For years, my Dad and I talked about taking a trip together. He got to pick the destination. He finally decided on Gettysburg. That was not what I had been anticipating, but I started looking at accommodations near the old battlegrounds.
I found a KOA nearby and booked it for a couple of days. I also wanted to see Shenandoah National Park, so I booked us there as well.
We started our 6.5-hour trip at 8:00 am. The drive was easy and we made it fun.
Checking into the KOA Gettysburg, I realized that when they say bring linens, they meant towels too. We made a quick trip to Walmart for towels and washcloths. The KOA seemed to be the older style of campground, with tighter spacing and it looked like it would be hard to bring a larger RV in. As far as KOAs go, it was middle of the road. They did have a breakfast option on-site though.
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We had booked a Deluxe Cabin with a full bathroom. They claimed it could sleep 5, which would have been extremely tight as it was a small cabin.
After settling in, we drove in to see the town. It was only about a twelve-minute drive. There were quite a few restaurant options, but I had made a list of some of the neater-looking options and we decided to eat at the Dobbin House Tavern. The restaurant had a great ambiance and I enjoyed the meal. We hit the gift shop on our way out to grab a keychain and postcard.
We walked around town, exploring a little bit before grabbing ice cream for dessert at Mr. G’s. After a round of cards, we headed to bed. I was eager to see what our Gettysburg experience would be like.
While we stayed at the Horse Cave KOA, we stayed our second night in a Treehouse! (It was really more like a cabin on pillars made to look like a tree trunk/branches.)
We really enjoyed our stay here. It had a nice firepit and seating underneath the cabin. Inside hosted a queen bedroom, a full kitchen (with plates, cups, utensils, and cooking pans/pots), couches, TV, fireplace, and a loft with two queen beds. The back porch had a nice table, views, and grill. The best part was the full bathroom!
It was definitely a nice space to relax in and we really enjoyed the back deck. The kitchen table was more like a folding table and chairs, so we ate on the porch most of the time. It was a good space to spread out and have our own areas.
After the Red River Gorge, we traveled over to the Mammoth Cave area. We stayed at the Horse Cave KOA. When Ben and I saw that they had a certain type of cabin, we knew we needed to stay at least one night in it. Growing up, we were part of the Oregon Trail generation so, of course, we decided to stay in the Covered Wagon cabin!
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It was definitely an experience. The wagon was temperature controlled and had an air conditioner unit. The space slept 4 people: one queen-sized bed and a set of bunk beds. As you climb the stairs and open the door, you have the bunkbeds to the left and a small table, and two chairs to the right. There were a couple of stairs to get to the queen bed area. There was a small nightstand area on either side of the bed with outlets to charge your phone.
In front of the bunk beds, there was a mini fridge and a microwave. The space also had an outdoor fire pit with chairs and a propane grill.
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There was a grocery store within a 20-30 minute drive, so we were able to go to the store and make dinner on the grill. It was nice to have the mini-fridge so we could have groceries to make our own food. For dessert, we of course had s’mores!
It was nice sitting out and enjoying the night. There was a farm in front of us, so we watched the cows for a while, and saw some bats flying around once it was night.
The downside to the covered wagon cabin was the lack of a bathroom. We weren’t too far away, but it is a downside when you get up during the night and have to leave the cabin to use the bathrooms.
For our stay in San Antonio, we stayed at the KOA San Antonio/Alamo. It was in a more of an industrial/commercial area of town, but it was conveniently located to downtown San Antonio.
The campground had RV sites (pull through and back in), cabins to rent, and tent sites. The campground is located in a flood plain, although I think it would take a lot of rain to reach the RV sites. It also backed up to a bike/walking trail. There was also a park that was within walking distance.
KOA San Antonio/Alamo allowed mail delivery, which was really nice. The mail room was next to the laundry room and office. The office had a nice store, with snacks, drinks, postcards ($0.25 each, the cheapest we found), and miscellaneous stuff. The office also sold ice for $2.70/10 lb. bag, firewood $7/bundle, and propane for $3.25/gallon (I was unaware that the “regular” sized 20 lb propane tank holds 4.6 gallons). The bathrooms and showers were open and looked nice. Laundry was $2/wash load, $1.5/dryer load.
The KOA offered cornhole (bag toss), a pool (not heated and closed for repairs for half of our stay), a playground and gaga ball court, and a fishing pond. The pond was catch and release and did not require a license. The office sold bait. You could also rent bikes and peddle bikes. The boys reported that the peddle bikes were much harder to use, as it was a single gear and the bikes were heavy.
Unlike the other KOA campgrounds we have stayed in, there were no planned activities due to Covid. The other KOA’S had indoor (which we did not do) and outdoor activities, and take and go crafts.
There was breakfast for sale 7-11am. When we were first there, it was limited to pancakes (unlimited for $3.99, but you start with two and go back for more). Halfway during our stay, the menu changed to offer more items. We loved the breakfast tacos (sausage, potato, egg, and cheese in a soft taco/burrito). In the office, you could place an order for pizza for order (Brother’s Pizza). It is made in the office. At home, Brother’s Pizza is connected to a gas station, so we were a little hesitant to try it. However, we did give in one night and gave it a try. It was ok pizza, not the best but not bad either. The crust was a little softer than I would normally like, but it was nice to have the option when we didn’t want to cook or go out.
