Category Archives: Camping Destinations

Camping Destination: Head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras!

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The winter holidays are behind us and it’s time to start thinking about your early spring camping trips in your new or used RV! One fantastic camping destination is New Orleans, and Mardi Gras season is just beginning – and runs through February 21! Take a look at some of the fun things you’ll love at Mardi Gras 2023!

Camping Destination

Is Mardi Gras Family Friendly?

Short answer: yes, for the most part. And there’s so much to do and fun memories to make! Get started browsing everything you could possibly learn about Mardi Gras, its history, FAQs, and all the things you have to see, do, taste, and experience while you’re in New Orleans here.

Camping Destination

That said, if you don’t have kids (or won’t have them with you on this trip), there are some adults-only themed festivities that run on Bourbon Street and in the French Quarter. Plan accordingly, and you’ll be able to have a fun and safe time with or without kids.

What is the Schedule of Events?

There’s no shortage of Mardi Gras festivities over the next few weeks! Get your fill (and then some!) of beads, parades, dance krewes, king cake, and more. You can find a general calendar of events here, but remember that part of the fun of Mardi Gras is keeping some of it shrouded in mystery – which is why some parade surprises are kept secret.

Camping Destination

Where Do I Stay?

There’s never been a better reason to travel in an RV! Hotels can jack their rates, fill up fast, and navigating New Orleans traffic on your own in the thick of Mardi Gras festivities – or pay for public parking – be more than you’re willing to sign up for. Thankfully, there are a lot of campgrounds in the area that you can stay at, and you might consider taking an Uber or Lyft to the heart of the hubbub. Wear good walking shoes and you’re set!

Camping Destination

Before You Go

If this is your first camping trip of the year, contact us to schedule some RV service before you hit the road, or help you dewinterize your RV. We can also help you pick out the new or used RV that suits your family’s needs perfectly, so if you’re new to RVing, we’re happy to answer any questions you have!

5 Beautiful Fall Road Trips & Camping Destinations

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Indiana offers you a great starting point for gorgeous fall road trips in any direction! If you’re trying to figure out where to head next in your new or used RV, don’t miss these great fall camping destinations. It’s peak season for gorgeous fall weather and stunning foliage, so don’t wait around – pack your bags and hit the road!

Fall Camping Destinations

Northeast Camping Destination

Acadia National Park in Maine is our top suggestion. Plus, on your way, you’ll be able to route through iconic New England states like Vermont, New Hampshire, and upstate New York, catching their views along the way, too. Check out Arcadia National Park here.

Fall Camping Destinations

Midwest Camping Destination

North Shore Scenic Drive in Minnesota routes you from Duluth to Grand Portage. At just over 150 miles long on Highway 61, you can enjoy it as a day trip or split it up over a couple days, allowing you to meander and check out the waterfalls and lighthouses at your own pace. Learn more here.

Fall Camping Destinations

Western Camping Destination

Enchanted Circle in New Mexico lives up to its name – you’ll leave feeling mesmerized by the rich beauty and perfect foliage of New Mexico. Is it a long drive? Yes. Is it more than worth it? Also yes. Find out more information here.

Fall Camping Destinations

Southeast Camping Destination

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is your ticket to a beautiful and unforgettable fall camping trip! The Smokies are an ideal destination for families, couples, individuals…anyone! Enjoy nature hikes, cold mountain streams, and maybe catch a black bear sighting before they head off to their dens for a long winter’s nap. Get more information about the Smokies here.

Fall Camping Destinations

No Place Like Home

Indiana also has several State and National Park options, too, so if you’re ready to explore a little closer to home, there’s plenty to see.

Fall Camping Destinations

Whether you travel near or far, we have you covered! Contact us today to schedule some RV service before you hit the road!

3 Vacation Destinations in Upstate New York

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If you’re starting to plan your summer vacations for this year, why not hit the road with your new or used RV and head to New York? Now, we’re not talking about New York City…that’s not really the ideal landscape for RV camping. But you’ll find that upstate New York is an incredibly beautiful place that’s chock full of great camping destinations that will rejuvenate your spirit and give you a much-needed break from the demands of every day life. Here are some great RV camping spots to visit in upstate New York this summer.

The Catskill Mountains

The mountains are calling! When it comes to unforgettable mountain ranges, upstate New York keeps on giving. Don’t miss visiting the Catskills.

