Links to this video: *CULLMAN CAMPGROUND - CULLMAN, AL* cullmancampgroundal.com *SPRING PARK - TUSCUMBIA, AL* www.northalabama.org/listing/spring-park/292/ *LECTRIC E-BIKE* Find the link to the bikes here: lectricebikes.sjv.io/c/4742497/1419701/16906 *SWAGMAN EBIKE RACK FOR XP LITES* amzn.to/3VfgasC ****************************************** *AMAZON* We're proud to be a part of the Amazon Influencer Program. www.amazon.com/shop/untethered Check out our merchandise store! www.etsy.com/shop/rvuntethered As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases! Thank you for your support!
I don’t mind calling RV parks, but if they don’t answer I won’t call back. I stayed at Cullman campground twice a last spring. Nothing bad to say about it. They called me because they were about to close the office, and just turned off the main road and was there in 5 min. Friendly owners.
I'm not sure how many of your videos I've watched (maybe 20-30) or how long I've been subscribed (maybe 6-12 months) but I must say that your videos are ALWAYS comfortable and fun to watch, and that it's made so much easier by you, individually and as a couple, being relaxed and never dysfunctional. Glad to hear you're catching the eclipse in AR. I'll catch it in TX. It will be my 6th total solar eclipse in the path, plus one annular. Remember that filters are only needed until it's totally blocking the sun, then no filters needed. When total, I've looked straight at the corona and prominences with telescopes up to 8 inches in diameter. When it ends, don't keep staring at it unfiltered. The first second or two of the diamond ring when it reappears, I watch unfiltered but not through a telescope. I don't do that before it starts, because you'd need perfect timing as to when to start looking, and the brightness of even a bead or two of sun shuts down your eye's pupil. Better to only catch that when it's ending. By a second or two, I do mean a second or two, not 5 or 10 seconds. It brightens very much and very quickly after the first couple of seconds when the sun reappears. It's funny how everyone watches the whole partial phase through filters, before it's total. Then when totality is over, 10 seconds later, people are packing up to leave. Including me. Looking at the partial phase after seeing it total, is of zero interest to anyone. Personally, I would be fine with not watching it at all until it's total, so whether to bring eclipse glasses or filters, isn't a big deal to me, though of course I have them and usually extras to give out. Just use GPS time, or check that your phone matches GPS time, and get the really accurate prediction of the start and end times of totality, from the 2024 Jubier interactive eclipse map website, for your exact location. Maybe start a phone timer/alarm app to give you accurate countdowns to the start and end of totality. I've messed that up a couple of times myself, having a watch that was off by 20 seconds or whatever. Rather than dealing with removing filters from cameras at the last second, I remove them a few minutes early, keep recording, and just throw a cloth over them all, and pull it off 10 seconds before totality. I mount all cameras to one wooden board, and mount that to one tripod. Maybe a second tripod with wide angle cameras watching the horizon, which gets various sunset/rainbow color changes. One toward the horizon under the eclipse, one 180 degrees opposite, if you don't have enough to cover the entire horizon, or an Insta360 or whatever. Last but not least, I'm taking a few old film cameras this time. In 2017, I had semi-bad luck with high-end digital cameras, both mirrorless and DSLR. I used to get much better results on film, so this time I'm using both.
Well hello again. nah we don't mind you guys sharing. Make sure you put on your spreadsheet to visit Spring park during the Helen Keller Festival. There are music concerts in Spring park, plus the "Miracle Worker" is performed on the grounds of Ivy Green which includes admission to see the inside of the house. Well worth the visit. Also Ang's facial expressions and eye rolls are a large part of what makes you guys so fun to watch. Keep 'em coming.
This video was AWESOME! Thank you for the detailed approach using a spread sheet. We've talked about a couple of different approaches to plan our upcoming adventures and believe yours is the best I've seen.
