Celebrate Thanksgiving at an RV Park
Turkey in a Trash Can at Top of the Hill RV Park
Just like each family has its Thanksgiving traditions, many RV parks have Thanksgiving traditions of their own. Just because you are at an RV Park this Thursday doesn't mean you can't celebrate Thanksgiving. From traditional Thanksgiving dinners to early Christmas celebrations, the events listed belong are just a sampling of the events available this Thanksgiving weekend.
Texas
If you happen to be in the Texas Hill Country this Turkey Day, be sure to check out the Turkey in a Trashcan event at Top of the Hill RV Resort in Boerne, Texas. This year they are cooking six turkeys (that's about 126 pounds of turkey meat!) in trash cans. According to Eddie Cuello, the manager at Top of the Hill:
Under the cover of the six trash cans, the magic will be at work roasting each of the 21 pound turkeys. Many of the friends that come to Top of the Hill RV Resort’s Thanksgiving event have returned for six years now to the smell of incredibly delicious turkeys cooking in the open pit and the great feeling generated by the people sharing Thanksgiving together. It is a tradition that not only supports our community of seasonal and full time RVers, but of any person who wishes to join us.
The cooking of the turkeys is a show unto itself. When guests watch the process of making Turkey in a Trash Can for the first time, they are amazed that a 20+lb turkey can cook in two hours and be done just right plus be extra juicy! First timers discuss and debate whether such a process really works, while the experienced guests take time to explain the workings and stories of similar ways to cook. You can smell the aroma of the cooking turkeys and hear the sounds of crackling and sizzling as the fire cooks the turkeys to perfection. After great anticipation, the time comes for the turkeys to be unveiled. When the trash cans are lifted, cheers, clapping, and “ooohhs and aaahhs” are heard around the campfire. The wagers are met with pleasing affirmations of “I told you they are cooked and look how great they look!” The turkeys are removed from the stakes and put on serving platters where the meat is allowed to sit a little longer just before the carving for the guests. The Thanksgiving meal is served in the enclosed Pavilion where tables are decorated and set-up to accommodate the attending guests. Everyone brings a dish to share for the grand gourmet pot luck dinner. After grace, guests eagerly line up to experience the mouth savoring Turkey in a Trash Can along with all the rest of the Thanksgiving trimmings. It is a gathering of family and friends. Laughter, stories, companionship are shared. Many guests have told us that they are truly blessed to be able to share in this wonderful experience of Turkey in a Trash Can; they keep coming back to Top of the Hill RV Resort!
Also in Texas Hill Country is Jellystone Hill Country in Canyon Lake, where Thanksgiving has become a traditionfor many of their guests. Wednesday starts with pie baking (a little wine and cheese while the pies bake). Thursday consists of Yogi providing Turkey -- lots of Turkey. Last year they cooked 22! Each family brings a couple of side dishes and they have a big potluck! Football games are shown on the big screen. There are activities on Friday and Saturday as well as Hey Hey Rides and games. It is like one big family!
Georgia
Pine Mountain, an RVC Outdoor Destination
Join Pine Mountain, an RVC Outdoor Destination, for their annual Thanksgiving dinner – “Gobbler and Cobbler Feast 2010”
This special dinner is a collaborative effort between our office and their guests. They provide meats and dressing or stuffing, and our guests are invited to bring their favorite traditional side dishes to go along. Dinner will be served at 1:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving day, and the festivities will continue until every guest is stuffed!
After dinner, guests are encouraged to sit around the fire pits to relish and enjoy this fall holiday. Coffee, beer, and wine is available at the community lodge, and don’t forget about the game room for the kids!
Pine Mountain, an RVC Outdoor Destination, is a new concept of outdoor hospitality described as “your ideal natural environment mixed with your favorite hotel experience.” It’s just an hour south of Atlanta and around the corner from the famous Callaway Gardens, making it a fantastic weekend escape. The property is thoughtfully designed to preserve the natural beauty that surrounds it, while providing high quality accommodations, amenities and service. Your “favorite hotel experience” is brought to life with the destination’s concierge service, saline swimming pool, coffee, beer, and wine bar, free Wi-Fi, bark park, and more. Lodging options include the trendy and unique yurts, fully furnished cabins, and concrete and pull-through RV Sites with full hook-ups, 50 amp service, and cable.
