Category: Uncategorized
Woodall’s Guide to Good Sam Ratings
February 13, 2013 by Canadianladybug · Leave a Comment
With spring time just around the corner and numerous campsites re-opening for a new seasons in 2013, RVers in the northern part of the US and Canada are probably feeling that it’s about time after the cold months leave our area. I know that my own kids keep talking about when we go back to the trailer. My five year old daughter wants to bring her new Maplelea doll and the clothes she has in order to have her experience camping. I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Still we have a couple of more months to wait and the snow needs to disappear from the ground before we can venture to our RV which is parked in Cobden, ON. When you are looking at campsites to visit during your trips, how do you search for them? How do you compare them? In the past, we usually went through the Woodall’s Campground Directory to find a campground that would fit our needs. But back in December, we received a new directory titled Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory. ... [Read more...]
Hit the Trail
January 28, 2013 by Canadianladybug · Leave a Comment
Hit the Trail From Education Outdoors About the game Can you be the first hiker to hike 100 miles in the new dice / card game “Hit the Trail”? “Hit the Trail” comes packaged in a mini backpack which includes 72 cards, 3 dice, and pencil. How the game is played: Deal 7 cards out to each player. Each player picks a card and lays it face up. (This is where the strategy comes in) Do you pick a lower point card or a higher point card? Youngest player then rolls the three dice – trying to match one of the die or combination of dice to their card amount which is face up. Each time the die/dice combination match the players card that is face up, the player gets to move the card into their “mile pile” trying to be the first to hike 100 miles. But, beware of getting caught with a “cooler card” – like the mother bear & cubs in the trail. If you get caught with one of the three cooler cards – you loose 10 miles. Other twists in the game include bonus rolls if the player’s... [Read more...]
Disabled Americans Get Long Awaited RVing Advocate
January 21, 2013 by Dalin Brinkman · 1 Comment
For people with disabilities, travel and outdoor recreation is rewarding but can also be challenging. While families with disabled members know that RVing affords the most comfortable and unrestrictive travel experience, finding campgrounds and facilities that meet or exceed federal accessibility standards can be hit and miss – until now. RVing Accessibility Group, founded in 2011, announced today that the organization is expanding its services from providing accurate campground accessibility information, education, and resources to the disabled RVing community to include helping campgrounds improve accessibility through assessment and consulting services. “The genesis of RVing Accessibility Group (RVAG),” said founder and chairman of the board Mark Douglass, “stemmed from too many bad experiences making reservations with and staying at campgrounds claiming ADA accessibility and compliance only to find out upon arrival that they were not.” For Douglass, a disabled 20-year RV enthusiast,... [Read more...]
How to avoid tire blowup while RVing
January 7, 2013 by Canadianladybug · 1 Comment
Having a tire blow up is not fun whether you are rving or not. In both case, you need to change the wheel when it happens. However, I think the worse kind of blowup would be the ones when you pull your RV. It happened to us twice so far. We were driving with the RV behind and then one of the tires on the RV just blew. The first time, we didn’t realize it and someone driving pass us kindly inform us of the problem. That tire was on the driver’s side. Fortunately, in Ontario the sides of highways is quite large and we were able to have space when we proceeded to change the tire. The second time, we heard the tire when it blew up. We were on our way on one big highway in the state of New York in the US. We knew that we needed to stop and change it. So we parked as best as we could on the side of the highway (which isn’t as large as in Ontario by the way). Every time a huge truck or bigger vehicle would pass next to the RV we could see it move. ... [Read more...]
OLD GAS PRESSURE LANTERNS – Restoring My Past
January 3, 2013 by Professor95 · 8 Comments
The bright white glow of the lantern hanging on a tree limb would gradually dim to a yellow ball. My Dad would remove the lantern from the tree limb, set it on the ground and vigorously move the pump in and out to pressurize the fuel tank. Like magic, the lantern would come alive again with a bright white light. This ritual was often repeated multiple times after darkness fell. We would sit near our campfire and watch the moths and flying beetles swirl aimlessly around the light – sometimes hitting the globe and succumbing to the heat from the lantern. These memories go back 54 years. I was 12 years old and we were camping near Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee. There was no RV – only a canvas tent and down filled military surplus sleeping bags from the Korean War rolled out on the ground. I treasure those memories, as they were a significant part of my indoctrination into the fun, mystery, and excitement of camping in the great outdoors. Lantern as found with no globe My Dad passed... [Read more...]
