RE: RV Parks and Large Dogs
We have 2 dogs, 1 small (6 Lbs) and 1 large (140 Lbs). I am planning to purchase a class A motorhome and live in an RV park. One of the RV parks in my area requires dogs to be under 20 Lbs. The large dog is very tame, quiet and old. Why are limits placed on sizes of dogs? Some smaller dogs are more noisy and more energetic than the larger, older ones.
Since a couple of years ago when activists got the ball rolling on banning specific breeds. And the insurance companies all jumped on board and basically now many CG's are being held hostage by their insurance policies regarding pets.:(
Setting a limit on weight is an easy way of illuminating the dogs on the banned breed list without having to list all the breeds and furthermore irritating/offending campers with large breed pets.
Great answer.
Great Danes, Pyranees ,St. Bernards and many other large breeds are known to be well tempered, but is such a large pet appropriate in camp where it is necessary to walk it in a new environment among unknown children and smaller aggressive dogs?
Camps have to make the rule for liability and to suit clientele. A pet of breed or large enough to cause concern to our other guests is one to restrict.
Its not how you know your pet so much as it is how the others view it.
RE: New Mexico Camping Taxes
It is always tempting to raise taxes for people from somewhere else. You are never in a position to have to ask for their vote.
Tax of this nature is about you, the visitor paying for your share of the infrastructure, and not burdening the local resident tax payer with paying for that service to you.
It is counterproductive for state & local governments to excessively tax visitors,' to look the horse in the mouth.'
RVing has another price in that most states levy no personal or property tax, license fees are for road use, so what about all of the rest of how you use the local services?
Since this is a user pay tax, is it not the most correct way?
RE: KOA Reservations vs what you get when you arrive
It is unfortunate that the OP did not get what they reserved. I suspect this is a rare occurence in most camps, due to circumstances beyond their control. There may have been an emergency or breakdown that necessitated a site of his liking was not open.
It is not helpful to anyone to paint all camps with the same brush.
Should you apply the same criteria to an airline,hotel or cruise ship,how would you fare?
it does appear that the camp handled the situatation appropriately. They voluntarily apologized, refunded the premium, had an adequate if not satisfactory space.
Overstating length needs for outfit is a lie.
Start out with misstating your wishes, then expect others to honor you? When does honesty prevail?
RE: Universal key...is it yours?
A guest from So. Cal locked herself out of their nearly new TT. She asked about a locksmith, I asked do any of your compartments pass through into the rig? This one does, she replies. When I opened that door with a ch751 on my ring the horror of it sent them to a locksmith for the day.
They came back with 6 keyed alike cam locks for under $50.
No lock will stop a determined thief, but unique keyed ones will make it easy to prove to your ins. co. that you practice due diligence.
RE: Black Hills, Mt Rushmore
Make reservations asap to get your best choice of sites. The first week in July is the busiest of the year for families.
The new site for combined private & state camps is www.campgroundsd.com
It is live now, but not yet found by all search engines.
RE: Selling Canadian registered motor home in US
Unless US law has changed, you have to declare it at the border, then apply for a title. I imported several Canadian vehicles to the US 10-20 years ago, and always had to declare them at the border crossing.
Contact US Customs
Let us know what you find out
RE: New Mexico Camping Taxes
Taxes like this are generally earmarked to fund the state tourism departments and to local government to pay for the increased need of public services. This way, Fire, Police and other emergency services of service to you are paid by you and not the local resident.
SD has a 1 1/2% tourism tax charged by businesses that recieve more than 50% of their income from tourism, on top of the statewide 4% sales tax. Then cities and counties may have an additional sales tax to fund their particular issues, the state parks have their own extra point or two to fund their own advertising budget. Thus in our state parks you may see rates vary a lot, from 4- 7.5%
Consequently, here you could see a minimum in a local park that primarily serves locals a 4% rate, to a mostly tourist park in a rural area required to charge an extra 1.5% so 5.5%,then another in a county or cities limits may have even more.
SD does not charge tax on stays of 30 days or more.
It could be that in other states they are establishing a flat rate so as to be an easier method to manage, then distribute to the agencies of need , like some states do with school districts?
RE: Nat'l Park senior pass
3 weeks ago I met with the Super. and his staff of Wind Cave NP to discuss the reason for the closure of the Elk Mountain camp there. Under sequester, they must reduce spending.
They cannot reduce spending on managing the land, wildlife and features of the park. What's left? The electives like the campground, visitor services. Sadly these are the most visible features to the traveler, are not targeted for political reasons for media exposure of the reduction of service.
Last year the Elk Mountain Camp income was about 60% of cost to operate, due to the many 50% off Golden Access Passport holders, the camp policy to provide firewood on an honor system that many abused. Read about it on
www. rvparkreviews.com
This is a nice camp with flush toilets, daily Ranger interpretive programs, with over 6600 people overnighting in 2012. Most of whom toured the cave. I fear that the savings in closing the camp will be overshadowed by the loss of visitors to the cave, as they will go on to another camp in the BHNF, CSP, maybe a private camp like mine, then not take the drive back to see the Cave, thus an even greater loss of fee income to the park.
An increase of fees for elective NP services and passes to use them would keep them open. User Pay, you see?