South Carolina
Jellystone Park at River Bottom Falls
The Thanksgiving celebration at Jellystone Park at River Bottom Falls begins the Friday after Thanksgiving with a family movie at 7 pm followed by a Community Campfire and Marshmallow Roast at 9. Saturday is filled with activities for the whole family including kid's crafts, a family scavenger hunt, Hey Rides, Candy Bar Bingo and Thanksgiving Dinner in the Park followed by the USC v. Clemson football game. On Sunday morning, join Yogi and Booboo for breakfast as they carboload for their long winter nap, then help put them to bed. Click here for more details.
Missouri
Beagle Bay RV Haven & Campground
(formerly W.A.C. RV Park)
Beagle Bay, located in Sacroxie, is hosting their first Holiday Mall & Craft Show will from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 26, with the doors open to vendors for set-up at 7 a.m. The event will be held in their new event hall. Two separate rooms, have been turned into one large, 30 x 70 room with new carpeting, new electrical wiring, a stage and dance floor, and a dual lighting system -- general fluorescent lighting and wall sconces on dimmer switches for mood lighting. The event hall will be available for RV clubs, class reunions, family reunions, wedding receptions and dances, birthday parties and much more.
California
Over in Manchester, they have a weekend full of Thanksgiving events starting with their pot luck at 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day. The KOA provides deep fried turkeys, so guests just need to bring a dish to share. Then, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Santa will make a visit and park guests can join him on a hay ride around the park while singing Christmas songs and enjoying all the beautiful Christmas lights around the park. You can continue singing at karaoke night on Saturday. Paint the fence and ice cream socials occur throughout the weekend.
We will soon run a guest blog post from Sheri at Smitty's Info about cooking Thanksgiving dinner in a camper. Then we will continue our RVing with Kids series with a post from Margie Lundy of the Lundy 5. There will also be a post about RV Park Christmas events, so if you know of any RV Park Christmas events we should feature please contact nicole at rvparking dot com.
What to Ask When Selecting a Campground for Your Family
Continuing our series on RVing with kids, Tonya Prater of Live the Adventure tells us what to look for when choosing a campground for your family.
When it comes to selecting the perfect campground for your family, chances are we won’t be looking for the same amenities even though we both have children. As a mother of teenagers, a campground with a playground and scheduled activities is no longer an option we consider important. Give my kids good cell phone reception and Wi-Fi access so they can brag on Facebook about what a great time they are having roasting marshmallows over the open fire and they’re pretty content.
Setting the age of our children aside, selecting a campground really boils down to preference. Personally, I prefer to stay at campgrounds that offer large sites, clean bathrooms and friendly campers. What I don’t want is to arrive at our site for what we hope is a relaxing weekend and find ourselves right smack in the middle of a major drink fest with obnoxious neighbors loudly proclaiming obscenities and staggering around the camp until they pass out on their picnic table. Unless you are that person, chances are that’s not your idea of fun either.
So, how can you be confident that you are selecting a campground that will be free from such annoyances? If at all possible, talk to someone who has stayed there. What was their experience like? Read a campground review. Call the campground directly and ask them about their facilities and policies.
The first thing I ask is if the campground is family friendly; meaning, are families welcome? It’s a bit uncomfortable to show up ready to camp and realize that the camp caters towards an older clientele or doesn’t discourage a party atmosphere.
Since my children are my most beloved possessions and I watch too many horror flicks, I always ask about security and will choose a campground with 24- hour security over one without.
I also prefer to stay at a campground with a firm lights out policy. Though the majority of campers we’ve encountered are more than courteous, if the campers next to me are blaring their radio at 1 in the morning, I want to know that someone will tell them it’s time to go to sleep. I like campgrounds that are clean and well maintained. They don’t necessarily have to be the newest campgrounds or have the most up to date facilities, but they do need to be well cared for. I’m not a clean freak or anything but, I have been known to take a couple cleansers along with me just in case. God bless the inventor of Clorox disinfecting wipes!
I wouldn’t have thought to ask until we learned the hard way, but I now confirm that campfires are permitted at our site and ask if firewood is available for sale or if we can bring our own. There’s nothing worse than making a run to the grocery store for hot dogs and ingredients for S’mores only to find out that open fires are prohibited. After all, it’s not really camping without a campfire is it?
