Twin Mountain / Mount Washington KOA

We are fortunate to have found Twin Mountain KOA to spend the summer of 2019 as workampers.  As with any new job the anticipation of what to expect was high  We arrived at the end of April ready to help clean up winters mess.  We were welcomed by Owners Brad and Becky (Bex) Hare.  They did not disappoint, they made us feel at home.  We started spring clean up and making ready for our campers.  Brad and Bex worked on projects along with everybody else. This is rare in our KOA career.

 As you arrive you will see a landscaped entryway with a hand-carved sign saying Welcome to Twin Mountain  Camping above the Notch. Referring to Franconia Notch that you pass through coming to the campground from the south.

Children of all ages will notice our playground is loaded with fun for all.

Our playground has a train engine playset, Swings, Volleyball/badminton, Corn Hole,  Horseshoes, Ladderball, as well as a new Playset for 2020

                 Gaga ball 

A bounce pad.  This space is busy from sun up to sundown.  Watching the faces of the kids that just had a long ride when the see this area.  Lasting friendships are made here for sure. 

When you stop for check-in straight ahead will be one of our many types of accommodations. 

This is Claudes Caboose named after Brad's Dad.  It sleeps 6 and has electricity and nice outdoor fire pit and picnic table.  The inside still looks similar to the days when it ran the rails. It is one of 5 used in campgrounds in the USA

We have Glamping tents for our guests to rent. Our large tent sleeps 5 on custom log beds.  

 Queen bed with a with full bottom and twin top bunk. There is a log bench, lamps and bedside tables,  and a coat rack. 

Outside are 2 log Adirondack chairs and a small table on a covered deck. There is also a deluxe fire ring, picnic table, and charcoal grill.  There will be a 2 person glamping tent this year.

 We also offer the usual rustic camping cabins that are nestled in the woods.  We also have different types of deluxe cabins with heat, ac, cable tv, refrigerator, and bathroom with shower.  

There is a campsite for any type of camping you could ask for. Full hook up pull-through patio sites,  Full hookup back-in sites,  Water and electric back-in sites, and  Wooded tent sites.

 Secluded tent site with electric

Back in water electric

South hill deluxe full hookup pull-through patio site.

Full hookup pull-through patio site 

There is so much to do here at Twin Mountain KOA the fun never ends.  We have a heated pool, Hay ride, Trainables, Live music and Ice scream social on the deck, Smores,  Flashlight candy hunt,  Scavenger hunt, Community fire pit, and other fun things in the game room.

Hay ride

 Tire Swing

Smores with Dodi

This is just a taste of our summer home and it gets better every year. Below are pictures of other cool sights around the campground.  

 Kids starting a small business

Sunset at the pavilion on South hill, complete with fire table and comfy wicker furniture and a gas grill.

Even our wild mushrooms are KOA yellow

The covered bridge to connect the tent sites to the satellite bathhouse.

We will soon add a link to things to do in the area and things to see.  If I left anything about the campground and I probably did follow this link https://koa.com/campgrounds/twin-mountain/

After 12 years of full-time RV living, this place will be our summer home for as long as we are wanted,  It is a well-run KOA that cares about their guests, and workers and they are always making improvements.  

O

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park

   

  Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is located in Fort Lauderdale Florida West of the ICW and across A1A from Fort Lauderdale Beach.  We have fortunate to have been able to be resident Volunteers here.  We spent 3 winters here and will return again in 2021.  In exchange for our site, we would work 20 hours each week doing projects in the park.  We have painted, done carpentry,  replaced screens, and helped educate visitors.  

This is our mother's and mom's friend Susan at the lofty fig tree.   There are walking trails, a loop road for biking, skating, and walking,  There are exotic trees planted by Hugh Taylor Birch,  There several pavilions that are rented for functions.  The is also a boat dock and a stop for the Water Taxi. There are benches and picnic tables along the Intercostal Waterway for lounging in the sun and watching yachts and even the occasional manatee.

 This was a hive that lived along the walking trail.  You can also rent a kayak or canoe and explore a pond and go through the moat, there is a bar and restaurant next to Terra Mar that was the home of Mr. Birch. 

 This is one of my favorite places to sit and read a book and watch the boats pass.

AN URBAN OASIS NESTLED BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND INTRACOASTAL WATERWAy

 In exchange for our work in the park we able to live among the sea grape and palm trees in a beautiful tropical setting amid the madness that is Fort Lauderdale. 

There are 6 campsites here for volunteers and we have made many friends and memories.  Many a night were spent with others sitting around a campfire of sea grape and live oak.  All this is only steps from the Intercoastal Waterway and a short walk the tunnel to Fort Lauderdale Beach  

A visit to South Florida would not be complete without spending a day enjoying nature here

The RVs of our 12 years of full time RV life

After 12 years of living the fulltime life these are the motorhomes we have lived in and our experience with them.


1990 Newport by Cobra on a Ford Chassis

We started our full-time lifestyle 13 years ago this coming May 2020.  We had sold off the bike shop and started to deal with our empty nest syndrome.  We stopped in at City Auto Sales in Newport NH and looked at a 1990 Newport by Cobra on a Ford Chassis. This was in the fall of the year and the asking price was 12500. This being over our price range we kept looking.  Our search took us to the New England Campground Ownes outdoor show.   After seeing the same salesman there we talked to in the fall we asked it he still had it.  He said that with rising fuel prices and the number of times he had to remove snow from the roof and to move it to plow we would deliver it to our home for 4000.00.  We had a new house.

We started sleeping in it in our dooryard and moving things we would need to start our new life.  We removed the carpet and the dinette. the chair and table inside the door.   We put in allure plank flooring.  We purchased cabinets from Home Chepo and remodeled the entire inside,(sorry no pictures cell phones did not do that then,) This was now home.


