Trip Planning: Getting Started

(Note:  Be sure to also see Apps to use when Planning a Trip and Planning a trip with RV Trip Wizard)

When browsing Facebook groups or RV forums, you'll find that people often ask others how they plan trips in their RVs.  Whenever this question is asked, the answers will generally fall into one of these categories:

• Last minute or no reservations.  People call ahead to the next place they want to stay and see if they can get in, or they simply pull in (like a Walmart) hoping that they can stay.  They either use apps or (paper) maps to find campgrounds or rest stops.
• Reserve and fill-in.  People use apps or maps to find campgrounds along their route, and call ahead to make reservations at the important (or difficult to reserve) places.  They travel to those places and then use apps or maps to find places to stay in-between them.
• Reserve everything.  These people use apps or maps to find all places to camp for their entire trip and then reserve everything in advance.

All of these work, and they all have their pros and cons.

• The Last minute or no reservations method allows the ultimate freedom because nothing is planned too far in advance.  Of course, you're not guaranteed that you have a place to stay and it could leave you feeling a bit anxious if places you'd like to go are booked up and you need to look elsewhere.
• If you Reserve and fill-in, then you are guaranteed a place at your important stops, and still have lots of flexibility during your trip.  Of course, those last minute fill-ins are risky if nothing is available where you'd like to stop.  
• When you Reserve everything, you feel comfortable because the entire trip is already planned and you have few worries.  But it's not flexible.  If you have any minor delays or want to stay somewhere for an extra day or so, you may not be able to do so because of your stack of reservations.

At this point, we've only taken one long trip and lots of short ones.  However, all of my research in groups and forums leads me to believe that most people actually practice the Reserve and fill-in method.  For example, if you plan to go to Branson, Mt. Rushmore, and then Cheyenne, you would find that there are several 4-hour days of driving between each of them.  For the sake of this discussion, let's say that there are five days between each one.  In this case, you might reserve a 7-night stay in Branson, a 5-night stay in Mt. Rushmore, and then a 6-night stay in Cheyenne.  Those are your "main" stops and you know that they could be difficult to reserve if you did it all at the last minute.

Once you've reserved campgrounds at the three main stops, you can use apps & maps to find some possibilities for overnights (one or two-nighters) along the way - even as you're driving.  With five nights between each of your "main" campgrounds, you can stay in five different places, or drive a couple of longer days and stay in three different places. The great thing about this is that you have a lot of flexibility between your main stops.  You are better equipped to deal with mechanical problems or adjust the length-of-stay at any ad-hoc stop as you wish.  For this reason, it's a good idea to make sure that the number of days you allow between main stops assumes drive times of 3-4 hours per day - tops.

Some of most frequently asked RVing questions on Facebook are variations of "What do you use to plan your trips and to navigate?"  Check out these related posts for more info.

Related posts:  Apps to use when Planning a Trip and Planning a trip with RV Trip Wizard

Apps to use when planning a trip

There are hundreds of apps that you can get to help plan your RV trips.  There are so many that I can't possibly cover them here, so I'll talk about the "big" ones.  These are the ones that you'll see frequently mentioned in discussion forums (like IRV2.com) and in numerous Facebook groups.

Fuel Stops

1. Allstays Big Truck Stops.  Free app that only shows Flying J, Pilot, Loves, Petro and TA Travel Centers truck stops all over the USA.
2. Trucker Path.  Shows parking, truck stops, fuel stations, truck washes, hotels and rest areas. Nice thing about this app is that truckers report to the app how full parking is at truck stops/plazas.  You can see if the lots are full or not. 
3. Allstays Camp and RV. Lots of features, like filtering.  More than 30,000 US and Canadian camp sites with details (including places like Walmarts); truck and rest stops, dump stations, supplies, RV service & low bridges.  
4. RV Parks and Campgrounds.  Free app, no ads.  Very similar to Allstays Camp and RV.  Shows campgrounds, fuel stops, rest areas, and much more.  Everything is filterable.

There are also apps for individual stops, like myPilot, Love's Connect and TruckSmart.  These are good for rewards programs and detailed stop information, but don't present competitor's stops - so you don't see all of your possible choices when you use them.

Even though I have all of these, we mainly use Allstays Camp and RV.

Campgrounds

1. Allstays Camp and RV.  Huge database of campgrounds and places to stay.  More than 30,000 US and Canadian camp sites with details (including places like Walmarts); truck and rest stops, dump stations, supplies, RV service & low bridges.  Costs about $10.
2. RV Parky.  From the Play Store description, "Find over 25,000 listings of RV parks, camp grounds, rest areas, gas stations, and stores. Get information, view pictures, get directions to where you are headed to next."
3. RV Parks and Campgrounds.  Very similar to Allstays Camp and RV, but not as slick and has no ads.  Shows campgrounds, fuel stops, rest areas, and much more.  Everything is filterable.
4. RV Park Reviews.  There are several "review" sites on the Internet, but this is probably the best one.  Not only will you find reviews, but you'll get a checklist of campground amenities, links to their web sites, and other contact information.

Trip Routing

1. RV Trip Wizard.  Great subscription application (about $45 per year).  Let's you plan your trip in sections and computes expenses along the way.  As you select an area, you'll be able to choose campgrounds and easily add them (and all of their info!) to your itinerary.  This is our main planning tool.  For detailed info, go read my post titled Plan your trip with RV Trip Wizard.
2. Good Sam's Trip Planner.  This online trip-planning tool allows you to find campgrounds and plot your course, but doesn't have all of the bells & whistles included with the RV Trip Wizard.  However, it only cost you a Good Sam's membership and that comes with some other benefits.

Remember:  there are many more apps, but these are the ones that I saw mentioned over and over again in many Internet forums and groups.  We typically use Allstays in combination with RV Trip Wizard, RV Park Reviews, and CoPilot RV Navigation.

 Related Posts:  Trip Planning:  Getting Started and Planning a trip with RV Trip Wizard

Misty Mountain Camp Resort near Charlottesville, VA

Since my stepson began his new job at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, we have wanted to visit him.  Our trip to Nappanee, then Washington, DC and on to North Carolina provided a great opportunity to stop by.

Although there's a KOA close to Charlottesville, reviews we read weren't good.  The nearest place with the best reviews was 13 miles away in a small place named Crozet, VA.