What type of activities, if any, is offered? Is there a pool, fishing, disc golf, bike or hiking trails nearby or on site? Are pets welcome? Can you make advance reservations or is the campground first come, first served. If so, is there anything going on in the area at the time you plan to visit that would make it hard for you to get a spot? Do you have young children? Are sites available near the restrooms or playground?
By spending just a little bit of extra planning, whether you’ll be staying one night or one month, it is possible to find just the right campground for your family. So before you embark on your next camping adventure why not spend a few minutes talking to a representative from the campground? It could save you a lot of disappointment later.
Tonya Prater and has spent the better part of the last five years traveling with her husband’s job while roadschooling their three teenagers. After living in their RV for the past 18 months they have finally settled down in a stick home once again. Though they now live in a home with no wheels, they dream of traveling once again. You’ll find Tonya blogging about their experiences at www.thetravelingpraters.com.
What Makes a Good Review?
When I've told people about the contest, some people have responded with the question "What makes a good review?". In this post, I'd like to answer that question by discussing some things to consider when writing a review. You do not have to use all these things in your review, but hopefully this post will serve as inspiration if you don't know what to write.
1. Check out our tip sheet. We have a whole list of things to include in your review. This list, while not all-inclusive, is something that you can through as you write your reviews to make sure that you cover some of the most important details. The rest of this post will give examples of ways people have addressed components of the tip sheet or discuss things not included on the tip sheet.
2. Think about what you would have wanted to know about the park before you stayed there. Odds are, that's what other RVParking readers want to know too.
3. Length - The best RV Park reviews give fellow RVers a good idea of what it's like to stay at an RV park. This requires a lot of information, usually more than you can fit in a sentence or two, which is why I look for reviews that are at least a paragraph or more.
4. Support your opinion - It's great to know if an RV park is good or bad, but it's just as important (if not more important) to know why. The best reviews are really specific about why an RV park is being rated a certain way, like in the review of Craters of the Moon National Landmark Campground by joannb:
"The only reason this is a 4 star campground is that it doesn't have showers. It is a self-serve campground; you pick out a site then go back, fill out an envelope, put the top half into the board showing which campgrounds are taken and the other half with your money in a slot. Real simple. This otherworldly landscape may not be for everyone, but it fascinated us. Most sites are very ample, set among the lava with a black cinder base."
5. Noise Level - Is it a quiet park? Is there a lot of noise coming from a nearby interstate? From rowdy campers? Does the park have quiet hours? The review LiveWorkDream.com wrote about Lindenwood Park Campground does a great job of addressing freeway noise:
"Yes, there is freeway noise, but if you ask for the LOWER campground along the river, it's not so bad."
6. Staff - Are they approachable? Helpful? Did they go the extra mile? For example, Don C. tells us why the staff at Oregon Dunes KOA Kampground & RV Resort made his stay a great one:
"The staff bent over backward to make our stay a great one. This started with a call to let me know that a spot had opened up and I could get in. We were traveling without reservations."
7. WiFi - One of the things RVParking.com readers care about the most is being able to connect with their loved ones and employers from the road. Just mentioning if the park has working WiFi on site or nearby is a big help for your fellow RVers, but the extra details in LiveWorkDream.com's review of Johnsons Corner Retreat make this one of the best Wifi/Internet assessments I've seen so far:
"Tree shade here WILL block your satellite connectivity. They did just hire a smart networking guy who installed a brand new Wi-Fi system which works GREAT. So skip the dish and go right for the Wi-Fi, which is free."
8. Are the sites level? Here is a good example from Wheeling It's review of South Sandusky Campground. Not only do they discuss the levelness of their site, but they also cover the levelness of every site at the campground:
"The one thing that got us were the sites. There were really so hit and miss in terms of how level they were. Our own site had a huge drop and we weren't able to level. Some had moderate drops whereas a selection were completely flat."
9. Cell phone coverage - Are you able to get any bars out in the mountains? What cell phone provider are you using? Here's a good example from Technomadia's review of Meriwether Lewis National Park:
"Cell & Data Coverage:
AT&T – Weak, but usable.
Sprint - Very slow but still usable CDMA 1xRTT. (D: 115Kb/s, U: 56Kb/s, 669ms) (Sprint indicates roaming – probably on Verizon)"
10. Cable/TV - Does the park have cable? Is it free or do they charge? What channels do you get? Is it available in all parts of the RV park? Here's an example from RVingToadless' review of Garden of the Gods Campground:
"As for the cable, currently it is installed in rows B and C. The cable is limited, just some networks, Travel, CNN, Discovery, Weather, and some 'who cares' channels."