We are camping in May at a place you have to call. The reviews and pics (and the fact that it is a quiet place with a great view) made it worthwhile. The owners are just the sweetest people too so that personal touch is very nice in a day that is a rare commodity.
Perfect! We much prefer online booking, but we have found some good ones that way too! Or after seeing the responses, maybe it’s quiet because you have to call! Haha! Kidding. Safe travels!
We do both online and phone call booking. We use multiple review sites for the campgrounds in an area we are interested in. What would really make planning much better is the campground web sites actually showing more images of the sites they offer. Very few if any private camp grounds make that effort. I find that a lot of people that leave questionable reviews for some parks maybe prefer "real resort" type places than just a place to enjoy peace and quiet. Great video by the way. Safe travels!
Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy your videos! We have a truck camper and love our trips. Can't wait till we can spend more time in the camper, but for now, were upgrading and getting ready to jump in. Can't wait to have as much fun as ya'll ! Hope to meet ya'll someday. Remember our name is Dan & Kathie Duda... 🎶🎶doodha...doodha🎶🎶 have fun!
The Chimichanga is a true staple of life! When you find a great one that goes on the must repeat book! Especially with a good green sauce and guac! However you neglected to share with us where you had this wonderful delight of Mexican food!
Castello Mexican Bar and Grill- Tuscumbia, AL. We were ashamed that we were eating out AGAIN and in denial. It WAS worthy of a review though! Beautiful atmosphere and I had something similar to a Steven’s Special, but it had huge chunks of crab, steak and chicken. I’m not sure how they do it so cheap, but the meat was tasty! Great place!
I agree but then again I don’t? Nothing worse than calling an RV park because they don’t do online reservations, only to get an answering machine that is full and not taking messages. We are still waiting for two Harvest Hosts to call us back from two years ago as well. I don’t think they will call back……
Another great video. Really like the planning spreadsheet that you created. Looks like an excellent tool to plan every aspect of your upcoming trips. If we're not familiar with an area I start with RV Parky to locate potential campgrounds to book. I always book on line, if the campground doesn't have a website that I can use to make reservations I won't book there. Thanks for the review of the bike rack Cody. Excellent review, well done, answered all my questions about how it works and how easy it is to use. If you have the opportunity on this visit to Alabama or the next visit take a day trip up to Huntsville....probably about an hour from where you are now.....and do a walking tour of the beautiful old historic district there. Stop at the visitors center and tell them you are there to do the Lucky Duck Scavenger duck hunt. 14 small bronze ducks are hidden in the parks and squares and other places in the district. It's a really fun way to spend a couple of hours. Plenty of small restaurants and coffee shops in the two squares in the district, and the people you will find there are among the nicest people on the planet. Ok, I confess I live in Alabama....but not in Huntsville. Anyway, it's well worth the trip up there if you get the chance, and it would probably make a nice segment for one of your videos. Your channel has become my favorite. Your videos have a nice relaxed touch that makes it feel like you're just sharing conversation with some old friends. Well done! Keep doing what you're doing and safe travels.
The scavenger hunt sounds great!! Thank you! “Having a conversation with old friends” is the highest compliment that you could give. We try to be real and show that this lifestyle doesn’t have to be intimidating (we felt that way at times, when we watched videos). Thank you!
When I was in the Navy, stationed in San Diego, we bought an older 5th wheel that neatly fit our family of 4.. I bought a "Woodalls Campground Guide". The book was 4 inches thick...and a Rand McNally Road Atlas.
Hey guys, Cullman campground is where we stay when we’re there. We alway stay in spot 86 on top of the hill that puts your door toward the woods backwards to everyone else. That is a beautiful trail I keep trying to get Beverly to walk with me there. We really like the folks that work there.
