Economical Travel With Pets

As families plan summer vacations, pets ought to be on the radar screen in the early stages, while there’s time to consider the costs, benefits and alternatives. If you are reading this blog, I’ll assume you are a pet owner. Unless this is your first vacation, you’ve either had to leave the dog at home with a dog sitter, kennel the dog in a boarding facility or take the pet with you.

Camping with your pet is often the most economical choice, but not always. While cost should not drive the decision whether your dog travels with you, for many families, the additional cost of pet care can be the vacation deal breaker.

So what are the real costs? First of all, the campground may charge a pet fee or impose certain restrictions on breeds and sizes of dogs. The time to find out is before you make your reservation. Make no assumptions and ask questions about pet policies and management expectations.

Before travelling with any pet—especially when leaving your home jurisdiction-- a trip to the vet may be in order. Wherever dogs gather, kennel cough is a possibility. A bordetella inoculation is a good idea. Dogs that have not been tested for heartworm may need to be tested and then placed on proper preventative medication. If you are living in the far northern parts of the United States, heartworm may not be a problem. But where mosquitoes are plentiful, heartworm is epidemic. If your dog contracts heartworm, the prolonged care and cost of treatment can be quite expensive. Better to be safe than sorry.

Proof of rabies inoculation is required at most campgrounds. If you have not kept good records, costs can be incurred reproducing and assembling records.

Most families who travel with pets would have it no other way. Leaving them would not seem like a vacation. But just as no two dogs are alike, no prescription for canine campground happiness holds true for all dogs. It’s probably a good idea to take your dog on a brief camping trip closer to home to learn how he reacts to kids, other pets, or strange surroundings, before embarking on a cross-country adventure. Some dogs who may not be bothered by thunder and lightning, will be fearful of inclement weather when their home is the family RV. If you have to camp with an unhappy pet, the whole family could end up unhappy.

The bottom line is to treat your pet like a family member. Crating a dog for many hours, leaving him alone in an RV while the family is off sightseeing or stressing the pet in any fashion, means stress for all. Most campers say dogs add fun and appreciation to camping trips because of their natural love for the outdoors and that the costs are small, compared to the benefits.

Karen Brucoli Anesi,

Lock 30 Woodlands

Spring Into Camping Without Breaking The Bank

Whether it comes in like a lamb or a lion, the weather in March, on average stinks. That’s OK, because we’ve had more than a few 60- degree, sunny days this month. Enough that the phone is ringing with plenty of April camping requests.


The first thing callers say is “Oh—I didn’t expect you to pick up the phone.” Then there’s usually a degree of surprise that we’re open year-round, followed by a second surprise: the best rates and often the best time to camp is during shoulder seasons and mid-week.

Think you can’t camp in April? Think again.

For the third year in a row we’ll host a gang of great guys from the Toyota Territory Off-Road Association. They’ll take advantage of area trails by day and sit around a bonfire most nights when they’re not playing pool in our carpeted clubhouse. One night they’ll have a big feast in the pavilion, using our commercial grill for a man meal in the woods.

The TTORA group camps in tents, but RVers, too, know that the fish are biting, the daffodils are blooming and the fresh air is a welcome blast of what’s to come as the green awakens in the woods. In April, while nights are still cool, sleep is of the deep quality that only gets interrupted by the smell of bacon cooking on an open fire.

We’ll give each camper a free night to encourage them to check in on Thursday, rather than Friday. During shoulder seasons we can afford to toss out perks for extended stays. They appreciate that and we’re delighted we can offer even more camping value for the dollar.

If there’s a theme for this year, its how can we help our campers save money in shoulder seasons, yet not cut the corners on their experience. We know that the weather can be iffy, but campers know they can always pick up a morning cup of free hot coffee and some sass at our front desk.

Some days we’ll have a fire going in our clubhouse. The free books will be stacked high in the bookcase. What can beat curling up on the couch with a paperback and staring out the picture window at a blanket of stars? One hour from Pittsburgh and two from Cleveland, yet worlds away from congestion, where all that you see and all the fragrances that surround you are a reminder that yes, it’s indeed a wonderful world.

How much time does it take to recharge your batteries and where do you go for a quick “fix?”

If you are like me, it only takes 48 to 72 hour in the woods to add a month of smiles. I have to admit that I’m not relaxed enough to toss my cell phone aside, but I can tell you this much: in light of listening to CNN up to 15 hours each day and being reminded of tensions in far corners of the world, I embrace the forced isolation for all it’s worth.

My “group therapy” might be with the early return of the robins or the crocus and grape hyacinths pushing their way to the surface. Just thawing out a container of frozen chili and eating it out of a throwaway container, sitting on a tree stump in a pair of baggy jeans, well, that’s what charges my batteries for not much more than what I’d spend taking my family to see a movie on a big screen in a multi-plex theater. Need I say more?

So, you’re not yet convinced that camping is a value experience? You’re not an April eager- to- be- in- the- woods type? Consider our other value option: mid week camping.

