Park and Campground Reviews Archives

10 Favorite Harvest Hosts Experiences (East U.S. Edition)

September 17, 2020 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Our travel life hasn’t been the same since we became Harvest Hosts members in early 2019. Until you’ve slept at an alpaca farm or a gator ranch in your RV, a certain sparkle is missing! Just admit it.

If you’re new to the program and not sure what’s involved, then take a quick break to read our previous article, Is Harvest Hosts Worth It? It will help you determine whether a Harvest Hosts membership suits your style of RV travel and is worth the investment.

Harvest Hosts is constantly adding locations, with the count at nearly 1,300 now. Here are 10 of our favorite options in the eastern United States.

[Read more…]

7 Favorite Harvest Hosts Experiences (West U.S. Edition)

June 12, 2020 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Over six years of full-time travel, we’ve made several changes to enrich the RV lifestyle for our family. One was eschewing the concrete playgrounds we used to call private RV parks. Another was perfecting our dry camping game, so we could stay off-grid in beautiful areas and save hundreds of dollars every month. Another was down-sizing from a 40-foot RV to a 25-foot RV, so we could be as nimble as a race car (it feels that way after driving a diesel pusher).

But just as much as any of those big changes, getting a Harvest Hosts membership-and using it-has transformed our traveling lives.

We’ve written extensively about whether a Harvest Hosts membership is worth it (spoiler: we think it is). <- Read that article first, if you haven’t yet.

If you already have a Harvest Hosts membership or know you’re going to get one soon, then you may be wondering where to stay next! It’s a tough choice, considering there are well over 1,000 locations to choose from now.

To get you started, here are seven of our favorite Harvest Hosts experiences so far, western United States edition. We also have a list of 10 highlights in the east, if that’s where you’re headed to next!

[Read more…]

Is Harvest Hosts Worth It?

January 22, 2020 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

The times, they are a-changin’. As Americans flock to the road in RVs, rejecting consumerism and embracing the value of experiences, RV campgrounds are filling up weeks in advance. And when you do find an open spot, it’s guaranteed to be more expensive than ever.

Enter Harvest Hosts, an experience-based RV camping option opening over a thousand unique locations to its members.

I run across few RVers these days who don’t know about Harvest Hosts. The company’s marketing strategy is stellar. But just because you’ve heard of it, doesn’t mean you’ve signed up.

[Read more…]

Loving Flagstaff for Off-roading, Natural Beauty, Proximity to Everything

April 16, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

I was mad at Flagstaff, Arizona, last time we were there. We only went because our first attempt at wild camping had failed miserably. As far as I was concerned, Flagstaff was an inferior Plan B to the grandeur of Sedona.

But time was kind to my memories of Flagstaff, and Eric never had a grudge like I did. So when it came time to plan our route for 2018, I gave Flagstaff another shot.

Good thing I did. Because after our two-week visit, I kinda think Flagstaff has made my Top 5 list of places we’ve stayed in four+ years of fulltime RVing.

The day we arrived in Flagstaff, our three older boys flew in for Spring Break. Eric drove to Phoenix to pick up Darius (20), Javen (17), and Silas (14). [Read more…]

Gallup, NM Reminds Us Not to Jump to Conclusions

March 31, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

When we plan our trips, we have a list of what we want to see. But since we only travel 250 miles every two weeks, there are always places we stop simply because they’re at the right place between Point A and Point B. Gallup, NM was one such means to an end.

When we decided to stay in Gallup on our way from Santa Rosa, NM to Flagstaff, AZ, I wasn’t exactly excited. It seemed like a small town on Route 66 with some hiking options, on the way to other places.

But when we made friends with some Albuquerque locals last week, some of them had negative things to say about Gallup. The kind of things that stick in your mind and cause your perspective to change. From that point on, I wasn’t expecting much out of Gallup.