January’s Top Parks
December 31, 2012 by Good Sam Team · 2 Comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Sullaway Content Editor Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Campground Directory 805-667-4194 jsullaway@goodsamfamily.com Top Snowbird Parks Chosen by the Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Campground Directory An astonishing 1.1 million RVers migrate to North America’s Sunbelt every year to escape the chilly temperatures of the northern United States and Canada, according to a study by Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. To help these snowbirds find just the right warm-weather roosts, the editors and consultants of the Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Campground Directory have compiled a list of the Top Snowbird Parks of 2013. Featuring RV parks and resorts from California to Florida, the list is tailored for RV travelers seeking extended stays at campgrounds with lots of amenities and features for fun in the sun. Good Sam RV Travel Guide’s Top Snowbird Parks: Bella Terra Of Gulf Shores, Gulf Shores, Alabama Apache Wells RV Resort, Mesa, Arizona Arizona... [Read more...]
Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming…
December 27, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · 4 Comments
We are so incredibly blessed to be able to travel with our family during the winter. This fall, after leaving our home state of Montana, we took our time getting down to Texas, where we spent much of December. On our way south, we stopped at a few National Parks; NPs are kind of our ‘thing’. We are trying to stop at as many National Parks as we can; at each park the kids complete the educational Jr. Ranger program, and collect the badges they earn as we go (they are small and don’t weigh much at all!). So far, we have been to over 6 dozen of our NPs! This past fall, we came south out of Billings via I-90, and spent the night in Gillette, WY (we like short driving days!). We decided that we couldn’t be so close to Devil’s Tower, located in the upmost NE corner of WY, and not take the opportunity to check it off our long list of parks still to visit! It was about an hour drive (each way) from Gillette. On the way out there, one of the littles asked what it was;... [Read more...]
Overnight Stay at Wal-Mart
December 24, 2012 by Canadianladybug · 3 Comments
Imagine yourself travelling with your family. You know you want to drive as much as possible and eventually stop for only a night. However you don’t want to stop at a campground for only a night so you wonder where you can go. Have you considered the Wal-Mart or Sam’s Clubs parking lots? Did you know that you can stay overnight in these places? If not, I have a book for you that will open new possibilities in your traveling. The Wal-mart Atlas is a comprehensive guide to more than 4,000 Walmart stores, Supercenters, and Sam’s Club stores in the United States. The paperback book includes maps that show you at a glance where stores are located and whether gas or diesel fuel is available. My husband purchased this book a while back simply because he wanted to have it for future travels. He is seriously thinking more and more about it since we purchased a small generator. For each state you will get a detailed map indicating where you can find a Wal-Mart. You can get more information... [Read more...]
Cyber Monday Shopping
December 5, 2012 by Vickie Medley · Leave a Comment
I have a confession. I went shopping on Cyber Monday…for just us! Oh, I did get some gifts for the grandkids but mainly got things for us. That Monday was spent reading all the emails that were advertising Cyber Monday. I am NOT a Black Friday shopper. Not even a Grey Thursday shopper. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know there was a Grey Thursday until last week! However, I’ve always done most of my shopping online so the Cyber Monday emails caught my eye. The other advantage of shopping online is that your purchases are delivered to your door or, in my case, my daughter’s door since we are fulltimers. Side Note: I’ve done all my shopping online for the past several years for many reasons. It doesn’t matter if the weather is bad, I can shop in my jammies and my schlep-around slippers. With online shopping I’m treated nicely. No rude people. No crabby, tired sales people and no carts slamming into the back of me. And, I don’t buy unless I know I’m getting... [Read more...]
Stairs: The Hidden Danger In RVs
November 30, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 4 Comments
The day after Thanksgiving, the full day of eating whatever we want; we set out for a fun weekend of camping at the beach. The beach camp spot my aunt reserved this year was at Leo Carrillo State Beach, a scenic stretch of canyon leading to gorgeous coastline, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean. You access it from the Pacific Coast Highway, just south of where we live. My dear aunt was only one day late in reserving our typical spot at Carpinteria State Beach and, lo and behold, there were no spots left! So we settled for second best: Leo Carrillo, where I grew up camping and loving every second of it. Leo Carrillo is just off a narrow, windy stretch of highway along the coast with no bike lane, so bicycling with our kids in tow to the campsite was out of the question (although we did enjoy riding around the campground and over to the beach side)! We packed up our bikes and set off with the RV and a handful of tents for two nights at Leo Carrillo State Beach... [Read more...]
