Maxwell Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Montgomery, Alabama (May 2004)

HOA rules prohibit us keeping Rosie, our Airstream trailer, at our home. That means we pull up to our home after a camping trip and unload the refrigerator, cupboards and laundry in the hot sun. Then we clean Rosie’s interior and wash the exterior before we pull Rosie to the storage facility we use. We end up completely exhausted by the end of the day.

Many of our recent conversations focused on the how to spread the unloading of Rosie over two days. We knew that wasn't practical because of the HOA rules. Then we came up with an idea of how to arrive home very early in the morning while the temperatures were still cool. That would require us to camp very near our home. 

There were three possibilities we thought of. One was a COE campground, but is was about 45 minutes away from our house. The second was a private campground that was expensive and looked similar to a parking lot. The third option was camping in Maxwell Air Force Base's FamCamp. We called the FamCamp as we left Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi and they told us that we could make reservations for the night. 

We were relieved as we approached Maxwell's gate for military ID checks. The barriers we normally have to drive around when going on military bases were not deployed. 

Rosie in Maxwell AFB's FamCamp

We must have misunderstood the campground directions we were told on the phone because we had to hunt for our site. It was a pull-thru and we didn't unhook so that we could leave early the next morning. 

We were able to unload Rosie at our home during the cooler morning hours, so we classify this experiment as a success. By the way, we were glad we were not exhausted because parking Rosie on Gunter Air Force Base's RV Parking area was very stressful. 

Gunter has a small storage area and all RVs parked there are supposed to be smaller than 30 feet in length. We knew something was wrong when arrived at the storage area's gate. There was a huge fifth-wheel (40+ feet) near Rosie's spot.

Rosie in Gunter AFB's RV Storage Area

Parked directly across from us was a 30 foot trailer and that made it extremely difficult to park Rosie in our space. We were confused because the fifth-wheel was in the space assigned to our friends to park their Airstream trailer in. 

We called the office that manages the RV Storage Area on Gunter to find out what was going on with the huge fifth-wheel. They told us that the fifth-wheel was not assigned any space in that facility and it appeared to them that the owner found out the gate code and self-assigned a storage spot. They also said that they were taking steps to evict the apparent squatter. 

We could not help be think of our friends who probably arrived on a Sunday afternoon and found that fifth-wheel in their spot. The spots on either side of Rosie were empty so our friends must have picked one then called the office when it opened on Monday. 

After talking to the office that manages RV storage spaces on both Gunter and Maxwell AFBs, they suggested that we look at some of the open spaces on Maxwell. We dropped off Rosie and picked out a site on Maxwell. The office allowed us to stay in Gunter's RV storage area until our next trip. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a pull-through 
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Most sites had very little space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and had a concrete pad for Rosie 
• Our site was level
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were near the bathhouses 
• There were two bathhouses in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Buzzr, Charge, Comet, Grit, H&I, LAFF, ME-TV, Movies and Outlaw
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi- Gulfport, Mississippi (May 2024)

RV owners know that their campers need occasional maintenance. It makes sense that when you drag a trailer down the road at highway speeds, things are going to need repairs.

For Rosie, our Airstream trailer, the main door was showing signs of a problem. The door moved up about a quarter of an inch when you closed it from the outside. You had to slam it hard to close it from inside and I am sure that our camping neighbors did not appreciate that noise. 

Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi

Airstream owners know that there are some repairs that any RV service center can help with. Then there are Airstream specific repairs that you need to trust to someone who works on Airstream trailers. The door is a potential aluminum issue and that suggested that we needed to take Rosie to an Airstream dealer.

Since we purchased Rosie from Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi, we know that dealership. They have a Five-Rivet rating with Airstream, meaning their service department is top rated by the company. They also have John, the service manager.

We have developed a strong level of trust with John during our previous visits there. We are not alone because you frequently see John mentioned in a positive light in many social media posts from other Airstreamers. 

John met us as soon as we arrived at Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi. We went over the three things we had on our list. John told us that we didn't have to unhitch and he could have us on the road in 90 minutes. 

We went to the fast food restaurant next door and ordered their two for $5 special for breakfast and took our time eating. By the time we walked back to the service area, they were finishing up on our Airstream trailer. Becky looked at a few new Airstreams while I talked to the service technician. 

True to his word, John told us that our Airstream trailer was ready for the road midmorning. We settled up our account and felt good about our service visit there.

Keesler Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Biloxi, Mississippi (May 2024)

This was the third time we camped in Keesler Air Force Base’s FamCamp.  As with the two previous times, Keesler was a convenient location instead of a destination type park. We needed Airstream service on several items and Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi was less than 20 minutes away from this campground. Camping here allowed us to be at Foley RV in time for an 8 a.m. appointment for Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

We made a detour while heading to Keesler. Our route passed a few miles from our son's home. We could not be that close and not stop to say hello and to hug everyone. Rosie was blocking one lane of the road in front of his house, so we could not stay too long.

