Up North Music and Art Festival - August 8-10, 2008

This was a quaint camping festival with 3-4,000 people in attendance with a bit of good music. It was nice that it was not over-crowded.

RV sites included electrical and water hookups. Tent campers were set up beside the dump station unknowingly.

Vagabond dred-heads with Siberian huskies, strollers, sundresses, barefoot with bangles, glittery, tired tie-dyed, tattooed, harmless hula-hoopin hobos noodled by our campsite with a list of offerings. One rainy day did not deter the experience as we had great TV & cell phone reception and cooked a big pot of gumbo & corn maque choux for our friends in the cozy sticks of the Ossippee Valley.

Camping World, Pumpkin Center, Hammond, LA

This was our 4th year parking our travel trailer out at the New Orleans Voodoo Music Experience. We work for the fest, so it's very convenient to have our own office space here with all the comforts of home - so we don't have to go home often at all. Once this was over, it was time to put the trailer away till our next trip.

Yesterday Tom and I took our travel trailer up to Pumpkin Center, Hammond, LA - Camping World/Dixie RV. It's in the sticks on the side of I-12. This is the closest mega RV store-service combo to NOLA. We are "President's Club" members, so we get discounts as well. Tom dropped me off in front of the mega store to begin inquiring about the annual 'diagnostic & tune-up' packages.

Since it's like the Wal-Mart of RV stores plus a service center, there's a row of 3 cashier aisles and one long service counter with many packages described at length on the wall above the counter.

I smiled at the older grumpy-looking man behind the counter who silently cradled a phone on his neck. He glanced at me but said nothing. Sure he's just busy ordering a part or something. There are about 2 other customers in the store. A minute later, a nice woman approached me from behind the counter. Told her what I was looking for. She filled out a form, wrote in $229 and explained in detail that this is the fee for my trailer to be examined -- then I would be told what type of work may need to be done, if any. Told her I'd discuss it with my partner, but we also just returned from a camping trip and I asked if there is a dump station on site and if so, what is the fee. Said she just began working here and would have to check with someone else. She looks over at the tight-lipped old man still quietly holding on to the phone. He looks down at my blue-gray Obama '08 T shirt, skips looking at my face, looks back at the woman and standing only 5' away from me he said "Tell her she might have to check across the street at Punkin' Center Berryland Campers, see if they have a dump station. She might have to check campgrounds around here, I don't know if we have one she can use."

Smiling the whole time, trying to convince myself not to ask "HOW can you work at Camping World and NOT know if you have a dump station for RVs?" I am also wondering 'what in the world is taking Tom so long to get in here?'

I look at them like they are a little nuts, walk out of the store & find Tom in the middle of the parking lot at their dump station, emptying and cleaning our tanks.

Didn't realize that Tom had googled the place before we left and already knew there was a dump station.

Later when we were checking out of Camping World with our $80+ of winterizing products, the man was speaking to a customer next to me saying "Never know who you're going to offend these days. I asked my boss if he was Catholic just the other day..."

It is a shame when level of service is affected by a simple shirt, though perhaps he just had something against gingers.

Thomaston & Rockport, Maine

July 26, 2008

Our final destination at least for a couple of weeks is Thomaston, ME. Since we are staying with family, we needed a place to empty our tanks prior to parking. 

Stopped at Saltwater Farm Campground and was told that the dump fee is $35, same as the lodging fee. "Does that include two stops, since we are neighbors?"- "No, that would be $70." Figured we could check out the neighborhood campground and pass on a good recommendation but that was not the case.

Traveled up Route 1 to Rockport, ME to the lovely oceanside Megunticook Campground by the Sea where the caretaker was absolutely friendly and charged only $10 for us to utilize her station.

Forest Lake Campground, Winchester, NH

July 21, 2008

Most people here are long-term campers or their park-model is the family summer destination. Clean campground - found it in Woodall's Directory. The lady in the office was not exactly friendly "Can I help you with something?" (no smile). Perhaps we needed to call ahead in order to get a friendly greeting.
Cable is an extra $3, yet ALL you get is the couple of local channels, QVC, CNBC and a Spanish channel! That's it. We weren’t given campsites from which to choose, we were told we’d park at one particular pull through beside a yipping Pomeranian puppy on a tie-out. Doubt we will stay at Forest Lake again, but it could be a perfect stopover for some campers.

Frances Slocum State Park, Wyoming, PA

July 20, 2008

Most of the state and national state parks we've found are not very close to the interstate so it helps when decent signage is provided from the interstate. Our first attempt this day was to find Locust Lake State Park which is said to be 2 miles south of Mahanoy City, PA. Since there were no signs directing us to this park, we stopped at a gas station where they told us to turn left at the cemetery and right at the golf course but we found nothing. Like some comedian recently explained - "I can't afford to get this lost!" After 15 frustrating miles off our track, we back-tracked and decided to try Frances Slocum State Park.

