Lexington, SC

With easy access from two major highways - I20 & I26 - The Barnyard RV park in Lexington, SC is easy to find. It’s situated out behind a large flea market on US-1.

It’s one of our favorite weekend locations. The entire park is very level with parking consisting of huge pull-thru sites down to whatever you need. Row “A” provides parallel parking right along the backside of the flea market. Row “B” provides huge pull thru FHU sites with 50 amps and CATV. The seasonal sites are not integrated with the short term RV sites and are located at the rear of the park.

Less than a mile down the road from the Barnyard flea market is another - open air - flea market that sets-up for business on the weekends. It’s on an old outdoor drive-in movie location with lots of parking.

http://www.barnyardrvpark.com/

Just down US-1 in Lexington there is a very unique restaurant. As the name implies it has an Aircraft Carrier motif. Having served on many of them I enjoy going there to reminisce and have a great sandwich.

http://www.flightdeckrestaurant.net/

I’m going to provide some dialog for these pictures as I post them. As always you can click on any of them for enlargement. The two links above are active for browsing.

We have stayed here a number of times over the years and these pictures will be from three of our visits. We like row “C” - first set of pictures - because the sites are much nicer with some trees and are more grassy. Sometimes we have friends drive down from Greenville to stay with us on the weekends.

Next is a view up row A&B to the office and one of the wash rooms. Then there is another view down row "C" looking at the second washroom and into the seasonal parking area. Then there are the two class "A" rigs that were identical and belonged to middle aged identical twin brothers. Both were towing Jeep SUVs. They were parked on row "D".

The next two pictures are from another weekend stay on row "C". The little View parked on our left belonged to a single lady (fulltimer) traveling the country. Her little View is her only transportation.

 

In the next series of pictures we have taken a site in row "B". We were returning from Florida. It was still pretty cool and the trees and grass were still dormant. There is a nice picture of an empty site on row "B" that shows just how large those sites are and their proximity to the flea market. You can see some of the hook-ups on row "A". Then I found some big boys playing with their flea market toys.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda

Grants, NM

 

 

Almost all of the Indian casinos around the country that we have stopped at have some sort of area set aside for the RV traveler.

Some are just barren, unpaved lands, where it’s free to boon-dock. Others are a little more modern and have paved parking areas, but you still have to boon-dock.

Then there are the ones that offer some hook-up facilities. They still may be free but you will have to qualify. Qualifying is normally the simple process of obtaining a casino playing card.

Near Grants, NM we found one of the latter. It’s The Dancing Eagle Casino & RV Park. The fee there is $10.00 for a FHU site within a gated parking area. And that’s what it will cost you if all you want to do is pull in and park in a safe area overnight. If you decide to walk over to the casino you might as well get a players card because it will get each new patron a $10.00 coupons for free fuel at the pumps at their Travel Center. It will also get you a two for one dinner coupon. There is no obligation to use any of your own money while parked at the RV park. However, It must be your first time to sign up for a card there to receive the coupons. If you want to bypass staying in the FHU RV park you can stay free in the unpaved boon-docking area. We stayed two nights in the RV park. Got our two for one meals, played some slots and got our $20.00 of free fuel on departure.

This is a true Indian reservation with a large percentage of employees and casino players being Indian. The prices in the smallish shops and food stores surrounding the RV park was very reasonable and no taxes. The people we had contact with were friendly and eager to talk with travelers. We enjoyed our short stay and will stop again if ever in the area.

If you have children traveling with you there is a Family Fun Center completely detached from the casino. It is very modern and has a nice snack bar.

http://dancingeaglecasino.com/travel_center_details.html
 

Here are a few pictures.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Berwick, Maine

 

 

Having been born and raised in the smallish rural town of North Berwick, ME I try and park close by whenever we are up that way. Right on the eastern border of Berwick, ME - right next to North Berwick - is a nice family owned and operated CG named Beaver Dam Campground.

http://beaverdamcampground.com/

The CG is well off the rural road and secluded from the public. It offers most all of the expected amenities along with a friendly and helpful staff to make your stay as comfortable as possible. All size rigs are welcome and most will fit in the waterfront lots if desired. We like to stay atop a small knoll where we can get reception for our dish TV. From this CG it’s just a short drive over to Dover, NH or Sanford, ME where there are such stores as the travelers - find all store - Super Walmarts. Another short drive will put you in the outlet malls at Kittery, ME on US-1.

http://www.thekitteryoutlets.com/

My favorite beach as a youngster was Wells Beach. And, of course, it’s located in the town of Wells Beach. And, you will have to drive through Wells, ME to get there. On the way out you will pass Billy’s Chowder House. It’s the original and comes highly recommended from yours truly.

http://www.billyschowderhouse.com/

Just a few more miles north on US-1 and you will find the popular Kennebunkport, ME where the tourists flock to get a glimpse at the President Bush sea front summer retreat.

After WWII my father built lobster boats in our barn. They were launched at Kennebunkport. The fishing village atmosphere is almost completely gone.

In 1947 my father decided he wanted to learn how to fly. I was his first passenger. My uncle Hermann was supposed to go but he was a no-show. We flew from South Portland to Kittery and back. It was my first aerial view of costal Maine. I can still recall most of the coast line from that first flight.

