Off to Luray Va.

We are loading up the camper for a long weekend in Luray. We are camping Jellystone campground in Luray Va. with our friends Jeff and Megan and thier two children. This will be our first time camping at this campground so we are excited for new scenery.

Jellystone Luray has a full list of activity’s for the kids/adults all weekend long so there should be plenty to do. Let’s pray for clear weather!!
We have only had the camper out once since Disney, we camped two weeks ago in Va. Beach Trav-L-Park, one of our favorite campgrounds, very large and activities for kids/adults. We hauled our golf cart with us, first time doing that, it was worth it, fun to drive it around. Not many campgrounds allow carts these day’s.

As we woke Monday morning to pack up we decided to drive the dogs to the dog park, when driving past the cafe’ we realize it burned to the ground Sunday night! 4am caught fire, we are shocked and sad for them. That is how large the grounds are, we did not hear a thing.
After this weekend we have nothing planned, we will camp local the rest of the year and support our community. Till next time keep the campfires burning!!
The Calland Family.

Fort Wilderness and Disney 2009!!

Well, we made the biggest trip with the RV yet, DISNEY!! The weather was hit and miss on the drive down to Florida. We camped in a Wal-Mart parking lot Saturday night, big mistake, very loud and felt creepy, not much light or security at this one, won’t do that again. We arrived at Fort Wilderness campground around 2pm Sunday. To say the least we were disappointed:( There were very little instruction on what when and where to go or how to get around the parks. The campground had way to many restrictions, took the fun out of camping. Can you believe they do not allow campfires at ANY site!! Not even a fire ring so you can’t break the rules.
We got all set up on our site which had lizards and armadillos running around everywhere which drove the dogs crazy! Not sure about my spelling, sorry. Sunday night the rain set in and never let up till Friday morning, long enough for us to break down camp and get out of there. The drive home was very stressful, high winds and pouring rains, I was white nuckling the steering wheel the entire day Friday. We called a KOA in South Carolina, Points South KOA. This little campground was so awesome! Cozy and nice, we left them with great feedback and let them know how much we enjoyed them, and wish we lived closer so we could visit them more often.
Our son is only 7 years old and had a blast the entire time, so that was a blessing, the weather did not bother him at all. Our next trip we hope, will be Trav-l-Park Va. Beach for Father’s day weekend. We are thinking about reserving a month during September out at Running Cedar, they have a relaxing atmosphere that we enjoy.
I think we have decided our next RV purchase will be a motorhome class C. Well, that is all for now, see ya’ll at the campground. The Calland Family!!

Running Cedar Camping.

Well we finally camped at Running Cedar Campground! The weather was Perfect for camping. My 7 year old son and I arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp, we just hung out taking our time getting things together. It was quiet with only a couple campers on the grounds. Not long after we arrived a couple more campers pulled in next to us and across from us, these were VERY nice people, we enjoyed meeting and visiting with them, I think my son was ready to go home with them and leave us, he played with the little girl they had with them. There were several children there this past weekend, so it worked out great for our son.
Running Cedar had a few fun activities for the kids/Adults. Easter Egg hunt, relay races, Wagon rides (my favorite) and Bingo that night..
Don’t let the size of this campground fool you, as the saying goes, good things come in small packages. Running Cedar is Awesome! The owners have several great ideas for the future of this campground, we are excited to be a part of watching it grow from here. The campground is a family atmosphere that most campgrounds do not have.
The site we stayed in #4 was perfectly level, all I did was back in and the camper was level side to side, not often that happens. As we were there we checked out other sites for future use, many sites are desirable, hard choice, maybe we need to try them all!! LOL… I know I am rambling on and on, All I can say is we are so glad we camped with the Reynolds at Running Cedar. If you have not been there it is your loss.
Until next time, keep the campfires burning and the Marshmallows golden, “The Calland Family”

1st weekend camping 09′..Let the fun begin!

Well, It is raining and suppose to rain all weekend, we DON”T care bring it on! We carry our good time with us.
We are camping Jellystone Natural Bridge with our good friends, the Duncan’s with thier two children. We are participating in the clean up for a free night of camping. We arrive at our campsite around 3:30 pm. our friends are already set up. It is raining a bit but not enough to put out our campfire! We managed to have a campfire all weekend! Saturday morning we met the other campers who volunteered for clean up weekend and the grounds staff. BOY! What work it was, I doubt I will do that again, I will just pay for both nights and relax. It worked out to be a pay check of $5.00 an hour! Not worth it in my opinion for a nights stay. The staff was very thankful to all of us for the help. The rain held off all day Saturday, with a few drizzles Saturday night, not enough to bother us. Sunday was warm and clear, made it nice for break down of our campsites and driving home. I don’t know about you, but I like to set up and tear down in pretty weather.
We are sooo excited, we are finally going to Running Cedar RV Resort the weekend of April 18th!! Tim Reynolds has worked very hard on this campground. We hope to be regulars there in the future. I really enjoy the good ole’ come on out and pay when you get here trust. No hassle just takes my word and off we go!! Looking foreward to it. My son (7) and I are going up Friday night to camp as MEN!! My wife works 3rd shift so she will come up Saturday mid morning. I am looking foreward to spending time with my son in the campground doind guy stuff. He is excited too. Well, till we blog again, keep the campfires burning! The Calland Family..

Jellystone N.B. 1st weekend of the 09' season

Cleaning RV and packing for the season!!

This weekend had beutiful weather for washing and stocking the camper. I had to wash a couple times to get the grit off! New tag decal, and towing to Forest RV for a new inspection sticker and she will be all set, we alway’s get excited to go camping. We have been sitting in the camper playing games and pretending to be out camping LOL… We head for Natural Bridge this weekend to kick off the 09′ season, lets hope the weather is good. Our friends the Duncan family will be camping beside us as well, they camp with us regularly, we have a blast!! 4 adults 3 kids, 3 dogs!! And several beverages… Enjoy! Until next post, keep the camp fires burning…

2009 season soon to begin!!

