2021 – High View CoE – Ennis, TX – shortstop


We got away from Lake Texoma Thousand Trails on Monday afternoon, so the 140 miles down to High View CoE in Ennis, TX was just about the right distance. Knowing the Artic cold front was coming, we only hooked up electricity. As I said in my previous review, the water hookup is behind the back of the sites. My heated hose isn’t nearly long enough to reach that far. Not only that, but the water hookup is just a bare pipe sticking up about 3 feet out of the ground. By morning, the water was frozen up, so hooking up would have been a waste of time. The cold weather brought winter storm conditions, especially south of us so we decided to just stay put a couple of extra days. One of the nice things about living in a RV full time is that you always have the option to “run” from threatening weather or to hunker down and wait out challenging travel conditions. After three nights, though, we were ready to head south again.

We enjoyed the nice lake view out our front window. We also enjoyed seeing a large flock of cardinals – I counted 19 of the pretty red birds in our “back yard.”

2021 โ€“ Lake Texoma Thousand Trails โ€“ Gordonville, TX – shortstop


We like Lake Texoma Thousand Trails and have stayed here several times. This stay, though, was just a short stop before we headed south. In fact, we intended to stay a bit longer but old man winter visited with the promise of even more cold, ice, and snow in the days to come. We decided to “get while the getting’s good” and headed south after just one night.

You can see all our Lake Texoma reviews and photos here.

2020 – High View CoE Campground – Ennis, TX

We have traveled between Lake Conroe Thousand Trails and Lake Texoma Thousand Trails a few times. Frankly, the 300 mile drive is longer than we like traveling in a day. Our desire for a nice, yet inexpensive spot along I45 brought us to High View CoE on Bardwell Lake at Ennis, TX. The campground is about 10 minutes from the Interstate, and with our America the Beautiful Pass the price is right. One night stops aren’t our cup of tea, but this campground is just about right for a short stop between north Texas and Houston.

The sites offer 50 amps and water. However, the water hookups are well behind the sites, so bring plenty of water hose. Since our stop was a short one, we didn’t explore the entire campground, but in the first section there are only 10 or so sites that will accomodate a larger rig. We were in site 09 and it worked out just fine for us. The sites on the side of the road toward the lake are mostly short and downhill toward the lake. They would make good tent sites but you wouldn’t be able to put a bigger rig into them. When reserving online pay attention to site length!

We were told that the place was really hopping over the weekend. Our Monday night stay was very quiet. There were no campers anywhere near us.

I think High View will be on our list as a decent overnight as we drive between the Thousand Trails campgrounds.

2019 – Shortstop: 2019 – Stanton-Meramec KOA Journey, MO


The Stanton-Meramec KOA in Stanton, MO makes no claims of being a destination campground. It is just a minute or two off of I 44, a handy place for travelers who just want a FHU spot for the night before continuing their trip on the Interstate. There’s a store with restaurant, a pool, and a doggie park. Also, Meramec Caverns is nearby. The camp area is “T” shaped with the main section being a row of pull through sites set up for bigger rigs. The other section is set up for smaller rigs or tents. Also there are several rental cabins scattered around.

As I said, this isn’t a destination campground. On one hand I’d say it serves it’s purpose. However, there are a few negatives. First, the campground is, in my opinion, overpriced for what you get. Second, the sites are very close together side to side. Third, the sites have a slight slope front to back, making it hard to level a motorhome like ours.

We had a good Verizon signal and no problem getting satellite TV.

Having said all that, for this trip, this KOA was in the right spot for us to break up a longer move. Had it not been for that we would have stayed elsewhere, but being so close to the interstate and at the half-way point for this relocation this campground suited our needs just fine.

2019 – Shortstop: Holly Point Campground – Wake Forest, NC


Our one night stop at Holly Point Campground in Wake Forest, NC was an unplanned one and it came just in front of one of the hardest weekends of the year to find a campsite: Memorial Day weekend.

Our motorhome was scheduled for a front windshield replacement in Winston-Salem (following my run-in with a tree in South Carolina). The replacement took longer than I had anticipated and by the time we were ready to travel it was too late to make the longer drive we had planned.

While we were waiting on the windshield repair I was searching the internet for a suitable spot for one night. This campground gets good reviews and, even though it is booked up starting Friday, we were able to pick from several vacant spots for a Thursday one night stay.

