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” 

Bristol TN KOA

We pulled out heading to Bristol TN around 10:30 am Friday june 30th. The sky was dark in the south with rain clouds, we continued hoping it would clear up. As we got about 1 1/2 hr into the drive we hit a HUGE storm! This was the first time pulling the RV when I really was scared. The wind blew us around like a toy, the rain came down so hard it was a curtain in front of us with no visibility. I was slowed to 30 mph with hazards on. This was a scary situation on I-81. Debris was coming off the trees and pounding us like bricks.

The storm blew past but the sky never cleared up. We finally made it to the campground at 2:30 pm. The staff was very nice and went out of their way to help us enjoy our stay. As soon as I started stabalizing the camper the sky opened up again! We got soaked, dogs, me, Magen, and our son. Nobody dodged the rain! Anyway, after setting up camp and drying out the sky was clear. My son enjoyed the jumping pillow for hours on end the entire weekend. I must say, when I got on it I was shocked at the effort it takes, what a workout!

I suprised my wife with the entire trip, she only knew we were going to TN. I reserved a horse ride for her. She went on an hr. trail ride right from the campground, AWESOME!! We were so busy with activities all weekend long. Movies, crafts, pillow power, horses, water activities, wet and wild hay ride. Many things happening.

The trip was 216 miles door to door. A tank of gas there and a tank home. About $170 in gas. What a pain in the pocket. I think we are going to stay close the rest of 08′. I hope everyone reading this is out enjoying the camping adventure that waits. Take care, we will blog soon, The Calland Family. 

June 2008

Well the past few weeks have been very busy working. My wife and I both work at the hospital and sickness does not take time off. Now it is time to get back in the RV.

We are off to Tennessee Friday June 27th. We are staying at the KOA in Bristol for a long weekend, returning on Monday 30th of June. I have been saving just for the fuel! Then we are off to paradise Lake for the 4th of July celebration with 6 friends from work, we have space reserved for all our campers to be next to each other.

We hope you all are having a good camping season so far, other then the fuel cost we are doing fine. We will give a report on Tennessee when we return, The Calland family.

May 22nd Memorial weekend

With the current gas prices we have been forced to cancel some camping trips already.

With so many fine campgrounds closer than 1 hour drive we will still get in a good year of camping we hope. We have only 2 trips that are already paid for that we will make, and they are both 3+ hours drive, one being 214 miles and the other being around 160 miles. Other then that we are planning on camping at Running C edar some this year. We are so excited to have another close to home campground, especially with these fuel prices.

Our friends are going to purchase a fifth wheel in the next week, we hope to get them to come camp with us at Running Cedar, they are advid tent campers and have been debating buying a camper for several years, once they came camping with us in the beginning of May they have been determine to find a fifth wheel camper, we think they located one, now we wait till the deal is done.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and happy camping. The calland Family!!;)

Pet Lovers camping trip.

Our trip to Va. Beach was Fantastic!! We left on Friday April 25th and returned on Sunday April 27th. A short trip but worth it. We scheduled this camping trip 6 months in advance, this was the pet lovers weekend at Va. Beach Trav-L-Park campground. We traveled with our 2 year old German Short Hair Pointer and our 8 month Boxer pup. The dogs tolerate camping and traveling very well. As we were down there we entered a couple contest with the dogs. Both the boxer and our pointer won best overall female dogs at the event. We picked up some cool prizes.

We got to the campground Friday around 2pm and got set up on our supersite and enjoying a cool beverage in about an hour after getting there. Friday evening was just a kick back and relax kinda time for us, after driving and setting up that was perfect.

Saturday Morning I woke about 4:45 am. I got the dogs out and was surprised by humid temps. The dogs and I went to the dog park about 100 ft. from our site so they could run and wake up. No matter how hard I tried it is difficult to be quiet getting two dogs out of a crate in a camper this early in the am. I let the dogs run and play until they were exausted! Then back to the camper and tied outside with me while I enjoyed morning coffee!

7:00 am I rolled out on my bicycle to catch the morning ride with the local shop. It was a good way to start the day, I rode for a couple hrs and came back to the camper just in time for eggs, sausage, and toast. Oh ya, more coffee! The rest of the day Saturday was spent enjoying the dog activities, dogs everywhere!

Saturday evening and night our 6 yr old enjoyed a game of tag and hide and go seek with neighboring kids. A couple margaritas and chips and salsa and dinner mom and dad were ready to hit the sack! SUnday morning we woke around 7 am and started getting camp broke down. We took our time getting this done since there was no hurry. Off to IHOP for breakfast before getting on the road. Although we had a 1:00 check out we were on the road by 11:00 am. so we can get back and settled in before too late.

Next weekend May 3rd we go to Douthat State Park to camp a couple nights while I compete in a mountain bike event. Then May 16th we try out Running Cedar RV Resort, Maybe we can all meet there and camp. We are looking foreward to trying Running Cedar. Untill next time keep the camp fires burning and the Marshmallows warming!! The Calland Family.

SML Camping trip done!

 our First trip in the new RV went off without any problems. Granted we only drove to Smith Mountain Lake. We wanted to stay close for the first time with the new unit. We arrived a couple hrs early but they let us set up anyway. There were a few others that got there early as well. All the water electric sites were booked for the weekend, so we had neighbors, which is great. It was great to get out and start a fire and experience the smells and sounds of camping again. We last camped in October 2007 in our late pop-up camper.

We cooked burgers on the grill Friday night. Saturday we woke to eggs and cereal and toast. And COFFEE!! Saturday night or Sunday Morn. it started raining on us, no problem, just a suprise when we were not expecting that. We broke down camp around noon, stopped at the dump station on the way out and headed back to L-Burg.

All in all it was Fantastic for the first outing! We look foreward to April 27th weekend in Va. Beach. we are staying at the Travel Park for pet lovers weekend. Oh ya, our 2 dogs tolerated the trip very well. If the picture works it is our new RV set up at SML state park.

Now we get ready for our road trip to Va. Beach. We are going to Travel Park for pet lovers weekend. We are excited to get on the road for a few hours to see how the camper handles. Everything has been great so far, getting the camper stocked and making sure everything is hooked up and working correctly. Greg at Forest RV has been great to help me. I will post new pics from our beach trip once it takes place on April 26th 2008  Until then, “Keep the camp fires burning and the marshmellow’s warming!” The Calland Family.

Ready for camping 08′

Well we are proud owners of a new 28ft. Coachman Spirit Of America Series travel trailer. We bought this new from Forest RV in forest va. We have camped years in tents then moved to a pop up that we only used for one summer and realized we wanted more, so December 22, 2007 we purchased our first Travel Trailer!! We will post pics soon. We have been driveway campers for three months! so we should have it down by now LOL… Being experienced campers we were suprised how much more is involved to stock and get a larger unit ready for the road. Of course that is half the fun, filling it with supplies and checking them twice.

We have our first trip planned for this weekend at Smith Mountain Lake State Park for 2 nights. Not a far trip, just a shake down run before we hit the open road for 2008. We got a little excited and booked several trips already. We are going to Va. Beach 2 times, Tennessee, Charlettesville Va., Douthat State Park, Jellystone Luray, Jellystone Natural Bridge, Paradise Lake for the 4th of July. And a couple more undecided. We will keep updates posted on our trips.