Posts Tagged ‘RV’

The bucket list for Pat and Ray Ciemniecki is a work in progress.

“Nothing is set in stone,” Ray Ciemniecki said. “We go as the spirit moves us.”

It was in that spirit the 70-year-old couple managed to check off the first goal on the list.

Visit each of Florida’s 160 state parks.

RVs at Florida State Park Campground

It took the retired Manatee County educators four years to do them all, beginning with Lake Manatee State Park and finishing up last February with Paynes Creek just north of Wauchula.

Just 25 people have done it since Florida State Parks began keeping track in June 2008.

How they got started was simple enough. They’d gone to a festival at Lake Manatee and one of the things offered was a state park passport — a collector’s journal for planning park visits, recording experiences and collecting each park’s unique stamp.

The Ciemnieckis were inspired.

“We said why don’t we make it a goal go to every state park in Florida?” Ray Ciemniecki said. “We started out small, went to this one and that one and then really got going.

“We didn’t care how long it took. Whether it was four years or ten, we decided to go to every single one.”

They’d map out an area and hit the road in their 40-foot motorhome with car in tow for more than a month at a time.

That some parks didn’t have overnight camping wasn’t a problem.

They’d hook up the RV at one that did and drive to the smaller parks in the area on day trips.

On other trips, if the park was unreachable by car — i.e., Honeymoon Island, Caladesi Island, both west of Tampa — they’d take a boat.

“It’s no more expensive than staying at home,” Ray Ciemniecki said. “Except for gas ($300 a fill-up), you’re living in your own little cottage. It works out pretty well.”

Thanks to senior citizen discount rates, the couple stayed at some state parks for as little as $6 per night.

“A lot of Manatee County people like to have a second home in the mountains, but we’ve never wanted that — going back to the same place every year,” Pat Ciemniecki said. “We go to a different place all the time.”

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CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Each fall, Winnebagos, Airstreams and other recreational vehicles fill up the gravel lots across the highway from the Amazon.com distribution center in Campbellsville Kentucky.

The RVs are owned by “workampers,” many of them retirees, drawn to Amazon’s Campbellsville operation by the opportunity to work long hours filling customer orders through the peak holiday season.

Though a few said they needed the paycheck to meet their expenses, others said they show up as much for the camaraderie and discipline that comes from working in the warehouse.

The program started small here several years ago, and rapidly expanded as Amazon promoted it on websites catering to “workampers.” Work campers also were recruited at Amazon distribution centers in Kansas and Nevada.

The company pay starts at about $10 an hour, plus campground fees.

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – When Ray Aljets built the campground that later became Jellystone Park Camp-Resort 23 years ago, most of his business was east-west traffic, particularly families from Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis who traveled westward to visit the Black Hills.

Today, however, 65 to 70 percent of the Jellystone Park’s business is families who live within 100 miles of the park.

“We still get the east-west traffic,” said Aljets’ son, Bruce, who now runs the park with his wife, Donna, and their children, Ray and Christina. “But now most of our business is local.”

Jellystone Park Camp-Resort

Business is strong, too. Last year, for example, the park surpassed its 2010 revenues by 11 percent, and this year looks to be just as strong as last year, if not stronger, Bruce Aljets said, adding that his park opens for the camping season on April 1^st.

But the dynamics are different.

Fuel costs are higher than they used to be, which encourages people to visit campgrounds that are closer to home. Today’s families also have a harder time getting away for extended periods of time.

Both parents usually work and often have a harder time getting their vacations to coincide. Kids also have more sporting activities available to them in the summer than they used to, all of which encourages families to camp closer to home.

The good news, Bruce Aljets said, is that camping is as popular as ever, with one caveat. “People don’t want to rough it,” he said. “They want the comforts of home when they camp. Even tent campers want Wi-Fi so they can watch Netflix movies.”

As a result, Aljets provides his guests with cabins with house-like amenities, including cable TV and Wi-Fi service and hot showers. The campground also has a jumping pillow, pedal cart rentals, a heated swimming pool and spa, an indoor theatre and a miniature golf course. And for those who don’t have a tent or RV, the park provides a dozen rental cabins.

Aljets’ Jellystone Park also has an activities director and provides organized family activities from May through the end of October that are designed to appeal to all ages, including Mother’s Day and Father’s Day weekend events; Mardi Gras and Christmas in July celebrations; and Bruce’s favorite, the “Messy Weekend” July 27^th to 30^th, which includes a chocolate pudding Slip N Slide, bobbing for worms and other messy activities.

Late summer and fall activities include a corn maze and Halloween-themed weekend events, including costume and campsite decorating contests.

A complete listing of activities and themed weekends is available at www.jellystonesiouxfalls.com.