It matters not what time of year, if you avoid holiday weeks and can tear away from the workplace between Sunday and Wednesday nights, your family can save up to 45%. Check out our rates on www.ohiorvcamp.com and do the math.

Not only will you have the advantage the wide open park offers, but you can jump on the pedal cars without a wait, stretch out on a raft in the pool, grab a cue stick to play pool or pick out your favorite tunes on the juke box and know there’s not a crowd behind you. Go ahead, sing in the showers and shout at the top of your lungs.

Just don’t do it after 10pm or you’ll be in hot water. You see, we can save you money, but we won’t run interference if you break the rules. :=)

Have fun in 2011. Get to know your family. Take a short drive down the road, save fuel costs and do your own group therapy in a safe, comfortable retreat right in your own backyard, yet worlds away from city congestion and workplace stress.

Karen and the Lock 30 Woodlands Crew

Cyber Camping vs Great Outdoors

April 18, 2010


Occasionally a caller will balk at Lock 30 Woodlands’ prices and say “Well, for that price, I can stay in a motel room.”

Occasionally I’m tempted to poke gently at this comparison and ask “So, tell me, for what price can you build a campfire in that motel room?”

Most of us know that comparing motels to campgrounds is like comparing apples to cantaloupes. Yet guests expect similar levels of service, amenities, and conveniences.

That’s not a bad thing, but it should prompt campground owners and managers to consider what they offer and at what price. Some of the conveniences offered in urban settings simply don’t work as well when offered “in the woods,” yet, like offering fast food, we‘re constantly looking to super-size these services, even when their benefit is debatable.

Wifi is one of those expected conveniences.

As I type this blog on my 3 pound notebook computer I can’t help but lament how I’m tied to technology almost as much as I’m tied to water and food. I had major surgery several months ago; half my anxiety was concern over climbing the stairs to access online Lock 30 reservations, read emails and pay bills. A lightweight, portable computer allowed me to breath with more ease.

We understand that campers, too, want these conveniences and that’s why we offer Wifi. But some days I wonder if it’s not a big mistake. If we took away their cyber world for just one weekend and replaced it with the real world, would we not be doing our guests a huge favor? Would we not be opening a drawer for them that may have been closed for too long? Could we reawaken their hearing to the early morning joy of song birds or the end of day calm of a crackling fire?

I’m more than a little anxious about kids whose thumbs are constantly texting, instead of casting a line in the fishing pond. With smart phones and interactive games requiring internet access, I’m concerned there will never be enough broadband to stay ahead of the demand.

That’s only part of the problem—our part—since we’re providing the service. But if we consider the challenge parents must face every day, competing with the tech world of instant answers, instant gratification and instant access to information, when do they get the chance to explore with their children the world that makes for memories, rather than a tech world neatly packaged on a flash drive?

Camping is so much more than lodging, so much more than changing the backdrop of where we do our day to day routine. It allows us to step away—even if it’s only for a few days at a time-- from our self-created slavery to convenience.

It allows us the time and space to poke the fire with the people who matter to us the most.

Work Where You Play

There’s a well –worn analogy that compares the duck swimming gracefully on top of the water to the front desk clerk smiling hospitably while she registers campers: both are paddling like hell below the surface.

If you’ve worked at a campground you know the scenario only too well. Things are seldom as calm as they appear to the weekend guest who looks around the campground and says,

“Gee. What a plum job! You collect money, assign sites and join guests as they eat S’mores around the campfire.”

It’s true that there are few jobs where you can work where you play. And most campground owners and managers appreciate the fact they they’re playing host or hostess to a great crowd of guests and customers who are eager to be camping.

After all, we’re welcoming happy people on their way to a good time. Campers don’t pull in expecting to have their teeth drilled. They arrive ready for a relaxing respite, prepared to enjoy what’s ahead.

We are the lucky ones who receive them at the front gate. If we’re ready—with facilities well- maintained and all systems functioning, chances are things can go well.

But even when we’re operating at the top of our game, stuff happens, things go upside down. The average campground has several businesses within the business. The same desk clerk greeting campers could be flipping burgers, cleaning bathrooms, shopping for and stacking inventory, managing a web site and reservation system, and cleaning up after pets. All in the same day. The life guard may be the summer employee mopping the floors, stacking the pool furniture, fixing the video games and showing the Saturday night movie after he stacks firewood.

We work hard. This is especially true in small, family-owned campgrounds, where a few workers don many hats for low wages and long summer hours.

At Lock 30 Woodlands, most workers do all jobs—or at least most jobs. When workampers apply to Lock 30 Woodlands, they know they will be camping where they’re working. Most sign on expecting that the job has clear parameters, routine expectations and predictable consequences. That’s the ideal situation, but it’s not always the norm.

Workampers at Lock 30 are treated as paid staff because usually that’s exactly the level of responsibility they assume. They have the added benefit of being given a full hook up site and a few perks beyond their wages, but for that they are often “night hosts” responsible for after hours’ possibilities.