Max, a supporter of our parks
RE: campgrounds to stay away from?
Camps are not like Walmart where every store is the same, nor would you, I or anyone wish them to be.
A more detailed question describing your wishes would get you quality responses from the many good folks in the forum, not just the anonymous trolls intent on bashing what could be good places that they had a brain F: *% moment at.
Camps are a constantly changing environment. Do not let a comment not to your taste dissuade you from visiting. Should you hear of recurring issues in one, that are not to your liking, recognize how things may have changed.New owners, policy, may make the camp just what you want, or do not want. A phone call should do it.
Look at rvparkreviews.com . research the posts here and there commenting on its value. Good, it's a start, with your filters on read and sort out what you want.
Max
Edit notice every one has avoided your topic question?
RE: RV Park Hookups
There are many camps that could not place the utilities in the ideal location for most rigs. Some of our sites have this limitation. Rock that cannot be dug through without dynamite blasting or killing trees, Plumbing codes that requires 10' or more separation between water supply and waste discharge,
Even digging too close to the trees causing root damage. Carry lots of hose and cable then use the site of your choice any way you want however its built.
RE: WATER PRESURE
The vacuum breaker, backflow preventer , as we know it will not affect pressure or volume ,The trouble must be on your side of the hookups . Try out the pressure and volume at the supply faucet before blaming the park.
Oh, turn off your caps key.
RE: Trip Routing doesn't include State Parks?
GS gives predominate listing to private camps, because that is what GS is about.
Member camp listing and advertising is the prime revenue for the travel guide and this free forum.
For all those public parks who are listed,unrated,not verified at no cost to them,
GS recovers the cost of doing so through sales of guide books and memberships, we private operators hope to benefit through the all inclusive format.
Think about the hippocrasy there. You wish I pay for my national organization to give predominate listing to my government subsidized competition?
Good Luck in building your own business with that model.
RE: Who drives a F-350 as their sole vehicle and likes it?
I only use my 3500 truck to tow. With expensive fuel and low mileage I wouldn't have it without the fiver. My in town vehicle is a 2000 Camry. You might look to see if you can get a good "beaater" with better gas mileage and low taxes and insurance to get you back and forth to work.
Good suggestion here.
I like my srw 3500 as a driver, a drw would be a bit more trouble. Find a beater you can tow 4 down, and pull it behind the 5 er on a tow bar. Seen it done many times
RE: Hwy 16 Jewel Cave area
the 2 miles on 16 through the federal property at jewel cave are fine to travel with any rig. There are no shoulders, it is winding and slow. Just slow down for a few minutes and enjoy the scenery.
widening of 16 and bridging of the canyon could damage the cave.
RE: swamp boat tours
Find a marina and rent a small fishing boat and take your own tour. You can go where you want and it will be a lot less expensive and you can take your time and do what you please, fish if you want to, photograph, etc. The gators are there if you look, especially in the summer. Birds, other wildlife too.
This is a great idea if you know what you are seeing. The guides on the swamp boats are experts on educating guests on what to see, how to see, the relationship between it all.
Next trip to the swamp country we will rent or bring a boat and go it alone. Our eyes were opened in many ways by that guide on a paid tour. We regret not one cent of the cost to have that guide. He not only pointed out the wildlife but also the life of the people among them. Generations of experience in an afternoon.
It's kind of like driving across Kansas. To the uninformed, it is a long empty drive. To those who know the land and the people, the prairie states are a wonder of sights, wildlife and culture.
RE: New GS Membership
Mike,
All you need is your membership # , that any member camp or service provider can verify in a moment through the GS system. Or we can call membership services for you at check in to get your #.
Max
RE: How do CGs decide what site to put RVs in?
Our only seasonals are workcampers, and they get their pick of our best perimeter sites so as to add to security of the camp.
Every non snowbird camp i've ever been in in 35 years as a worker(22yrs) , or vacationer(12yrs) segregates the two; for the obvious reasons westernrvparkowner stated so well.
Longer term rvers expect a much lower cost for site rental, so if they wished for the finest site in my camp, open your wallet, or come to work.
Monthlies ,for us, are only less work for the office staff, offset by the cost of utilities used, generally the aggravations of 'resident' expectation of service to them. Thus we discourage them with our pricing and gladly refer them to other area camps better suited to their budget. This also adds to the greater availibility and satisfaction of our vacation guests.
Most States have laws that govern a month or more of tenancy. In those that give long term residents the position of being a tenant with a lease( Tx. for example.) , expect notice in the office and in registration that in no way are you a tenant with a lease.
We camp owners strive to suit the nature of our guests. In high season every camp i've visited, the short term reservation caller will get the best available at the date of call, a drive in, will get what is left over. Sorting the crowd is not discriminatory, it is best for the satisfaction of all.
RE: Selecting a 5ver For Double Tow
A very Tall order.
A double tow of 4k# in any state will require brakes on the second trailer. Not so much to save your families life, as to save mine.
RE: How do CGs decide what site to put RVs in?
Rig size, to suit site, satellite tv capable (trees/no trees) family/ or not, quiet stargazing or phone must have. Dog walk, handicap access, playground visibility?
Must have pull through/ prefer back in for privacy and view.
Availibility at the time of your reservation is the key.
Make your wishes clear when you call to reserve.
