Mike Sokol is an electrical and professional sound expert with 50+ years in the industry. His excellent book RV Electrical Safety is available at Amazon.com. For more info on Mike’s qualifications as an electrical expert, click here.

For information on how to support RVelectricity and No~Shock~Zone articles, seminars and videos, please click the I Like Mike Campaign.

##RVT965

Do you know what you’re getting into on a dirt road?

Barry Zander
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Do you know what you’re getting into on a dirt road?

By Barry Zander
How many spouses of RV pilots have questioned the decision to ignore good sense by veering off onto a dirt road? “What a fine kettle of fish you got us into this time,” as Laurel would often say to Hardy.

I’m sure you know NOT to stray off a blacktop highway onto a dirt road, unless: 1) you know where the road leads, 2) you know the condition of the road, 3) you have a truck camper with mud tires, and 4) you’re lookin’ for trouble.

The torment caused by turning onto unpaved roads was the first lesson my wife and I learned as rookie RVers. On our very first RV excursion, we cruised down Utah 24 alongside the sheer striated cliffs of Capitol Reef National Park, “Oohing” and “Aahing” at the jagged rich-red sheer walls until our necks ached.

If there had been a service station with diesel on Hwy. 24 or Utah 95, we missed it, too focused on the spectacular surroundings. When the yellow low fuel light lit up while we were in the middle of nowhere, we were still miles from our goal for the night, Blanding, Utah. Naturally, I was nervous.

Rescue seemed at hand for the evening when we saw a faded tiny brown sign indicating a U.S. Forest Service campground down the road to the left. I turned our 45 feet of GMC truck and trailer onto the dirt road.

After about 75 feet of kicking up dust, we came to the proverbial “fork in the road” with no sign of a campground. Choosing the path with more tire tracks, we veered onto a narrow dusty road, creeping along for two miles between roadside ditches that wouldn’t allow us to turn around.

I got out and walked ahead until I found a possible clearing, judging by my limited level of expertise. The sun was setting across the prairie surrounding us when I managed to back the trailer into a tight clearing. Unfortunately, the front of the truck was jutting into the dirt road, so getting back to the fork was still a challenge.

That’s when, with terror in my eyes and adrenaline pumping through my veins, I jumped out of the truck, ran to the back of the trailer where a pine limb was pushing against the trailer, and snapped it off. The three feet of space it gave us was enough leeway to back up.

For RVRepairClub.com article

Shaking from the tension, I thrust the GMC into 4-wheel-drive-low and churned forward. A low boulder that tried to stop us was no match for the gear ratio and away we went. Back at the fork, a young lady heading for a hiking expedition appeared in a pickup truck. She told us that the campground on the other side of the fork had been abandoned 10 years earlier, guarded by a trench to stop vehicles from entering. She also let us know that we had experienced “The Old Mormon Road” used by timber haulers.

Back on Hwy. 95 as the sky turned from gray to black, we drove two miles further … into a Shell station with welcoming yellow diesel pumps … and a campground behind the store. Our mantra after that was “Never, never choose the unknown of a dirt road, no matter what desperation tells you.”

Have you had a similar experience? When you see a dirt road ahead of you, do you continue going or turn back around?

##RVT965

Airstream film takes you back in time

Chuck Woodbury
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Airstream film takes you back in time

You’ll love this — a promotional film from Airstream from 40 years ago. If you own an Airstream trailer, you will thoroughly enjoy this. But even if you are not an Airstream owner, this 20-minute film will transport you back to a simpler time. How many times will you ever see a film with an elephant walking by an American recreational vehicle? You’ll see it here.

The film is about the adventure an Airstream represents to each owner. “The open road is to him, what the open range is to a mustang,” the narrator explains. “Building dreams is our business.”

“No matter where you are you will eat like a gourmet,” he continues. “You can bake biscuits high in the Canadian Rockies or enjoy plenty of ice cubes in your drinks when you’re traveling in the desert.” As he talks, Airstreams roll through exotic locations around the world, even by the Great Pyramids.

This vintage documentary is entertaining. It’s fun!

