Why do you go where you go?

Rootus · 07-03-2016, 09:46 PM

My wife and I went out camping this weekend. Because of the holiday weekend, even a distant campground which doesn't do reservations and is usually lightly used was completely full when we got there, so we ended up winging it and found ourselves a spot at the end of an old logging road where someone had built a primitive site with a circle of rocks for a fire. To be honest, it was an entirely inappropriate place to bring a travel trailer

. My wife commented that she loved camping where you were completely alone, and she didn't understand why someone would go to an RV park.

I figure there are lots of points of view. Some people may do RV parks because they're traveling, not camping. Or they like the social aspect perhaps. After we talked about it, I told my wife I'd just ask here and see what people said. Where do you like to take your Jayco, and what do you like about it?

Northern Jay · 07-03-2016, 10:14 PM

I myself like more trees and less.people. if there is a campsite within 20ft, I would rather go elsewhere. The whole.point of camping is to get away. JMHO. We rarely ever have hookups and really don't want them. It just means the neighbors are too close. Campgrounds without showers, power, water, sewer are best. Pit toilets work well for me so I don't have to stink up the TT 8n the mornings. Hearing the birds chirp, owls screach/hoot, squirrels chatter, coyotes howl is what camping is all about.
Happy Camping all..

secal48 · 07-03-2016, 10:27 PM

I'll agree with enjoying trees and space. But I also enjoy electricity to run my CPAP so I can sleep at night. That's why we prefer state parks with their bigger sites and trees and peace. Subdivision camping at the commercial lots is not our style, but our kids are grown and on their own so we don't need to worry about playgrounds and swimming pools anymore. To each their own, and that's what makes this country great, there's room for all of us. Happy 4th everyone.

mtdawg · 07-04-2016, 12:18 AM

We do both RV parks and boon docking. Generally RV parks are used while traveling, or visiting relatives. Around where we live there are lots of state and national parks with various levels of campground. Our trailer is set up to do either one.

Jim

fjd · 07-04-2016, 05:32 AM

Personally i go where we go to destress from work life. As the camper is disconnected from the pickup i feel a sense of change. The rustling of the trees, the smell of a campfire all trigger the brain to say chill out buddy...your home. If my cell shows no service, even better. Then all my worldly obligations are put on hold while i relax.

We usually prefer a full hookup because we usually push hard during the day playing outdoors (hiking, horseback riding, canoe or kayak to name a few) and prefer a nice long shower at the end of the day for each of us. One reason is i have a bad back and the shkwer helps keep me in the game of life. For 20 years on the sailboat i would dive off the back of the boat with my dog...swim a bit to wake up and rinse off on the back deck before boarding....that was the morning shower. We still boondock but its a different yet enjoyable experience. The camp facilities work fine most of the time. If we are traveling from one place to another and clhabe to stop somewhere along the way we aremt that picky. If we can find a KOA we usually choose it but not as a destination. Typical KOA has a family circus like atmosphere but almost always have a decent shop amd facilities.

If the area has hiking or horses....then our happiness level just went up. Go camping and enjoy life.

Marcm157 · 07-04-2016, 05:33 AM

Being brand new to camping and or RV'ing and getting a late start (I'm 54) we are doing the RV parks until we gain some more experience. This is our first trailer and until I feel confident that I can handle most of what can happen I am more comfortable with others nearby for help and guidance if needed.

With that being said, I can already say that it is isolation I crave so I see boondocking in the future.

Kim Gass · 07-04-2016, 06:16 AM

Various reasons. A commercial campground on the road so we can make reservations on the fly day to day as we figure out where we might be that night. Commercial also makes hookup easy.. no fresh water toting and genny maneuvering

Commercial for sightseeing base camp so we can visit a city for a few days.

Boondocking as there is more space to enjoy beautiful spaces

For us there is a role for all.

RoyBraddy · 07-04-2016, 06:26 AM

We have just about done all of the RV Traveling we want to do which wasn't very much I might add... Too much to do when in RV TRAVEL MODE... I was plum wore out at every stop and this is with a very small RV rig hehe... Also way too expensive for what we got out of it...

