As A COE park attendant contractor, I thank you for this video. We,as park attendant's, have to follow and enforce Corps of Engineers rules that we are given in the 4 day class we have at the beginning or every season. We don't make up our on rules. There are rude park attendants, but for the most part, they're nice people.
As a camper I don't want anyone driving around the campground that doesn't belong there or is visiting a family member because we keep our personal stuff out and feel that it's safe but if the public is running through there campground how safe can it be, I'm a single women who expects a certain amount of safety as well. For the ladies who parked at a site and took their boat out I would of just had them towed at their cost I wouldn't have been nice they were breaking the rules and they knew it. Some people feel they are entitled, it's a shame that the park attendants have to deal with threating people. For the person who wrote in just go and rent a spot for a couple days, check out the pictures they post online that's what I do and when you get there just make note of the good sites and come back again for a longer trip.
I live watching your videos I recently started watching them and for the last year I've kinda been off and on making designs for different tiny homes that I could live in when I turn 18 so thanks for letting me watch!!!
We have asked to drive through campgrounds many times and they always said sure you can. Never been turned down! But there was one campground we were going to check out and he said NO E BIKES, so we didn’t check that one out. Don’t want nothing to do with that campground.
I'm 58 and you both make me so enthusiastic about my future nomad life. Yes, people who have never dealt face to face with the public in a work capacity don't probably get the extent at how awful some can be to deal with LOL You 2 just keep living your dream so beautifully. Thank you for letting us tag along
I've never been as disappointed in humanity as when I was a camphost in Oregon. Rude, selfish, wasteful, entitled people ruined camphosting for me. Some people were absolutely wonderful, but the 10% made me rude and cranky, too.
Definitely not a rant, but insightful for both sides of the fence.. Here in Indiana some places give you a pass, but send a Ranger to look for you if you tarry too long.
My wife and I look forward to start our park attending venture/nomad life in a couple years. We normally always stay at COE and love them. I have seen the ones you talk about, they are everywhere! Keep up the great videos. We are living vicariously through you two for now
Deb speaks truth in the end of this vidio! Yes be a camp host at least once in your life! Then understand that their are people😊 of a different life...don't be that one. We Are Living!
I have even more appreciation for park attendants now. We live in SW Missouri but stay at AR COE parks often. Cricket Creek is one of our favorites (shhh, don’t tell anyone how great of a park it is!). I can only imagine what goes on in some of the larger parks and what attendants have to deal with.
I'm a native of Tampa, Fl.....A State Park/Campground/boat ramps/ Swimming/ hiking/ etc told me I couldn't drive through for more than 5 minutes. They explained the same. It's standard around here.
In those situation of someone wanting to drive through the campsite just have them just leave a valid driver's license and after that time there's allowed of them to drive through there would be a fee$
This past week, we stayed at a COE site / lake (Monday-Friday). There were a total of 4 campgrounds total around the lake. We always do a sort of "Inventory" at the CG's we go to for future visits. In our travels, we encountered the absolutely NICEST folks and were encouraged to see the CG's except for 1... We encountered the most unpleasant hosts there... We decided we wouldn't put that one on our visit list after talking to several folks at the other campgrounds. None of these grounds were very busy. Midweek and early in the season yet. We've stayed in lots of COE campgrounds, and to only have one unpleasant apple in the basket in all of our travels is still great. And those ladies should have had their car towed for sure. You can only be so nice.
If you're referring to our closing shot we use in our videos, that photo was taken at a COE campground near Jasper, Texas. We had a beautiful spot right on a point.
While checking out 2 state parks in Adirondacks... one allowed us to drive thru... no stopping (except to use the bathroom facility near the front entrance shack). The other did not allow us to drive through at all. Head scratch.. but then i realized... the first one was much more rural with No alternatives for potty stop than the bushes. The 2nd place sits very close to the highway and probably has many more daily requests for drive throughs. Some of the folks you encountered YIKES! Totally brazen, unmitigated gall. Crazy people.
