Has anyone camped at wineries?

[BeerBrewer]

We would like to visit an ailing relative in Missouri and we were thinking about taking the Travel Travel trailer instead of flying. If we drove straight through it would take (according to google) about 18 hours of straight driving, so we thought that we spread the trip over 3 or 4 days. We'd probably only stay one of two nights per site. Then we started to break the trip up into manageable driving chunks and we started to look for places to camp. That's when I stumbled on the harvesthosts.com. Apparently there are a bunch of breweries and wineries that will let you stay a night at there site. This sounds like a fantastic idea, I could drive to a winery, park the trailer, tour the vineyard and winery, sample some wine, buy a couple bottles, go back to the trailer, cook diner and enjoy a nice bottle wine. Then in the morning, head to our next stop.

Has anyone done this? If so is it worth joining harvesthosts.com?

I assume that none or most of the wineries and breweries don't have any hook-ups, so we'd be "boon-docking". We've never done this before, but it is on our horizon. Our Travel Trailer only has one battery and I'm wondering how long would it last? Obviously, we wouldn't use the TV or anything else AC and we'd run the frig on propane.

Any and all input (positive or negative) on camping at wineries and breweries would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Bob

[sande005]

I've looked at harvesthosts before, but haven't tried it yet, so no help there. As far as your battery - you should be good for a night. I upgraded to two 6v, and can go about 2 1/2 days, which includes running an inverter to power my cpap, and a couple of hours of TV at night. With those exceptions, the only things we run are lights (being led's, very low draw) and the water pump. We are careful about water use, as the pump can draw a fair bit from the battery - but if you are stingy on washing dishes, and do "navy" showers (or skip them), both battery and water seem to run out about the same time.
Even with your smaller capacity, you should be fine overnight. For most setups, the battery recharges as you drive.

[howson]

We would like to visit an ailing relative in Missouri and we were thinking about taking the Travel Travel trailer instead of flying. If we drove straight through it would take (according to google) about 18 hours of straight driving, so we thought that we spread the trip over 3 or 4 days. We'd probably only stay one of two nights per site. Then we started to break the trip up into manageable driving chunks and we started to look for places to camp. That's when I stumbled on the harvesthosts.com. Apparently there are a bunch of breweries and wineries that will let you stay a night at there site. This sounds like a fantastic idea, I could drive to a winery, park the trailer, tour the vineyard and winery, sample some wine, buy a couple bottles, go back to the trailer, cook diner and enjoy a nice bottle wine. Then in the morning, head to our next stop.

Has anyone done this? If so is it worth joining harvesthosts.com?

I assume that none or most of the wineries and breweries don't have any hook-ups, so we'd be "boon-docking". We've never done this before, but it is on our horizon. Our Travel Trailer only has one battery and I'm wondering how long would it last? Obviously, we wouldn't use the TV or anything else AC and we'd run the frig on propane.

Any and all input (positive or negative) on camping at wineries and breweries would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Bob

Haven't done it yet, but visited Wyldewood Cellars Winery in Kansas while staying nearby. Went for the wine and discovered they were a Harvest Host site. Really like the concept!

If you're seriously considering boondocking I'd recommend doing your homework and do a test near home before taking the plunge. At minimum I'd want an inverter-generator if all I had was one lead-acid battery. In the Reference Library there's a link to a website that lists free places to dump.

[Cindy_PA]

The Keep Your Daydream couple, Trish and Marc, have vlogged about HarvestHost. They really liked it! https://youtu.be/7uz9bD6EzQA

[Skiddy]

A friend suggested we look at Harvest Hosts, they are members, albeit only since last August. Could be just the luck of the draw or perhaps the PNW, but their only complaint has been getting into a site in the area they want to travel in/thru. It appears new hosts (sites) are being added all the time, obviously new members using those host services are also being added. I wonder if there are too many members for the current list of hosts?

[J&G garage]

We have about 300 wineries within 30 min. of our house. You think our driveway could be a Harvest Host site.

[Skiddy]

We have about 300 wineries within 30 min. of our house. You think our driveway could be a Harvest Host site.

Yes it could be, but the intent of HH is to support the host’s business. Buy some wine, fruit etc... what are you selling?

[Fourpells]

We joined HH and stayed at a couple near us. We loved it! With that, we will say, when we arrived at one of them it was VERY tight quarters and would require skill to turn around so we had to scrap the plan of staying there. (We are a large 5th wheel and this place would be great for a smaller rig) Not sure what we would have done if we were on the road and had to find a spot on the fly. But the others have been fabulous and we will remain members! Met some great people and even became members at one of the wineries.

[J&G garage]

Yes it could be, but the intent of HH is to support the host’s business. Buy some wine, fruit etc... what are you selling?

Seems pretty obvious. Space on my driveway. 😉