Short Hops, Longer Stays
Soaring Diesel fuel prices have forced us to reevaluate our travel during the summer months. We had a rather ambitious itinerary that would take us from Nashville to Jasper, Canada. This featured numerous National Parks and sites along the way and covered almost 6,000 miles. We scraped that after a year of planning and focused on local short hops.
Family & Friends Near By
Our trips now would take us to some of our favorite spots over the years but within a 4 to 5-hour drive from home base. We enjoyed week-long stays in the Smokies at Anchor Downs and our new fav, Ellijay, GA. We decided to stretch out a bit as fuel began to level out and head to DC to visit with Family. We pushed west from there with stops in Uniontown, PA, and Cincinnati our old stomping grounds.
Here is a rundown of our trip.
Mileage: 1602
Nights:10
Per Day Average Diesel Fuel Cost: $79
-
Wytheville KOA Holiday – 231 KOA Road, Wytheville, VA 24382
LTW RV Park Review Coming Soon – MAP
Nights: 1
We have stayed at this location on numerous occasions. It is a great halfway
point for us when we travel to DC to visit with family. Typically we are just overnight, but I could see this being a two or three-day stop at some point in the future.
The facilities and amenities that are offered here would keep the pickiest of campers happy. You will find 6 lane bowling alley, a large game room, putt-putt golf, and a very large pool area. The pull-through sites in the lower part of the property give you ample room to spread out. Website
-
Fort Belvoir Travel Camp – 6100 Johnston Rd, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060
LTW RV Park Review Coming Soon – MAP
Nights: 4
One of the primary reasons we started RVing was to put us in a position to visit our Miltary family when we could. They have moved about the country over the last 7 years. We have typically stayed off base in surrounding area RV parks. This move to Fort Belvoir put them on base in military housing.
Time To Stay On Base
For the first time, we have taken advantage of the on-base RV park. Fort Belvoir Travel Camp is minutes away from their housing. The Park is located off the Potomac with great views of the water. If you are looking for great amenities like a pool and such you will not find them here.
If you want well-maintained sites, solid utilities, a decent bath house, laundry, and close proximity to base housing this is it. Throw in its location to the various sites of Washington, DC you will find this hard to beat. Website
Travel Camp Tour
Must See Locations
The National Museum Of The United States Army is free and located just off base near Fort Belvoir. What an impressive display of Army history. You could spend hours in this museum. I would absolutely carve out at least 2 to 3 hours to get a good look.
I would recommend you get the audio tour, which can be had at the front desk, again free of charge. This will give you an in-depth description of what you see throughout the museum. If you get a little hungry while you are there, stop at the Museum Cafe for some fresh and healthy lunch snacks. MAP
-
Uniontown KOA Holiday – 1101 Riveredge Rd, Connellsville, PA 15425
LTW RV Park Review – Coming soon – Website
Nights: 1
Heading west from Washington, DC we needed a stop about 4 hours out to break up our trip to Cincinnati. I choose Uniontown just south of Pittsburg. The chance to see Fallinwaters nearby, Frank Lloyd Wright’s exceptional house built over a waterfall was intriguing. What we got was a KOA that might not be for everyone
The Resort
This is some very high-density camping near the Youghiogheny River. You wind down into a valley of which there are many in this part of PA to get to the Park. The first thing we noticed was the lack of cell service as we dove deeper into the valley. A sharp turn left down what seemed like a single land road brought us to the park entrance. We were arriving at the start of the weekend and the party was just getting started.
Sites
The bulk of the sites at the park will be back in. There are many 20 pull-through sites available, half on the interior and the rest on the outskirts near the exit of the park. The interior of the park sites are very packed in. You will find a bit more space near the river in the Premium Back In sites.
Overview
If you are looking for a weekend with biking, kayaking, river floats, hiking, golf carts and more this is your park. The pool was packed, the interior sites were buzzing with campfires and mass gatherings. Quiet was not the order of the day, but thank god it did not drift late into the night. There was absolutely no cell service unless you connected via wifi.
Must See Locations
Fallingwater is located about 40 mins southeast of the Uniontown KOA. Unfortunately, there was an event going on the day we arrived and the tours of the home were sold out. Put this on your must-visit list when in the area.
The Western PA Conservancy Says…
Fallingwater is a house designed in 1935 by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) for the Kaufmann family, owners of Pittsburgh’s largest department store. One of Wright’s most widely acclaimed works, Fallingwater exemplifies his philosophy of organic architecture: the harmonious union of art and nature.
Location
Fallingwater is located in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania, also known as the Laurel Highlands, in Mill Run, Fayette County, which is about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Wright designed Fallingwater to rise above the waterfall over which it is built. Local craftsmen quarried native sandstone and other materials from the property and completed the construction of the main house, guest house, and service wing in 1939.MAP
-
Olive Branch RV Park – 6985 Wilmington Rd, Oregonia, OH 45054
LTW RV Park Review – Olive Branch Campground
Nights: 4
This is a no-frills RV park that sits just 20 mins from Kings Island and a short ride to downtown Cincinnati. Are there better with more amenities maybe? There is a brand new RV park just outside Kings Island. We did a quick tour and found the pricing very high and the sites seemed to be very unlevel for new concrete pads. The designer of this park has never driven an RV or parked one.
Overview
We have stayed at this park over the years and have found it to be a great spot while visiting Cincinnati and the surrounding area. This is a no-frills park with gravel sites throughout. I have made a number of site recommendations that you can check out in my review above.
I do like the park for its woodsy location. Your morning walks could include a nice walk through a wooded area. There is plenty of shade if that is what you are looking for. The park is situated just 15 mins from Kings Island and 40 from downtown Cincinnati.
You are mins away from a variety of dining options from fast to gourmet. Again if you are looking for good value and choose my suggested sites this park will do just fine.
Must See Locations
Cincinnati offers a number of sites to visit and things to do from a world-class Zoo to a Reds Baseball game. Here are a couple of suggestions that are a short hop from Olive Branch.
American Sign Museum – 1330 Monmouth Avenue, Cincinnati. Taken from their website – We are home to a visual history of American Signage from 1870 through 1970. Hand-
carved wooden signs, gold leaf, electric light bulbs, and neon all grace our walls and tell amazing stories, especially when told by our founder and avid collector Tod. Take a trip down memory lane and visit us in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati!
Allow about 2 hours to visit this location in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. It is a treat and will bring back numerous memories. You will find signs from every era and craftsmen restoring the neon on site.
Here is a very informative video to give you an idea of what you are in for.
Must See Locations
National Museum of US Air Force – 1100 Spaatz Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433 (Near Dayton) If you have not visited this location put it on your bucket list. You could spend hours walking through these large hangers of vintage jets, planes, and rockets. Here is how they describe it – The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force galleries present military aviation history, boasting more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles on display — many rare and one-of-a-kind — along with thousands of historical items and powerful sensory exhibits that bring history to life and connect the Wright brothers’ legacy with today’s stealth and precision technology.
Presidential Gallery
Our favorite display and one we made a beeline for as we entered the museum was the Presidential Gallery. As described by the museum – The William E. Boeing Presidential Gallery gives visitors the opportunity to view a historic collection of presidential aircraft, and walk through four of them, including aircraft used by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower as well as the Boeing VC-137C also known as SAM (Special Air Mission) 26000, which was used by eight presidents — Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton — in addition to carrying heads of state, diplomats and other dignitaries and officials, on many historic journeys
