Introduction: Our first year full-time RV’ing and it was certainly an educational and entertaining year with many stops and miles. We first went to Florida to become state residents and then after several months, just before we were to depart Florida, we found and accepted a job with a company that does RV Park handouts and gets advertiser support from the local communities. This was a good opportunity for us to visit places we wouldn’t have seen on our own while getting free RV sites and hookups and even making a little extra money.
Below you will find:
- a map of our travel;
- a list of our stays as well as our general impression of the parks/places; and
- miscellaneous photographs made during the year.
| Date | Stop Location | Miles: 8087 | Rating/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-01-24 | Salisbury, NC | 0 | |
| 2015-01-25 | Cross Winds Family Campground, Linwood, NC | 18 |  (+) Family campground with full hookups, good wifi and cable. Decent places to walk and take Pets. (-) Some sites are a little tight and many are back-ins or under pine trees. Mostly full during summer months with locals I'm told. Dirt/gravel sites. |
| 2015-02-05 | Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC | 260 |  (+) Nice rustic setting with water/electric. Some of the outer edge lots are large and have privacy, beach access. Lots of green areas for pets. The beach and relaxed atmosphere overcome most of the negatives. (-) very few full hook-ups and no WIFI. Dirt/sandy sites. |
| 2015-02-10 | Inland Harbor RV Park, Darien, GA | 201 | (+) Clean functional campground with nice staff. Convenient location, full service w/WIFI and Cable. WIFI speed acceptable most times. Pet area. Within driving distance of a great dog friendly beach. ( - ) Noise from I-95 and sites are a little tight, gravel sites. Some long term guest. |
| 2015-02-24 | Kelly’s RV Park, White Springs, FL | 146 |  (+) Full hook-ups with WIFI, clean and affordable with direct access to an abundance of State Park walking/hiking trails. The staff is friendly. Easy access to I-10 and I-75. (-) No cable, no over-the-air digital TV and very poor Cellular (Verizon) connections. Some sites are on the small size. WIFI speeds can be very slow at certain times. No dedicated pet area. Many long-term residents. Most short-term sites are sandy dirt and not terribly level. |
| 2015-03-15 | Cedar Key RV Resort, Cedar Key, FL | 119 |  (+) Well laid out large sites w/full concrete pads, many with trees and shade. Excellent full hookups, good wifi and basic cable. Resort is well run and the staff is excellent -- they bring your mail and packages to you. Full concrete sites with paved picnic table areas. (-) Only a few pull through sites, most are back in...not much of a minus for me personally. A full service grocery store or major shopping requires a drive to Chiefland (20+ miles one way...we know the road well.) |
| 2015-04-15 | Carrabelle Beach RV Resort, Carrabelle, FL | 180 | (+) Good size concrete pads throughout. There are two sections to the resort. The older section which has more landscaping but a little tighter sites and the newer section, lacking some landscaping but with a bit more space. We were in the newer section. All sites are full hookups. The resort is located just across the road from the wonderful Carrabelle Beach -- a beautiful white sand beach with normally calm waters and very few people much of the time. The beach is dog friendly. It's a very non-commerical area that reminds one of "Old Florida" (-) Wifi at best of times is a little slow and becomes almost unusable during peak periods. It's a very non-commerical area requiring a 40 minute drive to get to a major shopping area. Water pressure is low...at least in the newer section. |
| 2015-05-15 | Eagle's Landing RV Park, Holt, FL | 212 |  OK for a over-nighter. (+) Sites are full hookup, pull through and level with an average amount of space. Good water pressure. (-) Sites are pea gravel, sand or grass/dirt and with a heavy rain water can be standing around your RV but drains fairly fast. Wifi cost an additional $1 per day but is fast during non-peak hours -- during peak hours it slows to a stop. No pool. |
| 2015-05-20 | Eagle's Roost RV Resort, Lake Park, GA | 241 | OK for a night or two. (+) Shady campground with tall oaks and Spanish Moss. Great water pressure. During off peak times the WIFI is fast but slows down to a crawl at times. (-) Some sites are a little tight and the connections are well worn. The WIFI was down for at least 24 hours. There is no cable and from most sites you can't get a clear window to the sky for satellites, |