Misty Mountain Camp Resort is just a couple of miles south of Interstate 64 and about a 20 minutes away (in various directions) from the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Skyline, Waynesboro, Charlottesville and Monticello, the well-known home of Thomas Jefferson.

When we first pulled into Misty Mountain, it looked like a small campground with not much going on.  But looks are deceiving.  It may have a small store and no fancy restaurant or tour busses, but it has a lot of things that make it a nice place to visit - although you may have a hard time doing so on the weekends.

Campground Layout

When you first pull in, you should pull up directly in front of the office/store to unhitch.  There are a few rows of pull-through sites to your left.  Our 43' rig fit would fit comfortably in almost all of them, but we had to park our toad sideways in front of the coach.  A 40'-er might be able to do it without disconnecting.  All of these sites have FHU, 50 amp service.

The road in front of the office continues past an open field on your left and a large recreation area on your right - with more sites on the other side of the rec area.  The road continues up into the woods, where there are quite a few other sites.  In my opinion, large rigs should stick to the sites nearest the office and forget climbing the somewhat steep hills to the sites "at the top".  The higher sites are definitely quieter, but space is tight maneuvering might be tricky.

Amenities

There's a game room that has quite a few arcade-style games.  It's in a separate building directly across from the office (on the left as you enter).

Next to the office/store is a large community room, with two TV's on the wall, two pay-to-play pool tables, a stage, DJ booth, bar, and sizeable kitchen.  I was told that they often have live music and karoke on the weekends.  Groups are encouraged to use (and reserve) the room.

Just past the community room is a large field.  It has a very large bounce pad for the kids, a place to play corn hole, a fire pit area with benches, and a whole lotta' room.  There's also an elevated, covered stage area.  When I asked about the stage, I was told that they occasionally host music events and festivals, and most recently had on in September 2016.

During October, they have quite a few Halloween events for the whole family, including trick or treating and hay rides up the hill to a pumpkin patch.

From the people we spoke with, staff and campers alike, Misty Mountain is packed on the weekends.  Between its own events and tourists (many come for weekend fall football games), weekend reservations can be difficult to make.

Sites

The sites were generally close together.  It was about 12 feet from our door to the coach next to us.  Some sites had larger areas.  All of the ones we saw had a fire ring and an improved surface (like concrete) for the picnic table.  The roads are about as narrow as you can get and still get a larger rig parked.

Nearby Conveniences

Turning right out of the campground, there's a "gourmet" grocery store that also serves sandwiches and some desserts.  It was a bit pricey; a serving of their very good macaroni and cheese was $5.  The food choices were a bit odd for me.  For example, the drinks were all bottled (or canned) and there wasn't much that I recognized.  There was canned diet and regular coke, water, and a large selection of other organic everything.  I wanted regular tea, but they only had various fruit flavors of green tea.

Further down the road after you go back under Interstate 64 is a large grocery store.  I'd guess it's about 4 miles or so from the campground.  They have everything you would ever need and are similar to a large Ingles or Publix.  There were other stores nearby, but not many.  There's also a post office.

Summary

If and when we return to the area, we'll likely stay at Misty Mountain again.  But we know that we'll take the time to ensure two things:  1) we get a site on the lower level and 2) we make reservations well in advance - especially if we plan to stay over a weekend.

Washington DC and Cherry Hill Park

We originally planned to visit the Washington DC area for two or three days.  Within an hour or so of getting settled into our site at Cherry Hill Park, we went back to the office and extended our time there so that we could stay for a full week.

My wife has a childhood friend who lives about five miles from Cherry Hill, and between her visits, campground time and some siteseeing, we thought the extra time would be worth it.  We weren't disappointed.

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post.  I thought that the ones I took were too typical, meaning they were just pictures of "typical" RV sites, a camp store, etc.  Nothing unusual or worth showing.  Visit Cherry Hill Park's web site if you want to see photos.

Cherry Hill Park Campground

I have read many Facebook and IRV2 posts asking where to stay when in Washington DC and, by far, most of the responders recommended Cherry Hill Park.  We entered CHP as our destination in the CoPilot app on my phone and tablet and it took us there without any issues.  The park is very close to I-495 (the beltway) and is easily accessible to big rigs.  It's important to note that it's best to arrive or depart on a weekday between commuting hours, on Saturday mid-day or on Sunday mornings.  Anything else means that you'll likely be mixing it up with billions of other cars.

When you arrive at the campground, you'll check in and be shown on a map the route to take to get to your camp site.  The check-in process takes longer than other parks because....well, they're just slow. When we checked in, and had to go to the office for other things during our stay, the front staff often incorrectly calculated numbers in their heads, asked us to repeat things, and seemed to be unfamiliar with how to best use their computers.  They get you in and out, and are polite in doing so.  It just seems to take quite a bit longer than it should.

It's probably a good idea to disconnect your toad in front of the office.  As an alternative, take the loop to the left that goes in front of the cafe and un-hitch in the parking lot.  Those seem to be the best spots since they are long and level.

CHP is not cheap.  Before your 10% Good Sam discount, premium back-in sites will cost $78 per night.  This rivals Fort Wilderness in Orlando, which speaks well for the old realtor's adage "location, location, location".  The campground offers many amenities, including on-site bus stops, plenty of help to understand and assist your siteseeing, pools, playgrounds, clean bathhouses, clean and modern laundry rooms, and a very nice diner.  There's also an 18-hole mini-golf course and an extremely well-stocked camp store.

The campground is very clean, and the maintenance staff responds quickly.  

Camp Sites

Sites at CHP are quite close together, but they are easy to get into and (as far as I know - be sure to check) all include 50 amp service, water, sewer and the best cable TV that we've encountered in our very short time doing this.  There are 60 digital (high definition) channels.  "Regular" sites have a picnic table and a fire ring.  Premium sites add a concrete or brick patio pad, a metal table with chairs, and a grill.

In almost every case, your toad will have to be parked sideways between your backed-in rig and the street - and it'll barely fit with your toad off the road. (There are a few pull-through sites, but the vast majority of sites at CHP are back-in).   Our 43' rig fit as long as we backed our tag axle to the end of the gravel site and hung the tail over the grass.  This still allowed room to park our toad in front of the coach.

