Thousand Trails Indian Lakes

Our first stop in Indiana was at Thousand Trails Indian Lakes. We loved this campground. I think it has to be one of my favorite campgrounds we have stayed at and DEFINITELY my favorite Thousand Trails location. 

There are A LOT of spots here but not all of them are full hook up. They have a couple large sections that full timers stay in. When we were there they were about to get in a lot of pipeliners. Most of these spots were not full hook up but they were really nice. Most people that live there take really good care of their spots and they looked really nice. The first section for temporary had some full timers in it as well. This section also had a good chunk of pull-though sites though they were set up a bit odd. Not all your connections were on the same side of the rig. Not sure who did that but make sure you have extra hoses and such. There were also a large amount of sites in this section that has no sewer. After this section there is a KOA section. Then there is another Thousand Trails section. This is the section we picked. The spaces are nice and big and from what I saw most, if not all were full hook up. We grabbed a 50 amp that backed up to a view of the park. All the sites have these really nice fire pits as well and there is a place right down the road where you can get firewood for $10. 

The park is beautiful. There is a lake with a slide that goes into it. The kids loved this. The only bad thing was the beach was just really hard packed clay. So they couldn't play in the sand. The water looks a bit sketchy but they check the levels to make sure that it is safe. The playground is AMAZING. There are actually 2 playgrounds. One is old school metal and the other is just amazing. It even has a little workout area. There is a beach volleyball court there (and one by the lake) and some basketball courts. There is also corn hole courts. The pool was nice. There is a small baby pool and then the regular pool. It goes plenty deep and each time we went there was a lifeguard on duty. 

In the front there is a store, gas station (never figured out if this works but I think it is there for the gold carts), a restaurant, and I think even a beauty salon. At least that is what the lady I met a Kroger said. 

We never made it into the rec center when we were there but we did participate in the Friday night movies right next to it. The make popcorn that is free and then they sell drinks and candy for $1 each. The first week was Minions which Zoey loved. Week 2 was Kashi, what a tear jerker. Week 3 we skipped because it was Labor Day weekend and the kids were busy with the MASSIVE amount of kids that were there at the park. 

They have internet at the rec center but like I said we never went do I don't know how it was. Both our Verizon and T-Mobile connections were good. We had no internet problem while we were there. 

Some people have mentioned having a hard time finding a spot, especially full hook up. We came in mid week and had no problems but it was late August as well. I can see it being hard at peak times. Our neighbors at one point had come in during a weekend and did not find a full hook up so they just kept checking every morning till they found one and then moved. I think that is what we would do. Another issue is that the rain seems to just sit on the ground there. So the few times it did rain there were puddles everywhere. Some sites worse then others but it wasn't a huge deal to us. The last thing that annoyed us was the gate system. Most Thousand Trails use a key code system you just punch in the code. Here they have papers with bar codes and you have to scan them. It is a PAIN. It never works the first time so you sit there scanning it over and over and over. Also the scanner is rather low so I actually had to roll down my window and unbuckle and lean down to reach each time. Eric could reach without all that but I couldn't. 

Overall we loved it here. We will definitely be back as it is close to some of our family and smack in the middle of the US. We loved the open feel, the nice big sites, and the nice look of it. Staff was great as well. Totally worth checking out if you are in the area. 

The lake with the slide! So much fun!

Close up of the park. 

You can see the work out area on the left. 

Zoey all ready to watch Minions. She wouldn't let me sit with her on the blanket. :(

Basketball courts. You can get balls from the office.

We loved cooking over the fire pit. This was steak night. Yum!

The fire pit. We made many fires during our stay. 

Thousand Trails Natchez Trace

 We bought a Thousand Trails membership before we left Florida. We bought a USED membership though Chad at Campground Membership Outlet Chad can be reached at 1-800-272-0401. I believe there is some sort of referral program so if you do get a membership I would love if you would use us as a referral. Anyway we bought the Platnium Plus membership. While it does not include all the parks (and Elite would) it was perfect for us and the price was right. 

 The first park we tried out after Thousand Trails Orlando was Natchez Trace outside of Nashville.  It is a beautiful park and the staff is amazing. They are very off in the middle of no where and so our phone singnal (T-Mobile) was non existent. It tried to run in roaming off the AT&T signal but that didn't work either. However we did have a signal from our Verizon Jet Pack and the Rec Center had decent internet as well. Most of the sites are 30 Amp and not all of them all full hook up. We got really lucky and found one of the VERY RARE 50 amp full hook up sites. The site was pretty level but a lot of the non full hook up sites are pretty rough. The sites also come with fire rings and those metal grills. Our site had neither. Most fire rings were just rings of rocks and our grill was just missing. It was okay though, we would rather have the 50 amps.