I like to call for reservations helps me get a feel for the people. I use Campendium mainly or word of mouth. And reviews do help out even though I don’t usually leave one. I’ve really just begun traveling and I like staying a month at a time. I’ve got better rates and I’m not rushed. Gives me a chance to travel the area and try things in that area within two hours. Just looking up things and exploring to see what I can see. This summer going out west and try my hand at boondocking maybe stay for the winter but will see. Might come back south cus I know I’m going to miss the Cajun food. ❤
Our trip planning is also multi-step process. We decide on where we're heading, use trip wizard to plan the route, look for Thousand Trails and Coast-2-Coast campgrounds near the route to plan stops. We use Google maps with thousands of pins where we have pins of interesting places to visit that have come from watching travel videos for many years. On the map are also bike trails we can enjoy. Then we post the locations we'll be in Google calendar so we can see at a glance where we'll be. Thanks for sharing your plan with us.
We rely on the Wizard a lot ! So helpful . We start planning 18 months in advance using RU-vid videos of campgrounds to help find sites we like . I also don’t mind calling the campground ,sometimes , as we usually learn tips that are helpful .
We book online mostly and will occasionally call. When you all make it to Lexington Ky. Couple good places to eat are Reds Stateline BBQ close to the Kentucky Horsr Park and Country Boy Brewing Co in George Town Ky.
We will be on the White River outside of Flippen, AR for the eclipse starting April 1. If your anywhere near there we would love to meet y’all. I use RVLife totally. I book both ways, web mostly. You never know what the CG is like until you have been there, however, I look for a 7.5 out of 10 or better. People have their own quirks, weirdness, idiosyncrasies and some are just negative or “Karen’s”. So I look more at the 3 stars up and the number of reviews. We don’t like to stay at mobile home park places that have a CG. And we don’t stay at 5 star Margaritaville places. We do like friendly places with multitude of things to see and do. we use the spoke method of Camping. We visit with people in the park cause I’ve never met a stranger. We attend local churches on our visits. Right now we are staying in Florida and the camper next to us, front door side, has camera all around his camper, plays music loud and has confederate flags in his windows. He may be a little different than us but we do not shy away and we speak daily.. another couple said they were on the same spot but were triggered by him and changed locations. Not too much bothers us. But we do like good restaurants (not necessarily $$$$$ but mom and pop places) wherever we go. Can’t wait to try the fried pies in Oklahoma ! lol Love our Star Link. Had it for 11 months now and didn’t notice any changes. With Star link we started in Bullhead City AZ and traveled NV, UT, WY, NE, MO, KY, IN, OH, MI, OH, KY, TN, GA and 4 places in Florida and not one hiccup, unless in a heavy downpour. Thank for the video and the outtakes!
I think that you will be several hours North of us in Arkansas, but you will be in a beautiful place! Nice pick! I agree on the reviews. I look at a few of each. Good and bad and you can usually get a feel if they are being ridiculous or if there is a pattern. I was JUST thinking of some fried pies from Oklahoma! Haha
We have been Rving for yrs, not full time but a lot and never had problems with the dish in microwave. We have been following your channel for a long time. Thank you for sharing
We (@WingingIt.Fulltime) have been FT in our 8th year. Have always used Google Maps "Saved" pin functionality for pinning campgrounds, etc and always our primary navigation (we also have two newer Garmins (eg RV 890) but don't use as we find it difficult to use and it's screwed us multiple times.... And we are in 13' Super C motorhome. For us Google and Campendium have been our primary tools...and we always do State parks and COEs when we aren't boondocking. Have never called to make reservations...in 8 years 😊
Perfect! Thank you! You are much braver than we are on reservations. But I CAN say that unless it is a hotspot or a popular state park, we can run pretty close to booking as well.
We use Trip wizard alot. We just got back to our base from a long weekend at Beavers Bend State Park in OK. We were camp hosting in Clifton TN last spring and summer and ended up purchasing a home here in Adamsville TN. We found the area when we headed to Linden TN looking at land being advertised for sale
Fun video. I use RVparkey for planning, and navigation. I also have RV Trip Wizard but I like RV Parkey better. I do typically skip over camogrounds that do not have online booking and reviews.
