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  1. #1
    Seasoned Camper joesmainship's Avatar
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    Discovering our RV Camping Style

    The Admiral and I had a lengthy conversation this evening (over several glasses of wine). We just finished a busy day in St Augustine, FL starting with a very small city tour and ending with a Dinner on the Intracoastal waterway on Vilano Island. We loved the history lesson and the architecture of St Augustine, but overall the small city just seemed to us to be a tourist trap on steroids. Horrendous traffic on too small streets and expensive parking if you can find it. For the St Augustine folks on this forum, I don't mean to offend. I'm sure your city is a wonderful place to live, but we both have decided tourist towns are not our preferred camping style.

    We both discussed that, after experiencing what we have to date, we are happiest RV camping in a secluded national or state park, COE park on a waterway, doing things like hiking, biking, and enjoying nature around us. We really enjoy touring wineries, as well. It is nice to finally start to realize what type of RV camping we enjoy. It has taken almost a year and a half dozen trips for things to become clearer on both our preferences. How long did it take to discover your RV camping style?
    The Capt and the Admiral
    Joe & Marilyn
    2017 Solitude 384 GK-R
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  2. #2
    Fireside Member svanarts's Avatar
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    We're still waiting to discover our camping style but a word on St. Augustine. It's been that way as long as I can remember. I used to live in Brunswick, my sister went down there back in the early '70s and it was pretty much a tourist place. Did you get your fountain of youth water?
    Scott and Cristy (future Texans)
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  3. #3
    Site Sponsor
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    We love FL state parks and there are a lot that offer what you are looking for. We enjoy Anastasia but for the beach, not access to the city. We do spend a little time walking along St. George St. but not often. The museum in the old Flagler hotel is a very eclectic place and worth visiting. The 'winery' we found to be just a gussied up retail store, not worth the time.

    See if you can get a brochure what lists all the FL state parks. Most are not in metropolitan areas and offer the sort of things you are looking for. The only issue is that the older parks have small sites. If you have a large TT it may not fit. Reserve America does give guidance on what size TT will fit in any particular campsite. All of the parks have water and electric but few have sewer and I haven't found any with WiFi or cable at the campsites. If you need these go to a commercial campground. The FL state parks are our favorite place to camp. We're headed to Suwannee River SP Sunday.

  4. #4
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    The 11th of the month marks the beginning of our 8th year of full timing. We have been a lot places and seen a lot but we have barely touched the potential. We meet a lot of people that love to travel and see people stuff, museums, art, concerts, rallies, big city attractions, amusement parks, etc. We have done our fare share also. But more and more we seek out natural settings. State Parks, National Forests and other public lands.

    We had a miserable time at Pinnacles National Park in northern California. Cold snap, into the teens nightly. The climbing routes we sought out had long very steep hikes. Some of the trails to the routes had grown over badly from disuse. I have several scratches that will take time to heal. We didn't get to do several of our chosen routes due to unsafe (to us) conditions. After a brief shower, we were sitting on top of a pinnacle eating our lunch. I suddenly realized how very happy I was.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
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  5. #5
    Seasoned Camper
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    My wife and I have always like the state parks or national parks over private campgrounds, that's something we've always agreed on. We'll look for state parks to stay at that are fairly close to some of the cities we may want to visit like when we've been to Savannah we stayed at Skidaway Island state park. Close enough to go into Savannah but got us out where we could relax. Just don't make the mistake we did the first time we went and the GPS put us going right thru old town Savannah with a 25' TT in tow, just glad it wasn't the 5th wheel we have now. We still have our differences on where we'd like to stay. If a park is close enough that we can take a day trip to check it out, we will. Once we were camping at one campground and took a day trip over to check out another one that we'd heard was good. Glad we did, because it was not for us. We went out yesterday in the rain with our 5-year old grandson who's been camping with us since he was 6 months, to checked out Big Meadows campground in Shenandoah National Park, to see if the sites were big enough for our 5th wheel. It's a beautiful park to visit, with the Appalachian Trail right there and many other side trails off Skyline drive that lead to some water falls and beautiful overlooks. Drawbacks were there were only 3 reservable sites we felt comfortable with, the down hill winding grade to go back home and a 12' 8" tunnel. We ended up ruling that one out at least for our experience with the 5th wheel for now.