Sites are pretty close together.  Our neighbors fire ring was probably three feet from our bathroom window (and had grass growing in it due to lack of use).   Most fire rings were quite a bit more accessible, though.

Nearby Shopping and Attractions

If you turn right on Cherry Hill Road as you exit the campground, it's about a four minute drive to a Home Depot, Best Buy and Shoppers supermarket.  Shoppers is really nice, rivaling some of the largest Ingles we've seen.  It includes a very nice salad bar, ready-to-eat food, deli, bakery, and a pharmacy.

Turning left out of the park and driving a few miles, you'll come to a nice shopping area with many restaurants, a Kohl's, a Target, and quite a few other retail outlets.

Our GPS said that it would take 31 minutes to drive from the campground to the Washington Monument.  I say that as a reference, because there's no way we'd drive into DC's traffic when the metro is available.  CHP has bus service at frequent intervals that can take you to the nearest metro station (College Park, about 4.2 miles away).  You can also drive to the Metro station, which will take 20+ minutes and will cost a little more than $5 to park for the day.

CHP sells metro cards for $2.  If you plan to go into DC, we'd recommend paying $10 for a card that will have $8 on it ($2 is for the card itself).  We went all the way to the Washington Zoo and returned in rush hour and each had 15 cents left on our cards at the end of the day.  It's really easy to add money to your cards at any Metro station.  If you're 65 or older, you can get a Senior Metro Card.  I believe it also costs $2, but all of your fees are discounted 50%.  Nice.

CHP offers a siteseeing information session every weekday at 4pm.  The nice lady who gives the talk is well-informed and gives quite a few great tips for getting around Washington.  She knows the metro system, bus lines, and quite a bit about the area's attractions.  She also has handouts that show local restaurants and shopping.

Will we go back?

Probably, but it's pricey.   I think that a lot of parks like this have amenities that we'll never use (the bath houses, playgrounds, multiple pools, and more), but we pay for them anyway.  CHP appears to be well-managed and, from everything I've heard, it's the closest "nice" park to the DC attractions.  But despite how nice it is, $490 for a one-week stay is steep.

Nappanee Part 2: Things to do and places to go

While waiting for our Newmar coach to be serviced, we were able to explore the area a little bit and experience some of the places we had been told about by other RVers.  In this post, I'm going to list places we went and tell you a bit about them.

Customer Service Lounge and Parts Store

When you've got nothing better to do, go sit in the Customer Service Lounge.  I described the lounge in Nappanee Part 1.  We enjoyed sitting there and talking to others who were waiting.  We also went next door to the parts department and were able to pick up a spare pair of windshield wipers, a water filter, extra LEDs, extra matching floor tiles, and a few other things.  Items in the Parts Store may be hard to find when you're on the road (like the spare wipers), so we decided to get them while we were there.

Newmar Kountry Klub

The Klub is very close - on Delaware Street next to the overflow parking area (and about 1.5 minutes from the service center and FHU parking area - everything is close!).  You can go in, say hi and pick up the latest issue of the Klub's magazine "Konnections".  They also sell apparel.  They're only open until noon, though.  Be sure to go in the morning.

Plant Tour

Between the FHU area and the overflow area on Cheyenne Street is the place where you can go to take the 10am or 1pm plant tours.  They ask that you arrive 15 minutes before the tour so that you can fill out a short form, don your safety vest, put on safety glasses and headphones, and clip a receiver to your belt.  You can also go into a room where you can see a cross-section of a typical Newmar RV wall, roof and floor and view all of the fabrics and color schemes for the latest model coaches.

The person who gives the tour then talks to you for about 10 minutes and makes sure that you can hear her through the headphones before you walk a short distance across the street and start the tour.  Tour groups range from 1 to about 20 people, with the more crowded tours being the ones in the morning.

While there, we took a 10am tour one morning and then the 1pm tour two days later.  In the morning tour, you see the workers actually putting the coaches together, whereas the afternoon tour often happens in the absence of workers because they're heading for the parking lots shortly after 1p.  Sometimes, if the afternoon group is small, the guide may let you walk around the coaches more.  At 10a, it's harder because you'll be in the way.

During the tour, they ask that you don't take photos or videos.  You are also asked to stay within a path on the floor that is outlined with yellow lines.  Stay close to the guide because you'll want to hear what she's saying and the transmitter starts to lose its signal if you're about 20 feet away.

All Newmar coaches are built in Building 7, which is between the FHU parking and the overflow parking right off of Cheyenne Street.  Inside the building, rigs are literally pushed from one station to another in a u-shape around the inside perimeter of the building.  Chassis are prepped in a building across the street and driven over to the plant.  It's strange seeing a guy sitting on a stool driving the chassis across the street.

The tour takes about an hour and ends with some free time outside the factory door where you can walk through some new coaches that are being cleaned up after quality inspection.  Whenever you're ready, you can walk back to the tour office and turn in your gear.

Reservations aren't required for the tours.  Although the afternoon tour may sometimes afford better opportunities to walk closer to some of the in-progress coaches, we preferred the morning tour because you can see much more of the actual construction because the workers are there.

Dutch Kitchen

The Dutch Kitchen is a restaurant that is about a quarter mile away from Cheyenne Street and only about a 2 or 3 minute drive from the FHU parking lot.  The food is good, and they have a breakfast and lunch buffet on Friday's and Saturday's.  It's the closest restaurant to the Newmar facilities.  It opens around 6am, 5am on Fridays and Saturdays.

In the same building as the Dutch Kitchen is the Dutch Village, a consignment market with three long isles of booths where you can find all kinds of trinkets, decorations, clothing, and things for the home.

Amish Acres

Amish Acres is a complex on the east side of the Newmar service center, right at the corner of Alcott and the main road through town, US 6.  You can drive from the FHU parking lot to Amish Acres in about two minutes.  They have a family-style restaurant that serves (you pick two) chicken, ham, roast beef and turkey.  They also bring out beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, bean and ham soup, rolls, cole slaw, and more.  The $18.95 per person price includes your drink and dessert.

As you enter/exit the restaurant, there's a gift shop with all kinds of baked goods made every morning.  They also sell pre-made (dry) soup fixin's so that you can take them back and cook them later.

