Conversing with a friend today via Facebook about what we look for in a campground got me to thinking about the upcoming camping season. For Johnnie and me, the season starts as soon as the nights are in the 40’s; for NJ, that’s usually March. We’ll start earlier if we are going south, but if it’s the ability to take weekend jaunts, then it’s mid to late March. The season usually ends in November or if going to Florida for Winter break, December or early January. That’s 9+ months of weekends and vacation time to camp. So where might we go? How will we decide?
March is definitelyfor overnights because Johnnie’s weekend is Sunday and Monday and I don’t have any Mondays off from work. Overnights = Belleplain State Forest.
April is Spring Break. But I teach nights at a local university so I can’t take the whole week because the university’s spring break is in March. We should be able to get a four or five day trip. Weather will be the greatest factor in this trip. Then travel time will be the next consideration. If the nights are warm enough, we can go north — Maine or New York state. If not, we will go south. In both cases, we will look at travel time. Because our vacation is short in duration, we don’t want to spend more than a day getting to our destination. Eight hours or less travel time is probably what we are looking for. So Assateague or Cape Hatteras might be good choices. Activity wise, I’ll be looking for bike trails and/or nature trails, near wildlife refuge or something of that type, and perhaps a historical place or two to visit. Then again, Johnnie and I may just want to veg out for those days and as long as we can get some bike riding in, we’ll be happy.
May will be back to overnights, except for Memorial Day weekend. In NJ,everyone who can possible do it goes camping or to the shore Memorial Day weekend, so the traffic coming home on Monday is horrendous! If we decide to go to Belleplain that weekend, we’ll come home on Tuesday.
June and July are months of overnights.
August is our big trip. We usually spend about eighteen days on the road. While traveling to Texas, we stay at three or four KOAs if we stop early enough. We are looking for 50 amp availability and cable tv. We’ve stayed in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma. We stay at the Amarillo KOA when we visit our sons and their families. We stay at the Albuquerque Central KOA when we visit the relatives in Albuquerque. Both of these have 50 amp service and cable tv. Even though we spend multiple days at these campgrounds, our purpose is to visit our families so we don’t require a lot. I’m not saying that I don’t like these KOAs; I love them both. But if our families weren’t in those cities, we would not stay at either because we don’t stay in cities. After visiting the family, then our purpose dictates our requirements. If our purpose is to visit some national parks, then we choose KOAs thatare near the national parks. If heading to the Tucson area then we stay at Cactus Country RV Resort, which is on the eastern edge of Tucson, definitely not in the middle of the city. Space and quiet are our requirements.
September is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and overnights. Belleplain.
October and November both have long weekends so a last chance to get a three or four day jaunt. October has been Assateague. November could be an extended stay at Belleplain or finding somewhere close by that is still open. Many campgrounds in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region close for the season by November 15th.
December is Florida every third year or so. The requirement is warm weather, but travel time is two to two and a half days. Florida.
It’s January and there is about 6 inches of snow on my lawn. I am dreaming of all of the places I might go when the weather warms. A pleasant way to spend the day.
Views from the Rear Window 