This state park provides excellent signage from I-81. It offers several trails, well-paved roads and a small lake. Campsites were various sizes, wooded and either electric or not, but no water available at sites. The camp office is not within convenient walking distance from the campsites but it's a nice bike ride. A bunch of wild rabbits crossed our path.

Stony Fork State Park, Jefferson National Forest, Wytheville, VA

July 19, 2008

The Stony Fork volunteer caretaker greeted us at the gate in his golf cart. Told us to find a site and it was fine if we paid for the site the following day. $22/night for water and electric. Paved roads to gravel sites.

The campground was chockfull of Warren Jeffs runaways. Gaggles of young girls with hair down past their waists, secured neatly by 1 barrette. Long dresses and sensational smiles that could easily connote obliviousness towards modern luxuries like HBO and WIFI.

The park also had a nice spattering of wildlife. Wedged between the double metal $2 fee signs beside the dump station we discovered 2 squealing tiny baby bats, big as my thumb.

Nanabe Creek Campground, Meridian, MS

July 18, 2008

The guy who greeted us was very jovial. His 'baby-daughter' has a Bounder RV parked out here with baby kittens. It’s quiet and woodsy. Under 5 miles from Interstate 59, the campground is just far enough away to enjoy the first night without the sound of traffic.
$23 flat with tax and Good Sam discount.
Cable and WIFI included, though the signal is not very strong - laptops won’t connect from inside the trailer.
Gravel roads, level and paved sites with tidy areas and a pool.
“It is what it is,” said the weary driver. It is only 220 miles from NOLA, but we got a late start due to a comedy of errors.

Escape the Heat, Version 4.0 - 2008

In preparation to depart New Orleans for Maine, we discovered that our 3+ year old RV's refrigerator was not working. It showed an "N" fault code which we looked up and found a website that described the repair, but at the time it would not show the photo of the electrical innards of the fridge.
Next morning, brought the trailer to our only local RV service location: Bent's Rendezvous RV on Airline Highway in Kenner, LA.

Showed up bright and early at 7:55 a.m. hoping to get someone to help us with a quick fix. The gentleman who was there asked if I had an appointment. I was thinking – ‘Sorry, I didn’t plan on my refrigerator not working the day of our departure.’ I said “No,” and asked if someone could take a look at it and I was informed that the service manager would have to make that decision and he would be arriving at any moment. At 8:20, the service manager had not arrived. As the other service technicians rolled in, they informed me that they would not have time because I did not have an appointment. No one seemed to be in any hurry to get to work but they certainly didn’t have time for me.

Next we decided to call a service station on our route. Contacted Paw Paw’s Camper City in Picayune, MS. I described the problem and the solution. The guy said “Yea, we got a guy who does that. Come on by.” They fixed our fridge promptly, showed us how to take care of the problem in the future – all within an hour of our arrival, for a reasonable fee. The technician was informative and entertaining.

P.S. Don't leave your refrigerator on while it is covered for storage...

Langerado Music Festival, Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, Florida

Thursday, 5 p.m., ten miles from the site and traffic was at a crawl. Arrive early!! 2-lane highway, only way in.

We intended to experience the fest as V.I.P. patrons. The first night was disappointing, so ultimately we camped with friends in the staff area.
Langerado does not offer water or electric hookups for RVs. Pets are NOT allowed & for good reason. Alligators were plentiful. The Everglades is a great camping destination in early March. During the 4 day trip, we had lows in the 40's, highs up to 80's --warm humid rain, then windy & clear skies.

Excellent natural drainage- wonderful how everything dried up right after a hard rain.
The Fest provided a plethora of entertainment - from R.E.M to Ani Difranco, Keller Williams, The Root & The Meters. Free morning yoga, biodiesel workshop and Guitar Hero station. Cozy lounge for VIPs with white leather sofas, free sunscreen/red bull, tall palm plants for oasis atmosphere and free massage.

Clean Vibes crew did a good job of keeping the Everglades event site impeccably clean.

Sunset King Lake Resort, De Funiak Springs, FL

A guy from Michigan walked up to us and said he needed to pinch us to make sure we were real. Says he never sees youngsters at RV parks. He and his wife began camping more than 40 years ago and started in a tent. Got a popup. Advanced to a travel trailer and back to a popup... Got to love those evening strolls. It's when we get to take in the sights and check out our dream rigs. "Check out the slide out on that one," he drooled.
Nice level site, clean bath houses, cable & sewer at every site. 5 acre lake. Very quiet in March. Looks like they play bingo or bridge at night.
Not too far from I-10. Good for overnight campers who are en route & don't want to sleep beside the noisy interstate.