Amish Acres also has a round barn theater; that is, a theater in a round barn.  It's quite the setting for a theater production and the plays we saw (two of them, including Fiddler on the Roof) were okay, even with a sound system that is in serious need of improvement.

Between the restaurant and the barn is another shop; I forget what they sell.

Ticket prices for the plays are about $29, but there are discount coupons at the Customer Service Office for some savings on the meals.  You can save about $10 when you buy two dinners.

Martin's Super Market

There is a small grocery store on US 6 that we first believed was the only store in town.  Later, we discovered Martin's Super Market across the street, which is very much like a large Ingles.  There's a deli, Starbucks, and everything you'd expect in a large grocery store.  When you leave the FHU parking lot and turn left going east towards downtown, you'll pass three stop lights before you turn left just before the McDonald's to get into the Martin's parking lot.  It takes about 8 minutes to drive there from the FHU parking lot.

Rentown

From the FHU lot, go south to US 6, turn right and go down a couple of miles or so.  Look for signs that tell you to turn left to Rentown.  Follow the signs.  You'll end up at a grocery store (with lots of baking goods and local produce), a furniture store, and a nice restaurant called The Dutchmaid Eatery.  My wife absolutely loved the food there.

El Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant

When you leave the FHU lot and turn left (east) on US 6, you'll go to the downtown area.  The center of downtown is the intersection of US 6 and US 19.  Just before you get to that intersection, look closely at the stores on your left and you'll find El Cielito's.

El Cielito's serves typical Mexican fare and, like most Mexican restaurants, has a large menu.  We went on a Thursday night about 6pm and the place was packed.  We had to wait about 15 minutes to get a seat.  The service was adequate (they get your order and bring your food), but they were so busy that there was no time for idle chit chat (like "Welcome!  How are you doing?").  The food was good and so were the prices.

RV Hall of Fame and Museum

The RV Hall of Fame and Museum is a must-see if you're interested in RV's and RV history.  Follow your GPS.  In general, you'll be going to Elkhart.  The museum is about 35 minutes or so from Newmar.

The museum has a lot of vintage RV's, many of which you can walk through.  There's a sizeable gift shop and a huge RV library on the second floor.

Plan to spend about two hours or so at the museum.  If you want somewhere to each on the way there or back, look for the Stacks Pancake restaurant along the way (left side going, right side coming back).

Rise and Roll

Rise and Roll is a donut shop and bakery.  The locals love it, and it's within two miles of the FHU lot. Go towards town and turn left on US 19.  Drive a couple of miles.  It's at the corner of County Road 50 and US 19.

They open at 7am, and may be out (so we heard) of some favorites by 1pm.  A fellow RVer we met at the service lot couldn't stop talking about their Bavarian donuts.  We enjoyed a cinnamon roll and a caramel donut.

Rocket Science Ice Cream at Coppes Commons

Coppes Commons is a large building that was formerly used to build Hossier cabinets.  It's a large brick structure on US 6 just past US 19 on the right (if coming from Customer Service).







Inside, you'll find a grocery store where you can buy bulk cooking items (like rice, etc.) and tons of containers of things like chocolate covered almonds.  The store includes a counter where you can order BBQ (with a seating/eating area).

There are several other shops within the complex, including an antiques store, card shop, and a second-floor museum displaying all kinds of vintage Hoosier cabinets.

Outside Coppes Commons is one of five quilt gardens in the area.  You'll have to go to nearby cities to see the other ones.

One of our favorite stores in the Commons is Rocket Science Ice Cream.  Cream is poured into a bowl, flavorings and other things you request are added (like oreos, almonds, etc.), and then they mix it using nitrogen to freeze it as they stir.  The result is some really good, smooth ice cream.

Other restaurants and places to eat

We didn't go to any of these places, but there's an Italian restaurant about four minutes away (towards town), and Nappanee also has a Dairy Queen, Burger King, McDonald's and a few pizza joints.  All of these are on the main road (US 6).  Just turn left (east) when leaving the FHU lot and drive until you see them.  They are all within 8 minutes of the parking lot.

Movie Theater

Yep.  Nappanee has one.  We didn't go there, but it's just north of downtown's main intersection (US 6 and US 19).  It only has one showing each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Nappanee Part 1: Service and Parking at Newmar

Our trip to Nappanee to have some work done on the coach will be described in two parts.  This writing will describe their parking lot areas, their facilities, and the service we received.   Another post immediately following this one will relate all of our local experiences, including a description of Nappanee, restaurants and outings, and our tour of the Newmar factory.  In other words, Part 1 talks about what we went there to do and Part 2 talks about what we did while waiting for the service to be completed.

Arriving in Nappanee

I'm not going to tell you how to get to Nappanee or the Newmar Facility - you have a GPS.  When you get into Nappanee, you'll likely be on Highway 6.  This is the main drag through town.  When you see a big farm-looking building (Amish Acres), there's a road beside it called Arnott Street.  If you're coming from the Elkhart area, you may even be arriving in Nappanee on Arnott Street, because it's also known as County Road 3.

Turning off of Hwy 6 onto Arnott Street, you go until you are at the corner of Arnott and Cheyenne Streets.  Newmar's Service Center is at this corner, and so is their full hookup (FHU) parking.  There are three rows of parking:  one row is RVs parked next to each other, some "pull-thru" and others back-in.  The other two rows are "back-to-back".  When you pull into one of these, be sure to leave room for someone to back in behind you.

If there's no room in the FHU lot, you just keep driving down Cheyenne Street until the next road, which is Delaware Street.  The corner of these two streets is where you'll find additional electric/water-only parking.  All of these are back-in.

Service Center Camping Parking

FHU parking next to the Customer Service Lounge

The FHU lot beside the service center has 24 sites.  These sites are clustered next to their Customer Lounge, which is open during the day and closed at night.  However, you can get the door code from them so that you can go in after hours.  The only problem with this is that they don't send you the code with your service material and no one is there on the weekend to give it to you.  So if you arrive after 3pm on Friday, you're out of luck for after-hours access to the Lounge until Monday.

The same is true for wifi.  It exists, but you won't get the passphrase unless you arrive during working hours.

Like you'll find in campgrounds, the people in the lot are a friendly bunch and are willing to talk about anything - especially the reasons that brought them to the service center.  As far as I'm concerned, this is good because you can get a lot of good info about what to expect.

