Decision Points

When we were weekend campers and camping with different clubs our goal was to go to as many different places as we could.  There never seemed to be one place we liked enough to go back to all the time – and probably the reason we never became seasonal campers.  I usually was the wagon master for the first trip of the year for one club (Fold & Go) and my rule of thumb was that we would not do the ‘ice breaker’ at the same place for more than two consecutive years.  Well, now that we are full-timing it the same theory seems to be applying.  While we are booked to return to Greenbrier next year the return is based on the fact that we haven’t fully explored the area; so hopefully, the two month stint next year will cure that. 
Host camping is not a necessity for us.  When we decide to host camp we look for a place where we want to spend some time exploring.  Most state and federal campgrounds have stay limits, typically two weeks, and we know – actually guess – that we will need more time than that in some areas.  We could shift campgrounds when we hit the stay limit or we could spend the time at a commercial campground and hopefully not have to site hop.  What host camping does is allow us to stay in one site for the duration of our visit.  The side benefit is that it also gives us the cash to hit more of the ‘touristy’ places. 
As we are finding out the longer you stay somewhere the more you learn about the area and that leads to more things to see.  Once you hit all the places the area is famous for there is so much more to see - like all the little local attractions and events that don’t get any attention outside of the local community. Sometimes it is these little church or community events that are a big hit.