Honestly, I wanted to find an “interstate campground” that caters to people just wanting to stop for a night, but came up empty on my search. Holly Point is farther from I85 than I wanted for just a one nighter, but (1) not finding a RV Park along the interstate and (2) it being the lead in to a holiday weekend I decided to go for it.

My biggest mistake, though, was the route I took from Durham. I left I85 onto Highway 70 and then traveled Highway 98 out to the Falls Lake Recreation area which is where Holly Point is located. Bad choice. There was construction and congestion the whole way, making for a tiring and slow conclusion to a long day. I’m not sure what route would be better, but this isn’t a good one.

Now, the campground is quite good. The sites are generally long with good spacing and reasonably level. They are 30 amp/water sites. The roads are paved and the sites are gravel. There’s a big lake. One of the highest compliments I can pay a campground is this: it reminds me of a Corps of Engineers campground.

My Verizon signal was good. Didn’t try to put the satellite up but I’m pretty sure I would have struck out at least from the site we picked.

Tell you what, it would, indeed, be a nice place to spend Memorial Day weekend.

2019 – Shortstop: Roosevelt State Park, Morton, MS

We spent a few extra days in Jackson, MS waiting to get into a shop that does front end alignment service on bigger motorhomes. I wanted to use this particular shop because the owner has a motorhome very similar to ours and also he gets great reviews. I think we made the right choice and recommend Shipp’s Truck Specialist in Florence. However, the 3-4 hour job turned into a 2 day job. We spent one night in the shop parking lot. They finished on Wednesday at about 5:00 and we wanted to find a spot with hookups for the night before getting back on the road again the next morning.

Roosevelt State Park in Moran, MS is just a few miles east of Jackson so we decided to go there. The entrance to the park is very close to I20. The “new” campgrounds, though, are a couple of miles in. The road is about a lane and a half wide, with lots of twists and turns. We didn’t meet anyone coming in โ€“ won’t be able to report on our exit till tomorrow. If we meet another motorhome it will be a tight squeeze.

The state park features a pretty lake with a big water slide that must delight the kids. There are cabins, a motel, and other nice facilities. The park hosts various community events throughout the year.

The roads in the campground are just one lane with no shoulders. Many of the sites are too short for us at 39′. I was also concerned about being able to make the turns in and out of the sites while keeping the front and back tires on pavement. There are some premium sites right on the lake that look inviting. I eased through the campground looking for the right combination of level + long enough + reasonable back in/pull out. It took a few minutes but I found a nice spot across from the bathhouse parking lot and backed in. Site 73 is just right for us and, in spite of the many sites that slope, this spot is nicely level. There is no room for the car but the parking lot across the road is fine.

I can see that locals who get to know this campground really like it. However, for an overnight stay the long narrow drive in and the even narrower campground roads with ditches making it a challenge to make some of the turns make this State Park a less than desirable short stop of us. For a longer stay it might be worth it though.

2019 – Shortstop: Southern Living RV Park – Greenwood, LA

2019 – Southern Living RV Park – Greenwood, LA

Greenwood, LA is just over the state line from Texas and right on I20. We got fuel at the nearby Flying J and then drove a mile or two to Southern Living RV Park. This park has wide concrete streets and several long pull through sites. There is also a pool, laundry, and bathhouse. The only real negative is that the sites are rather unlevel. The motorhomes around us either have the front wheels on blocks or have the wheels up off the ground. The pull throughs closest to Greenwood Road are probably the most level. Aside from that, this campground is fine for an overnight as you travel across I20.

2018 – Shenandoah Valley Campground – Verona, VA


We only intended on spending three nights at Shenandoah Valley Campground, Verona, VA. It turned out that our stay was shortened by a day. The campground is reasonably near I81, nestled in the Middle River valley. The campground is all about that river, which is a gentle stream, perfect for tubing most of the time. Then, near the popular tenting area is the real gem of the campground: a beautiful waterfall dropping in from the higher ground opposite the campground. Again, our stay was brief and in the week following heavy rains from what was Hurricane Florence. With the river running high (and it was flooding the campground in the days prior to our arrival), the waterfall was stunning.