There is an open-top dumpster located behind the customer lounge.

All FHU sites offer 50 amp service and are reasonably level

The two parking areas (FHU and electric/water-only) are very close together.  Tours begin right across from the electric-only lot, and the Parts Department is next to the Customer Service lounge.

The First Day of Service

We had heard all kinds of things about what to expect the first morning.  The papers that Newmar sends you before your appointment include a paper to put in your windshield so they can identify your coach and a little bit of information about the lounge, parts department, and the local area.  Somewhere in the information, they tell you that a technician will probably be at your site at 6:15am.  Everyone talks about getting up at 5am to be ready for them.

We woke up at 5am and had our coach completely prepared (jacks up, slides in, aired up) shortly after 6am.  Our assigned tech showed up around 6:20.  He explained that they were running a bit late because they had just returned from a trip to Pueblo (Newmar International Rally) and had to put some equipment away before going out to the coaches.  To me, that meant that they normally show up at 6am.

Our tech's name was Scott, and he took the time to go over everything that was going to be done to our coach, answer our questions, and tell us who to call if we needed anything.  Then he told us which building the coach would be in.  When we were finished, he made a brief inspection of the coach before pulling it out and driving it about a quarter mile down the road to Building 11.

During our meeting with Scott, he told us that he expected to have our rig back in its parking spot around 2:15p.  We went out to breakfast and then went to the Customer Service Lounge located beside our RV parking.

Customer Service Lounge.  FHU RV parking adjacent to the building.

The Customer Service Lounge is nice.  There are small desks with plugs to use for your laptops, free wifi and coffee, restrooms, plenty of seating, a soda machine (outside) and a couple of tables with puzzles and games.  If you ask the person working at the counter, which doubles as the parts counter when you enter from a door in the next room, he'll give you a piece of paper with the combination to the door so that you can get into the Lounge after-hours.  The same paper also shows the wifi password.




We made sure to return to our RV parking space by 2:15p, and the techs were already there parking the rig.  They explained what they had done and answered our questions.  We were told that they would be back at 6am the next day, so we should be up and ready.  They parked, put out the slides, dropped the jacks, plugged in the electric and went home.

The main reason we were at Factory Service was to have our upholstery replaced under warranty due to an issue where the piping was fraying.  On the first day, they replaced the two recliners and the couch, but said that the driver and passenger chairs were being sent out and would not be back for 5-7 business days.   Once we got the coach back after the next day's service, it would be sit-and-wait until the chairs were ready.

The Second Day of Service

On the second day, they had fixed a few more things (all minor) but had to order a few parts.  It was Tuesday, and they had brought the RV back to our parking spot (site) about 1130a.  Since we weren't there to talk to them at 1130, I called the number they gave us to call if we had questions about our service.  When the supervisor hadn't called back by 2pm, I called him back and was able to speak with him.  He said that they had to order a few parts and that we wouldn't need to have another 6am pickup until Friday.  Thus, Wednesday and Thursday were "days off" for us.

Final Day of Service

On Friday morning, our tech (Scott) showed up shortly after 6am and went through everything with us.  He told us that our chairs were in and that they were going to go ahead and install my cell booster antenna on the roof.  I hadn't expected them to do it because they were so busy, but the Newmar folks are quite accommodating and they do everything they can to help you out.  It looked like we would have everything wrapped up by the afternoon and would be able to head out on Saturday morning.

Shortly after 2pm, Scott brought our coach back to our parking space.  They had completed everything, including the two captain's chairs.  In addition, they had installed the cell booster antenna on the roof and fixed a small issue with our awning that they found.  They also found a problem with the roof radio and CB antennas and fixed those.

Newmar service is everything you've heard - and more.  They accommodated our last minute requests, completed all warranty items, finished our 12-month checklist and took care of several "retail items" like the new lights in our pantry.

Be sure to read Nappanee Part 2:  Things to do and places to go

Our longest trip yet: Orlando to Nappanee, IN

I've mentioned earlier about our upcoming trip to Nappanee, IN to have our coach's upholstery replaced under warranty.  We've been looking forward to the trip because it will be our furthest and longest excursion yet.  So far it's been great.

I was finally able to retire about four weeks ago and I'm loving it.  Taking this trip and not having to worry about working is immensely satisfying.  Unfortunately, the DW is going to have to use a combination of telecommuting and vacation to cover the month or so we'll be gone.

Starting out, our only "hard date" was October 3rd, the day that we have to be at the factory service center in Nappanee.  Still somewhat new to driving/camping/driving/camping, we were concerned about where we would stay each night after 3-6 hours of driving.  We'd like to be more spur-of-the-moment, but the engineer in us came out and we decided to make reservations beforehand.  Accordingly, we decided to stay in Perry GA, Huntsville AL, Nashville TN, and Owensville IN along the way.

I've come to learn that our typical driving speed will be 60-65 miles per hour, closer to 65.  If a GPS app (or Google Maps) calls for a 4.5 hour trip, I assume another 1.5 hours because of speed and possible stops at rest areas or  to get gas.  That formula worked well for us as we told the Perry campground (three days ahead of time) to expect us about 6pm.  I looked at the time as we pulled up in front of the camp office and it was 6pm on the dot.

Crossroads Travel Park, Perry, GA

Our first stop was for one night at Crossroads Travel Park in Perry GA.  The reason we chose this park was because 1) it was right off Interstate 75, 2) had pull-through sites and 3) would give us a Passport America price of $25 for a one-night full-hookup (FHU) site.

When we arrived at Crossroads, the pull-through site they offered was about 10 feet too short, but it was in a group of sites that was between the office and the highway - easy in and easy out.  They offered us another site "inside" of the park, but we declined.  It was not a problem for them that we parked our truck beside the RV.

We walked out of our coach to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant right in front of the park and ordered some BBQ that we took back to the coach.  It was good, but the best thing about it was that it was close.

The night was quiet and we pulled out the next morning about 8am.

Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville, AL

Our next stop was at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, AL.  We were concerned about getting there via a lot of twisting roads, but reviews we read gave sound advice about the best way into the park.  My DW did a superb job of navigation and just read out the turns.  I'm getting so used to driving the rig and toad that it was no problem at all.

