Category: Campground Host Experiences

Spring Cleaning Up

February 17, 2018 Jolene MacFadden

The RV and volunteer campsite needs to have its spring cleaning done on it. Living in one spot for any length of time and you will collect a variety of things in and around your RV and site. Your RV will also need to be washed up, the roof cleaned and made ready for an annual maintenance it will need and the tires checked to make sure there are no dry-rot spots. We also like to take everything out of the storage compartments, clean the boxes up and reorganize everything back into their various storage bags, boxes, etc. and throw away things we have collected but haven’t used in over a year.

Rainbow Springs Needs A Campground Host

February 7, 2018 Jolene MacFadden

I just received a message from one of my fellow Full-Time RVing volunteer campground hosts. Alisha and her family are hosting in Rainbow Springs State Park over the next couple of months and need a partnered couple for the camping area. The campground is fairly big with 54 reservable campsites including 44 RV/Tent, 3 RV only,
7 Tent Only, laundry rooms and has 4 bath houses that need to be cleaned daily. The sites are checked and cleaned when the campers leave, of course. The RV/Tents sites all have electric, water and sewers on site which is extremely nice for the campers but the Tent-Only area only has electric with water faucets. And there is landscaping to help keep clean and looking neat. During the week the campground office opens at 10 am Friday 8:30 am on Saturday. You can start cleaning bathrooms whenever you like, but you can’t pick up the camping report until the office opens.

Campground Host Experiences, Volunteer At A Florida State Park, Workamping, Working While RVing

Winter in North Florida

January 18, 2018 Jolene MacFadden

Winter in the north Florida area has roared in like a lion this month. Not only did we have snow in portions of this area earlier this month last night we got down in the teens here at our the county park where we are currently workamping. Most people come to Florida for warmer temperatures and our more than average nice weather when the snow is blowing a blizzard in the northern, central and western states this time of year.

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Campground Host Experiences, Fun for RVers, RV and Campers, Weather Challenges, Workamping, Working While RVing

Taking Vacation From Workamping

October 4, 2017 Jolene MacFadden

We are taking a little vacation from workamping again this week. We have cleaned all we can here at the park and have to wait until the flood waters have receded enough to do some more and the many miles of trails to dry up some more before the maintenance crew can get out there and chop up all the downed trees. Since the park is still officially closed we haven’t had to open the gate, clean the bathrooms or pick up trash for about 2 weeks now. We have, of course, ridden around picking any trash that we could find, hosed off all the playground equipment and the bathrooms in anticipation of opening. The front of the park is ready but the main areas that most of our visitors like the most (the walking trails and boat ramp) are still in need of work. With the water so close we have had a few close encounters with the local reptiles and watched to turkeys trout and the deer prance around. It’s almost like being back at Adams Tract River Camp (which we heard is also still quite damp).

Campground Host Experiences, Workamping, Working While RVing

Cleaning Up After the Storm

September 18, 2017 Jolene MacFadden

Cleaning up around your park after any storm can be time-consuming and back-breaking kind of work but all of our public land areas really appreciate the help of their volunteers. Cleaning up after Hurricane Irma is and will continue to be a tough ordeal for any of the volunteer workampers (and park personnel) who can make their way back to whichever park, forest or preserve they were assigned to at the beginning of the month. Most of all of the volunteers were probably asked to vacate the parks prior to the storm happening and we hope that all of them come back as soon as they can. Of course, if the winter volunteers want to come a little early that would probably be nice as well. We can say that one of our favorite Florida state parks we volunteered at is still experiencing some problems and may not be able to accommodate any volunteers yet. Dade Historical Battlefield State Park had quite a few downed trees and a few of them fell on the park hosts sites. Luckily, some of the Missouri State Park Rangers have come down to help cut up all the trees and they may be up and running pretty soon. You should call ahead to make sure you can come back. This is especially true of any of the park down below Ocala and points south.

Campground Host Experiences, Volunteer At A Florida State Park, Volunteer at National Parks and Forest, Volunteer in Florida State Forests, Workamping

Getting Ready For Bad Weather

September 6, 2017 Jolene MacFadden

Getting ready for bad weather is a very popular topic here in Florida this week. With all the problems the poor people in Texas had over the last 2 weeks, we are now in the crosshairs of large storm ourselves. We went the grocery store yesterday just to pick up a few things and maybe go ahead and get some gas for the minivan. There was no gas at our favorite gas station and the others around town have jumped $0.35 a gallon in 4 days. Of course, there was no bottled water left either. We checked at Walmart and Winn-Dixie. Since our illustrious governor declared an early state of emergency the entire state has decided to get their hurricane supplies early. And to top it all off this time of the month our budget does not have room for any unexpected expenses.

Campground Host Experiences, Workamping