Camping at Big Bone Lick State Park

This past weekend Jason and I went camping at Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Kentucky. This was our first trip out with the new (to us) Ameri-Camp fifth wheel camper and our first trip out for 2015.

We had perfect weather and had three RV sites with four other friends - Christina, Charlie, Beth and Lydia.  Beth had her new rig out for the first time and Lydia came for a night and bunked up with her. Charlie and Christina have their own rig and we almost always camp together.

Site #035

Site #034

Site #033

The park was very clean and fairly quiet for how busy it was.  There is a pool (which wasn't open for the season yet), a mini golf course, a dump station, a small camp store, a gift shop and a very nice bathhouse with three nice sized shower stalls and three toilet stalls.

The 62 RV sites offer 30 amp electric service and water hookups that are shared between two sites (50+ feet of water hose is a must for water hookups).  There are no sewer options on the sites, but there is a dump station on the premises.  No WiFi or cable here either, though we were only in the camper to sleep and prep food so that wasn't an issue for us for a weekend trip.  We did have 3G on our Verizon signal.

The park has access to a couple of nice hiking trails.  We hiked the trail down to the Bison viewing
area because we wanted to see the new baby bison that was born the previous week.  We were told momma bison was in labor for a week - yikes, poor momma!

Week Old Bison - Photo by Christina

On the way back we were told by hikers passing by about a large snake in a tree up the hill.  Sure enough there was a large black racer slithering around the branches just beside the trail. Apparently the park staff keeps moving him further into the woods, but he keeps making his way back to the trail paths and is spotted often.

Some other areas of the park that we didn't get to check out were the lake, the museum and the church that is known for ghost hauntings.  Hopefully we can go back again and check out the rest of the park.  It was a very nice park to visit and we would definitely visit again.

We took all three dogs with us on this trip and they all did great!  We set up their XPens around a tree for some shade but where they could see us no matter whose site we were at.  They need a little bit of work with barking at passing dogs, but they get better with each trip and we're working on the barking.  The last thing we want to do is annoy other campers. Overall, they do great and they love to go with us on our camping adventures!

See all of our trip photos in the Big Bone Lick camping photo gallery.

Our New Camping Rig

Yesterday we finally got to pick up our new fifth wheel camper we purchased before the Thanksgiving holiday. We had to wait to bring it home until we were able to get the fifth wheel hitch installed in Big Nasty (our Ford F-350). So now it's home and in the driveway waiting to be leveled so I can start stocking it up for our spring camping adventures!

Here she is just after getting the hitch installed and awaiting our final walk through.

These are Derby City RV dealership's photos. I will be updating with my own once I get it stocked, decorated and personalized a bit.

Exterior w/ awning. The slide is on the other side.

Superslide w/ dining room table & chairs and hidabed couch

Full kitchen

Entertainment center with tv (to be replaced with LCD) and surround sound speakers (installed in ceiling throughout) Hallway to bedroom & bathroom

Hallway stepup to bedroom and bathroom

Queen bed w/ nightstands on both sides

Full stand up shower & sink

Bedroom closet storage & tv shelf

Water closet (literally!)

Tipsaw Lake Camping Trip

Tipsaw Lake Campground - Catbrier Loop

Since the end of camping season is quickly approaching and the cooler air is coming in, we had our final camping trip of the year at Tipsaw Lake in Hoosier National Forest in St Croix, Indiana.  We stayed Friday through Sunday with three friends and our three dogs.  Since we sold our camper in hopes of upgrading and haven't yet done so, Jason and I tent camped for the first time with all three dogs.  They did great!

We stayed in the Catbrier Loop of the Tipsaw Lake campground, one of five loops in the park and the only one with water hookups. (The other two loops are electric only). We stayed at site #005. When we arrived there were two other sites occupied and only one other site occupied by the time we left on Sunday morning so we almost had the entire loop to ourselves, which was surprising given the perfect weather.  We think this must be a hidden gem that a lot of people aren't aware of.

The Catbrier loop was a short hike away from the public beach on the lake where there were also playgrounds, pavilions, bathhouses and a giant sun dial.  Since the beach generally has lifeguards on duty, they close down after Labor Day through Memorial Day for swimming, but you can still go down and walk on the beach and use the other facilities.

There is also a 6+ mile hiking trail that goes around the entire lake. The trails are cleared and provide beautiful views of the lake and the forest. I personally only hiked about 2 miles with a friend because we had two of the dogs with us and I didn't think they would make it through 6+miles of hiking.  So we turned back and our other two friends went along and hiked the entire trail.