Our love was always TENT CAMPING from the late 50s to present time anyway. We like to go to three or four spots we have here within a couple hundred miles of us now... Love to get back inside the NATL FOREST and stay at their designated camp spots but really like sitting up by a creekside somewhere or up on one of the many high ridge overlook places where you can see several rolls of mountains off in the distance. Very seldom run into other campers in these spots...

There is a place for both styles of RV Camping for us. Our Home Camp ground is Westmoreland State Park just some 25 miles away from here and we know when to go to get our picked out site. Here we always run into other local campers that we have met over the years and kinda neat to socialize with old friends... Westmoreland is a beautiful place and laid back pretty much and the Ranger folks are all very nice and friendly... Our OFF-ROAD camper is somewhat unique and gets recognized right away with a WELCOME BACK... Usually the CAMP GROUND HOST revolves around the same people in the different parts of the season...

I am always improving on my OFF-ROAD RV camper and this is the place I like to go setup and improve on things... Close to home and close to a WALMART or LOWES store... Kids will come visit with us while are here... Being a somewhat regular I can go to Westmoreland during the winter months and camp out without hookups which is usually what we do anyway... The Ranger and a few others live at Westmoreland the year around...

We also love to head for the SKYLINE DRIVE run and camp at LOFT MTN on the South End of the Drive. During the Week you have this whole camp ground to yourself most of the time haha... Harrisonburg VA is not too far away and is a nice place the wife loves to go to and shop somewhat... We will work in a picnic trip one of the days going to the West side Harrisonburg up on the wooded VA-WVA state line and enjoy ourselves alot. Lots of places to just park the truck and lay out on a blanket and feed the Squirrels....

Maybe twice a year we will venture down I81 and end up in the Smokys around Gatlinburg TN where we love to camp at ELKMONT Camp inside the Natl Park or at the Riveredge Rv Park which is located just as you come into Pigeon Forge from the Gatlinburg side. Been going there for years as well... Then the wife can get store shopping till she drops done and over with haha... Gatlingburg is full time walking up and down the store fronts and Pigeon Forge is driving from one store to the next. Pigeon Forge also has a nice COLEMAN Camping Store which is neat to see all of their news items. We always go in the SEP/OCT time frame after the kids all go back to school there... These are tourist towns which have alot of folks roaming all over the place...

We used to head down to Myrtle Beach at LAKELAND in the SEP/OCT time frame and meet up with Family on my side. My sister lives on the LAKELAND grounds. This is a neat camping spot as well but is spread out up and down the coast there. Too much to do for us haha... Kinda have to go along with what everyone else wants to do... We would rather stay at a couple of the wooded places just off the beach south of Myrtle Beach and just spend the time on the Beach their. The real fun for us on this trip is heading back to Virginia the long way as my sister from Illinois are RV'ers and this means a two or three night stay at Gatlinburg with home town family haha... You know how it goes - all roads go through Gatlinburg haha...

Roy and Carolyn
King George VA

Dustdevil · 07-04-2016, 07:24 AM

We have done more than our share of boondocking, and we love to do that sometimes. We are also fond of nearly unlimited water supply in a campground with hookups, and hot showers whenever we want. So, we do both at different times. We used to sport a toy hauler trailer, and that hauled our dirt bikes and the Rhino, and it was great fun while our boys were growing up. We're now out of that phase and we pull the Jeep with our motorhome, and expect to split between boondocking all on our own and campgrounds with full hookups. We love to explore old mining ghost towns and backcountry remote areas with the Jeep and with friends. So, we can do either way.

North of 49° · 07-04-2016, 07:29 AM

We always camp in provincial park campgrounds. That way we know exactly what to expect, and they're usually cheaper than the private ones. DW's idea of a vacation involves airline tickets and hotel reservations, so we always get a site with at least electricity. Because of our work schedules, we also have to make reservations well in advance; in the spring we sit down with a map and calendar and decide where we're going and when. Again, because of our schedules, we also choose campgrounds that are close to home, half an hour to an hour away, because we won't be able to get on the road until later. But when we do have some time, we plan trips to campgrounds a little further away, 2 to 3 hours. But again, it's all planned out in advance, so when we pull into a campground at 9:30 at night, we know we'll have a site waiting for us. We just can't do the spontaneous thing.