| 2015-05-25 | Camp Lake Jasper RV Resort, Hardeeville, GA | 212 | (+) Quite, well laid out newer campground beside Jasper Lake. Good connections and very friendly hosting staff. Close to Savannah and Hilton Head Island. (-) Wifi is the "normal" from fast to full stop depending on time. This is one you want to be sure and have a water pressure regulator with...very high water pressure. |
| 2015-05-31 | [AGS] Briarcliffe RV Resorts, Myrtle Beach, SC | 243 | (+) If you want to be at Myrtle Beach then this campground is nicely located just of Hwy 17. Good hookups with decent WIFI. Nice park & pool area. The staff is friendly. Paved parking pads. There is a membership with perks available. (-) Tight spaces and crowded in season. Almost all are back in sites. You have to pay a small fee for WIFI. Lots of custom golf carts zipping around. |
| 2015-06-09 | Magnolia RV Park, Kinards, SC | 204 | - (+) Well maintained rural campground. Very peaceful. (-) Dead slow WIFI. Gravel parking pads. About nine miles to nearest shopping/grocery. |
| 2015-06-13 | Riverside RV Park and Resort, Sevierville, TN | 196 | - (+) Large park with many gravel pull through sites. The grounds are well maintain, the roads are wide and with some back-in sites locate along a river. (+/-) Very Christian religious park -- that might be a plus or minus for some ( - ) A section of the larger sites are located in the open without any shade...not so nice when the temperatures soar. A large open field for dogs but no fenced in area to allow dogs off leash. |
| 2015-06-16 | [AGS] Nashville North KOA, Goodlettsville, TN | 219 | (+) Good location just north of Nashville off I-65. Many amenities and the park is well kept. The staff is over-all good and they have a nice RV store on site. ( - ) Narrow roads and very tight sites. The worst WI-FI we've run into thus far...filtered, speed throttled and requiring a code entry for each device every 7 days--completely worthless most of the time. We burned thought our data allowances with our Verizon hotspot just to be able to do what we needed to do. Warning: If you have a dog that is afraid of fireworks this is not the place to be on the 4th of July. Neighbors just outside of the park were setting off fireworks until almost mid-night. |
| 2015-07-05 | Hinton RV Park, Sikeston, MO | 226 | (+) Nice gravel pull-through sites with newer full 50A connections. Easy on and off I-55. Fairly fast WIFI with only a one time password. A good rest stop for a couple of days. ( - ) Not much to do around Sikeston, Mo, unless you're here in August for the big Rodeo. WIFI does slow way down at high usage time...normal. |
| 2015-07-08 | Americas Best Campground, Branson, MO | 266 | It's hard to give an accurate rating here as the park had just suffered some heavy rain/flood damage and was less then 100%. It is located in a very convenient location of Branson. |
| 2015-07-12 | [AGS] Mingo RV Park, Tulsa, OK | 197 | (+) The park owners and staff of Mingo RV Park are very nice do work hard to keep the grounds well maintained. They were great to us as we worked the park for AGS. The park WIFI is acceptable. ( - ) About 80% of the park residents are long term with some very old RV campers in different states of disrepair...some have permanent plumbing. The sites are dirt/gravel and are very tight with barely enough room to extend a side awning. The park is located in a not so prosperous area of Tulsa. |
| 2015-07-26 | [AGS] Keystone State Park, Sand Springs, OK | 32 | ( + ) A lovely park on the shores of Keystone Lake with truly friendly staff and park rangers. The park has some very nice cabins to rent as well. ( - ) A limited amount of full hook ups. No WIFI. It can be incredible hot and crowded during the summer. |
| 2015-08-09 | Triple J RV Park, Russell, Kansas | 317 | ( + ) Located just off I-70. Pull-thru sites with full hookups. Fair WIFI. Ok for an overnight or couple of nights. ( - ) Certainly not the most scenic of parks. A good number of long term residents and all that goes along with that. Not a very good place to walk a dog. |
| 2015-08-12 | Gunsmoke RV Park, Dodge City, KS | 135 | ( + ) A well cared for park that builds on a western theme. Good size pull through sites. Decent WIFI. Very convenient location. ( - ) The sewer hook ups didn't have a screw in or locking system so some slight smell of sewer could be caught on the breeze once in a while. No good area for walking a larger dog. |
| 2015-08-20 | Kearney RV Park, Kearney, NE | 254 | We stayed in a fairly new park of the park. ( + ) Good connection and decent WIFI. Site size and spacing was acceptable. ( - ) Gravel sites with very little landscaping. Very close to I-80 with a lot of road noise. No good place to walk a dog. |