Tipsaw Lake Beach

The campground was very nice and peaceful. The sites are very large - we had a camper and two good sized tents plus two trucks and a dog pen set up with plenty of room to spare.  This is probably one of the largest campsites we've ever stayed on. The campground is very quiet - no playground, no traffic noise and no artificial lighting. By nighttime it really did feel like we were out in the middle of the forest!  The sites were level and had electric and water hookups.  There were restrooms located in our loop, however we had to go to a different loop to access a bathhouse.  The bathhouse was very clean and very spacious with large, concrete showers.   This was also the place to go to pick up ice and firewood as the loop host was parked beside the bathhouse and readily available for anything we needed.

I really can't think of any negatives for this campground unless you require full hookups (sewer) or WIFI. We generally require WIFI, but since this campground is fairly close to the interstate we were able to pick up a decent 3G signal with our Verizon plan. However, our friend with AT&T didn't get very good coverage at all.

This is a highly recommended campground, particularly if you are looking for a quiet get-away.

Have a look at all of our photos of our trip to Tipsaw Lake.

Vacation Rocks!

This is the view from our campsite at our first stop of our camping vacation at Nashville Shores in Hermitage, Tennessee.  This campground overlooks Percy Priest Lake and the view and weather is perfect, especially for May!  More to come later on our trip - it's been an interesting one already!

2 Rivers Campground Review

This past weekend we joined our friends Charlie & Christina for a last minute camping trip. They were testing out their new RV and wanted to go somewhere close by to test everything out before heading out for upcoming planned trips. They chose to try out 2 Rivers Campground in Carrollton, Kentucky as it was nearby ( only 28 minutes from both of our houses ) and had good reviews. We decided to go with them - after all, camping is more fun with friends!  And we wanted to test out the new XPens for the dogs ( which worked out perfectly ). It was an interesting trip, to say the least.

Our Setup with the XPens

Christina and Charlie arrived Friday a couple of hours before we did, so they were able to call us ahead of time and warn us that the campsites we had reserved ( we reserve side by side sites ) were taped off due to a busted water line and we had to move to a different site.  Once we got to the campground we found that there was no one in the check-in booth in order to give us our tags or confirm our reservations. So we just pulled on it to our spot, got backed in and leveled and setup for the weekend.

Christina & Charlie's Setup

The first thing we found was that the WIFI was not working. We always try to get campsites with WIFI due to our line of work and the website stated "free WIFI" for all campsites.  Luckily we had a good cell signal so it was that big of an issue, though it did put a dampener on our plans to watch the NCAA games that were on all weekend and it makes it difficult if a work issue comes up.  Jason ended up calling the campground phone number to find out if they could reset the WIFI for us.  That was when he found out that the person that usually ran the check-in booth had been told not to bother to work the booth until at least April because they weren't paying her to do so. So that explained the empty check in booth.  She also informed us that the WIFI was not working and that they "hoped to have it fixed sometime this year".  So, umm, maybe they should take the part off of the website that states free WIFI?!

River View from Campsite

After this conversation we realized we were pretty much on our own as far as no host or employees. There were only a handful of other campers there and they appeared to be either full-timers or just stopping in to sleep while passing through because we barely saw anyone while we were there.  Also, due to there being no host, we didn't get pin numbers for the locks on the bath house ( which we didn't realize were required until after we had talked to the campground lady ).  Christina and I went up to check out the condition of the bath house and take care of some business when we realized we couldn't get in because we weren't given a pin. All I can say is thank goodness both of our campers had usable holding tanks.  We did walk around the park a little bit at that point as they had nice paved paths and a large overlook directly over the Kentucky River.  But aside from that site, there wasn't much else to look at besides the traffic bridge on one side of the campground and the junk yard on the other side.

Saturday morning we woke up fairly early, as you tend to do when camping. That was when the junk yard next to us started operating heavy machinery and dumping large loads of metals.  Our campsite was only about 20 feet away from said junk yard, thus very loud and very unpleasant.  There was a small hill separating our sites from the junk yard but you could still see most of it and it blocked none of the noise. This lasted most of the morning before they finally decided to take a lunch break.  It was about this time that we decided this was a pretty crappy campground, not worth sitting out in the cold that was coming in and just decided to pack up and go home. Upon packing up to go home I walked the trash over to the dumpster to find that the gate to the dumpster was locked, thus I could not dispose of our trash and we had to take it back home with us.

Junkyard View from Campsite

While we were there we also had issues with one set of campers letting their two dogs run loose all over the campground, which made our dogs go nuts ( they were in their XPens and contained as per the rules ) and we had to keep putting our dogs in the camper until the loose dogs went back to their area. These dogs also used the bathroom all over the other campsites and their owners never once picked up after them.