Camping Destination

This is a perfect place to disconnect from the fast pace of your calendar and sink deep into a peaceful, nature-filled vacation. Love to hike? You’re in luck. You’ll have tons of hiking trails to explore and you might discover a swimming hole or two along the way.

Camping Destination

Get more information about the Catskills here and some camping opportunities here.

The Adirondacks

Gorgeous mountain views, stunning waterfalls, and hiking opportunities abound!

Camping Destination

Enjoy making memories with your family and reconnect with what Mother Nature has to offer. Get your fill of kayaking, canoeing, biking, and more. Find out more about visiting the Adirondacks here and the camping options here.

Camping Destination

Niagara Falls

Ready to be awe-inspired? A day trip to Niagara Falls State Park is one that will fill you with lifelong memories.

Camping Destination

The States-side view is incredible on its own, but as long as you’re there, consider crossing the border for the iconic Canadian-side view. If you want an up-close experience, purchase tickets for the Maid of the Mist. It’s truly unforgettable – the roar of the waterfall and the immense vibrations as it thunders down will be a memory you carry the rest of your life.

Camping Destination

Upstate New York is especially beautiful in the summer with plenty to see and do, so start planning your vacation now. We can help you pick out the perfect new or used RV for your ideal vacations, and pair it with affordable RV financing. Stop in to check out our inventory or contact us today!

Shenandoah National Park: A Perfect Spring Camping Destination!

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One beautiful spring camping destination your entire family will love is Shenandoah National Park. This stunning national park in Virginia will be worth the drive with or in your new or used RV, and this special place will carve its way into your heart. You’ll want to return year after year!

About the Park

Shenandoah National Park is a stunning piece of land that covers more than 200,000 acres. It’s a nature lover’s delight, and a perfect place to step away from the demands of every day life and reconnect with the great outdoors. The National Park Service website includes this:

Shenandoah National Park is a land bursting with cascading waterfalls, spectacular vistas, fields of wildflowers, and quiet wooded hollows. [A home] to deer, songbirds, and black bear, there’s so much to explore…and your journey begins right here!

What are you waiting for? Click here to explore what the park has to offer, then start planning your vacation!

Things to Do

Shenandoah National Park is full of things your entire family will love. There are more than 500 miles of hiking trails to explore, and you can learn more here about what’s available for hikers at every skill level. Roam and explore the waterfalls, nature exhibits, and more. Enjoy Skyline Drive, a gorgeous scenic drive along the Blue Ridge Mountains – make sure to pack your camera and a picnic lunch! You’ll want to make a day trip of this stunning drive.

RV Camping at the Park

You have plenty of camping options at Shenandoah National Park! There are five campgrounds, each open seasonally, and you can learn more here.

We understand the value of being able to reconnect with nature, and the importance of traveling safely. We’d love to help you be able to enjoy vacations this year in a new or used RV, so contact us today!

Brown County State Park: Kick 2021 Off Right!

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A new year is upon us – at last! We hope you’re filling up the calendar with camping trip plans in your new or used RV. 2020 was a hard year with plenty of cancelations, but we are looking forward to life, and camping and vacationing, resuming again. While you’re thinking of great places to camp, why not add Brown County State Park to your list? It’s a fun, family-friendly camping destination that’s perfect to kick off the camping season!

Indiana’s Largest State Park

Brown County State Park is nicknamed the “Little Smokies” – because of its resemblance to the actual Great Smoky Mountains! The county covers almost 16,000 acres of hiking hills, impressive ridges, slopes and fullies, and foggy ravines. Take a hike and enjoy the gorgeous scenery with plenty of places to stop and rest or grab some photos of the scenery around you.

Things to Do

Brown County State Park is loaded with fun for the whole family! Enjoy a trip to the Nature Center, or spend an afternoon at the tennis courts.

If the water is calling you, jump in the park’s swimming pool or head out for a day of fishing and boating. There are also plenty of hiking trails as well as mountain biking trails and horseback riding trails and opportunities!

If Mother Nature rains on your parade, have no fear:  the Abe Martin Lodge in the Park offers plenty of activities to keep you and the kiddos busy – including an indoor water park! Learn more here.

RV Camping at Brown County State Park

The Park has several campground options, and it’s loaded with room for RVers to come stay! Learn more about the campgrounds and electric campsite availability here.