  The park also has a bunch of cabins you can rent. Some are lake side and some are not. My in-laws came down for the weekend and rented one of the cabins. All the nicer ones were rented so they got a standard one. They definitely need some work done but it gave them a bed to sleep in and a place to shower. I am not sure they would rent them again but it got the job done for the weekend. 

  Their rec center is great. There is an adult room with a TV that gets satellite. That was nice for us since the Olympics were on while we were there. I asked a staff member and they didn't mind if the kids sat in there with us and watched as long as we were there and they were being good. There never was anyone else there at night so it worked out well. They have an office FULL of movies, Xbox games, board games, and outdoor games you can check out. In the kids area there were pool tables, a ping pong table, XBox, VCR, DVD player, books, and a bowling game. We had a good time there and found ourselves bringing our school work up there to work on while we played. They also have a kitchen, a hall for bingo and other events, racket ball, a gym, a library, and I am sure something else I am forgetting. 

William and Zoey watching a show while Eric does school

Ashton playing on the XBox

One of my favorite things was the beach. They have a section roped off you can swim in and the water is really clear. They also have these nifty sail shades so super pale people like me can hide from the evil sun. The view is just beautiful and we really enjoyed it there. They also have paddle boats, kayaks, and canoes you can rent. 

The beach area

There is a pool area that looked nice. we didn't make it there as it was kinda green most of the time we were there. They were working on getting the chemicals right. There is also a barn you can rent out, a small park, mini golf, and a little store. The store even has breakfast and lunch they can make you. My In-Laws took the kids up for breakfast and said it wasn't bad. 

All in all we had a wonderful time here. We did not stay our whole 3 weeks that we had booked but that was because Eric was tired of going up to the rec center to work. We now know our JetPack was being wonky so we might have had signal at the site if it was working right but at the time he had to head to the rec center every day for work. I would definitely go back again.

Lakewood Camping Resort

The Hubby wanted to stay on the beach. He decided he wanted to go to Myrtle Beach. So I searched and searched spending HOURS reading reviews. I mean HOURS. I had pages of notes, read reviews, called a bunch of places. We usually stay somewhere a month. It is cheaper that way and gives us time to see everything without feeling rushed. However, I was worried that we would be bored after being in Myrtle Beach a month because we are not big tourist attraction people. So we agreed we would stay a week at Lakewood Camping Resort.

We pulled in and got to our spot. We had a clear view of the ocean from the door. Before we were even hooked up The Hubby and the kids were on the beach. The Hubby was on the sand all of 2 minuted before he begged me to let us stay a month. I called up to the office and she happily switched us to a 5 week reservation since they were running a stay 4 weeks get the 5th for free special. So we were there for a while and The Hubby was happy.
We didn't get to use a lot of the features of this campground since it was winter. The store/restaurant was only open the first few days we were there. It closed after Thanksgiving. The outdoor water park was of course closed. we never made it fishing in the ponds. Also we never did check out the arcade. One of the food trucks were open once when we were there and The Hubby did get a snack from it. They have a calendar of activities but we were unable to attend them all due to my broken foot or them being a potluck and us not wanting to risk Monkey having a reaction. We did however rent a golf cart one weekend, check out the indoor pool, play at the park, and go on the beach. We also used the laundry room and The Hubby used to gym a few times.

The indoor pool was decent. It has a hot tub as well for adults only and a tiny baby pool. It was really humid in there since it is a heated pool which was nice. They did have a lifeguard there but there are signs saying there is not always one there. They did have adult only swim between 1pm-2pm every day. We went at night most of the time and it was a bit dark but the kids didn't mind. They have showers in there as well as bathrooms. When it rains it does rain into the pool a bit since the roof has a gap in it to try and help the heat escape. Overall it was a good pool.

The park was great. My kids had a blast there playing with other kids, swinging, playing basketball, and playing in the sand. It was well maintained as well. There is not a separate toddler area but at just under 2 Princess was able to get around just fine and had a blast. They do have both baby swings and regular swings. There are 2 basketball courts as well as some courts for other games. You can rent equipment from the office but we never did so I am not 100% sure how that works.