We’ve asked to drive through campgrounds and have never been turned away. However we only drove through and I doubt it ever took us much more than 5 minutes.
The only time I was refused entry without paying to check out the campground was because it was also access to a day use area and the attendant didn't want to wonder if I was still back there. If the attendant was just for camping I have always been granted access. 90 percent of the time I am on my motorcycle and I always make sure they know I am leaving and thank them.
Here in Oklahoma COE we were given a free night because their system wasn’t working and the first come first serve sights were open… the gate agent said no Mr johnson we are trained to favor the customer
There is nothing more frustrating than a reserved camping spot that is not released when the camper is a no show. The KOE reservation system is antiquated. The KOE campground we frequent has all weekends full within 30 minutes of release. We know some people that somehow always get the same camping spots for years. They only show up half of the time. Soooo stinking frustrating.
Or the ones that manipulate the reservation system. For example you can only reserve 4-6 months in advance but as long as your reservation includes one date in the reservation window you can reserve how ever many days you want. So if they want a weekend, they set a reservation starting the Tuesday beforehand extending into the weekend then go back and cancel the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday portion of the reservation at a later date. Effectively jumping the line of people waiting for weekend spots to open by over booking. Or they do the full reservation and don't occupy the first part of their stay. I really wish more campground hosts had the power to convert those who abuse the "first night must be occupied" rule over to open first come first served sites, but the inability to accept in person reservations makes that nearly impossible.
I was camping at Lake Catherine a few weeks ago and had a family pull up to my campsite and had a picnic on my picnic table and hung out for about an hour. People are crazy. 😊
Wondering why you don't have windows in your doors. Allows you to see out before you open the door and lets light in without getting in the way of cabinets, etc. Love your channel and was going to build a new cargo toy hauler, but decided to keep my 6x12 and added a tiny slide in truck camper to gain amenities I didnt have in my trailer and give me more versatility in my travels.
Our full intention from the git go was windows in the doors. The issue has been that when the funds are there, we have no time. When we have the time, we lack the funds. Actually, after 3 years in it, we kinda like no windows in the doors. We like feeling as if we're in a cozy cocoon when we settle down for the evening. Of course, during the day, we're outside as much as possible. We are considering peep holes in the doors and maybe one of those camera doorbells.
We were in several campgrounds last year, only one still posted 'reserved date, last name, and notice it was not available. Usually there were at least the current and upcoming reserved dates. . Until Covid all the camps we visited used to post notice which sites were not available. I know there is a shortage of funding to maintain public campground, but going back to posting notices would certainly help.
Yes, very few campgrounds do that anymore. You can easily go to Recreation.gov and pull up that campground and then see what's available (or not available). The standard rule for the last few years has been that you must have the site reserved before you back in and set up on the site. We've seen some pull in to an empty site, go ahead, and completely set up, then go to Recreation.gov to reserve the site, only to find it's already reserved to someone else.
@@billanddeb I book everything for the season online as soon as the 'window' opens. This year we're booked through May through mid-October. We've been camping for 7 years, only had to cancel one trip due to bad weather (and one scary night where a storm blew in off of Lake Superior). We average 6 trips a year. This year we're doing 8!
we go eat lunch at one once in awhile at a COE we do not pull into a site we go down to the bathrooms and park for about 30 min we eat and we left oh yes we are both handicap we cant camp any more we do miss it and i think seeing people camping just makes me cry wish we still could
In addition to knowing the two of you, we also know other folks that use camp sites at Beaver Lake. They will try to get reservations 6 months out as soon as the dates open up. They are not always able to get the dates they want and have to look for cancellations which takes time and effort over weeks to get a site they want and/or dates they want. The last thing they want to deal with when they get there is someone who chose to park in the spot they reserved months in advance. The campers who follow the rules appreciate the fact that the staff and rangers enforce the rules. The rules are pretty straight forward, easy to find the rules if one does not know them and very easy to simply follow the rules. As you know, we have paid for day use passes so we could access the park, park our car in the day use area, picnic and walk around the common/open areas to get an idea about which campsites were where for future use etc.. You also know we paid for campsites, when we did not camp; but, we did, so wee could use the site legitimately for the afternoon/evening after check in time so we could spend part of the day and it helped us decide on if we wanted to use the particular site in the future. Being familiar with you two who were the hosts was helpful as you helped us know the options we had within the guidelines.
