Jul
18
Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to establish some standards for what makes a really nice RV park. Here’s my list:
- Nice staff/owners – it makes a big difference to have decent people in the park office. The Moers in Gonzales set the bar really high in this department.
- Spacious sites – I guess the roomiest site we had on this trip was the one in Stone Mountain, and it also had a concrete patio and parking space. We haven’t had any too-small sites yet, though. Every place we’ve stayed we’d had room to set up a patio and to get out our slides.
- Shade – See above. In the summer, it’s critical, especially since Lex has to be in the RV during the hottest part of the day along with heat-producing computers.
- A price commensurate with the amenities – So far, I haven’t felt particularly ripped off by any of the parks where we stayed. Of all the parks, Stone Mountain probably charged the most while giving the least in return, but it wasn’t an RV park in the strictest sense. New Orleans was the priciest, but they had some real perks, too. I’ve gotten 50% discounts on the Gonzales and San Antonio parks, so I’m not complaining there, and even at full price, Lockhart State Park was a bargain. All these places blow away our site in Baltimore for value. There we get nothing but paid utilities and a piece of grass that floods easily. Only the closeness to my work and the fact that we can stay long-term and have our pets make it worthwhile.
- Good wifi – We haven’t yet connected to Braunig’s wifi, so I can’t yet judge its speed and reliability. I’ll have to get the password tomorrow. Williamsburg, New Orleans, and Hillshade had wifi, but of the three, only Hillshade had GOOD wifi. The other two were slow and spotty at best. Stone Mountain had no wifi, so we had to rely solely on 3G. Given that we both rely heavily on the Internet for both work and play, this is a biggie for us.
- Pet-friendliness – We’ve had dog parks in three of the parks where we’ve stayed. The dogs LOVE this feature, and I plan to take advantage of it more here than I did at the other two places.
- Laundromat – This should really be higher on my list. I have to do laundry at least once a week, and it really helps to have a washateria nearby. It also helps if it is reasonably priced. Every park except Lockhart State Park has had a laundry, but only Hillshade’s was air conditioned, in good working order, AND reasonably priced. I think some of these places like to gouge campers because they are the convenient choice.
- Location – I want to be close enough to groceries, gas, family, and friends that I don’t have to spend a lot of fuel running errands, but I also like being far enough from town to see the night sky and enjoy the quiet. Lockhart State Park was probably the ideal in this regard. We were very much in the country while only being a few moments from town and my relatives. Hillshade was the farthest away from “civilization,” but in some ways this wasn’t a bad thing. It was centrally located to three towns, though any one of them was a nice little drive.
I’m sure as we continue to travel, our list will change and grow.