I was wrong. [Read more…]

Caprock Canyons State Park, Where the Texas Bison Roam Free

March 13, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Guide Caprock Canyons State Park We followed the sidewalk almost directly across from our site, heading straight toward the bathhouse. As we left the campground, turning a corner through the dry Texas brush, furry figures came to a halt a few yards in front of us. We squinted, trying to discern between mounds of sandy dirt and earth-colored animals. The yelping from the sentinels, a high-pitched bark that gives the prairie dog its name, told us exactly where to look.

We were within sight of the trailhead, coming back from a five and a half mile hike, which included a rigorous climb and descent. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I whisper-shouted, “Look!” to Eric. Blocking our exit, a bull bison stood munching the tall grass. He had spotted us, so we slowly created our own trail back to the Jeep.

Two stories of many from our week at Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas Panhandle. This underrated state park is unlike any place we’ve stayed in more than four years of fulltime travel. To think it’s in our home state, and we had never been there before this month.

You’ll never stumble upon it. You have to know about it to find it. But once you do, you’ll be immersed in wildlife and red rock beauty. This is home to the Texas State Bison Herd, a group of about 100 animals that literally roam free around the entire state park, including through the campground and onto hiking trails. [Read more…]

RV Wanderlust Travel Master Map: 2014 to Present

June 29, 2017 by BrittanyHighland 7 Comments

I love staying organized and keeping records. But for some reason, I’ve had a hard time creating maps of our travels that make sense and look pretty. After three and half years of it bugging me, and me doing nothing about it, I finally sat down this month and created a color-coded Master Map of allllll our RV adventures, from when we started in February 2014 to now.

Drum roll… [Read more…]

RV Park Review: Premier RV Resorts Redding, CA

June 3, 2016 by Eric Highland 4 Comments

Brittany and I have been on an incredible adventure this year. Our faithful readers know we’ve been calling it our “Grand Loop Trip.” For those new to our blog, welcome!

We started from Austin, Texas and we’re currently making our way up to Seattle to visit family for the summer.

Eric Brittany Highland Lassen Volcanic National Park

We found fallen and falling snow only an hour away from Redding at Lassen Volcanic National Park

We like to keep our trips between spots really short. Really short! We typically travel 250 miles every two weeks. So it takes us a long time to get anywhere but, we get to discover little gems we’d never otherwise find. We know other full-time RVers can relate to this.

However, short trips between spots doesn’t mean that we stay just anywhere. On the contrary! Since we’re staying for two weeks at each stop, and quite often in a small town, we take our time choosing each destination carefully.

So, when we were doing our research into places to stay along the I-5 corridor in northern California, we were happy to find the easily accessible Premier RV Resorts Campground in Redding, CA. [Read more…]

Laid-back Week in Las Cruces, New Mexico

January 27, 2016 by BrittanyHighland 3 Comments

After an extremely long two days of driving through West Texas, we crossed the New Mexico border and arrived in Las Cruces, NM. There wasn’t any outstanding reason we chose Las Cruces, other than the fact that it was a good fit for our overall route.

Our week there was laid-back and low-key. We’re saving up for an international trip later this month, so we mostly ate at home and avoided tourist traps (confession: we’re sometimes susceptible to tourist traps). Despite the slower pace, we definitely enjoyed our visit. Here are the things we recommend, based on our experience in Las Cruces! [Read more…]

RV Park Review: Jellystone Park Nashville

April 14, 2015 by Eric Highland 8 Comments

Welcome to Jellystone Park Nashville

We always promise to be transparent on our blog and share the good, the bad and the ugly. Well, you’re going to get all three in this review. If you’ve read our other reviews, you’ll know we do our best to tell it just like it is, and that’s exactly what you’re about to read.

We had never been to a Jellystone Park before. But we’d heard good things from fellow RVers with kids, so we were hopeful as we booked our stay at Jellystone Park Nashville for Spring Break 2015. We even found a 50% off coupon by joining their text club, so we went the whole nine yards and booked a premium site.

We ended up having a great time with the boys in the Nashville area. Unfortunately, that had very little to do with the park itself.

[Read more…]

First Time Here? Get to Know Us!

Join Our Adventures

Search Our Blog

Recent Posts