Our reward in hiring workampers is that they bring with them perspectives from wherever they’ve camped or worked. Many are retired professionals, healthy enough to do the demanding physical tasks we require and skilled in knowing what campers want and need. Even better, they bring a breadth of experience to our recreation world that is hard to beat. We’ve had electricians and nurses, retail sales clerks and factory workers. We’ve even employed maintenance specialists and artists, government workers and homemakers. In the ten years we’ve used workampers, most, but not all, have made a positive difference and influenced change in policy and procedures.

What makes for a successful workamper experience? Three things: as clear a job description as management can offer, mutual respect, and lots of good luck.

Campground managers take a chance because often they hire workampers “over the phone.” Technology has provided tools to lessen the risk, but most workampers don’t show up at the front desk, resume in hand and ready for an interview. Managers take a risk that workampers are who they say they are and will do what they claim they can and are willing to do.

Workampers take a chance because they sign on for jobs that often require them to pull up stakes and drive a distance to work for organizations or individuals who are complete strangers. They depend on web sites for accurate representations of where they will live. They count on employers to define accurately and honestly what they will be expected to do.

Lock 30 Woodlands looks for workers who have a “happy to help” attitude. We want our workampers to understand that the first half of the word “workamper” is indeed work. But it’s work with some of the best campers on the planet.

And when you work with and for good people, work can take on all the pleasures and rewards of play.

Poking the Campfire--What Mamma has to say

Its no accident I'm kicking off this blog on the day that all fools are in their glory. On April Fools, the operative word is fun. That's what we're going to talk about a few times each week--who's having the most fun.

No matter the size, location or feel of the campground, fun better be a big part of the formula, momma says. Everyone knows if momma ain't having fun, then no one is. At least for me, if there's no fun in it, I'm not doing it.

A few years ago we were shopping for T-shirts, or maybe I should say, shopping for what to print on our T shirts. The top contender? A shirt that said: "At Lock 30 Woodlands, it's only fun until someone gets hurt--then its hilarious!"

Someone, maybe my lawyer, said that shirt was not a good idea.

So then we went the historic preservation route, honoring Lisbon as the oldest city and first capital of the Buckeye state:

"Ohio. Nothing to do since1802--until Lock 30 Woodlands! We play every day"

Someone, maybe my manager, said poking a stick in the eye of the whole state was not a good idea, either.

No question, everyone has their own ideas about what's fun and what's funny, so it's probably smart to first run your ideas past someone who at least appears normal.


As for what we do at Lock 30 to offer family fun and recreation, we like to step slightly out of the tent. Hold that thought, because I'll give you an example in a minute.

Probably the most fun I had last summer was snarfing all the "Made in China" glow in the dark necklaces from our store to make a twenty-foot long, looped garland. Then I attached the neon chain to the robot that cleans our 40 x 80 swimming pool. I stood in the pitch dark in a patch of lavender, near the bocce court, awestruck as Aqua Bot scrubbed away, creeping 12 foot deep, tugging a blaze of iridescent color.

The only thing that would have made my midnight caper more fun would have been a margarita. But then I would have started running my mouth, whooping and hollering. That would have gotten me thrown out of my own campground. Now that would not be fun.

(Translation: Do not try this at my home or yours.)

So how do we step outside the tent to create fun for our campers? We start by expanding our definition of fun. We believe in "edutainment"--the wonderful thing that happens when you combine learning (as in education) with entertainment.

On Mother's Day weekend I'm putting on a pot of coffee to launch our "Fireside Chat" series. I'll ask one of our workampers, a horticulturist, to join our regulars who gather round the clubhouse wood-burning stove on chilly Saturday mornings. She'll talk herbs: how and why we grow them. We have a free herb garden at Lock 30 Woodlands. When you need a fresh handful of sage for your chicken cooked on the campfire, nothing else will do.

There's fun, too, in learning how to put together a knock-your-socks off planter of colorful annuals for your deck or front porch.

For all the mothers camping that weekend: "Flowers for the Front Porch Using Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers." I'll be doing a Saturday "how to" demonstration so dads and kids can create a lasting gift for mom.

I'm a Master Gardener, courtesy of Colorado State University Extension. Gardening is my passion. It's fun for me to share what I know, and its fun for campers to learn what the great outdoors offers.

I'm going to ask a few of our extended stay campers and staff to help host our shoulder season "Fireside Chat" series. These generous folks are a diverse group, offering a wide range of knowledge and experience. I'm hoping they, too, will have fun sharing with campers what they know.

OK. Back to the T-shirts. I know you're wondering who we managed to finally offend with our tasteless selection of inappropriate mottos.

No one. We don't sell T-shirts. At least not yet.


The truth is--for momma, selling T-shirts isn't fun. And if there's no fun in it, momma ain't doin' it.

Karen Brucoli Anesi

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."--(Neal Walsh may have said it, but my good buddy, Amy Smith is living it.)