The campground also hosted a Christmas Eve tamale dinner for free for the campers. It was held in the large barn (which had been closed for social distancing). Tables were set social distance apart, staff wore masks and spaced people apart while entering the building. Each person got a container with 2 tamales, beans, rice, and the option of water or tea to drink. It was a really nice gesture and also nice to partake in a Texas Christmas tradition.
The front of the campground was gated and you needed a code to get in at night, but anyone could walk in the back from the bike trail. There was a bike stolen while we were there (not ours), so I would lock up your gear. There was some train/road/air noise, which I did notice at night.
It was in a convenient location to San Antonio and about a little over an hour from Austin. If we were in the area, I think we would stay here again.
For our stay in Carlsbad, New Mexico, we stayed at the Carlsbad KOA. It’s a little bit out of town, about 20 minutes.
The campground was a nice one, with plenty of things to keep the kids busy. There was a large outdoor checkers board and a porch swing by the office. The main building housed an office/store, restaurant (delivered to your site, food made on-site in smokers), bathrooms/showers (men’s main bathroom closed for our stay), and a laundry room. The campground had WiFi (no streaming), picnic areas, fire pits at sites, pool (closed for the season for our stay), gaga ball court (boys’ favorite), tether ball, playground (with a set of bathrooms/showers nearby), and fenced dog area. Most of the sites were pull-through. There were a few tent sites and a few cabins to stay in as well. The rows were nicely labeled to help find your site. Once we were checked in (they gave us some cute red/black plaid can koosies at check in), a staff member led us to our site. The front desk recommended using a water filter for the drinking water.
The office store sold some souvenir type things, grocery items, ice ($3/10 lb bag), and firewood bundles ($10/bundle).
The spots were nicely spaced, with plenty of room for our trailer and truck to fit on the paved spot. There were only a couple of downsides (which they didn’t have control over): very windy at times and a fair amount of flies.
The campground was about 20 minutes from town, about 45 minutes to Carlsbad Cavern National Park, and about 1 hour from Roswell. Carlsbad (the town) had an Albertsons, a Walmart, and a Lowe’s, plus plenty of fast food options. There were also plenty of fuel stations in town, a lot with diesel. Most of them, however, would be difficult with a bigger RV/trailer.
Everyone we interacted with at the campground was nice and helpful. If we were back in the area, I would stay here again.
Side Note: Due to Covid, we could only go to National Parks/National lands. The State Parks (even all outdoor ones) are closed to non-New Mexico residents. Masks are also required indoors. The staff at the KOA did a great job with this, but the regular people out and about and employees in other stores did not.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2.5-3 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes, partially open for repairs
RV Sites: Pull through, a few back-in
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No
Amenities: picnic table and fire pit/grill at each site, cable, dog park, gaga ball court, tether ball
For our stay in Tucson, Arizona, we stayed at the Lazydays/Tucson KOA.
There were so many different kinds of sites to pick from: full hook ups, covered sites, sites with an outdoor fireplace, grass sites with a fence for dogs, tent sites, pull-through and back-in sites, and cabin rentals. The lots were gravel with a small paved parking pad for cars/trucks. It seemed to have plenty of room at each site. The sites also had some type of outdoor seating, but that also varied per site. There were fruit trees scattered around the campground. We saw limes, lemons, grapefruit, and the boys think they found an orange tree.
This campground had lots of amenities: 2 pools (heated) and a hot tub, laundry room, office store (mostly souvenir type stuff), office had pool table/bookshelves/shuffleboard, 2 bathroom/shower buildings, a gym, restaurant (sit down or would deliver to the pool or your RV), pond with bench seats, a bike course, putting greens (I would not call it putt putt, but the boys had fun with it), pickleball courts, WiFi (no streaming), cable (bring own coaxial cable), playground. There was also a tortoise, although we never saw him. The office also had the clubs, paddles/balls for the outdoor games. By the office was a large patio with outdoor seating and fire pits. If you wanted a fire at your site, you could rent a fire pit from the office as well. The gates closed at 7:00 pm, however you could still get in through the main entrance. You had to buzz or call in and have them open the gates.
Garbage was placed at the end of your site. You could also get a recycling bin from the office.
Laundry was the most expensive of the campgrounds so far, $2.50/load in the washer or dryer. There were plenty of machines and we didn’t have to wait. We had two loads, so it cost us $10. There was a change machine in the laundry room.
The campground did a nice job with having a variety of planned activities. While we were there it ranged from breakfast (coffee/juice, danish/muffins) to friendship bracelets to yoga. The activity list was posted in the office and laundry room.
There was some train and plane noise. Most of the plane noise seemed to come from military jets.
Arizona does require masks, so in the campground staff and guests must wear masks indoors.
The campground was well maintained. I would stay here again if we were in the area.