I prefer online booking. That said it does depend on the particular area and how many campgrounds are in the specific area that I’m attempting to visit. 2 campgrounds relatively close to where I wanna go. One does online one doesn’t. I’m going with the online reservation unless there’s drastic $ difference in price for stay.
If a campground doesn't have a website I generally avoid it. Not being able to book on line is a deterrent, particularly for 1-2 night stays. It isn't a deal killer if the campground is nice or in a great location but I definitely have not booked some places without online booking. Also, I am not thrilled with giving my credit card number over the phone. I have a low limit card that I use for that purpose so damage is limited.
We have the same bike rack and have to take the handle bars off of one of the bikes. We have fat tire bikes so we had to swap out the tire trays for larger ones.
We will definitely pass if we have to call. We've found typically when you do have to call you end up instructed to leave a message and someone will call you back. Ain't nobody got time for that.
We use the free version of RV Life and Campspot, once we find a campground that looks then we will research via their website. Also I wanted to relate that my wife and I live in Lexington, we are weekend rv’ers, If you need any recommendations while here just holler.
Also let me recommend on your travels to Lexington or away from Lexington. The Lazy Llama Campground, of the 5 years of rv’ing, this has been my favorite. It is a working llama farm and the owner does a wagon ride thru the farm and interact and pet/play with the llamas. Nearby is a town called Jonesboro, TN, it is a nice small walkable town that bills itself as The Storytelling Capital of World. Also close is Greeneville, TN, Lots of history at the Andrew Johnson home place . Have Fun!! Stay Safe!!
On a side note an idea while visiting Lexington is about an hour north on I75 is big bone lick state park which has a herd of bison and a really cool museum/gift shop. We are from Louisville ky and have camped at this state park.
Great information! I’m not a truck snob gas/Diesel, whatever works best for you! I prefer the Diesel simply for the ease of fuel fill up at a truck stop in the truck lanes. The EFS card makes my truck as affordable as a Gas truck. Thanks for sharing!
I'm Autistic. I can speak, but it becomes a lot harder when I'm stressed. I need time to process and mull new information over. The phone induces huge amounts of anxiety for me, so I will always prefer web booking. Even web chat is better than the phone. I might seem ok but internally I can completely blank out or go into a panic if a call deviates from what I scripted in my head and I won't remember anything about it but feeling stupid and stressed. I can lose control of what I'm saying and will end up agreeing to anything just to make the call end. So yeah, unless I'm in a great mood and really, really want/need something, I will skip any place that doesn't give me a no call option. So to the park that asked, it's not just a preference or a nice feature to have, it's an accessibility/disability accommodation to have alternate booking options.
100% RVLife for all planing. We stay at places for a month at a time so it is pretty easy. Will be in Russellville for the eclipse. I am guessing you will be on the west side of the state?
Actually, we will be West of Hot Springs. So not TOO far from you. We likely will bounce through the West side and then onto our next route. We are coming back through Arkansas for July 4th, so we will make this one a quick one. 😊
I wish we could just show up and grab a spot without reservations. This way if you don’t like the place it’s time to go, or love the place stay. This planning a year in advance is crazy, in fact if this is necessary, I don’t want to be there. How many times have you seen the campground with lots of empty spaces because, people paid and couldn’t go. I know things don’t always work out just wish we could work out something that would open up spots. This making reservations two weeks in advance and then cancel the pre reservation so that you can get a site is preventing people from planning. To many strategies that work for a while then they don’t.
Makes sense! We have had pretty good luck with short-term booking for most places. I think the exceptions would be hotspots in FL or parks/coastal areas in peak season. Or maybe popular state parks during peak season. Otherwise, we have been pretty lucky with it too. I admit I have been nervous booking more than a week somewhere without looking at it in person or extensive research. There are a few that we have arrived and THEN decided to extend out. Ha! For the same reason that you mentioned. You never know!
