By Cheri Sicard
RVing is amazing, but sometimes it can be strange! In the video above, Jared Gillis from All About RVs (one of the winners of our 2024 RV Video Awards) talks about the weird side of RVing and the RV park oddities he has come across in his years of RVing. In other words, the obscure, strange, and even unexplainable things he has encountered. And he even talks about some potentially dangerous situations RVers can find themselves in.
RV park oddities
Flooding
Because so many RV parks are situated in low areas near water, flooding happens. Watch the video as Jared shows two different flood scenarios they found themselves in during extreme weather conditions. The second time everyone in the RV park was stuck for days. Lesson learned—pay close attention to the weather.
Nightmare electronics
Jared discusses a Georgia RV park they once checked into. While at the front desk paying for the site, he noticed their electrical panel was wide open with a couple of fans blowing on it. When Jared inquired if there were electrical problems the owner said, “No, no problems.” When he further inquired as to the purpose of the fans, the RV owner replied, “The fans are so that we don’t have a problem.” Not exactly a confidence-building response. In other words, they had an electrical problem.
In another campground, a crackling, sizzling sound awakened Jared’s family. When they looked outside, the electrical pedestal in the vacant site across the road was SMOKING! Wisely, Jared immediately unplugged his RV, as a problem in one pedestal could potentially mean a problem in all of them.
RV park fires
Another time Jared and his family got stuck in a park when the bales of hay near their entrance caught on fire. This caused the road to be shut down until the fire could be brought under control.
Weird RV park hookups
Sometimes you don’t know what to expect from the hookups at RV sites, or the RVers doing the hookups. Jared cites one instance when his neighbor hooked up to their (Jared’s) electrical pedestal. You have to stretch a LONG hose all the way over to another site.
Animals at the campground
While it’s not uncommon to have animals in your RV site, Jared says it’s always fun and exciting. One time they parked next to a zoo and could hear the lions roaring in the morning.
Jared has even had other people’s pets come to hang out at his campsite. One RV park had a flock of chickens that would run over anytime the RV door opened.
Have you had odd animal encounters at the RV park? Share them in the comments below.
Unique RV setups
One of Jared’s favorite things is to look at all the odd and unusual custom RV setups out there. I concur and always love wandering through campgrounds marveling at all the different ways people RV. Some of them are even works of art!
While he has encountered custom DIY RVs, others just decorate the exteriors with wild abandon, like the travel trailer painted with a scene of Mount Rushmore as if the presidents were cats.
What are some of the RV park oddities and weird RV experiences you’ve had? Be sure to leave them in the comments below.
Mine have mostly been people-related. Like the woman who asked if I was camping alone and when I said yes, she said she was too. When I pointed out that I could see a guy setting up her campsite, she simply replied, “Yeah, that’s my husband,” and then took her leave.
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Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 I guess we do not travel enough because I remember very little, if anything, that has been unusual, strange, or disconcerting. We did have to retract our slides one night and left a day early the following morning because of high winds. We were in North Dakota in May 2019 and en-route to Alaska. We found a different campground several miles west that was less windy to spend the next night. Otherwise, nothing comes to mind. 😉 Thanks for sharing Jared’s video and safe travels! 🙂
Stayed at a campground in PA once that had hundreds of bunnies ! Cute but, my dogs wanted to play with them,