I've stayed at one in California as well and had no problem driving through checking out a couple of others as well. It was the off season though. @@idarmartin6022
As A COE park attendant contractor, I thank you for this video. We,as park attendant's, have to follow and enforce Corps of Engineers rules that we are given in the 4 day class we have at the beginning or every season. We don't make up our on rules. There are rude park attendants, but for the most part, they're nice people.
You're certainly welcome.
Your right!!! People are way too easily offended! Camp hosts do a lot so folks can enjoy life. We should be very appreciative
Yes we should but some make it hard on camp hosts. Have had to have rangers called to keep our camp hosts safe
As a camper I don't want anyone driving around the campground that doesn't belong there or is visiting a family member because we keep our personal stuff out and feel that it's safe but if the public is running through there campground how safe can it be, I'm a single women who expects a certain amount of safety as well. For the ladies who parked at a site and took their boat out I would of just had them towed at their cost I wouldn't have been nice they were breaking the rules and they knew it. Some people feel they are entitled, it's a shame that the park attendants have to deal with threating people. For the person who wrote in just go and rent a spot for a couple days, check out the pictures they post online that's what I do and when you get there just make note of the good sites and come back again for a longer trip.
👍👌😃
I live watching your videos I recently started watching them and for the last year I've kinda been off and on making designs for different tiny homes that I could live in when I turn 18 so thanks for letting me watch!!!
Thanks for watching our videos. I means a lot.
We have asked to drive through campgrounds many times and they always said sure you can. Never been turned down! But there was one campground we were going to check out and he said NO E BIKES, so we didn’t check that one out. Don’t want nothing to do with that campground.
Do you remember which campground said no E bikes?
I'm 58 and you both make me so enthusiastic about my future nomad life. Yes, people who have never dealt face to face with the public in a work capacity don't probably get the extent at how awful some can be to deal with LOL You 2 just keep living your dream so beautifully. Thank you for letting us tag along
I've never been as disappointed in humanity as when I was a camphost in Oregon. Rude, selfish, wasteful, entitled people ruined camphosting for me. Some people were absolutely wonderful, but the 10% made me rude and cranky, too.
Definitely not a rant, but insightful for both sides of the fence.. Here in Indiana some places give you a pass, but send a Ranger to look for you if you tarry too long.
My wife and I look forward to start our park attending venture/nomad life in a couple years. We normally always stay at COE and love them. I have seen the ones you talk about, they are everywhere! Keep up the great videos. We are living vicariously through you two for now
That is awesome!
Deb speaks truth in the end of this vidio!
Yes be a camp host at least once in your life! Then understand that their are people😊 of a different life...don't be that one.
We Are Living!
Some feel that they are entitled to do whatever they want.. its sad ppl can't look outside themselves and respect others..HAPPY CAMPING
Been there done that! Host for a year hosted a bassmasters on Lake Thurmond in Ga. Luved it!! It does come with trials, though!
Love your informative videos! You guys are great. Can't wait until retirement so my husband and I can do what you're doing ❤
You can do it!
Ohhhh i want to hear the curl your ears campfire story!!!
I have even more appreciation for park attendants now. We live in SW Missouri but stay at AR COE parks often. Cricket Creek is one of our favorites (shhh, don’t tell anyone how great of a park it is!). I can only imagine what goes on in some of the larger parks and what attendants have to deal with.
Shhh we will check it out
Beaver dam site is insane on the weekends. I would never host there... You are brave souls!
We're not brave anymore lol
I'm a native of Tampa, Fl.....A State Park/Campground/boat ramps/ Swimming/ hiking/ etc told me I couldn't drive through for more than 5 minutes. They explained the same. It's standard around here.
