5 more months

I know it’s too early for camping withdrawal, but I’m already a little bummed out.  This is my first weekend off since April that we haven’t been camping.  Here’s what I miss:

• The anticipation of leaving work knowing we’re getting away for the weekend
• The feeling of leaving the world behind when we hitch up and pull out of the driveway
• Driving a huge vehicle down the highway
• The moment when you get to the campground, set up, and plop into your camping chair
• Campfire
• Beverages by the campfire
• Talking by the campfire
• Getting to explore a new town
• Finding great places to eat
• Miscellaneous festivals
• Having time with my partner
• Getting up slowly in the morning with no schedule or timelines

Ok, the countdown begins now.  Just over 5 months until camping season begins again!

50% off, but not today

While I lament the end of the camping season for us in NE Ohio, I’m finding ways to look forward to next year already.  One of the things I was thinking about was getting a discount camping membership to save on some camping fees next year.  But as I look into discount camping clubs further I’m finding they may not be as useful as I would have thought.

I do actually have two camping discounts already.  One of them I got by accident.  Our Good Sam membership started out as a discount at Camping World.  I got it a few years ago when we started shopping there because it would pay for itself after a few trips.  Then Good Sam kinda merged in there, and now I have 10% off some campgrounds as well.  I've used this one a few times this season.

I also have a KOA Value Kard Rewards membership because there is one nearby that we stay at a few times each year.  We've also found that we rarely have a bad experience at a KOA so when we travel to parts unknown we often look for them.  I've found that this one readily pays for itself because we probably save $10-$15 each time we stay there, and we earn $10 off rewards from time to time.  They even had a free night one weekend which pretty much paid for the membership itself.

I was looking into Passport America because they seem to have a large network of campgrounds that accept it and it looks like a great deal.  50% camping for about $40/year.  Staying just 4 nights would seem to make this one pay for itself.  Even some of the Ohio State Parks participate which is great because we love to stay at the State Parks.  I also looked at a few other discount clubs that have similar offers.

The problem is the limitations that are imposed by the accepting campgrounds.  For many that I looked at on the websites they have maximum stays (which I can understand) and they limit the days of the week that the discount can be used.  Most of the time the limitation is that you can’t use it Fri-Sat.  For weekend warriors such as ourselves, not being able to use the discount when we do most of our camping makes it useless.

I think the point here is twofold.  One is to always read the fine print.  ”Certain limitations and exclusions may apply such as every day that you want to camp…”  I think the other is to know your camping habits and needs and use that to determine if a camping discount or club would be useful.  I think if I were full-timing a discount that is valid from Sunday to Thursday would be beneficial.  But for the part-timers/weekend warriors it may not be such a great deal.

Always one more day

When we go camping for 2 days, we always wish we had a third day because that would make the trip so much better.  When we go camping for 3 days, we wish for four.  And when we camp for 4 days..  well, I think you get the idea.  We left on Wednesday evening and made it to just north of Columbus near Alum Creek.  We stayed at Cross Creek which is a very nice park, and apparently was totally booked for the weekend.  That was ok though because we were only staying the night.  Despite our later than usual arrival they were very friendly and accommodating.

The next morning is where the fun began.  As we drove away we noticed that the brake controller in the truck didn’t seem to be registering that it was actually controlling the trailer brakes.  That’s important when you have 3400lbs behind you to stop.  We ended up at RCD Trailer Sales near Deleware, OH.  Long story short, they were really great!  They got us up and running very quickly despite their facility having been burnt down recently.

After a lunch and shopping trip at Cabela’s (which is quite RV friendly) we headed towards Cincinnati for our weekend destination.  We arrived at Spring Valley Frontier Campground and were shown to the last available spot for the weekend.  Another full campground!  I hadn’t expected this so late in the camping season.  The owner got us set up and went about his way getting the campground ready.

On Saturday we went to the Ohio Renaissance Festival.  We went last year and had a blast so we went again.  It was VERY busy, but we got to see Albannach and the Tartan Terrors perform which was very cool.  I’m not usually a fan of bagpipes, but I really liked their sound.  Unfortunately they’re not on Spotify, but I found some on iTunes.

It was a really great weekend to round out the camping season. I’m assuming that my next weekend off may not be ideal for camping, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.  After that it’s off to Mentor RV for some winter warranty repairs on the Visa.