We’d love to help you get your 2021 camping season off to a good start, so contact us today. We can get your RV in for any RV service or repair, or just a tune up to make sure it’s road ready. Or, if you’re new to RVing and want to get away, we can help you shop for a new or used RV that’s perfect for your family!

Road-Schooling: How to Homeschool from Your RV

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This year has been a crazy one for sure! As many parents face this school year with uncertainty or even frustration, some families are embarking on a new journey (literally): combining homeschooling with the RV life. We like to call it road-schooling.

How Do You Homeschool?

That’s a huge question, and one that’s a little too difficult to answer in one blog post! However, each state varies in its guidelines for homeschooling, so it’s important to establish right away exactly what you intend to do.

If you plan to do virtual learning at home (or in your new or used RV), through your local school district, you can fairly simply stay enrolled and follow your school’s guidelines.

If you plan to fully disenroll your kids from the school system, you will need to do an internet search on “homeschooling in my state” for the guidelines that keep you in compliance.

You can homeschool using a package curriculum, online learning, or the curriculum your state’s schools recommend. The market for online classes has definitely increased exponentially this year, so if you feel nervous about tackling certain subjects, don’t worry! There are countless resources available. Since WiFi is available virtually everywhere, your kids can stay connected to their online classes easily.

Hit the Road and Learn Along the Way

True story: when I was 15, my mom made me take the ACT while on vacation. It was one of the worst days of my life! While that’s not an educational tactic I would recommend, the great thing about seeing the world around you as an educational environment is that learning is never limited. Road-schooling is a perfect way to learn about the ties between history, geography, science, social studies, and more.

For example, start with the National Parks. Whether you go to Yellowstone, the Badlands, the Grand Canyon, or dozens upon dozens of other federal parks, you’ll be immersed in the realization that history always connects to science and geography. Studying different habitats and the wildlife who live in them will be a rich experience of its own!

Other stops – such as San Francisco, Albuquerque, and Chicago, will give you opportunities to immerse yourself in rich cultural history. And the Midwest is filled with learning opportunities about the farmers who help run our nation’s agriculture.

Be Flexible with Your Time

When you think about it, there aren’t actually 8 straight hours of intense, focused learning packed into a school day. There is some instruction time, and some application time. However, the size of classrooms are one factor in drawing out the length of time both instruction and application take.

You might be surprised to discover that a child between kindergarten and third grade might complete a day’s worth of school in under an hour! Or that fourth through seventh graders could easily be done before lunch. This kind of flexibility allows you to hit the books early in the day and head out in the afternoon for sight seeing, exploring, and integrated learning with the world around you.

Travel gives people rich opportunities and experiences that they wouldn’t trade for anything. Many people who find themselves frustrated by a busy life end up regretting that they didn’t travel more. Why not give your kids the experience of a lifetime during this time when our world has flipped completely upside down? Don’t just read about the oceans, canyons, and forests. Go explore them!

When you give the gift of travel and opt to road-school in your RV, you offer rich education that will fill their memories for years to come. We’d love to help you pick out the perfect new or used RV for your road-schooling adventures, so contact us today.

Indiana Dunes National Park: Your Next Camping Destination in Indiana!

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This year has certainly been difficult for planning trips and vacations, but an outdoor vacation is about as safe as it can get – and fun, too! Fill up the remainder of your summer with an awesome vacation with your family to Indiana Dunes National Park. It’s a beautiful camping destination in Indiana with plenty of things to do and explore, and gorgeous late-summer weather to enjoy. Read more about planning your trip to Indiana Dunes National Park below!

Things To Do

Indiana Dunes National Park has it all: swimming and flying kites at the beach, hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, and more. Read up on your opportunities for these activities below:

  • Biking: Indiana Dunes National Park offers an amazing interconnected bike trail system that spans 37 miles! Learn more about biking at Indiana Dunes National Park here.
  • Hiking: 14 trail systems spreading over more than 50 miles of trails! This is a hiker’s paradise! Read about your hiking options here.
  • Horseback riding: equestrian trails are offered through Glenwood Dunes Trails. You can learn more here.
  • Fishing, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, and more! Get your boat out on Lake Michigan and enjoy all it has to offer. Read about your options here.
  • Birding: Indiana Dunes National Park is a crucial feeding and resting spot for birds in migration, so bird watching is popular at this area of Lake Michigan. Late summer and early autumn may afford you plenty of bird watching opportunities as migration patterns pick up. Learn more here.
  • Beaches: Indiana Dunes National Park has several different beaches your family may enjoy! Check those out here.