11. Activities - Are there any activities the park offers on a regular basis? Movie nights? Ice cream socials? Potlucks? Do they have any special holiday celebrations? For example pdronline says that Shabbona Lake State Park's Fourth of July fireworks celebration is a must-see:
"DON'T MISS: Each year on July 4th catch the fireworks display over the lake and in February go night fishing on the lake."
12. Amenties Not Covered on RVParking.com - RV Parks offer so different many amenties these days that it's hard to list them all. Does the park have an exercise room or amenities not seen at other RV Parks, such as a car wash or barbecue delivery? Don C.'s review of Junipers RV Resort does a good job of addressing the different amenities they have:
"We were met by a friendly camp host, assigned a spot and shown the Pavilion, barbeques, laundry facilities, bathrooms and showers. They even have a business center with fax machine."
13. Trees - Are there any? How big are they? How long are the branches? Here's an example from joannb's review of Twin Falls/Jerome KOA:
"The park is well shaded by mature trees."
14. Size of sites - Do you have a lot of room or hardly any at all? From Technomadia's review of Pecan Grove RV Park, we learn that sometimes you have to trade space around your site for a hip, urban setting:
"Don't expect much in terms of space around you (unlike their monthly spots, which many feature nice yards) - you're here for the location and atmosphere!"
15. Stores - Everyone has to eat. Does the RV Park have a store where you can stock up on supplies? Are there any stores nearby? This example from CarHouse's review of Ocala Camp Resort kills two birds with one stone by discussing both the RV park store and a store in the area:
"All convenience store items have been removed due to the cheapness and proximity of a local grocery store."
16. Restrooms - Are they clean? For example, acoording to TxYellowRose, the bathrooms over at Town and Country RV Park and Storage should be avoided if at all possible:
"Although there are restroom facilities, they are in desperate need of remodel/update, so much so that you will want to be totally self-contained if you stay here. When the water table (dry spell with no rain) falls low, the water starts to look rusty/brown."
17. Showers - Do you have privacy? Do you have to pay extra to use them? Here's a good example from Car House's review of Zion River Resort:
"The showers are private and very nice but cost some coins to operate. One would think at $45 a night they would include a shower ..."
18. Restaurants - Whether folks aren't big on cooking or just want to spend a night on the town, it's good to know what restaurants are at the park or in the area. For example, RVingToadless recommends the restaurant over at Ekstrom's Stage Station:
"I must recommend the adjoining restaurant. Excellent, world class food for a small restaurant. Dessert included in the meal price."
19. Pet Friendliness - Did the owners/staff treat your pets well? Were you charged extra for bringing pets? Did the campground have a pet park?
20. General feel of site - Is the site big or small? Well-kept or run-down? SilverSnail's review of Crown Point RV Park gives us a great overall sense of the park:
"Nicely situated on the Old Columbia River Highway, and tucked away from the roadside by large trees and a tall wooden fence, this small campground is a secret treasure. I had spent a day looking for campgrounds in the Portland area that were comfortable and affordable enough to stay for a month, and most of the places around Portland were unappealing - mostly commercial places catering to the big rigs with little nature or privacy. I almost passed this place up, thinking it was TOO rinky-dink, but it was cozy and rustic in the way that I like it, and convenient to the Columbia River Gorge and Portland."
21. Is the RV Park website accurate? Were some park features over-stated? Understated? Not mentioned at all? Please let us know.
I hope this list helps give you ideas about what to cover in your park review. For all you RVParking.com reviewers out there, what do you think makes a good review? What do you take into consideration when reviewing an RV Park? Did I leave anything out?
If you still need help with reviewing, please feel free to contact me. Happy reviewing!
-Nicole
RV Parks iPhone App – Video Preview
Here's a video preview that the Daily App Show did on our iPhone app "RV Parks". We think this video of our app gives a much better preview (than the standard screenshots) of how to move around on the different tabs (search, nearby, browse & tell a friend) and what information you can find on each tab. You can find our app listed under the travel category in the iTunes store or on our site here and of course it's FREE. We'd love to hear your thoughts on our app or things you'd like to see us add in the future. Just comment below with any feedback.
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