Got an email today that WV state parks are now opened. It's so hot in the DC area right now, that a break in WV mountains would be really refreshing.
I've been doing some checking and all the parks and campgrounds we like stay at are all open and accepting reservations. In turn that make us very happy campers as we are leaving the end of July for about three weeks and are so looking forward to it after a long time in hibernation. We have missed out on three trips so far this year due to COVID19 and a setback with my "sigoth's" knee replacement surgery. A defective replacement joint the first time around led to her having to go thru the entire procedure and recovery period all over again and that of course led to us being a couple of very unhappy campers. But as of today things are looking up and all is good........INDEED!!! Everyone have a great summer ahead and be safe and above all stay healthy............. BankShot.................(aka Terry)
I'm probably not going to be able to go anywhere for a while. I'm the only person acting as caregiver for this disabled woman 6 days a week, 6 to 8 hours a day. I thought I'd be able to get someone to cover a few days, but it's not looking possible.
Sounds like the disabled woman is very fortunate to have you as a caregiver. I do hope you get in some camping this summer. Mike
The online reservation system for campgrounds isn't working, it gives an error message that there are too many requests. It was fine before they re-opened to out of state visitors, and is still fine for lodges and cabins, but Ive been seeing that message for campgrounds for the past 5 days.
Finally, it's working. I got a reservation for July 20, just 2 nights. One of the issues I have is that because I know the place, I know when the only site numbers available are ones that I don't like. I won't take a site I have specific reasons for not liking. Site 11 is what I reserved. It's exposed, but is large, lots of flat ground behind a backed in car so I can try out the SUV tent I just bought (it has a tunnel that connects to an open hatch, can easily be disconnected to drive away, is good if you are basically camping out of the car but want a place to stand up and move around when not just outside).
I was at Cabela's earlier this year. While walking through the tent section noticed they had some very clever tent additions that fit onto small trucks & cars, they seem to solve a lot of problems if your on a tight budget! Mike
Tents are really getting specialized, and getting much more expensive. Roof tents, which are a really big thing in Australia and are basically to give protection from wildlife, have caught on a good bit in the USA but the cheapest, tiniest one is more than $1,000, and the good ones as much as $4,000. Most SUV tents are at least $200, and I held out until I found one that sells for $89 on Walmart app (same one is about $100 on eBay). I've seen what are just bed tents that go on the inside of cars, which takes away the need for curtains when car camping, but the amount of space isn't worth using one, and there isn't enough space inside of them to do anything. Of course SUV tents are problematic if the way the car is set up causes the open hatch to create a power drain.
I am going to jump in at the end of this conversation for a couple reasons. At the end of last year we decided to go seasonal at Old Stage in NH. We ended up getting a new camper and even being from Mass we were able to bring it up May 2 and have camped every weekend. The pool just opened and visitors are now allowed. We would have missed a lot if we did not go seasonal. The second reason was to touch base with mdcamping. Mike, this is Gary, hope all is well. With That’s Camping being gone I just wanted to let you know I was alive and kicking. Just remembered you spent time here so I tracked you down. Do you have Facebook or anything? As for tents, my daughter was looking and she wanted a 3 room tent plus a screen room. I looked online and it was 16x12 and she would be doing the setup herself as her son is 5. I had to talk her out of it to avoid the calls for help, lol. Anyway, they can do just about anything with tents now. I did see a car top one last weekend.
Hi Gary, I’m glad to hear from you. I was wondering how to keep in touch with you. I haven’t done Facebook lately, mostly camping forums and texting family. I will send you a PM here with my cell & Email. As of now I don’t think we will be heading up your way this year but maybe next summer we can do a stop over and do a visit again at Old Stage. Gary with the covid you picked a good year to get a new camper and go seasonal and glad to hear you are getting plenty of use out of it! Hope you come back to this forum, maybe it’s not like That’s Camping but it is easy going so your more than welcome hang here. To add on earlier about those tent extensions, my son ryan and I looked at one of those that would fit on his ford ranger at Cabela's , I think it was around $400 give or take… looked real nice but I talked him out of it as his truck is getting too old and I would rather have him save the money for now. Mike