To top off the eventful weekend, Saturday morning we managed to lock ourselves out of our camper when the bedroom door malfunctioned and stayed locked when we closed it. We hadn't been out the main door that morning yet so it was still locked up as well. Luckily we were very close to home as Jason had to drive home to get the spare RV keys.  Next time a spare set will remain in the truck!

I will say that there was a situation going on that apparently isn't the norm so this review may not apply to this park for future trips, but we still will not return.  We should have been informed about the situation before arriving and have contacted the campground to ask for our money back for at least the night we did not stay.  We still have not heard back from them...and I have to say at this point I don't really expect we will.

( Update: We still never heard back from the campground, however there was a $40 credit issued to our card used to make the reservations, so at least that's something.  Still would have appreciated an apology of some sort - but I supposed that's too much to expect these days. )

But as always, we still had a good time with friends, even though our trip was cut short.  We had a wonderful steak dinner, a good fire and some great conversation and laughs. The dogs did great with their XPen ( you can see the black wire of it in the first photo ).  We just hope our next trip will be more "camp like" and have the amenities as promised!

Campground Overview


Campsite Pros:

• Large, level and paved camping pads


• Staggered sites allowed more "breathing room" so you aren't on top of neighboring campers


• Picnic tables, playground, trash cans, etc look brand new


• Scenic river access overlook


• Full hookups


• Close to town if any supplies are needed

Campsite Cons:

• Located right next door to a junkyard that operates on the weekends (very loudly)


• Also located by a busy traffic bridge that goes over the river


• Very few trees - what trees there were are very small


• No cable TV


• No campground host


• Very poor radio signal


• Non-working WIFI 


• Bath house was locked with required pin to access bathrooms and showers and we were not given an access code


• Garbage dumpster access was locked and inaccessible and we had to take our trash home with us


• Campground was not nearly worth $40 per night 

Ky River View

This was the view from the picture window in the back of our camper.  Our site (sort of) overlooked the Kentucky River.  Unfortunately, this was the only pretty view to be had from the camp site.  It was pretty much a parking lot campground and looking to the left of the nice river view was a great view of the junkyard.  Read my full review on this campground.

Giant Dawg is Content Camping

We took a last minute camping trip over the weekend and got to try out the XPens for the dogs for the first time ( instead of having them all tangling on everything with leads ).  They worked out awesome!  As you can see, Giant Dawg was quite content with the situation...as were the other two.  The camping trip itself was interesting, to say the least, and you can read the campground review here.

Getting the Camper Ready for Spring

Today got up to a balmy 60 degrees so I skipped out of work a bit early and opened up the camper.  At the end of last season, from our single trip we made, it was quite a mess.  We've purchased a lot of items for the camper and they all just kind of got thrown in there for the winter.  So today I plugged it up, put the slide out, opened some windows and started organizing.

I cleaned out  the refrigerator, which had acquired some mildew. I organized all the cabinets and drawers with organizing baskets. I put new sheets and the new comforter on the bed ( I just had to get rid of the horrendously ugly flowered bedspread - now I just need to figure out what to do with the equally ugly window valences ). I did some general cleaning to remove leaves and other debris that got tracked in by us and the dogs during our very leafy trip in November.  I hung up a calendar so we can track our trips - and because it's a pretty scenic calendar that helps make the camper look a little more home-ish.  I organized the storage areas under the camper so everything is easy to find and access and stowed away all small, loose items in baskets. And I put away all the kitchen gadgets, candles, tablecloths and other accessories I have been purchasing throughout the winter.

And now, I'm very much ready to go camping!  Come on spring!

Unorganized Mess

New bedspread to replace the one that used to match the window valances - yuck!

Impatiently Waiting Out Winter

This year we bought a Passport America membership to help with discounts on campgrounds we plan to visit.  I've been flipping through the catalog and yearning for spring so we can get out and about and do some camping!  I've got a closet full of goodies to get organized inside the camper, but until it decides to stop snowing so I can put the slide out and get warm enough so I can putter around in the camper, I'm stuck just waiting and dreaming.  37 Days until spring!

Starve Hollow - Vallonia, IN

Click here for all trip photos.

This weekend we had our maiden voyage out in the new Jayco Eagle camper with the three dogs at Starve Hollow State Recreation Area in Vallonia, Indiana just outside of Seymour.  The park was absolutely beautiful with all the trees in full fall color. We were not on the lake, but we were within a five minute walk to the water's edge.

The dogs all did very well, much better than we had anticipated, especially since they were all restricted to their own screw in the ground lead.  We intended to have an X-pen dog run area set up for them, but were not able to acquire the necessary parts to do so for the first trip.  After their initial excitement dwindled down they got tangled in each other's leads less and less.  They did really, really well, much better than we thought they would.