Everyone that does some serious RVing should try and write a little bit about their travels. The memories it triggers may awe you.

When driving over to Kittery, the rural roads will lead you through the other Berwick. South Berwick is actually the town I was born in. There was a maternity clinic there and my mother did not want to have me at home so she got someone to drive her over there. Of course, I’ve never lived there but it is my birth place. Anyhow, back to the drive to Kittery. We passed this old farm that was clearly littered with all sorts of keepsakes that must have to be put out and taken in with the seasons. I think you will agree it’s a one of a kind when it comes to yard decorations.

http://www.kennebunkportme.gov/Public_Documents/index

Along with the pictures from the CG I’m going to put a scattering of pictures from some of the places described above. They should be recognizable from some of the area descriptions. All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them and all of the links are active.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda

Carlisle, PA

 

 

http://westernvillagervpark.com/ 

 

During the past 10 years we have traveled the I-81 interstate highway corridor quite often. We have been on every mile of it and in most places more than just a couple of times.

We have visited numerous RV Parks/Campgrounds up and down I-81. Some for just an overnight stop-over and others for days to weeks. Some more than once, especially the easy to use stops for quick fuel and highway access. Others for their comfort, friendliness, site size, and ease of access to facilities. Nice discounts may figure in the mix sometimes.

The Western Village RV Park falls into the category of site size and ease of access. However, over the years, to add parking sites, some of the larger pull-thru sites have been modified to accommodate two back-to-back sites for smaller trailers. In the future it may come off our overnight parking list.

In these pictures we have another couple - Linda’s sister and her husband Tommy - traveling with us. We were on a month long journey to up-state NY and then over into New England before returning them home. We had to off-load nearly a thousand pounds of our stuff from the truck & trailer to accommodate our guests and their stuff. It was a great trip and I’ll be posting other stops along the way.

Here are a few pictures. You can click on any of them to get a larger view. The link to the RV Park is active.

The Fast Eagles - Cal & Linda
With Barbara & Tommy aboard

  



Concordia, KS

 

 

Once upon a time, Meandering along in the “heartland”, we found a free RV park with paved, level parking, and 50 amp full hook-up service. Each site had a BBQ grill, and a covered trash container.

http://concordiakansaschamber.com/cityrec.html

We had no particular place to go and were just enjoying the lands we were traveling thru. We didn’t have any reservation - we seldom do when just meandering along - so we start looking early for places to spend a night or two (We don’t dry camp!). We had just come out of NB and were heading south on US-81 when we entered Concordia, KS. Right after entering the city limits we saw a sign advertising a free RV park run by the city. The RV Park could not be seen from the road but the entrance road was paved so we went on in. What a nice surprise. It was very clean and well kept. The sites were large enough for just about any big rigs and very easy to get into. There isn’t any on site management. There was a message board with a few rules and a drop box for donations. The whole park was very well lit-up and the city police came thru regularly all night.

On one side the park is bordered by a National Guard compound with a big fire tower. Right across the street from the entrance road is a super walmart. We set-up, disconnected and spent two days there exploring the city and it’s attractions.

Here are a few pictures. They will enlarge when you click on them and the link is active.

The FastEagles
   Cal & Linda



West Ossipee, NH

 

 

 

Up in what might be described geographically, as east central New Hampshire, right near the eastern base of Mt Whittier and situated on the Bearcamp River is Whit’s End Campground. It’s owned and operated by a nice young couple. Jan - half of the owner/management team - is my first cousin on my mothers side. The other half of this team is Dan. This sole-mate team are the heart throb of this campground and will bend over backwards to make your stay with them as enjoyable as possible.

Right after we started full time RVing, our first venture up into Yankee land included a month long stop at Whit’s End Campground. At that time Dan & Jan did not have a couple of sites large enough for our two 38 footers - our long time friends and traveling companions were traveling with us - so, they built us a couple of sites at the end of a dirt road just across the street from the CG office. They ran in some 50 amp electrical power, fresh water connections and put down some gravel to level out the lower site and provided us with a large blue covered barrel for trash. We could dump our gray water into the vacant land behind us. When needed, Dan would come around with his “honey bucket” truck and collect our black water.

We both had Verizon wireless phones with internet access and there was a good signal there. However, TV reception was not so easy. We have always had Dish TV and our friends had Direct TV. Both of us had multi receiver connections and both had two receivers. It turned out to be very good to have both because we never could find a signal for the Dish. Because of the angle of the satellite connections we were able to find a signal for the Direct TV system. We had to get a couple hundred extra feet of cable to reach the location of the antenna from our trailers. Each of us used a single receiver and our “bat” antennas for local TV.

I think the sites we stayed in have since been made into seasonal sites. The last time we were there we stayed down near the river.

While there we purchased a portable screen room for eating outside and put it up between the trailers. Worked real well keeping the insects at bay.

From there we were heading on up into Canada. Unfortunately we had a family emergency and had to go back south. Our friends stayed on and went on with their trip. We connected up again later in the year in IL.

Here is the web page for Whit’s End CG, the train ride in Conway and the LL Bean outlet store. It’s beautiful country up there and we have been back since these pictures were taken.

http://www.whitsendcampground.com/
http://www.conwayscenic.com/
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001725

The links are active and clicking on any of the pictures will enlarge them.

The FastEagles
  Cal & Linda