We bought into our first membership campground back in 1981. It is a campground on Lake Livingston (about 75 miles northeast of H-town). When we bought this membership, we had the option to become members of an organization called Coast to Coast (CC). CC has campgrounds across the country. If you are a member of CC, you have the opportunity to make reservations and stay in one of those campgrounds for $10 a night. When we first joined, the cost was $5 a night. Also, they have now given each campground the right to charge extra for certain amenities. So, of course they do. It's usually something like an extra $3 for 50 amp, or an extra $5 resort fee, or an extra $2 for cable and/or wifi. You get the idea. The campground we bought the membership in was close enough to our home to go to for a weekend. It also was on the water and our family loved the water. After we purchased the membership, we pay a maintenance fee each month and we get to camp there 90 days a year for free. If we use all 90 days, the cost would be $8 per night to camp there. It is a lot like a state park with campsites that are spread out and a lot of trees. It has gotten very difficult to stay in a state park or a popular park unless you plan way in advance and get your reservations early. Our park, you can decide on Thursday that you want to go there on Friday, you call and let them know and you go.
So, when we planned this trip, we decided that we would try to stay at as many CC parks as possible. When Mr. W started researching, there seems to be more CC parks on the east side of the US than on the west and we got a lot of recommendations on parks from others who had already stayed at one of them.
Park #1 - Pride RV Resort - Maggie Valley
This was a nice RV park. It sits down in a valley right off the road. It has a pool, laundry room, play area, rentals, a river that runs along the far side of the park. There are fire rings down by the river. It has a pavilion and clubhouse. When we checked in, there were not very many RVs there. However, they put us on the row right by the road and down on an end away from everyone else. They charged an extra $10 per night for their "resort fee". So we paid $20 per night. We met some people who came in on Passport America. They paid $22 per night and could stay there 2 weeks under Passport America. CC Classic membership entitles you to stay up to 1 week at a park; CC Deluxe membership entitles you to stay up to 2 weeks at a park. Passport America length of stay totally depends on the park. Some allow you to stay there 1 night, some 2 nights, some 1 week, some 2 weeks. Passport America membership allows you to stay at participating parks for 1/2 of their normal fee. I'm not sure if they put us where they did because we were CC and not paying full price or if it was just a coincidence. They had cable and wifi and the wifi worked pretty good. The pads were not paved. It was in a good location for everything we did or wanted to do. We would probably stay there again.
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| Pond with the cabin rentals around it. You could fish in the pond. Catch and Release. |
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| Outdoor pavillion |
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| Fire ring down by the river |
Did I tell you about the witches' convention? Well, Mr. W wanted to make reservations at another CC park in Virginia but could only make reservations for 2 nights because they had a "special event" going on and the park was full. He clicks on the special event and it says they are hosting the Blueridge Beltane Festival. I'm thinking, "Oh fun, a festival!" Mr. W does a little research and discovers that this is a witches' convention. We decide that maybe we should stay somewhere else, even for the 2 nights. So, we find the Meadows of Dan Campground. It is close to the interstate and close to the Blueridge Parkway in Virginia. They have a 2 night vacancy, so we are all set.
First off, I had no cell service and no wifi. I don't mean sketchy service, come and go service. I mean NO service. After the first night, I told Mr. W that I considered this boondocking. I don't care if I do have water, electricity, and sewer, no cell service, no wifi = boondocking. :) Second, we were the only ones in the place. That is kind of spooky. There were pull through sites with no trees and pretty close together for trailers our size. There was a section that reminded me again of a state park that had trees on each site and the sites were not close together. This place was not really close to anything. We had to drive 60 miles to get to a large grocery store, a reasonably price gas station, and cell service. We also had to pay $35 a night! We won't be staying there again.
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| Cabins that they rent. |
WOW! This place is amazing. This is a CC park and they charge an extra $10 per night ($5 for 50 amp and $5 for an outdoor kitchen) so we are paying $20 per night. This is a BlueGreen property. So, it really is a resort. There are condos, cabins, yurts, wilderness camping, and RV areas. There is a General Store that also serves breakfast and lunch. They have free laundry. There are 3 pools and a splash pad for kids. There is horseback riding. We have an outdoor kitchen on our site. Some of the other sites have their own private hot tub. All the sites are paved. There are planned activities, especially for kids. There is cable and wifi and cell service. The wifi is pretty sketchy, but it comes and goes. I wish were staying here a little longer. We definitely will stay here again.
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| Our campsite |
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| Empty campsite |
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| Site with hot tub |
At this same RV rally, one of the activities was a version of the "Newlywed Game". One of the questions to the husbands was:
Would your wife describe herself as
a. the 50 amp Princess
b. the state park Sweetheart
c. the boondocking Babe
I don't need 50 amps, 30 amps will do in a pinch! :)
Since you have recommendations for people to read, I suggest labeling posts by state, so other RVers can easily find info among your blogs about where to stay when they go certain places. I'm sure your blog is SO handy and helpful for others!!
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