We stopped to see our son and his family while heading to Keesler

We arrived at this campground on a Sunday afternoon. The camp host, who was very helpful and friendly, quickly greeted us and gave us our assigned site. That site was full sun and the next site over had some shade. We asked the camp host if we could move over to the shaded site. He checked and said that it was open until the next day. That was perfect because we planned to leave no later than 7:30 the next morning. 

The office at Keesler AFB FamCamp

A camping neighbor from Battleship Row in Pensacola said that he was heading west and would stop for a few days at Keesler. We rode our bikes around this campground and found his RV. We enjoyed talking to him about things to do around Keesler's FamCamp.

This campground is near Keesler's on-base married housing. They must have been having an outdoor event with a live band that afternoon. Thankfully, the band stopped playing around dinner time.

Rosie at Keesler AFB FamCamp

Enjoying the limited shade at our site

We did not unhitch to speed up the exit process the next morning. All we had to do was take down the water feed and the electrical connection. While doing that the next morning, I started noticing dozens and dozens of "bugs" on Rosie's aluminum exterior skin. I had an idea as to what those bugs were, but I walked over to the camp host's trailer. He was sitting outside and he quickly confirmed what I thought. The bugs were termites and they were swarming. 

I was able to use the hose to rinse the termites off Rosie. 

Our visit to this FamCamp was again very short, but it allowed us to show up on-time for our service appointment at FoleyRV/Airstream of Mississippi in Gulfport.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a pull-thru
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart. Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with concrete and was level 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Circle, Court-TV, ION, LAFF and ME-TV
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Blue Angels Naval Recreation Area (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Battleship Row, Pensacola, Florida (May 2024)

We wanted to arrive on Sunday, but were told while making reservations that the Blue Angels FamCamp office closes on Sundays and no one can arrive that day. That wasn’t a problem because we were able to extend our reservation in the previous campground for a day, but it sounded odd that we couldn’t show up on a Sunday. 

We managed to arrive on Monday just as the office opened. After we checked in, we made a beeline for the popular sites along the Bay in the Battleship Row campground. Sites are not assigned at registration and it is up to the individual campers to find an open campsite to park in. We hoped that someone left from one of the waterfront sites on Sunday and there would be on open site for us. I guess that any waterfront sites that may have opened on Sunday were quickly taken by campers in the park willing to move. 

We quickly scouted the campground and found a site on the second row behind the waterfront sites. I was about to connect the power when Becky noticed how close the sites were to each other in that area. We had selected one of the few sites in Battleship Row that was too close to the neighbors. 

We unloaded our bikes and started looking for another site. This time we noticed a trailer pulling out of a site at the rear of the park. It backed up to the woods and had more space on either side. Best of all, it had shade. We quickly moved Rosie, our Airstream trailer, to this site. In addition, we felt a breeze at this site. 

Rosie in Battleship Row

There are two campgrounds in the Blue Angels Park. Battleship Row has paved roads and camping pads. It also has full hookups. Anchor Cove has more shade and the sites are similar to what you find at some state parks. The roads and sites are packed dirt with gravel. Anchor Cove has water and electric connections without sewer. Given a choice, we prefer to camp in Battleship Row and enjoy the paved sites and roads along with full hookups. 

Our new site backed up to the “Disc Golf” course at this Navy recreation park. It was interesting to watch the golfers and their carts full of different disc sizes to play the area behind Rosie. 

We could describe our visit to this FamCamp as an episode of camping in a succession of storms. More accurately, camping in severe storms. The first was a severe thunderstorm with winds gusting to 70 mph in the middle of the night. Another severe thunderstorm passed through a few nights later. One lightening bolt must have struck very near Rosie during that middle of the night storm. 

We were concerned about all the rain and the flood warnings and asked the camp host if our site was prone to flooding. He said that the campground was built on swamp land and several sites were known to flood, but our site wasn’t one of them. We noticed after a night of more than four inches of rain, the camp host was correct. Our site wasn’t flooded, but we could see the six sites he indicated that were known to flood had three or four inches covering those sites. 

Some sites flooded after four inches of rain one night

There were eight Airstream campers in the Battleship Row and two Airstreams in Anchor Cove while we camped in the Blue Angels Park. Four were in our loop. 

We went to Johnson Beach, a Federal Seashore Park several times while in Pensacola. It was great to walk along the beach and that gave Becky an opportunity to swim in the Gulf. 

Enjoying Johnson Beach

We also drove over to Fort Pickens National Seashore one day. We were surprised by the amount of water that covered the entrance road. We were also surprised at how high and rough the surf was at Fort Pickens.