We lived and worked in the house for a couple of years.  We used this working at the white mountain national forest campgrounds in NH.  Our volunteer time at Edisto Beach State Park in South Carolina.  It served us well getting our feet wet in living full time.








Our home took us to Florida and back for a couple of years however it took a toll on the transmission towing the Jeep Cherokee.  We decided it was time to start shopping for a new house.

The 1995 Fleetwood 34J on a chevy drive train with banks performance stage 3 kit

.Our Bounder was a purchase we found on craigslist in nearby Massachusets.  We changed all the outside lights to led, did the Red Max Pro treatment to the outside and made it shine like new,  we also removed the dinette and the chair and table just inside the door,  removed the carpet and replaced it with allure flooring from home cheapo.  We love this motorhome and lived in it for 3 years. It took us on many adventures.  

 We got caught leaving on Halloween day and woke to this.  We got 9 inches of heavy wet snow followed by an evening of below freezing temps.  This turned that snow to ice.  The storm also downed many trees on I 84 in Connecticut.








Our Bounder took us on both of our trips on the Cape May Lewes Ferry.  This was a goal is to put our motor home on a boat and go across the water.  The fog was so thick we could barely see the front of the boat.  She also took us across the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel in the fog.   We had so many good times in our bounder we believed she was our forever home.

Then on a sunny Sunday morning in Richmond VA on I 95 this happens.

We were on our way to Ft Lauderdale to sell Christmas trees when a woman on her cell phone lost control of her car.  She proceeded to hit a pickup truck and then the guard rail.  The guard rail sent her across 3 lanes and she hit us 3 times.  The hits smashed 2 hatch doors and the front wheel.  Although the damage here looks minor it was not.  We later found out the frame was bent and the engine dislocated taking out the cooling system and the windshield and breaking the propane tank loose.  It was deemed a total loss.  We were fine and inside we didn't even break a wine glass.  

After waiting for the Tow truck operator from hell he finally got us hooked up and was taking us to the place our insurance recommended (McGeorge's Rolling Hills RV)  in  Ashland VA.  The service Manager who was from New England saw it and said it a total loss get it out of here.  Dodi started crying and trying to figure what pieces of out life to bag and take to a motel.  Then he had a change of heart and had us backed into a spot with water and electric so we could stay there.  While we were we started searching for a new home.  The service manager wrote us up as a total loss with a totaled value of 15000.00 and our insurance red labeled a check.  

 Enter the 2000 Holiday Rambler 

As we sat in a closed RV lot for the weekend knowing we had to get to Ft Lauderdale to manage our Christmas Tree lot   Having a budget of 15 grand, we shopped online and waited for the dealership to open,  The dealership had 2 class a for sale.  The first one was junk.  The second was the holiday Rambler 36 foot class a with 2 slides,  on a ford v10 chassis.  The inside was missing the chair and table just inside the door.  The previous owners had 2 dogs and chain-smoked inside and the carpet was stained.  The bottom paint and stripe had faded to pink.  The Price only 30000.  

After a couple days of looking and having a deadline we went back to sales again and said we would take uncleaned and as is.  They had a big meeting and agreed to 15000. and we had it next to us and we cleaned for 2 days.  

J

Now B.E.R.T. out 2006 Tiffin Allegro Bus 42QDP

 With our experience in working for KOA and our love of travel, we were offered the chance to train for management.  So with plans for long days and much more travel we started looking for a motorhome with more space,  more comfortable living and better creature comforts

We found B.E.R.T. at Optimum RV in Ocala FL.  We made the deal and were now the owner of a 2006 Tiffin Allegro Bus 42QDP.  This thing has everything King sleep number bed 3 AC units, Dishwasher, Washer Dryer, Aqua hot heat and Hot water,  and a 12KW diesel generator.

The problem with all these bells and whistles is there many more things to go wrong,  and when they see you come with a Tiffin Desiel Pusher they think you have money.  We learned to fix many things ourselves and others were very expensive to have repaired.    Another thing we were not aware of is the increased price of maintenance, registration, and insurance.



 Because of the weight and air brakes and being a diesel NH registration was 4 times more than any other RV we owned,  The same was true for insurance because of the value.  Diesel engines last for a long time however yearly maintenance is also very expensive.  We enjoyed our 3 years of travel but we have had enough.    It was time for B.E.R.T.  (Big EXPENSIVE Rolling Turd) to find a new owner. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM OPTIMUM RV in Ocala FL

Introducing the Condosr by R Vision

 We spent 3 weeks searching craigslist. rvtrader, and Facebook marketplace for a class a motorhome that had a Ford V 10 that was 36 feet or under.

The R Vision Condor was made by Monaco Coach and went out of business in the mid-2000s
Our new house Is a 2004 and has a Ford Chassis with a Triton V 10 engine with only 50000 miles.  It has an Onan generator and 3 slide outs.  The bedroom is in the back and has many windows.  This will be our home for some time.

 The 2 rear slideouts are out bedroom with all those windows.

Things we wish we had known about RVs

When searching for your home on wheels you need to find the floorplan that fits your life.  Older motorhomes are made better than the newer ones but have fewer bells and whistles.  We like the Ford v10 chassis over the Chevrolet mainly because the P30 chevy chassis was designed for ups trucks, not motorhomes.  Also, the auto park can be a problem when you least expect it.  Desiel Pushers are by far a better rig to drive,  they are quiet,  have an engine brake for going downhills,  and you ride on airbags.  The downside is diesel engines require very expensive yearly maintenance.  Make sure anything you buy any rv make sure its plugged in and try everything to make sure it works.  Have the seller show you how to operate everything.  If you have doubts have it checked by a professional.