| 2015-08-23 | [AGS] West Omaha/NE Lincoln KOA, NE | 164 | ( + ) Very well kept and managed RV Park . Okay cable. We had a good level gravel site. A nice but small dog area. Pool and place for children to play. ( - ) The terrible Tengo WIFI option you often find in KOA parks...hate it. No place but around the park to walk a larger dog. Sites tight overall. |
| 2015-08-30 | [AGS] Pine Grove RV Park, Omaha/Lincoln, NE | 12 | ( + ) Decent size gravel sites. Lots of grass areas around the edge of the park to walk dogs. Pool, Cable and places for children to play. ( - ) Often slow WIFI. A lot of rules and the owner seems a bit obsessive on some things. I-80 noise is noticeable. |
| 2015-09-13 | Lazy Day Campground, Danville, MO | 393 | ( + ) An okay small campground with gravel sites. The campground is fairly well maintained. ( - ) Some of the sites are not very level and some are very close. There are also a number of long term guest. The campground location is very remote. |
| 2015-09-16 | Cape Camping & RV Park, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 | 182 | ( + ) Campground is located very close to town. Sites are all pull thru with easy assess. There is a great walking trail that runs beside the park. ( - ) The sites are gravel and close and there are a good many long term guests. Wifi is the normal slow. No trees or shade. While we were there the pool was closed, uncovered and full of greenish water. |
| 2015-09-20 | [AGS] Memphis KOA, Marion, AR | 159 | ( + ) Nicely laid out campground with all pull thru sites. There are a few cement pad sites but most are gravel. Every site has shade trees. Good areas to walk dogs. Water pressure is okay unless they decide to fill pool. ( - ) Some of the sites are a little tight. There is noise from I-55. |
| 2015-10-04 | Birmingham South Campground, Pelham AL | 266 | ( + ) Nice facilities, fairly fast WIFI, our site was fairly level, most sites are pull-thru. Water pressure is high and a regulator is recommended. ( - ) All gravel and some sites are not very level. There are many long term guest around the outside of the park. No cable. Not much of a place to walk a dog. |
| 2015-10-06 | Triple C's Campground, Chattahoochee, FL | 250 | ( + ) A very quite park located among the trees. Off I-10 far enough not to hear any noise. Good water pressure and acceptable gravel sites. Very quiet. Okay dog walking areas and even a corral for your horse. ( - ) No WIFI or cable. Not located very close to anything -- this might be a plus for some. We had to move to site #41 due to an open ground situation caused by a worn out 50amp female plug on our first site (#42)...they said they would fix it but... |
| 2015-10-11 | Ocala North RV Park, Ocala, FL | 200 | ( + ) Lovely grounds with large Oak Trees and Spanish Moss. Mixture of back-in and pull thru sites. Good water pressure. Very quiet with good places to walk a dog. WIFI and Cable ( - ) WIFI Gestapo tactics, very slow, monitored/blocked and throttled--worst ever. Any download of >2mb will eventually time out. The WIFI was also down the last day we were there. The killer is that there is only one bar of Verizon connection. Our "premium pull-thru" site (#110) didn't have a safe/sane exit/pull-out path...we decided to backed out of the site to leave. Also many long term guest, some with RV's in need of cleaning and repair. |
| 2015-10-18 | [AGS] Sunshine Travel RV Resort, Vero Beach, FL | 197 | Good experience over-all. (+) Well designed RV Resort with controlled access and nice facilities. Shopping nearby. Best and largest (2 acre) dog park ever! Wide paved roads with some extra long pull thru sites. ( - ) Just off I-95 so some sites might experience some road noise...not an issue at our site. Most sites are back in, as was our site #109. Some full-time park models and a far number of long term guests. Big snow bunny destination so fully booked in winter. No free wifi but we found an open net-work nearby to use. Good Verison Wireless signal also. |
| 2015-11-01 | [AGS] Crystal Isle RV Resort, Crystal River, FL | 190 | ( + ) Large resort with paved roads and many shady sites located along a canal which leads into the Crystal River. Paid Wifi -- but at a reasonable price and fast. ( - ) Many long term guests with all the trapping and toys...RV, boat, multi-vehicle, golf-cart, large grill, tent-like covered patio, etc. Is more of a summer, weekend party destination then a true RV Resort. Many tight/short sites...there was no way we could have gotten into the initial site we were assigned...luckily they gave us a list of other sites and we found one (#275) which worked. No dedicated dog park. |
| 2015-11-14 | Camp Lake Jasper RV Resort, Hardeeville, GA | 290 | Were in site #17. See 2015-05-15 review above. |
| 2015-11-15 | Cross Winds Family Campground, Linwood, NC | 309 | We were in site A14 this time...very nice site among the trees. Also see 2015-01-25 review above. |