Sign at entrance of Fort Pickens

The roads heading to the campgrounds at Fort Pickens were flooded

Water covered the road at multiple places 

We enjoyed seeing Fort Pickens and its campgrounds. 

It was very windy and rough surf at Fort Pickens

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were two campgrounds (Battleship Row and Anchor Cove) and multiple loops in each campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt with a concrete pad. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were near the two laundry buildings in both campgrounds 
• There was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 1 bar of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Charge, Comet, Court-TV, Cozi, Dabl, Grit, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, Outlaw and Rewind
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Riding our bikes at Blue Angels Park

Sunset

Sunset along Battleship Row

The sign said this was the Bridge of Doom

Selfie while riding our bikes

Anchors Aweigh RV Resort - Foley, Alabama (May 2024)

When we heard that the Alabama Airstream Club's Spring Rally was being held at the Anchors Aweigh RV Resort in Foley, Alabama, we checked our calendar and noticed that we did not have anything planned for that weekend so we penciled it in. We had attended Alabama Airstream Rally twice before but we had schedule conflicts in recent years. It would be nice to see our friends in this event. 

Another factor in attending this rally was that the campground was less than an hour from Mobile and our grandson was scheduled to play a baseball game there on Saturday. We could slip away from the rally and watch him play ball then spend the afternoon with our son and his family. 

When we checked the Rally's schedule, Saturday was a free day, allowing us to spend the day in Mobile. That was all the "convincing" we needed, so we made our reservations to attend this rally. 

Airstream trailers heading to this rally taking a break in a Rest Stop on the Interstate

There were more than 55 people and 27 Airstream trailers at the rally. That was a larger group than I remembered at previous rallies. The main event at the rally was attending the Foley Hot Air Balloon Festival. We joined the crowd and saw what they called a “glow” one evening. It was impressive to see the inflated and colorful balloons across the field. 

Selfie at the Balloon Festival 

The "Evening Glow" at the Balloon Festival

The balloon festival spanned across several days. In fact, we were concerned about the traffic around the balloons when we left on Saturday morning to travel an hour to watch our grandson play baseball. The balloons were scheduled to lift off and float away about the same time we needed to leave for Mobile. Our worries were relieved when we left Rosie that morning. Traffic around the Balloon Festival would be minimal because there was a thick fog. The balloons could not fly in fog. 

We discovered that the new technologies available in our truck were very helpful while driving in inclement weather. The adaptive cruise control system was able to spot cars ahead of us before we saw them and adjusted our speed to stay behind them. 

After about half an hour on the road, the fog lifted and we were able to arrive in time to watch our grandson’s 9 a.m. game. We were amazed at how much he had improved since last year. 

Grandson playing the "pitcher" position

Grandson at bat

Celebrating winning the game

We made it back to Rosie in time for the Rally’s Low Country Boil. It was very good. 

The rally ended Sunday morning and we watched as most Alabama Airstream Club members hitched up and left. We planned to stay an extra day because our next campground did not allow checkins on Sundays. 

Rosie in the campground

We spent our “bonus” Sunday looking for a public beach to walk on. We ended up at Gulf State Park and enjoyed our time at the beach. We were amazed at how good we felt being at Alabama’s Gulf State Park. 

We were surprised to see that about 10 Airstream trailers were still in the campground when we returned after spending some time on the beach. I guess we were not the only people who decided to spend an extra day in this park. 

The weather deserved a special mention. While it wasn’t too hot, the humidity was oppressively high. Rosie and our truck were covered with condensation. It was hard to breathe. We saw the results of the humidity when we opened the awnings in the mornings. They were very wet and it took a long time to dry out. 

One of the lessons quickly learned in the campground was that traffic in Foley and the campground were impossible to deal with. Logically, you would turn right exiting the park and travel about half a mile to Foley's main road. We did that once and ended up waiting a painfully long time to safely cross the highway. Turning left adds a few miles to your trip, but you ended up at a traffic light. That was a much better option, especially when exiting with Rosie. 

Another lesson learned at this campground was to frequently inspect the anchor points on Rosie's bike rack. An Alabama Airstream Club  member asked if he could look at our bike rack because he was thinking about adding one to his Airstream trailer. He quickly noticed that one of the anchor points had vibrated loose. I was able to add "Locktite" to the screws, reconnect and tighten that anchor point. I also added checking the bike rack to our safety check list that we use before departing any campground. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with concrete and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were at the exit to the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park provided WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Comet, Court-TV, Cozi, CW, Dabl, Grit, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, Outlaw, Rewind, Start and TBD
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

I doubt that was the "real" tow vehicle!

Visiting our son's family from this campground