Since this was our first trip out in the new camper it was also a learning experience for us.  Our last camper didn't have holding tanks or a slide so we had to figure out all the workings of those functions - which makes camping all that much better, by the way.  It was very nice not having to run up to the shower house every time we needed to use the restroom or take a shower.  Having the comforts of home on the road is a giant perk!

The only complaint about the park that we had was that there was supposed to be a nice hiking trail.  We saddled up all the dogs and went out to go hike.  However, after following all the signs pointing to the "hiking trail" we ended up in the cabin rental area of the park with no hiking trail in sight.  So we doubled back and headed home after much searching.

The only other issue we ran into was lack of wifi and cell coverage.  According to Verizon's map, we should have had a good 3G connection, however it was very spotty. Due to Jason's line of work, we generally can't go anywhere without a good signal in case something comes up.  We will be looking into a booster for upcoming trips.

Since it is November and pretty chilly out, the park was very sparse.  The full hookup area where we were probably only had 10 other campers around, where normally 50 sites are available.  The waterfront, electric only sites were pretty full though.  After walking through the waterfront area, I can see where campers would make the sacrifice to give up full hook-ups for electric only sites for the waterfront views.

I walked down to the beach area and can easily see why this place would make an awesome summer campground. There was a very nice sand beach area along the lake shore with sand volleyball courts, life guard stations and lake boundaries where the swimming area dropped off.

I would love to visit here again.  We were at site 239, which was on the end of the road and looked into the woods.  I particularly chose this spot for the dog's first outing so that they were not near a lot of distractions.  I would totally pick this spot again, no matter what time of year, due to the privacy and the shade it provides.  Definitely a place on the list to come back to!

All photos of our trip can be found here!

2004 Jayco Eagle Travel Trailer

I finally got around to getting photos of the new travel trailer!  It's a 2004 27 foot Jayco Eagle with a Super Slide.

Here is the front - you can see there are two doors - the main one in the back that walks into the living rom and another one in the bedroom.



This is the back side that shows the slideout where the couch, dinette and closet resides.



This is the view from the main door stepping into the living area.



This is the living area.  The couch folds down into a double bed and the dinette set converts to another double bed. Behind the dinette is a large storage closet with room to hang clothes and 6 drawers at the bottom.



The kitchen has a refrigerator, microwave and stovetop.  There is no oven in this one, but we have a toaster oven that we prefer to use anyway since it can be used outside and won't heat up the inside of the camper and will use electric instead of propane.  The fridge can run of of electric or propane as well.  All cabinetry is solid oak.





This is the view looking back towards the living area from the bedroom doorway. I love the picture window in the back!  All windows have pull down day and night shades.



This is the bedroom with a Queen size pillow-top bed.  To the right is the other entrance door and to the left is another window and a fold down shelf.




The bathroom has a sink, toilet and a bath/shower.






And finally, this is the view from the couch of the entertainment area.  We need a TV with a HD tuner in it, but no rush on that as I don't think we'll really use the TV much anyway - we didn't in the past, but it's nice to have for a rainy day to watch movies.





 Hope you enjoyed our little tour of The Eagle!  We have an upcoming camping trip planned so more RV posts to come!  Sadly it's already getting really, really cold here in Kentucky so we may only make it out once before having to winterize, but we will play it by ear.

The New Rig

Today we picked up our new Travel Trailer. We met the seller in the strip mall parking lot where the county clerk's office was located.  It was a simple title transfer and since the seller brought the camper with him, we were able to swap hitches and head on home with our new toy.

Once we got it home we immediately leveled it and opened it up - slide and windows since it was a beautiful, crisp October day.  Jason got the radio working and I got busy with stocking it with the few camper supplies we already had.  While I did that, I first brought Lois Lane into the camper with me.  I think she remembers camping with us before because she settled right in after taking a good smell of the new place.  Next I brought in L.B.  I don't think he really knew what to think - he sniffed around the same path that Lois did and then took his spot on the couch for a nap.  Next I brought in Buddy (aka Giant Dawg).  He did the same sniff and explore and then settled in to nap in front of the couch.

We made a Wal-Mart trip to get a few things - tire chalks, blankets, roasting sticks, table top grill, dishes, etc.  I spent another couple of hours gathering extra household items that we didn't need in the house and transferred them to the camper.

I was hoping to book a weekend trip next weekend for a trial run with the new setup and the dogs, however the timing isn't working in our favor.  Since it is Halloween season and perfect camping weather it seems all campsites are pretty much booked solid.  I'm still hunting around, but due to our busy weekend schedule in the next several weeks we may not make it out until mid-November at this point.  I am determined to get out at LEAST once this year!

Here are a few phone photos I got from today's adventures.

The initial pick-up:

Interior:

Lois Lane:

Giant Dawg:

L.B.