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Casino RV Camping, September 12, 2020

Nanci Dixon
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Casino RV Camping, September 12, 2020

By Nanci Dixon
We asked readers to send information about their favorite casinos with RV parks or that allow overnight stays in their parking lots. Judging by the sheer number of responses, a lot of RVers casino camp.

Casinos can be the perfect place to stop en route or even as a destination campground. My husband and I casino “camp” on our way north and south and have found that casino rules and opportunities change from casino to casino, so we always call ahead if we want to stay overnight.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Jim O. sums it up: “Some casinos will allow an RVer to park overnight (‘dry parking’) in the parking lot, free. Each casino sets its own ‘maximum length of stay,’ which may be as short as one night or ‘as long as you’re gaming.’ Some casinos provide RV hookups, ranging from a 20-amp outlet up to full hookups in an ‘RV resort,’ and anywhere in between. Sometimes these are free, but generally the fancier, the costlier. Some casinos offer both free parking and parking with hookups. Some have only one or the other. Some casinos that started out offering free parking have then added an RV Park. These casinos may still allow free ‘dry parking’ in the parking lot, or they may require that you rent an RV park space if you want to sleep in your RV. And finally, some casinos will allow an RV to park in the lot, but you cannot sleep in it – you have to rent a room at their hotel. As with so many other things related to Overnight RV Parking, there is no ‘one answer fits all’.”

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Mark C. offers some great advice for casino camping: “We have stopped at numerous casinos on our trips, mostly in the East Coast area and usually for a one-night stop on way to our destination. We never have hookups, we just run off battery and sometimes we run the generator. We find all the casinos to be very welcoming. We always check with security when we enter the casino just to double-check that it’s all right where we park. We don’t use slides. We try to park near a parking lot light for added security but we have never had any issues. It’s always been fun and entertaining but I will say we usually spend more than we would have at a campground.

“All parking lots are paved but sometimes finding a level spot for our fridge is challenging but we always find one. We travel in a Winnebago View so we are on the smaller size. These are a few of many that I remember we stayed at: Derby City Gaming, Mardi Gras, Harrah’s Cherokee, Seneca Resorts and Casino, Hollywood Casino, and Isle Casino.”

GETTING SPECIFIC: PLACES TO STAY

Robert S. told us about The Riverside Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, which allows overnight camping with no hookups but also has a large RV park across the street from the casino.” EDITOR’S NOTE: Most of the casinos in Laughlin allow free overnight stays in RVs, and some RVers stay weeks at a time. There may be 1,000 or more RVs on any given night, maybe far more.

“Camping” at the Riverside Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. The Colorado River is less than 100 yards away.

Douglas C. has found some great Michigan casino values: “Kewadin Casinos in Upper Michigan welcome RVers. The casinos in Christmas (just west of Munising) and at Manistique each have about 12 sites with electrical hookups and are free (maximum 3-night stay). The casino in St. Ignace has electric and water and larger sites and charges $15/night. Boondockers are also welcome. We visited all 3 casinos in August 2020.”

Jason W. writes: “The Tulalip Casino just off I-5 north of Seattle in Marysville has a dedicated RV camping area, where free stays of up to 3 nights are allowed (you’ll need to register for the casino’s My Tulalip Card, which will get you $5 in free play credits). There are no hookups, but the area is flat, secure, quiet and right off the Interstate. The vast Seattle Premium Outlets Factory Outlet Mall is a short walk away.”

JUST SAYIN’

Interestingly, staying at this RV park costs more than the casino hotel! Norm W. posted “In Wendover, Nevada, the Nugget Casino has an RV parking area with full hookups. $45/night….no trees, no views….just rock and gravel. But wait! There’s more!…we could have stayed in a room at the casino for just $17/night…..? No thanks….”

TWO EXCELLENT GUIDES TO CAMPING AT CASINOS:
• Casino Camping • American Casino Guide 2020

Sign up for our Facebook group Casino Camping.

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT CASINOS where you’ve stayed. Include a photo if you have one. Submit below. Thanks.

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