Let's go camping already...

So we are working on booking two more trips this year. One for Labor Day and the other the weekend before Halloween (my birthday).

For Labor day we want to join our friends at a site we've been to several times and have enjoyed each time.

American Heritage RV Park - Williamsburg, VA

We first stayed here last November for Thanksgiving and Black Friday Shopping at the Williamsburg outlet malls and loved it. We stayed her just this past May to to the season shake down of the camper. So we are fairly sure that we won't have any issues.

But the one that we are starting to wonder about is the trip for my birthday/Halloween.

We are planning on checking on the Walnut Hills Campground AKA Staunton/Walnut Hills KOA in Staunton, VA. We have friends that have camped there for the "Halloween" festival for a couple of year and they've come home and told us how much they really enjoyed it, so we figured we would join them this year.

Well, it isn't off to great start, we've called three times trying to book and each time the customer service has been very lacking. I sure hope it is just a bad day for them, I'd hate to drop a bundle of cash and not be happy on my birthday. 

More to follow....

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park - Natural Bridge, VA

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park

http://www.campnbr.com/

We camped at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, VA June 15-18, 2012.
This place was ok, the best part was being surprised by a couple of our best friends who got reservations at the same time we did and didn't tell us.

While I love to camp in the mountains, this campground is divided by a public road in the middle of the  campground. You check in just off the road, but the sites starts down by the James River and kind of flows up the side of a small mountain.  I found it can be very difficult getting from one side of the campground to the other. I recommend renting a golf cart if you don't have one, I rode my bike up the mountain once, and that was enough for me :-)

On the Plus Side

• This place is so kid friendly (unless you want to let your 12 year try to drive the golf cart... that's a no-no). They have a list of activities as long as your arm going on everyday. 
• The staff was very friendly and helpful for the most part, even helped my 12 year old and his friend fill and fire water balloons with the three-man slingshot.
• They rent golf carts (first come first serve) and they are very helpful for getting from one side of the campground to the other.
• Snack bar is nice with quick foods and ice cream.
• The bath houses were routinely checked and cleaned

On the Down Side 

• The campground is divided into two sections - Upper and Lower Campgrounds. The lower campground is closer to the amenities and the river, but is more crowded and most sites are only W/E. The upper campground is dived into two sections as well, the field and the forest. The field has more spacious sites, but zero shade. The forest as you can guess is the opposite, total shade, no room. it's a pick your poison type of situation. I'm glad we got the forest site because it was 95+ the whole weekend.
• It is a rock pit. The roads and sites are rock pits, hardly any grass except in the common areas
• The pool is about two sizes too small, and they let folks from the local area come up on the weekend and pay for a pool pass. it was like watching sardines get free, we stood in the water to cool off, but forget about trying to swim.
• Kind of pricey. We used a Groupon that we bought the year before, but the cost are like $60 a night for full hook ups and the golf cart rental was $100 for the weekend.
• Selective enforced rules. Now I'm not by any stretch and old crank, I love a good time and party as much as the next guy, but when the campground says quiet times are from 11pm to 8am, I do my best to respect that. When you've got families running around screaming and guys with their drink on blaring music at 2am there is a problem. And when you deiced that 7am is the best time to chop your wood outside my camper door, you better be lucky I left the conceal carry at home for the family trip.

Overall Opinion 

I think that overall we had a good time and that expect for the fact that it was very crowded and busy this is a very nice place. There is a bunch of stuff to do at the campground as well as the area around Natural Bridge (visit the Virginia Safari Park Zoo it is awesome).  I would stay here again, but I'd try to get on of the sites with full hookup (there are like 5) closer to the river and I would stay during the week.

We're going Camping

I created this blog to tell about our trips out in our camper.
My wife and I have been camping since we were both kids.
We enjoy visiting different parts of the great country of ours and as we've gotten older we, gone from Camping with our parents, to camping in a tent, an old popup and now our hotel on wheels.

We normally get out 2 or 3 times a year (not nearly enough), but it is a start.

I plan on posting reviews of the sites we stay and and use this to log our trips so that I can keep certain campgrounds, site, area in mind or not when we visit the same area as well as sharing lessons learned, tips and tricks, etc.

Please feel free to contact me if you have thoughts, suggestions or questions.

James