I thought this was a milestone worthy of a blog entry. The map above shows our three trips: the blue stops were our first, 12-month trip; the red stops were our second, seven month snowbird trip; and the purple stops are our current trip, one month so far. In all, the three trips add up to 100 stops.
It is not quite 100 unique campgrounds, because we have revisited a handful of sites a second time, but that milestone should also come this week. As you can see, we are as far northeast as we have been in an RV. Our plan is to continue on north to Maine, then all the way down the coast before heading home.
All our trip planning is done through RV Trip Wizard, which costs about $40 a year, but is well worth the money. Since most nights in a full service campground cost about $40, the program pays for itself if you avoid one bad night. By the time we finish this trip, it will have cost us less than $1 per reservation, and I can honestly say that we have never had a terrible stay.
After each stay, we rate the campground on a scale of A+ to F-, and Ellen records the results in a “little black book.” Our ratings are subjective, and the criteria has changed over time. When we had the fifth wheel, we only chose parks that were labeled “big rig friendly,” and our ratings often revolved around accessibility, with beauty secondary. Now, we specifically look for state campgrounds and private parks with that feel. But in all cases we wanted parks that felt open and were well maintained and friendly.
This is a list of all of our A+ sites over the last 2 plus years.
- Bend/Sisters RV Park, OR — a “destination” style park with grass, man-made lakes, and manicured grass.
- Billings KOA, MT — This is the ORIGINAL KOA park, well maintained and upgraded, but with classic touches
- Whistle Stop RV Park, Abilene, TX
- La Hacienda RV Resort and Cottages, Austin, TX — spent a month here. Pool, great exercise room and bike trails
- Peach Country RV Park, Stonewall, TX — potlucks, sewing circles, TX hill country, super friendly. Month here also.
- Westlake RV Resort, Katy, TX — another destination resort, with multiple pools, recreation. Beautiful!
- Deer Creek RV Park, Topeka, KS — Easy access, spacious, cleanly laid out.
- Campground St. Regis, MT — Delightful campground in gorgeous setting.
- Suntides RV Campground, Yakima, WA — clean, wide spaces, easy access, grass
- Black Oak Casino, Tuolumne, CA — excellent pool, bowling
- The Lakes RV and Golf Resort, Chowchilla, CA — wonderful large pool, free round of golf
- Cotton Lane RV Resort, Goodyear, AZ — Spend over 3 months here. Free 4 hole golf course, tons of activities, a perfect snowbird spot for winter. Half of park spots are RVs and half are winter homes.
- Buffalo Bill State Park, near Cody, WY — called the nicest state park in WY. Beautiful setting, easy access. Reserve early if you want a spot with electricity.
- Hickory Grove Campground, Sheffield, IN — Great bike path along Hennepin Canal. Level for miles.
- Amigo Park, Sturgis, MI — Mennonite Camping Association campground that is open to the public and a diamond in the rough. Feels like a state park. Located next to 2 small lakes. Great bike riding nearby.
ADDENDUM:
After this blog was written, we found our most picture-perfect campground, which caused us to post a separate blog entry just for it. See info on Red Gate Farms in Savannah, Georgia, here.