Open Range Camping

About six years ago, our niece was getting married.  We needed a place to stay in Northeast Georgia just for a few nights.  It seemed silly to tow our (then) Passport all the way to NE Georgia for four nights. We asked Mark's dad about staying with him, but Mark's brother had already claimed it. We asked Mark's sister about staying with her, but his other sister already claimed it. We looked into hotels but couldn't stomach the cost with food and dogs. We ended up taking the Passport after all and staying at Tallulah Gorge State Park.  We loved it and have made it an almost yearly event since that trip in October 2011.  For a few years, we hit the gorge in October.  Then the kids became involved in our homeschool group's cross country team and races are every week in October.  Two years ago, we started going in November for Thanksgiving.  In November 2015, we took our Passport.  That would be our last Georgia trip in our beloved Passport...

We discovered a little secret in Orlando --- when Disney is too expensive, this little KOA is great! We have made it a tradition to come stay at the Kissimmee KOA for the Reindeer Run at SeaWorld and to do the Christmas celebrations at SeaWorld. This park is super clean, easy to get in and out of, and has a lot of nice rigs staying at it.  It has a pool and hottub (which we haven't used), a jumping pillow that the kids love, a small playground and a small dog park.  The location is even easier to get to SeaWorld from that Ft. Wilderness.  It is small and there isn't nearly as many activities as the Fort but when we plan to run the Reindeer Run and hit SeaWorld for two nights in a row to see all the Christmas stuff....it is a perfect place to stay! KOA front campsite.  Nice paved and plenty of room. One Ocean show during the trip. Christmas carols prior to the start of Shamu's Christmas Miracle.  SeaWorld does the best, most Christian oriented...

Playing catch up is kinda fun!  In April, we spent 7 nights at Oscar Sherer State Park. I had camped here once, with a friend about 8 years ago.  We camped here in a pop-up.  At the time, I didn't really like it or the nearby beaches.  Remember though, this was early on in the camping experience and I had only ever been exposed to Ft. Wilderness.  So coming from Ft. Wilderness to Oscar Sherer was a big difference! Now fast forward 8 years and I'm ready to try it again.  I actually booked Oscar Sherer when we still had our Passport.  Thankfully I had chose a site the Open Range would fit in. We had a pull through paved site.  It was decent, nothing spectacular but was nice for the week.  We enjoyed the bike riding and really liked the Friendship Trail that had an entrance at the rear of the park.  I was still recovering from a horrible case of bronchitius so my bike riding was short and sweet. I would love to go back and spend some ...

For New Years Eve, we headed to our favorite New Years vacation spot - Ft. Desoto.  We had originally planned 5 nights here, but had to cut a night short due to the kids' football schedule.  We had a nice trip.  This was our second time at Ft. Desoto with the Open Range.  We have to be a bit more selective on sites now because of the size and being able to back the Open Range in.  Hubby had to leave once for work.  This is a good place to stay if he has to head to work.  This was my Christmas gift - a fireplace for the RV.  Hubby installed it himself and we love it!  Haven't needed to use it for heat yet, but love running the light portions!  I'm sure our next trip to Georgia will need the heat!   Taya and Pepper were a bit tired after setting up and riding bikes!

When your oldest is turning 16, and TobyMac is in concert at the Praise Wave event by SeaWorld....you head to Ft. Wilderness! (January 13-16) Nothing new here - we love Ft. Wilderness!  We arrived Friday evening after 5pm.  It was surprisingly raining.  We got set up, had dinner and gave Delena her 16th birthday gift.  (Her actual day was Sunday but...)...we got her a Nikon digital camera since she has a budding photography talent.  We wanted her to have the camera for the weekend to shoot pics at SeaWorld and the Fort. Saturday - we headed to SeaWorld for Praise Wave.  We LOVE TobyMac and was so excited he was performing at Praise Wave.  We met friends who used our friend for free tickets.  The kids rode some rides while the moms stood in line to get front row seats.  Yes, we got amazing seats!  TobyMac did an awesome concert and we loved our day at SeaWorld.  We headed back to Ft. Wilderness about 5pm and ate some quick dinner...

May 26 - May 30 For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to try Manatee Hammock State Park.  It was a nice little county park located on the Indian River on US 1.  It is directly across the Indian River from the Kennedy Space Center.  We planned to go here simply to visit the Space Center.  My daughter is able to receive reciprocals from theme park attractions for working at the Florida Aquarium.   We've wanted to visit the Space Center for many years, but the cost always deterred us.  She was able to get in free and get three tickets 1/2 price.  We had a nice weekend.  Here is my list of pros and cons: PROS: Super close to the KSC. Can view the KSC from the back of the campground. Right on the Indian River, can kayak or canoe from it, can fish off the dock. Close to Cocoa Beach. Close to the Canaveral National Seashort. Would be a GREAT place to watch a rocket launch from. Nice dog park. $26 a night for full hook ups!! Pool CO...

I haven’t blogged in several years.   My husband was looking at RV Blogs the other day and commented about how useful some of them can be with information.   I reminded him we had an RV Blog.   Then for some reason, I sat down and tried to journal all of our camping trips since purchasing an RV.   I have almost a one year gap that I cannot remember what we did.   I realized it was time to start blogging again.   If for nothing else, then to have a journal and pictures of our trips. So, to start, here is a link to our first blog .   I will try to update it with our Passport adventures – but no promises. One year after purchasing a new RV, seems like a good time to start a new blog!   On June 10, 2016, we traded our beloved Keystone Passport 290BH for an Open Range Light Fifth Wheel LF295FBH.    Prior to the trade, we had spend 11 nights i   We had an amazing trip, but with three growing kid...