The beach of course was a beach. It was very sandy, not rocky, there was lots of room, and everyone really enjoyed it. There are garbage cans close by if you need to use them and there were bathrooms at the arcade and pool that you could use if you didn't want to go back to your rig. Lots of people took walks up and down the beach. You could go really far as the beached were not blocked off between places. The Hubby even rode his bike on the beach a few times. What a work out that was. (And what a MESS he was).

I only used the laundry room once since The Hubby did laundry while my foot was broken. It was a nice laundry room though with lots of machines. They even have triple load washers that do 3x as much laundry at once. There are video games in there so your kids can play while you wait. There are also baskets you can use to transfer your laundry. Another really nice thing is there is a coin machine in there. Super nice not to have to make sure you have quarters before you go do laundry.

Another nice thing was garbage was picked up at your site. We really enjoy this feature because it makes it easier on us. They also give you a blue bag when you check in to put your cans in for recycling. Another plus in my book.

Internet was decent. It was not the best but it did let The Hubby get his work done. I will venture a guess that during peak times though it will be VERY slow. We had some times where it was rough while we were there and there were not many people there using it. So if you need good internet and plan on going when it is busy I was bring your own internet.

Overall this was a very nice campground. We would stay here again but only in the off season. Not that we did not like it but I thing if I was there when it was busy we would have had a very different experience. The sites are kinda close together and we have heard how busy it can get with the golf club traffic. I think it would work nicely during peak season for a week long vacation, but I would not stay then for a long time or as a full timer that time of year. That is just the opposite of what we look for in a campground.

Raleigh Oaks RV Resort

Raleigh Oaks RV Resort was a wonderful first stop. It was brand new so everything was in great condition and they were still improving it while we are there. They have two pools and a hot tub. The hot tub is heated but the pools are NOT. They also have a court for pickleball (whatever that is), mini golf, a playground, and some other games.
The Hubby really enjoyed their meeting room. There is a kitchen in there, a big TV, a couple couches, and some recliners. He would sometimes go up there to work. One night we brought the PlayStation in there, ordered a pizza, and had a movie night. You can see Princess enjoyed the recliners too. They also have a room with a pool table he enjoyed.

The bathrooms were very nice and kept very clean. The Hubby and The Boy enjoyed many a nice long,hot shower in them. They are also private with each bathroom having a toilet and shower.

There are 2 laundry rooms. One in the front of the park, and one in the back. They were kept clean and all the machines worked. The first loads I did the water lines were mixed so my cold wash was hot and my hot was cold but they quickly fixed it when I let them know.

Breakfast was included every morning. Waffles!!!! Nothing better then a nice hot breakfast made by someone else (and cleaned up by them). The first day we went and noticed Monkey could not eat the waffles. The mix was not safe for nut allergies due to being made in the same facility as nut products. A few days later a staff member let me know they bought a new mix so he could eat them. I was sooooo happy and so was he. That gave them 5 stars in my book.

Internet was good as well. They have free wi-fi internet or you could upgrade to a hardwire line which was a nice option. The sites come with cable as well. They also have cabins that you can rent or visitors can rent when coming to visit you. You can see some in the pretty sunset picture I took from our site. We had one of the premium sites which were on the outside. They were very long and had a lot of space. The inside spots were a really good size as well. You can see one of the laundry room and bathroom buildings off in the distance of the picture of us in the spot.

Overall this was a great RV park. We recommend it highly and would absolutely stay there again.

Americamps RV Resort

So we spent our first few months in VA while we waited for our house to rent out. We ended up staying at Americamps RV Resort since it was close to where we bought the RV. We really enjoyed our time here and we knew it would be our benchmark for the future places we stayed.

They had activities most days ranging from Dominos and Bingo, to S'Mores, Ice Cream Socials,movie nights, and events for the holidays.



The amenities were nice. The pool was always clean, as were the showers and bathrooms. The laundry rooms were always clean as well. The internet was very good and we didn't have any issues with it. The playground was a little small, but the kids still had a blast playing there. They also have tetherball, horseshoes, cornhole, and ping pong. There is a small store that has a lot of things you could need and the prices are decent. They are have some free ice cream which of course the kids loved. Also every morning they serve waffles!


The staff was always helpful and friendly. They helped us with the learning curve of our first RV, when our car went missing, were super kind when Cat Boy had a meltdown at the 4th of July event realizing he was not being a brat, but that something else was going on, and so much more. If we ever find ourselves in the Richmond VA area we will be staying here for sure.