| 2015-11-21 | [RV] Campers Inn, Mocksville, NC | 27 | Traded the 2014 Alpine 3495FL for the 2016 Vilano 365RL. Switched out at RV Dealer over-night. Good service, fair price and they made the change over process as easy as possible. |
| 2015-11-22 | Charlotte/Fort Mill KOA, Fort Mill, SC | 74 | This KOA is not one of the most attractive or well maintain KOA's we've been at but it is in a very convenient location near family in southern Charlotte. We were in Site #60 near the front of the park and there is a good bit of road noise. A separate fenced area with long term guest exists in the back of the park. Not a good place for walking pets. The park was near full for Thanksgiving but is mostly nightly pull-off traffic from I-77 here in early December. |
| 2015-12-12 | Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, Breman, GA | 339 | ( + ) Located in a fairly convenient location along I-20. Facilities are ok. ( - ) Gravel sites, closely spaced, and none appear to be very level. Access roads are narrow and larger rigs will find it especially tight. No good area for larger dogs. There are a number of long term/permanent guest. We were In site #64 along the outside ring near park entrance. |
| 2015-12-15 | [RV] VanLeigh RV, Inc., Burnsville, MS ( 34.831242, -88.316454 ) | 272 | Wonderful experience at the VanLeigh RV Inc. factory while taking care of a few warranty items. We found out our Vilano was the 12th one built and we were the first customers they had back to the factory. They listened to our concerns and are discussing a couple of changes for future coaches based upon our input. These VanLeigh folks are top notch and we always felt we were a priority. One of the best customer experiences ever -- can't say enough good about them! |
| 2015-12-16 | Green Acres RV Park, Savannah, TN | 32 | A nice 36 site RV park located just north of the Tennessee/Mississippi border near the Shiloh National Military Park. We were in site #22. The sites are gravel and mostly level. There is fairly fast WIFI and cable TV. While there is no dog lot/walk there is plenty of room for walking a dog. Great park owners, couldn't be nicer! |
| 2015-12-24 | Starkville KOA, Starkville, MS | 166 | We had a prime site (#109) in this park, with a cement pad looking out over a lovely lake. Only the bad weather spoiled it. This KOA park needs a little tender loving care but can be a nice stop-over in the off/winter season. No WIFI and off the beaten path. Room to walk a dog but not a very good actual dog walk. |
| 2015-12-26 | Natalbany Creek Campground & RV Park, Amite, LA | 270 | This park is much better then its entrance would indicate. You turn in through a truck stop and casino and drive back to the park with its well-maintained grounds and lake. We were in site #132, one of the few pull-thru sites. It was a good site during off season, near the park entrance, but there would be a lot of passing park traffic during the summer. WIFI was ok and the park is large enough that we had room to walk Maggie. Would use again for a stay-over during off-season. |
| 2015-12-28 | Hidden Ponds RV Park, Sulphur, LA | 199 | Another older park that is made up of about 70-80% long-term guest. The short-term travelers are placed near the park entrance (we were in site #56) and are subjected to the noise of long term guest traffic coming in from work during the evening, and after second shift, and traffic leaving early in the morning. Many of these long-term "homes" are old and in poor shape. There were also people setting off fireworks at night, and it wasn't New Years yet - scaring Maggie. Free WIFI but it becomes almost unusable during the evening hours. No dog walk area and not much of a place to walk a dog except along the park roads. The only saving grace is it's along I-10 but far enough off it to not have the interstate noise. Would only stay here again as a last resort. |
| 2015-12-30 | Thousands Trails Colorado River RV Park, Columbus, TX | 218 | A park with a lot of land and open spaces that is along the Colorado River. There's four site areas, A-D with a mixture of 50A, 30A and primitive sites. When we arrived we were surprised the reservation we made only guaranteed there would be a site available but not of any specific service level. It's a first-come-first-serve process where you drive the park, find the site you want and then let the park office know the site you choose and they then charge you accordingly -- very strange. Luckily we got one of the last 50A/full-service sites (#A24). Still, for all of that, it's a nice park, very quiet with lots of open space for Maggie. There's an abundance of deer on the property as well -- a nice place to "take a rest." |