    As far as wine & wineries go, good wine always goes with good camping and a nice fire at the end of the day. You need to venture up to Virginia, there's Andy Guest Shenandoah River State park that has the river with outfitters close for canoeing or tubing and hiking trails. It also puts you within driving distance to some really good wineries. Glen Manor Vineyards is 15 minutes from the state park and has some really goods wines. You could actually drive out roughly 45 minutes from the park and work your way back hitting at least 4 wineries. Quite a few of the Va state parks are less than 10 years old and are set up for larger rigs, electric, water and a dump station.

    If you ever decide to travel up this way drop us a line, Elaine & I always enjoy wine tasting

    Tommy
    Tommy & Elaine Thornton
    Manassas, VA
    2015 Chevy 2500HD Z-71 6.0 crew cab short bed
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  6. #6
    Fireside Member svanarts's Avatar
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    If wineries are your thing be sure to check out Harvest Hosts! My brother stayed at a near by winery that had 10 RV spots. No water or sewer but they had electric.

    And wine. Lots of wine.
    Scott and Cristy (future Texans)
    Dreaming of:
    RAM 3500
    Reflection 320MKS

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  7. #7
    Big Traveler
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    We've been casual campers for the last 10 years or so. Up until last June we both worked our full time jobs and dragged our trusty Jayfeather around the Great Norhtwet. Now we're retired and have our little plush palace and we're loving it.
    We've come to prefer state parks over private. You can go from fairly primitive to fairly urban. One of our fun parks is Confluence State Park in Wenatchee, WA. You can hike or ride your bike into the city for coffee and a cruller, swim in the river, tour the dam, or just hang out in a well manicured park in the city. Nice for a day or two on the way to wherever. Gros Ventre in Wyoming, a bit more primitive, moose hanging out in camp and fish in the river. Beautiful.

    Dallas, your post couldn't say it any better. We're not rock climbers or avid hikers, but we never tire of the Oregon coast. We just arrived yesterday at one of my favs, Nehalem Bay State Park, first day of 12 on the coast. It's 44 deg, blowing and rain squalls. We're gearing up to get out there. I've never felt more relaxed and free.

  8. #8
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chiefblueman View Post
    I've never felt more relaxed and free.
    Welcome to the life.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  9. #9
    Setting Up Camp
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    We're not full-timers, but our style is a mix. We stay at KOA or other private 'grounds when we are setting up a tent for our Scottish clan at a Highland Games/Celtic Festival, and when we're on our way to a destination. We also love state and national parks.

  10. #10
    Fireside Member
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    Great question, as a real "newbie" I sure would like to know whats the best process in finding one RV camping style? I think I have some sort of "plan" and glad we decided to scale back a bit on first RV size, just wished we decided that before buying the towing vehicle. For us we are at least 8 or so years from retirement so our vacation times will be limited to the typical 3-4 weeks a year. What I think we will do to get some quick RV exposure is to park the RV locally in the fall, say after September and use it as a type of weekend getaway location. There are some really nice RV parks in our area (Baldwin County, AL) so I think we should be good to go for now, definitely open to any suggestions?
    Rig: 2018 Grand Design - Imagine 2500RL
    Tow Vehicle: 2018 F150 - Black on Black - SuperCrew XLT-FX4 - 3.5L EB w/3.31 LSD - MaxTow/Haul - 5Stare Tune - Luminar Ceramic Tint w/UV - UltraFlex TBed Cover
    Garage Queen: 2018 BMW ///M240i Convertible - Loaded - Dinan Stage 1 Tune - MPE

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