Places to Stay

Indiana Dunes National Park has plenty of camping opportunities! Check out what the park itself has to offer here and make your reservation today!

Traveling and Visiting Safely

These are strange times for sure, but the National Park System is staying in compliance with federal guidelines in order to offer you and your family a safe and fun visiting experience. If you have any questions or need to inquire about Covid-19 updates, make sure to contact the park before you make a reservation or arrive for your scheduled camping trip.

Despite many of the traveling restrictions families have faced this year, traveling in a new or used RV can still offer one of the safest and most memorable vacations you can take with your family. Contact us today if you need some help shopping for a new or used RV, or need some RV service before you hit the road!

Mammoth Cave: Visit this Camping Destination in Kentucky!

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Have you ever visited Mammoth Cave with your family? This fantastic national park in central Kentucky is a beautiful and memorable place to take a camping trip. Your entire family will love taking an RV camping trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. Check out some of the great things to see and do while you’re there!

About the Park

Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the entire world – more than 400 miles! The park includes 53,000 acres of forested land. Whether you’re above ground exploring almost 70 miles of nature trails, or spelunking below and enjoying almost 12 miles of caving trails, Mammoth Cave National Park is a great camping destination you’ll want to return to again and again.

Caving Tours

As national parks begin to reopen, following federal guidelines, you’ll want to keep an eye on their available activities. You can enjoy a variety of cave trails at Mammoth Cave, which range from quarter mile distances and easy terrain to three-miles cave trails which are more moderate to difficult. There are even some cave trails that are accessible, so everyone in your family can enjoy this beautiful natural phenomenon.

Caving tours run seasonally and reservations are not required, but strongly recommended. Browse the different cave tours and find the best fit for your family’s interest, skill level, and schedule here.

RV Camping at Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave National Park offers several campgrounds with RV campsite options. Take a look those campgrounds here. Remember, even if things are still closed in the coming days, national parks are working to reopen, and you’ll want to be ready to make a reservation as soon as possible. Now is a great time to take a look at your RV campsite options at Mammoth Cave and get an idea of where you want to stay in your new or used RV!

We know you and your family are probably itching to be able to enjoy traveling again, and Mammoth Cave is a great camping destination in Kentucky. Need some RV service or repair before you hit the road? We can help. Contact us today!

Campgrounds Near Anderson, IN

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Anderson, Indiana is proud to feature tons of fabulous RV parks and campgrounds for your family to explore. You’ll love every minute spent exploring this unique area. In fact, many of our customers choose to make Anderson their first RV destination since our RV dealership is located so close to these campgrounds.

white river
By emu4286, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53991918

The two campgrounds below are the two that are closest to our RV dealership. These are favorites among many who purchase an RV from us and even our team members who take little weekend RV trips. One of the best things about these parks is that they’re very entry level and particularly good for those who are new to RVing. They offer lots of fun for you and the family, but aren’t far away or exotic, so you can take advantage of them to get used to your RV.

Anderson/Muncie KOA

The White River winds through this gorgeous campground that features a 13 acre island and a mile of riverfront footage. Ball State University is located 15 miles away and offers a lovely place to explore a college town and make memories with the family. Limited availability October 15 – April 15. Beach: Memorial Weekend – Labor Day Weekend. The maximum pull through length is 100 feet.

Features:

  • 50 Max Amp
  • 100′ Max Length
  • Wi-Fi
  • Propane
  • Fishing
  • Firewood
  • Bike Rentals

Mounds State Park

If your family is full of history buffs, then you will absolutely love this state park. It’s aptly called Mounds State Park because it features 10 Native American sacred mounds built by prehistoric Indians known as the Adena-Hopewell people.

At 252 acres this park has the White River winding through it and boasts loads of enjoyable activities. One of the most talked about activities is the walking trails. People love how these trails are carved out and take you on tons of fun adventures.

4306 Mounds Rd., Anderson, IN 46017

Features:

  • Wildlife viewing
  • Fishing
  • Butterfly gardens
  • Dragonfly species that can only be found at Mounds
  • Nature walks

If you’re interested in learning more about our selection of new and used RVs for sale, contact us. We can answer any questions you have and make sure you’ve got the information needed to make the best decision for your needs. We can also assist with RV financing.