When we arrived, most of the park was empty.  They upgraded us to a pull-through site.  All of the sites were nice, most were reasonably level (although some were grossly unlevel!).  Our site, like all others, was surrounded by beautiful trees and had a picnic table and a fire pit.  All of the sites are gravel.

We took a walk around the campground our last night there and were very surprised to see that most of the sites we saw would accommodate a large rig (longer than 40 feet).  Several sites were "dual" sites (picture the letter "V"), where two RV's can share the site.  Many of them, like ours, had full hookups, although all of the ones we saw had at least Water and Electric.

Our first night at Monte Sano, some nearby relatives visited.  My wife made a great dinner in the coach.  We ate, then went outside and sat around a beautiful campfire for about three hours and talked.  The next day, we drove a couple of miles and took a tour of the Burrett Mansion and learned a lot about its history, the history of the area, and more.  On the grounds there are several log homes build in the 1800's and reconstructed on the property.  There are great views of the city from the mansion and we enjoyed walking the grounds.  Visit their web site to learn more about it:  http://www.burrittonthemountain.com/.

KOA Nashville

We left Monte Sano State Park and drove about three hours to our next destination, the KOA in Nashville, TN.   This KOA, like many others, is expensive - about $65 per night including a 10% discount.  It's very nice, with asphalt sites, FHU's, cable TV, a nice store and pool area, and more.  It's also in a great location:  about three miles from the Grand Ole Opry and close to many of Nashville's attractions.

We realized that we'd have to spend at least a week in Nashville to see everything we might want to see, but we only had a day and a half.  The first night, we left the campground and drove about a mile to a restaurant called Sante Fe Cattle Company.  It reminded me of some steakhouses we have seen before with all of the free peanuts and their menu of seafood and steak.  The food was good and it was fun to eat somewhere new.

The next morning was absolutely beautiful, with the sun out and the temperature around 60 degrees.  We went over to the small diner in the KOA store complex and paid $5 each for some pancakes and bacon, then met some nice neighbors and chatted for awhile.  That's one of the things I like the best about RVing - meeting so many really nice folks and hearing their stories about their lives and places they have visited.

Late in the morning, we drove 12 miles into downtown Nashville and parked at the Farmer's Market.  There, we hopped on a trolley that drove to all of the major attractions and learned a lot about the area and its history. You can get off at any stop (there are about 15 of them) and get back on when the next trolley pulls up about 20 minutes later.

Since we were getting hungry, we got off downtown at Broadway and 2nd and walked a couple of blocks to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.  It's famous for many of the biggest stars in country music coming in to eat after performing at the Ryman Auditorium, which is where the Grand Ole Opry performed for about 30 years before moving to their present location.  The auditorium is directly behind the lounge, and performers used to get off the stage and come in the back door.

We saw a lot of Nashville on the tour and were glad we took the time to do it.  When it was over, we headed back to the campground, talked to more neighbors (some came into our rig and visited for awhile), and then left about 7:30p for Gaylord's Opryland Hotel.  The hotel and the Opry itself are about 5 minutes from where we were staying at the KOA.  The hotel was amazing, with several atriums containing thousands of plants, trees, and even large waterfalls.  One of them had a canal - and you could even take boat rides.  It was odd that most of their restaurants were closed at 8pm. We settled for some pizza and spot overlooking fountains that "danced" with music.

After eating, we walked for about 10-15 minutes to the Grand Ole Opry, where we saw a really good show and enjoyed listening to some of the best up-and-comers in country music.  Highlights for us were comedian Henry Cho, singers Maddie & Tae, and a group of folks led by John McEuen called "John McEuen & Friends".  To top off the evening, Little Big Town sang.  I think that country music continues to be my favorite.

Owensville, IN

On Wednesday morning, we took our time getting up and out.  Our destination was a small town in Indiana called Owensville, with a population of 1000.  My DW's Aunt lives there and they have a yard that's more than big enough for our rig with the toad attached.  We pulled in and showed the coach to them and a few of their neighbors that dropped by, then settled in for a great dinner in their home.

One of the things I love to do is drive or walk around small towns.  Wayne, my DW's Uncle, drove me around the town and showed me the entire town in about 10 minutes.  We went into the small cafe where he and other men in the town gather six days a week at 6am for coffee, and we drove out to a watermelon farm where he just walked into a shed and took a watermelon because the farmer is a good friend of his and "always leaves some out for his friends".   Wayne grew up in Owensville, so it was fun to see the location of his old school - now an empty lot.  But behind that lot is the gymnasium built in 1950 where he played basketball in high school.  At one time, the gym was connected by a tunnel to the basement of the school.  Apparently, it's one of about five gyms like it in the country, because you walk in from "street" level and the gym is down at a basement level - meaning that the top of the bleachers is at street level.  I love old places like this, and the local township has not only put lots of the town's sports memorabilia on the walls (jerseys, photos, etc.), but still allow various sports organizations to play games there.

My wife's Aunt Dawn was a spectacular hostess.  She prepared homemade meals and we ate while sitting in her living room, which is decorated with country do-dads that really make you feel like you're in a Hallmark Movie.  I love Hallmark movies.

The final night in Owensville, they drove us to a nearby town where there is a restaurant that was built as a log structure in 1825.  Abraham Lincoln once ate there, and the place used to be a stagecoach stop and inn.  Dinner was served family-style and we had a great time with Dawn, Wayne, and Wayne's sister and her husband.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes and drove about six hours to Nappanee, Indiana.  It rained the whole time, but we got there and secured a spot in their service center parking lot.  Three nights to explore Nappanee before our service begins on Monday.

So far, this trip has been amazing.  RVing is fun, and we're just getting our feet wet.

Attending Camp Freightliner

A while back, in a blog entry called Camp Freightliner, I told you how we found out about it and also provided a lot of background information about what it was.  We said that we were going to go this year, and it finally happened.

Even though both of us planned to go, my DW had to return home early, so I went alone.  Finding the facility at 103 Campus Road in Gaffney, SC was easy.  Just put yourself on I-85, get off at exit 92 (highway 11) and go north about a mile.

The Facility

When I first drove up, the size of the service facility (which also houses the classroom for Camp Freightliner) surprised me:  it's much smaller than you'd expect.  In the photo above, which is on a table in their service lobby, you can see that the larger building is the service facility.  It houses the office/parts area, a lounge/lobby, a break room, 6 large service bays and the classroom for Camp Freightliner.  Along the top of the photo are places you can park your rig if you have a service appointment.  There are also a few spaces in the middle of the photo on the right side.  All of the spaces are large enough to put out your slides and they provide 50amp electrical service.

