Maxwell Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Montgomery, Alabama (June 2024)

It was easy to tell that we left the cool and tree lined hills of Tennessee and were back in Alabama. Our tire monitors were reporting Rosie's tires were hotter than 120 degrees and our truck was saying that it was 106 degrees outside. (Rosie is our Airstream trailer.) When we stopped for gas and opened the truck’s doors, we felt the oppressive humidity and heat. We knew we were back in Alabama during summer. 

We also knew that it would be midafternoon when we arrived home and we would have to unload Rosie in 100+ degree heat. That wasn’t a pleasant thought. Luckily, there was an easy solution. We could spend the night in Maxwell Air Force Base's FamCamp. We called and reserved a site for the night. 

Our hearts sunk when we pulled up to the gate for ID checks. The barriers were up. That meant we had to navigate around the barriers while towing Rosie. We took it very slow and the collision alarm on our truck kept going off, but we managed to snake through the barriers and head to the campground. 

Since we wanted to leave the campground and head for home no later than 6 the next morning, we left Rosie hooked up to the truck. We quickly connected the electric and turned on both air conditioner units. The thermostat inside Rosie read 100 degrees, so we sat inside the truck for about 15 minutes allowing Rosie to cool off. 

Rosie in this FamCamp

As expected, we were able to cut back to one air conditioner unit after an hour. We spent a relaxing evening in Rosie preparing to unload her the next morning. 

It was much cooler the next morning and we were able to unload Rosie without overheating. 

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 

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