In those situation of someone wanting to drive through the campsite just have them just leave a valid driver's license and after that time there's allowed of them to drive through there would be a fee$
Delilah … “I’m ready for my closeup”
This past week, we stayed at a COE site / lake (Monday-Friday). There were a total of 4 campgrounds total around the lake. We always do a sort of "Inventory" at the CG's we go to for future visits. In our travels, we encountered the absolutely NICEST folks and were encouraged to see the CG's except for 1... We encountered the most unpleasant hosts there... We decided we wouldn't put that one on our visit list after talking to several folks at the other campgrounds. None of these grounds were very busy. Midweek and early in the season yet. We've stayed in lots of COE campgrounds, and to only have one unpleasant apple in the basket in all of our travels is still great. And those ladies should have had their car towed for sure. You can only be so nice.
👍
Sometimes it takes a good rant to get your point across..
95% of people are awesone...the rest....
Now that’s the most beautiful sunset. I live on Lake Erie and that’s one for the Books. Enjoy watching you all!
If you're referring to our closing shot we use in our videos, that photo was taken at a COE campground near Jasper, Texas. We had a beautiful spot right on a point.
While checking out 2 state parks in Adirondacks... one allowed us to drive thru... no stopping (except to use the bathroom facility near the front entrance shack).
The other did not allow us to drive through at all.
Head scratch.. but then i realized... the first one was much more rural with No alternatives for potty stop than the bushes.
The 2nd place sits very close to the highway and probably has many more daily requests for drive throughs.
Some of the folks you encountered YIKES! Totally brazen, unmitigated gall.
Crazy people.
We’ve asked to drive through campgrounds and have never been turned away. However we only drove through and I doubt it ever took us much more than 5 minutes.
The only time I was refused entry without paying to check out the campground was because it was also access to a day use area and the attendant didn't want to wonder if I was still back there. If the attendant was just for camping I have always been granted access. 90 percent of the time I am on my motorcycle and I always make sure they know I am leaving and thank them.
Excellent.
I hope folks listen. You just touched the surface. :)
Here in Oklahoma COE we were given a free night because their system wasn’t working and the first come first serve sights were open… the gate agent said no Mr johnson we are trained to favor the customer
Very well said!! You 2 do an amazing job!❤
Thank you so much!
There’s always someone who breaks the rules that’s why the rules get tougher!!
There is nothing more frustrating than a reserved camping spot that is not released when the camper is a no show. The KOE reservation system is antiquated. The KOE campground we frequent has all weekends full within 30 minutes of release. We know some people that somehow always get the same camping spots for years. They only show up half of the time. Soooo stinking frustrating.
Or the ones that manipulate the reservation system. For example you can only reserve 4-6 months in advance but as long as your reservation includes one date in the reservation window you can reserve how ever many days you want. So if they want a weekend, they set a reservation starting the Tuesday beforehand extending into the weekend then go back and cancel the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday portion of the reservation at a later date. Effectively jumping the line of people waiting for weekend spots to open by over booking. Or they do the full reservation and don't occupy the first part of their stay. I really wish more campground hosts had the power to convert those who abuse the "first night must be occupied" rule over to open first come first served sites, but the inability to accept in person reservations makes that nearly impossible.
A new segment is Saturday the Camp Fire Stories
It's hard sometimes being a camp host. I've parked at the entrance gotten out of the car and just walked through to see what site.
Hi Bill & Deb, are you planning any rendezvous events in the North Florida, North Central Florida area within the next year?
Not sure yet
I was camping at Lake Catherine a few weeks ago and had a family pull up to my campsite and had a picnic on my picnic table and hung out for about an hour. People are crazy. 😊
Our neighbors once hung their hammocks in our campsite.
The moral of the story is people are horrible and will take advantage of every chance They get!
5% of the people are rule breakers, the rest are good people
Really enjoy your videos.
Glad to hear it!
Thanks for the explanation!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Wondering why you don't have windows in your doors. Allows you to see out before you open the door and lets light in without getting in the way of cabinets, etc.