When you look at the overhead shot above, you'll see something in the middle of the driveway near the turn going in.  That's the dump station.  The station also has potable water.

The door usually opens about 7:30 each morning.  If you have service, there's a window immediately to the right as you walk in.  Pat is usually there to work out all of the details for your service.

Camp Freightliner

Just past the lobby is the classroom.  This is where you spend two days learning all about your Freightliner chassis.  It's a great course with lots of material, good tips, and helpful stuff you'll use every year.  Some of the highlights:

• A good instructor!  Mike Cody knows his stuff, and he knows it well.  You're guaranteed to get an answer to any question you ask; if he doesn't know, he'll find out.
• You get a nice full-color notebook of all the course slides.  The slides have tons of useful information and many, many photos to help you find your way.
• Box lunches are provided both days of the course, with water, soda, coffee, lemonade and sweet and unsweet tea.
• After class on the first night, you come back about 5:30 for dinner!  The night I was there, they had food from a local BBQ joint:  very good!  As we ate and socialized, we were also able to ask questions of their Service Director and their head of Sales and Marketing.  Good food, good information.  
• During class, you'll be notified if anything comes up about your service (if you're also having your coach serviced).  As a matter of fact, your service technician pokes his head in the door and asks to see you.  If you request it, they'll even take you for a walk under your rig while it's jacked up in the shop!
• At the end of the course, you get some great parting gifts!  An "I Survived Camp Freightliner" t-shirt or a ball cap, AND a CD that Mike puts together that has more than 650MB of useful files, manuals, tutorials, videos, and more.  All of it is specifically geared for your type of chassis.  Very, very nice.  It even includes a simulator where you can play with all of the settings for your dash display without ever getting in the coach.

Topics in Camp Freightliner

There was a lot discussed in this two-day course and at every turn information was provided about your specific coach.  For example, if I asked a question about my engine, Mike would look down at his paper and immediately say something like "Well, Mike, you have a 450HP with the Allison 3000 transmission, so you only have to ..."   And he provided this sort of customized answers to all 19 of the people taking the course. 

Topics were wide ranging, and included the following:

• Engine specifics (types, features, etc.)
• Inspecting and changing things like the fuel filter and fuel/water separator
• How to go online to their portal that will show you ALL of the parts in your chassis, how they interact and how they are installed.
• Tires, inflation, and how to use your coach weights to get it right
• All about DEF and the system that uses it
• Types of fuel; what to avoid and what additives you may want to use.
• Steering systems
• Tag axles
• Using the transmission; climbing hills
• Using exhaust/compression brakes; going down the hills
• What service you need at what intervals (at the end of the course, he spent the time to provide everyone with customized service-required sheets so you'd know, without a doubt, what you need to have done and when you need to do it.
• Much, much more

Is it worth it?

This course costs $175 for one person, $225 for two people in the same coach.  Given that you can take it while getting service, use a 50A site while there, are provided three meals, and walk away with a lot of additional knowledge, a thick notebook of data and a packed CD, this course is a steal.  Everyone who rides on a Freightliner chassis should take it.

The instructor also has a tray there where you can take not only his business card, but the service manager's, sales manager's, and the service director's.  Each card has the person's phone number and e-mail address.  They encourage you to call or e-mail if you have issues or questions.

Do they answer if you call or write?  You bet they do.   I had a question soon after I left and I e-mailed the service manager (Shaun).  Within an hour or two, he replied.  A day later, I had some concerns about some tire pressures, so I wrote another e-mail to the service manager and the instructor.  A few hours later, Shaun called me and we talked for about 10 minutes.  

Putting it all together, it's an impressive organization.  I'm glad I've got a Freightliner chassis.  I can go online and get a tremendous amount of information unique to my rig.  I can call them and get answers, and I can rest assured that their 24/7 toll-free phone line is always there to take my call.

If you haven't been to Camp Freightliner, do yourself a favor.  Go.

KOA in Cherokee, NC

After leaving Pigeon Forge, TN, we headed to Cherokee, NC to spend a few days at the KOA.  KOA's are more expensive than I'd prefer, but they offer a lot of amenities.  Unfortunately, we like amenities that we don't use - we just like to see everyone else use them.  Case in point:  it's fun to have playgrounds and mini-golf, mainly because they attract a lot of kids and families and we like to people-watch.   I suppose that we're going to have to abandon that line of thinking in the long run because we aren't going to be able to afford to pay so much money for things we don't take advantage of.

Getting to the Campground

Before you can enjoy this KOA, you have to get there.  And following your big rig's GPS may not be the best way to do it.  Here's the best route (from the Pigeon Forge area):  40E to 74W.  74W to 441N.  441N through downtown Cherokee. Once you get to the light (right turn only) at Acquoni Road, keep going until the next right that goes through the woods to your right (this is called BIA Highway 441).  You'll cross a bridge and then turn left on Big Cove Road.  The KOA is about 5 minutes down Big Cove Road on the right.  When leaving Cherokee, follow the same route in reverse.  The only thing to be careful of are the small trees downtown that have some "light" branches extending over the curb on your way out; heights are fine.

The important thing to note, based on our research, is that you SHOULD NOT take Highway 19 into Cherokee.  Follow the above directions and you'll do just fine.

Overview of the Cherokee KOA

Like a lot of KOA's, this one is loaded with features that RVers like.  We took the time while we were in town to drive through Jellystone and some other nearby campgrounds and the KOA beats them all.  More room, better sites, easier access, and lots to do.

KOA Cherokee has two pools; one of them is indoors.  The outdoor pool has a poolside grill that serves cheeseburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, salads, fries, and more.  There is a large campground store, with a gift shop up front where you can find souvenirs.  As you drive in, check-in and the store are to your right, with little huts on your left where you can purchase firewood and ice.  There are small play areas, a place to run your pets, a large bounce pad for the kids, and a very small 9-hole mini-golf area.

Pulling in can be tight.  They ask you to pull over into some RV spaces to your right.  If you pull up all the way, you'll have virtually no room in front of the spaces to turn left towards the campground when you've completed check-in.  It'll be easier if there's no one to your left.

