Grumpy unhappy camper... or maybe not

[D2Reid]

I am grumpy, after coming out of state park campgrounds with beautiful surroundings for 3 months we return to the "city" to visit our son. Pull into the tightly packed KOA with our 41 footer, tight quarters, fought traffic for the last 2 hours, tired grumpy, just want to get settled so I can have my celebration adult beverage.

Went to turn down the lane to our camp site. Class A on the corner sticks out, a lot, little TT on the other corner tucked in nicely, except the TV sticks out, a lot. Can't make the turn. Tail swing close to taking out the fence by the playground. Agggghhhh! Stop, get out, knock on the door of the TT, kid answers, "Can I speak to your parent?", yes, runs off to the pool. Dad comes back in his swim suit, "Excuse me sir but I am having trouble making this turn, could you pull your truck back a foot?". Whoa, dude goes off, I mean really unhappy camper, I shut my mouth, no good can come of saying what I am thinking.....

He informed me that he had been a truck driver for many years and could have easily made the turn. He also educated me to the fact that I could have pulled my rig forward, back down the other lane, and then made a straight shot down the lane I needed to go down. I listened, biting my tongue, he was angry. He move his truck and I pulled in.

Next day; headed up to the office for a propane fill. Same guy comes out of the office. We faced off. The guy tells me his is very sorry for the attitude of the precious day.

He went on to explain that there was a problem at his site and the staff had already asked him to move his truck about 4 times. Then I come along and ask him to move his truck again. At that point he was kind of fed up with having his pool time with his children being interrupted, repeatedly. He went on to say that he had been a truck driver and instructor for years, knew the dynamics of the turn, and knew that he could have worked the problem out. I can understand that, I don't ever claim to be an expert at hauling a 41' 5th wheel around tight quarters, always room to learn something new. In this case, I would have never thought of the 3 point turn with the Momentum to solve the problem, I am now better educated.

The guy went on to explain that the next big rig that came around the corner actually had their rig pressed up against the corner of the his truck before they stopped, fortunately no damage to the truck and only a minor scratch on the rig. Yahoo! adventures in an overcrowded RV park.

He apologized profusely for his statements the day before and we chatted about correct driving technique etc. I thanked him for teaching me about the 3 point turn, you would figure after 8 years of doing this I would know this, not.

So what was originally an unhappy situation turned out to be a happy camper situation.

I am so happy I didn't let my mouth run away...

[Houndbb]

Nice show of restraint, Dallas.
I’m curious about the tendency for KOAs to be packed like sardines. Are there folks here who frequent them? I know they’re franchises, so does corporate encourage the individual owner/managers to cram as many sites as possible? We have a reservation at one for a weekend rally in September, and frankly, we’re kind of dreading it. We were not allowed to choose our site, so I’m sure we’re going to be stuck in a long row of awning meets neighbor’s slide and ladder to ladder in a back-in site (we were out exploring, and made a quick visit to the place).
N

[Rich T]

We don't go to KOA unless there are no other options. They are usually set up with a bunch of family oriented amenities and a high price tag. I usually don't use most of what is available.
We were in Laramie WY and the only CG in town was a KOA. We paid $85 for a no frills site, I mean no pool, no bouncy castle, no nothing just grass and gravel pull thru. What a rip off! I was very tired and just didn't want to drive any further. Beggars can't be choosers I guess.
Rich

[KirbyRVA]

KOA's have been around for a long time and I suspect many (most) were developed in the days of smaller RV's. When we traveled around the US in our two motorhomes towing a vehicle, we only used them as a last resort.

Your restraint during the initial contact is commendable.

[SmallBoxMaker]

I agree that some KOA's are smaller than other campgrounds, but many them are quite nice.

2 years a go we did a 10 week cross-country trip and stayed mostly in KOA's. We chose them not because we really wanted to stay there (we generally prefer smaller mom-and-pop campgrounds) but because we could easily make reservations online via their website. We made our trip primarily in August and September and were going to popular places like National Parks. We ran into issues with campgrounds tending to be full and thus we couldn't make reservations at the last minute, which we would have preferred. So every 2 weeks or so we planned the next 2 weeks and made the reservations at night, when many of the campground offices are closed. The KOA website was perfect for that. This avoided deciding where we want to stay, calling the campground and getting an answering machine, then getting a return call the next day saying they were full.

Anyway, KOA worked for us.

[el Rojo]

We stayed at KOA when we were working. They are usually right off the highway for an easy in and out. Now we prefer Mom and Pops too.

Red

[boyscout]

I’m curious about the tendency for KOAs to be packed like sardines. Are there folks here who frequent them? I know they’re franchises, so does corporate encourage the individual owner/managers to cram as many sites as possible? We have a reservation at one for a weekend rally in September, and frankly, we’re kind of dreading it. We were not allowed to choose our site, so I’m sure we’re going to be stuck in a long row of awning meets neighbor’s slide and ladder to ladder in a back-in site (we were out exploring, and made a quick visit to the place).
N

We've stayed a night or two in about twenty of them because for my wife they offer a kind of predictability when we're moving from one place to another. We know they're going to be overpriced and not commodious sites, but they're also likely to be tidy and well-controlled which means happy-wife, happy-life.

In our experience they're not far below average for their spacing, so maybe you don't need to fret. (Have you looked on Google Earth?) However keep in mind that for us "average" is usually not high-priced... we hardly ever stay at the usually-more-spacious $90+ per night places unless we're taking a lower-cost monthly rate there.

We have paid nearly $90 at a KOA... overpriced for sure, like a lot of KOAs. The cost of having my wife feel comfortable.

[NordicNevs]

Great restraint. Thanks for sharing I could learn a thing or two from you.

So a couple of things come to mind.
I have stayed in great KOAs and horrible ones. The worst one I stayed at was south padre island. It was just as you described but the adventure of exploring the island and beaches left us a outside of the park more than in it. We said to heck with it and went up near corpus and enjoyed the rest of our vacation elsewhere.
Two great ones that come to mind was a pass through Carlsbad NM. Plenty of space and we stayed one night but it was clean and the prices were very fair.
The KOA in Fort Collins Colorado was so nice as well. Biking mini golf jump houses fishing paddle boats it was extremely nice and very affordable. The folks there were so nice and it was just a great experience. It really balanced the need for entertainment inside the park when we’re weren’t outside of it on the reservoir or checking out the town.
I think research is the big thing and though reviews can be a a window into it google maps/google earth might be a better bet for a site survey [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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[Canyonlight]

@D2Reid - Dallas, you have shared a number of stressful/difficult situation stories over the years. Your demeanor and professionalism is commendable. The world is a better place with wonderful folks like you and your gracious offering of teaching moments for us all.

Dan

[traveldawg]

I guess everyone has a bad day now and then. it was nice of him to explain his bad day and that everything worked out OK. Still gotta wonder - after moving his truck so many times why he just didn't park it someplace else.

It's not just KOAs that are tight. Old, small campground abound. Mostly all have been around for years and are set up for the rigs of yesterday's-yor (you know - smaller ones that had fewer things in them that could go wrong ). I was in a 5 star resort in Heber City, UT and their non-premium sides, while paved and pretty, had folks parked like sardines with narrow roads. I had to back out of my 'pull through' site.

Anyhow - good patience, Dallas.