Love your channel and was going to build a new cargo toy hauler, but decided to keep my 6x12 and added a tiny slide in truck camper to gain amenities I didnt have in my trailer and give me more versatility in my travels.
Our full intention from the git go was windows in the doors. The issue has been that when the funds are there, we have no time. When we have the time, we lack the funds. Actually, after 3 years in it, we kinda like no windows in the doors. We like feeling as if we're in a cozy cocoon when we settle down for the evening. Of course, during the day, we're outside as much as possible. We are considering peep holes in the doors and maybe one of those camera doorbells.
That was very helpful to know thank you
Glad it was helpful!
We were in several campgrounds last year, only one still posted 'reserved date, last name, and notice it was not available. Usually there were at least the current and upcoming reserved dates. . Until Covid all the camps we visited used to post notice which sites were not available. I know there is a shortage of funding to maintain public campground, but going back to posting notices would certainly help.
Yes, very few campgrounds do that anymore. You can easily go to Recreation.gov and pull up that campground and then see what's available (or not available). The standard rule for the last few years has been that you must have the site reserved before you back in and set up on the site. We've seen some pull in to an empty site, go ahead, and completely set up, then go to Recreation.gov to reserve the site, only to find it's already reserved to someone else.
@@billanddeb I book everything for the season online as soon as the 'window' opens. This year we're booked through May through mid-October. We've been camping for 7 years, only had to cancel one trip due to bad weather (and one scary night where a storm blew in off of Lake Superior). We average 6 trips a year. This year we're doing 8!
we go eat lunch at one once in awhile at a COE we do not pull into a site we go down to the bathrooms and park for about 30 min we eat and we left oh yes we are both handicap we cant camp any more we do miss it and i think seeing people camping just makes me cry wish we still could
😟❤️
In addition to knowing the two of you, we also know other folks that use camp sites at Beaver Lake. They will try to get reservations 6 months out as soon as the dates open up. They are not always able to get the dates they want and have to look for cancellations which takes time and effort over weeks to get a site they want and/or dates they want. The last thing they want to deal with when they get there is someone who chose to park in the spot they reserved months in advance. The campers who follow the rules appreciate the fact that the staff and rangers enforce the rules. The rules are pretty straight forward, easy to find the rules if one does not know them and very easy to simply follow the rules. As you know, we have paid for day use passes so we could access the park, park our car in the day use area, picnic and walk around the common/open areas to get an idea about which campsites were where for future use etc.. You also know we paid for campsites, when we did not camp; but, we did, so wee could use the site legitimately for the afternoon/evening after check in time so we could spend part of the day and it helped us decide on if we wanted to use the particular site in the future. Being familiar with you two who were the hosts was helpful as you helped us know the options we had within the guidelines.
And,,,,,,,,,we need to get together before Deb and I leave the area. Text me.
Bill
Love it!!
Thank you!!
What are your thoughts on polycore ? We found a trailer we like that is made of polycore
We have a friend who has one. We like it.
There are a lot of scumbags out there.
Okay. That job of camp host is off my todo list. lol.
Lol. No,,,we think you should go for it. 🙃
😄
Dry her off Deb…. Lol
❤
Are there Corp of Engineer Campgrounds in every state like out west?
NO. COE's are on the Eastside of the Mississippi River. On the Westside there's like BLM Bureau of Land Management.
Basically
@@Leebeaux1 thanks
There are core of engineers parks in the west also. Idaho and Oregon
But if I got a boat trailer I'd be ok right ???😂😂😂
I've stayed at one in California as well and had no problem driving through checking out a couple of others as well. It was the off season though. @@idarmartin6022
Here.😊
I would never want to be a park attendant, lol.
It's a job...for sure
I withdraw my application to be an attendant. ..... sheee
There are some we've visited that appear to be less troublesome than others. But, in the end, people are people.
Hello Sheriff Deb and Deputy Bill
Lol
Arrest me I am ready to travel
This is Bill. Why can't I be the Sherif??? Lol
How about Entitled Sherif LOL