Interesting! You think the pricing changes? I wonder if they have to pay for each online booking. I do see a lot of ‘booking fees’. I hadn’t thought of that.
Haha! Right?! If they can do a chimi right, then the rest is probably pretty good! 😁 I usually do a ‘mock’ chimichanga from time to time, by baking the burrito with an egg wash. It’s not nearly as delicious, but it is good. It helps us get our fix! 😁
I might have to try that. Of course we so many great Tex-Mex restaurants in Texas and if I do go to an authentic restaurant I will not order a chimi. With that said, I still love them though...especially with steak fajita meat. Travel safe.@@RVUntethered
@@deniseheims7413Right you are! We are ashamed at how often we ate out that week, so we TRIED to snuff it out of our brains until Cody talked about chimichangas for 20 minutes! 😂 Castello Mexican Bar and Grill- Tuscumbia, AL. It WAS worthy of a review though! Beautiful atmosphere and I had something similar to a Steven’s Special, but it had huge chunks of crab, steak and chicken. I’m not sure how they do it so cheap, but the meat was tasty!
Great video. I will skip over campgrounds if they don't list a rate. I love being able to just make the reservation on line then calling. I do call when I need to. 🙂
I am from the UK and i just love following you guys around on your videos, i have travelled extensively in the USA but i confess i have never heard of, or ever seen a Chimichanga, you learn something new every day!! keep the videos coming!! My next trip is a rental RV from San Diego in September.
Ha! How funny! it’s basically a fried burrito. 🤷♀️ I have made some “mock” chimichangas in the oven, which are slightly healthier. I’ll do an egg white wash over the burrito and bake it and it’s pretty darn good . It’s not the same, but good.
On the subject of planning, my next trip in the RV we are visiting 16 campgrounds, ALL booked online, albeit it is more expensive and difficult to call campgrounds from the UK, i still prefer booking online, you also get written confirmation via email of your reservation too.
As a weekend warrior I use google maps, find what I want to do, then find a campground near it. I prefer to call and book a spot. Some of the time the website isn't clear on sites, way you face(campside) so a call is easier for me. Or I'm just an old fart 80's kid who is used to calling..LOL
Haha! I definitely prefer online booking, but I did wonder about people that may get anxious with computers (not directed at you..haha). But most places that book online, will do it over the phone too. Thanks for watching!
If my wife is doing the booking, she will pass. I like to call Campground, even if you can do it online because they know or should know their sites and be able to direct me to what I’m looking for. I like to use online just to see if it’s worth my while (availability) to call.
We will be in Aux Arc COE in Ozark Ar. for the Totality. We use RV Trip Wizard after watching PNP for planning our trips. We plan our trips similar to the way that you do. The way we find interesting destinations is watching RU-vid videos. We are not full timers so we are only gone for about a month but we will find a major point of interest and fill in the stops from start to returning home. We are currently in Owen’s Cross Roads Al. visiting family.
@@MattSimpler We have a small gathering tonight (leaving tomorrow evening). Shoot us an email or Facebook PM if you have time and want to join! Rv.untethered@gmail.com
We have found that many parks make it difficult to apply a discount (Good Sam, AAA, etc) when you book online. You have to call to get the discount. Often these parks won’t apply the discount when you check in
I'm a weekend warrior and it is much simplier for me to book online. However, if the campground is more affordable then I don't mind calling. If it is a $$$ place it better have an online booking option.
Morning! We had been sharing a class C with my parents and last week just purchased our first 5th wheel! Hope to meet up with you all on the road at some point. Question on the transport of your bikes. We have Lectric bikes as well. Do you not protect them from the weather when traveling? You guys are great.
We don’t. We cover them when we are stationery, but we are worried about the cover slapping around in transit. Granted, we don’t have an expensive cover, but it has done well in rain and wind, otherwise. Right or wrong, we have bagged the screens on top, with ziplocks and zip ties, in heavy storms. 🤣