The staff was nice, with the friendliest people being the folks who go to your site and handle any problems. When we were there, our breaker needed to be replaced and they were very prompt to fix it.  The office staff is too busy, and they really didn't seem to want to spend much time making small talk.  They just handled the transactions.  The poolside grill was very understaffed, with only two teenagers manning the cash register and the grill.  An order for a simple hamburger, no cheese, took more than twenty minutes - and there were only two people with small orders ahead of me and no one behind me.  And when I got it, it had cheese on it.  Oh well.

Above the pool on the second floor of a storage structure is an arcade, and lots of people took the KOA van to go tubing.  Another option is to take some paths behind the indoor pool and you can put in to some pretty nice tubing that's close by.

Sites

KOA Cherokee's sites range from ones for tents all the way up to the largest rigs.  Most of the sites in the center of the park are pull-thru's, while ones on the edges are back-ins.  There are quite a few small "tiny house" cabins that are available for rent.  Many of these also have creekside patios, as do some of the larger RV sites.

50A, full-hookup is available at most sites, as is cable TV with almost 50 channels.

This is a busy campground with lots of children.  Many of their parents coughed up the $7 per hour it cost to rent those recumbent bike-type 3-wheelers that sit low to the ground.  You really have to be careful moving your RV and toad around on the roads.

Our site was one of the back-ins along the creek.  It was also one of the really shaded ones.  All of them have sizeable "yards" with lots of grass.

Sites are medium difficulty as far as pulling in/out.  Just watch out for people and kids, which are plentiful.

Tips / Comments / Pros & Cons

• Reserve in advance.  This is a busy park.
• Follow the above directions for getting there
• Drive slow in the park
• Cons: It seems longer than it actually is to get into town; non-maintenance workers are slow and weren't too friendly overall; wifi is unusable because there are so many people on it
• Pros:  There's lots to do, especially for kids.  Nice store.  Nice cable.  Basically everything you need. Maintenance staff is great.

Up the Creek: A nice campground in Pigeon Forge, TN

Three times in the past, when our children were younger, we travelled to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area and rented cabins.  The area is undeniably "touristy" and often crowded, but people are attracted by all of the things to do there.  Lots of shows, rides, amusements, and shops dot the multi-lane Parkway all the way from Interstate 40 on the north, through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  If you can name the restaurant, you will probably see it on the Parkway.  And there are more pancake houses than Carter has liver pills.

The areas surrounding that major thoroughfare have huge mountains with charming valleys where you can see farms, rural shops, roadside stands, and beautiful homes as you deftly negotiate curvy roads and hills.  

There are a lot of RV parks in the area; so many that it's quite a chore to pour through all of their web sites as you try to decide where to stay.  I wanted to be reasonably close to the Parkway, but have a place that was quiet so we could sit outside and read a book.  After a lot of consideration, I decided that we would stay at a place called Up the Creek.  We called and asked for one of their Deluxe Creekside sites, which were going for $44 per night and included "Full Hookup with patio dining table and chairs, concrete patio and stone fire pit" on one of the two creeks bordering the campground.  Our reservation was confirmed, but not with a specific site number.

We arrived at Up the Creek early on a Saturday afternoon in mid-July.  The drive lane in front of the office is double-wide, so it's the best place to un-hitch.  Check-in was quick and there were no problems.

Sites

We drove back to the site and easily pulled in because it was front-in parking.  Our windshield looked right out to the creek.  Nice!  There was also room to park our pickup truck right beside the coach, although many sites looked like they had to park behind or in front of their rig.

The site was gravel, with a stone/concrete (like pebbles in concrete - I'm sure there's a name for it) patio deck that was in front of the coach; it wrapped around the door side of the motorhome for another 15 feet.  I noticed that we were one of the few, and maybe the only site, that had this sort of l-shaped concrete patio.  Many others just had the patio on the door side.

Connections were easy, just like other parks.  Their cable TV offers about 16 channels.  Channels other than the major networks included Discovery, FoxNews, USA, History, Weather, ESPN, ESPN2, Travel, and Nick.   After we got comfortable in our site, the cable TV went out.  It turns out that there's a breaker switch in the pedestal for the cable TV booster.  It had tripped and just needed to be reset.

My rig is about 13'6" high, and a tree to our left was slightly scraping the roof.  I saw two men riding in a golf cart and asked if they worked for the campground.  They said they did, and the younger gentleman climbed up on a ladder and cut the branches.  As he was doing so, I thanked him for doing it and said that it was nice that he could cut the trees a little bit without consulting the manager.  He told me that he was the owner, and it was no problem.  Didn't expect that.

The creek wasn't flowing very much while we were there, but it was still nice sitting outside to talk and read.  You would think that mosquitoes would be a problem near a creek, but we didn't see any at all.  As a matter of fact, there were very few bugs as long as we kept our chairs on the concrete patio.  When walking through the grass, gnats come up and quickly become bothersome.  The solution is just to walk a few feet to the concrete.

Campground Overview

Up the Creek was recently expanded to 59 sites, and the owner told me that he was in the process of adding two more. From the campground, it's about a 15-minute drive to the Parkway via Highway 321.  If you take some winding back roads, it'll take you about 22 minutes, but you'll come out towards the northern end of the Parkway near the shows and the Apple Barn - and have no traffic at all.

The campground has trolley service to the Parkway that runs from 8am to 10pm and with pick-ups/drop-offs once every hour.

Pets are allowed, and they have a small fenced-in area that looks like a place to let 'em go and play.

Without a doubt, the best thing about Up the Creek is its relative isolation and quietness.  Many of the other campgrounds we saw as we drove to Up the Creek were crowded and the rigs were really crammed together.  Up the Creek offers a place to step out of your coach and enjoy nature without the sounds of cars and lots of people.

On the downside, there are no typical amenities at Up the Creek.  No playgrounds, pools, bath houses, public restrooms or laundries.  For this reason, I thought it was a little overpriced...but not by much.

In summary, if you are traveling without children, I'd recommend staying at Up the Creek.  But if you have the kids or grandkids, they better have water shoes and be happy walking in the creek and throwing rocks.  Otherwise, you'll be at Up the Creek without a paddle.  (Yea, couldn't resist it)