DebKen · 07-04-2016, 07:49 AM

We sometimes do campgrounds - there is a local one we usually stay at 3 times a year. Campgrounds usually have activities we enjoy. But our favorite places are state parks! We usually stay at those 4 or 5 times a year. We like to hike and kayak. We do enjoy at least having electricity. We don't mind neighbors as long as they are not obnoxiously loud. We have made friends with several of our camping neighbors over the years and look forward to seeing each other each year (and we keep in touch on Facebook). Any chance to get away from the usual is relaxing!

Paintinfool3 · 07-04-2016, 08:08 AM

we almost always do state parks and mostly right on lake so we can use boat during summer months. I don't like seasonal campgrounds around here as to me they look like a parking lot with gravel. the state parks sites are a lot more wooded and yet the restroom and shower facilities are really nice.

Paintinfool3 · 07-04-2016, 08:15 AM

here is the view from our favorite site in the summer

Doboy Dawg · 07-04-2016, 09:05 PM

FISH! I love to fish!

ttavasc · 07-04-2016, 11:20 PM

We also lean towards State Parks. So far we've stayed in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah parks. All seem to have pretty good online reservation systems. We usually get full hook-ups but have no problem going without if that's all that is available. For now we like to find new parks to go for long week-end camp trips. There is ocean to desert and everything in between within just a few hours drive for us and seeing all that diversity is a lot of fun. When traveling for longer periods we always head to the southwest as our youngest daughter currently lives in Arizona.

**norty1** · 07-05-2016, 04:47 AM

We camp in N. Georgia and W. North Carolina in summer/Fall. We go to central Florida every Feb or March for 3 weeks or so. Moving around in State parks and resorts we like.
We belong to a camping club that goes somewhere each month for 7 months and we attend those and tack another week somewhere else. We like State Parks , COE's or where ever is nice and quiet. If not we will settle for nice. We never boondock because my dw is not into that but have a few times unplanned.

We camp in Myrtle Beach several times a year at State Parks or Willow Tree Resort.

Over the years we have met many friends camping and we often try to camp near enough to renew acquaintances.

We average about 115 days in our camper a year.

Victoria · 07-05-2016, 05:12 AM

We camp to ride our ATVS. We love riding Wayne National Forest and MI. We just started boon docking this spring and I think it is the best! No lights, no phone service, few people. We have never used full hook up sites so even with plenty of water due to the 112 gallon freshwater we never get a long shower. Sigh. That is missed a bit.

ctbailey · 07-05-2016, 08:13 AM

We prefer the RV "Resort" style campgrounds. With a 3yo and a 5yo we tend to utilize the pool a lot, plus the girls like activities like tie-dye, arts and crafts, and dancing.

Plus, with the 32 foot unit, I'm not inclined to try and stuff it into a rugged state park site like I used to when we pulled a pop up.

While we might not be "camping" in the purest sense, we are spending quality time with our family.

The DW and I have done the tent -> pop up -> small TT -> large TT so, we have plenty of experience.

RP53 · 07-05-2016, 09:13 AM

we like state parks, and we have 1 privately owns park in WNC we visit we prefer full hookups the DW and I both are over the boon docking days. The private campground we visit is in western NC about 150 miles from home, close but not to close. It is my very favorite campground simply because of the people, it is mostly a seasonal Campground with about 10 sites they keep for the "part-timers" most of the folks are retired and it is a very quite place to spend a few days These folks made us feel as if we were family from the 1st moment we arrived, we just spent the 4th there and I can't wait for our next visit in early September, till then we have a few weekends planed in Tennessee and Virginia state parks

troutcamper · 07-05-2016, 12:33 PM

My wife and I both grew up tent camping and this is our first foray into a TT. As my handle implies I love to fish for trout, specifically fly fish.
The nearby NC mountains offer plenty of that. My wife was getting tired of staying at home when I go for the weekend, I tried to convince her to take up fly fishing to no avail, so we both decided a TT was the way to go. She loves the outdoors but not wet wading and rock hopping wild mountains streams as I do. We will mostly be camping at State parks and commercial campgrounds so she can have some creature comforts while I am out and about. And at 59 the ground is getting harder for me as well. I will still do some backpack camping to more remote areas, but now will have a home base much closer to come back to.
Troutcamper

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