There is a camping area on the plateau above the large camping area on the river; that’s where we stayed. Really, we were glad to be a bit higher, knowing that the river was pretty full and that more rain was forecast. My thinking was that even if the river overflowed its banks again we would be high enough to be clear of any danger. After the Hurricane Florence related flooding the campground staff worked many hours putting fresh gravel down throughout the large water-front area of the campground which is all gravel โ€“ roads and campsites.

This is a destination campground with a large, heated pool and several hot tubs located indoors. There’s also a nice fishing lake and a couple of playgrounds. The kids have a blast bike riding, fishing, tubing, swimming, and feeding the many mostly-tame rabbits.

WiFi is slow and only available in the campground store.ย  My Verizon signal was poor to zero.ย  I got a satellite signal but not many people would.ย  Having a homestyle dish on a tripod let me set up in the only sweet spot, just peeking over the trees to the south of us.ย  The sites themselves are pretty tight with neighbors very close in on both sides.

As I said, our stay was supposed to be three nights but after a night of rain on Saturday night a staff member knocked on our door telling us that the entire campground was being evicted by the sheriff’s office. The issue wasn’t flooding in the campground. Rather, it was the county road leading to the campground that was in danger of going underwater. We were told that we needed to be out within the hour.

So, we skipped breakfast and gave up on attending church and began preparing to move. It usually takes us a bit less than an hour to be ready to pull out. In this case, we were ready to go in around 40 minutes. The road out was fine, but there is one section that dips down right beside the river for a 100 yards or so. Water was lapping against the pavement as we came through.

For us, it was more of an inconvenience than anything else and we just moved down the highway to our next scheduled stop. I do feel sorry for the campground especially in light of all the work they did to get open again following the flooding.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Bear Creek Campground – Bristol, CT


Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut is the oldest continually operating amusement park in the United States. The park recently added a Bear Creek Campground that features cabins, teepees, a tenting area, and, of course, a large RV area. The campsites are laid out with water-electric hookups located in a shared grassy area on the driver’s side of the sites. If the place is full, there will be a shared front yard between campers as well. Most people, I think, come to spend a few days at the amusement park. There’s even a shuttle operating from the campground to the main gate of the park.

Our shortstop stay was just for one night as we traveled from southern Maine into Pennsylvania. The campground is about 10 minutes from I84 and the campsites are all pull-through, making it a handy place for an overnight stay. When I asked about discounts the lady I talked to on the phone offered me a nightly rate based on a three night stay rather than just one night.

Here are a few things you might want to know. The sites are all water/electric (30/50 amp), no sewer. Individual shower rooms are available. There is campground WiFi – ours got slower as the evening progressed. There’s a nearby power plant that can be heard non-stop in the near distance.

I had a strong 4G signal and, since the campsites are pretty much out in the open, satellite TV is no problem. The campground has a play area, but the main recreation is the amusement park. I think Bear Creek is a good choice for a stop in the Bristol, CT area.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Shortstop: Quinebaug Cove Campground – Brimfield, MA


We stopped off at Quinebaug Cove Campground in Brimfield, MA for just a couple of nights as we worked our way on north. One of our campground memberships is with RPI and this campground is included in that membership. We are supposed to be able to stay in RPI campgrounds for $10 but booking costs another $2 and, upon arrival I was informed that since I wanted electricity there is another $3 a night tacked on. It’s still a low price but a surcharge for electricity seems a bit over the top to me.

Anyway, our campsite was reasonably level and very close to our neighbors on each side. Really, there is barely room for an awning to be put out. Also, since the campsites are rather shallow, the only place to park our pickup was between us and the folks next to us. This makes the “packed in” feeling even more pronounced.

There are other sites for travelers at the top of a rather steep hill. I saw several campers up there, and the sites are roomier, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to pull our 5th wheel up such a steep hill. Since our stay was only two nights I was okay with the tight quarters where we were.

The campground has a nice big pool and several kids were enjoying it. The nearby town of Sturbridge is historical with lots of shops. We opted to spend our day going to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, about 40 minutes away.

My Verizon signal was great and I was able to get satellite TV by putting our tripod just outside our front door and raising it to its maximum height. This was one of those rare times when having a roof mounted dish would have actually been an advantage.

Everyone I talked to in the campground, especially the staff, was friendly and helpful. I think this place is okay for travelers who want a brief stop or for those who want a seasonal spot to get out of the city. As a traveler it wouldn’t be very high on my list as a place to spend anything beyond a night or two.


See individual photos with captions here.