Well finally I logged back on my blog successfully.

It is March, the weather is starting to tease us with somsome Spring temps. We are scheduled to camp Natural Bridge Yogi bear campground the weekend of March 27th. We hope to take advantage of Running Cedar $10.00 a night March special before then.

The Calland family had a wonderful 08′ season, we managed to camp over twelve trips! spent just over 30 day’s in our Coachman travel trailer, Awesome!!

Last year we made several reservations way early, we are not doing that this year. We are not sure on what when or where at this point we want to camp. We are camping Smith Mountain Lake park again, we enjoy it there. Also we talked about trying a couple more state parks this season, parks are cheap and clean! We are Camping Natural Bridge with some friends, we both have kids that will be celebrating Birthday’s that weekend, should be a blast! Let’s hop the weather holds and starts to warm up. Till we actually camp, talk to ya later, The Calland Family.

Labor Day Camping

We returned from Cozy Acres Campground in Powhatan Va. tired. We had a great time, stayed up too late each night so we were all tired coming home. We got off to a later start then anticipated which is typical for us, always one more thing to pack on the camper before leaving.

The trip started about 6pm for us. We were camping with a couple and thier two kids, luckily we camped side by side in very nice pull thru sites. The sites had patio brick, very level, trees for shade, and spacious. We arrived to the campground in about 2 hrs. Could have been shorter but the first turn was easy to miss according to friends that have been there. They were right! Our friends arrived 20 minutes in front of us, so we set up together in the dark. I prefer arriving in daylight.

The campground sits on 200 acres! Three fishing ponds that are stocked very well, we caught fish in all 3. One pond holds farm raised catfish, this pond reguires a $3.00 fee, but you can keep 2 fish. My 6 year old son was the first to catch one of these catfish, what an exciting experience for him. We threw several back so we could keep hooking them, they were bighting very well. After choosing 3 larger fish to keep we cleaned them and grilled them for dinner Sunday evening.

Saturday was full of fun things to do. We enjoyed the pool and the playground all weekend long. The weather was perfect! Thank God for that. Sunday night they had a dance party with a DJ, this was nice, he played a well rounded mix for both kids and adults. This campground offers something unique. They have instead of hay rides a Fire Engine ride! An old retired truck with lights and sirens that work, belive me, they proved that the sirens work LOL…

Cozy Acres do offer hay rides but it is designed as a tour of their working farm. It was not offred this weekend but sounds very interesting. All in all we had a great Labor Day camping trip. We are now down for about 6 weeks untill October when we go to Va. Beach for a week, we will camp Trave-l-Park for the halloween festivities. They do and Awesome job with Halloween. The same friends are coming with us on this trip as well. We all have two trips scheduled for October, then I hate to say it, but November we winterize:(

Thanks for reading. Untill next post keep the camper going and the dust off!! “The Calland Family” Cozy Acres is Highly reccommended from us!!

Camping again!!

Well we finally got back out in the camper, I tell you there is nothing like the campground atmosphere, awesome! We made it to Jellystone Natural Bridge the weekend of Aug. 15th we camped with 24 others from work and their friends and children. We were a late reservation so not much to pick from. We picked a back in site #55. These sites are a bit tight with trees. Our neighbors behind us were very close to us. Luckily we had good people there or the camping could have been terrible! Next time we will ask for a pull thru, these have more space and privacy.

We all went on the river float from the campground, 4hrs long. Not sure I want to do that again, seemed to take a very long time and the water comes to a complete stand still near the end. My wife was bitten by a Snake! It was not venomous, her ankle looks terrible but on the mend. How cool is it to say she has been bitten by a snake? She can’t appreciate that like I can.

This Labor day weekend we are headed to Cozy Acres Campground, this is our first time there. Our friends are camping there with us in their 5th wheel. Our kids play well together. It sure makes a difference when kids are there and they entertain eachother. Cozy Acres offers some good times and we plan on taking advantage of them, Our son looks forward to the Fire engine ride they have. We will stay clear of any reptiles this time.

We have been window shopping 5th wheel campers. Not a good idea unless you are ready to buy. We alway’s see something we want. Forest RV has a couple really nice ones priced reasonably. We would like to camp one more season in our Travel Trailer before trading up.

Well, keep the campfires burning, the season is not over yet! We will post again soon. “The Calland Family”

Miss Camping!!

Well it seems forever since the “Calland Family” has been camping. Our last trip was July 4th. With working weekends for my wife and I and $$ we have been grounded. Last weekend we tried to find an open space within 2 hrs drive, No luck, everyone was booked up. It appears gas is dropping a bit so we hope traveling will be an option again soon.

We are scheduled for a weekend at Jellystone Natural Bridge the weekend Aug. 15th. Looks like that will be our next outing. We would camp ever weekend if we could afford it. Maybe we should buy a campground LOL… Any how we hope you all are enjoying camping and having fun. “The Calland Family”.

July 4th camping

We had a blast camping July 4th!! My friends from work reserved 6 pull thru sites at Paradise Lake Family Campground over the holiday weekend. This campground has come a long way and continues to improve. A new pool, new basket ball court, clean sites, etc… We all cooked dinners together and the children all played together great.

We fly out to Chicago for a few day’s to visit family, then it is back home and planning our next camping trip. I think we are going to Luray Jellystone for 80’s weekend July 25th weekend. We would like to get there while the slide and other water activities are open. There are many campgrounds we want to visit but the gas prices are keeping us close, Luray is not a huge trip but with these current prices will cost us more then we like. Until next time, keep the camper active!! “The Calland Family”