While so many new people took up camping as a way to get out during the pandemic, we did the opposite. We were already having doubts that our bathroom-less Aliner was going to be with us for much longer and, boom! The RV market exploded. While normally numb to economic conditions, we posted it for sale on RV Trader, sold it in less than a week, thanked if for its service, and delivered it halfway to its new owners.
While remote work is a thing, can you reliably get Internet access at Raystown Lake? We recently tested this using a Verizon MiFi for several days. Here’s how it worked…
It was a spur of a moment decision…feeling a bit stir crazy and knowing the weather was only going to be friendly to be outside for a short period of time, a Sunday discussion turned into a spontaneous remote work week. Our first step was to secure an Internet connection. We headed to our local Verizon Wireless store and walked out with a Verizon Jetpack® MiFi® and an unlimited data plan. Forty-eight hours later, our camper was packed with just our essentials and we headed out to one of our favorite spots, Seven Points Recreation Area in Huntington County, Pennsylvania, lucky enough to snag a reservation for a lake-front site.
With the sun out on a nice fall day, I settled in for a long day of online meetings in my old REI Zero-Gravity recliner (which didn’t make it home by the way) with a view of the lake.
We also had the table in the Aliner set up as a desk and between two of us, we moved back and forth between working spots based on noise levels and task at hand.
The day went off without issue! Two laptops stayed connected the entire day without the MiFi being plugged in. By 5 o’clock, it was ready to be charged. In the evenings, we were able to freely access streaming services.
Day two was a repeat of the positive experience including the wonderful weather.
Completely loved the change of scenery! It was a great mental health break from our walls of home and opens up lots of opportunities for spring. Now, about the packed parks and struggles to even get a spot… not sure that is getting better any time soon.
On our way home from Tennessee after watching the eclipse, we headed north into Kentucky and stopped for the night at Twin Knobs Campground. We were sorry we were only there for one night. It was not crowded and the sites were wooded and clean.
After a very long drive we arrived at Davy Crockett Campground, our home for then next couple nights as we visited to take in the eclipse. Located in Crossville, Tennessee, this campground is about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville.
The campground was very crowded that weekend and they had people packed in where they could.
We headed west for a quick weekend with the Aliner in tow. The weekend before, a quick search located a campground about 40 minutes east of Columbus, our final destination for Saturday. KOA Buckeye Lake seemed to sit right off of I-70, accessible easily, as we would possibly arrive after dark and the farm roads in eastern Ohio can be curvy and dark.
A few years ago, we outfitted our A-liner bed with a foam mattress topper and cover. Well, a few years have past and, after a few restless nights, one of us decided that it was time for another revamp. We headed to Ikea and invested in the Sultan Hanestad mattress. This comes rolled.
In mid June, we headed west – destination: Hocking Hills, Ohio. First timers, we had only heard stories of the caves and hills of this region. We needed to see for ourselves. Living in Pittsburgh, we found it hard to believe that Ohio actually had the type of topography described by visitors instead of the plains that we tended to see miles before us just before crossing the Pennsylvania border.
Since the Get Out Camping blog started, we took a hiatus from camping for awhile because we moved. Now, I’m not going to say that is is why we moved, but I will say I think it made our choice house much more attractive to us. Continue reading “Storing the Aliner”→
Get Out Camping & Hiking 