Passport America...Opinions Please

We are thankful for all the Walmarts we have found along our journey from our home in British Columbia on the North West Coast to the South East Coast here in Floida to provide a place to stop for the night when just passing through. (and hopefully we will stop at more on our way to Nova Scotia, Ontario and then back home)

When we can't find a Walmart we open our Passport America Book and find the cheapest place we can close to where we are.

Sometimes we find amazing places like Hidden Valley RV Park read my review HERE,
or places like Rock Crusher Canyon RV Read my review HERE. Both wonderful family friendly places and we enjoyed our time at both places in different ways.

But then there are times when look at your Passport America book and pull into a place late like Tampa East RV Resort...you pick up a brochure stating which sites are available and how much they are and they tell you to come by and pay in the morning. We did this last night. We chose the cheapest site available D1. It was stated that it was a premium site and would cost $32.00 a night.

We arrived after 8:00 pm and it was just starting to get dark. The girls played on the playground for about 10 minutes and then it was time for bed.

In the morning we had to get our Magicjack working so after a couple hours of internet chat (on our internet stick not free wifi from them) we packed up and went to the front desk to pay.

I was then charged 1/2 of  $38.00 plus a $3.00 resort fee as apparently they charge the $22.00 for ALL Passport America users  no matter what priced site they stay on.

I asked the lady at the desk why I was being charged $22 and she was very rude to me. I explained to her we wouldn't have stayed if we knew that they wouldn't honour 1/2 of the posted $32.00 price. She basically told me it was my tough luck, I did stay and I had to pay their $22.00 Passport America price.  I told her she was a scam artisit and she smiled and told me to have a wonderful day.

Sometimes Passport America can find you some great deals...BUT my word of wisdom...READ the FINE PRINT and call ahead to ensure you don't drive somewhere for a surprise. We have pulled into places and have been told we need to pay extra for our 3 and 4 year old anywhere from $2 to $5 each. This I find absurb! I can understand adults...but kids...not very family friendly.

So read your fine print and hopefully you won't have any surprises when you arrive like we did with Tampa East RV Resort who want to nickel and dime you for everything they can like a $3.00 resort fee and yes they do charge $5 per each addition guest of any age. Lucky for me she didn't ask if we had kids until after she did up the bill.

Unfortunately for me I had already given her my credit card but I didn't sign it and a call to mastercard is in order.

You might wonder why I am so upset over  a difference of a few dollars??? Well it's a matter of principle. Last time I did the math...1/2 of $32.00 was $16.00 not $19.00.

We also weren't expecting the $3.00 resort fee. $6.00 isn't going to break the bank but the fact is we wouldn't have stayed there for that price since we knew it was a stop over. Also if she asked about the kids before doing the bill we would have had to pay $10 more dollars for our 3 and 4 year olds which would have brought the total up to $16.00 more then we expected! We didn't want the pool etc we just wanted a place to sleep in this expensive state of Florida and after calling another 8 Walmarts we couldn't find one that allowed overnight RV parking. We aren't just cheap we are currently at Disney World and are quite happy paying our fee each night because we are paying the fee we knew we would be paying before arriving.

What do you think? Am I just being cranky? Or do you think I have a point? Have you used Passport America? How was your experience? I'd love to hear your opinions even if you think I am being cranky ;)

On our way to Pensacola Florida and Thank you Walmart

We left Louisiana and drove by some wonderful looking beaches in Alabama.

Nesting Turns are protected on the beach as they nest

We arrived in Pensacola just in time for supper. We pulled into Walmart at 4600 Mobile Highway, stocked up, had supper and hit the hay.

I must say we are VERY THANKFUL that most Walmarts allow overnight parking. Some people don't understand why you would want to camp in  a Walmart parking lot. We don't call it camping, we call it overnighting...

When camping we prefer to dry camp, dispersed camp or boondock however you want to call it. We hate to pay for camping (we pay enough for fuel) and we prefer to be surrounded by nature with few neighbours and just enjoy what nature has to offer (and as we were able to do in much of Arizona, Utah and New mexico) but there are times when you are moving from one destination to the next and you basically just need to sleep.

Florida RV parks are expensive!!! Beach parking is not posible, National Forests are slim pickings and even rest stops on highways here only allow you to stay for 3 hours so

WALMART we THANKYOU!!!

What do you think about Walmart allowing overnight parking?

Have you stayed in a Walmart parking lot overnight?

Do you call it camping or overnighting?

I am sure we are not alone...I'd love to hear from some of you though.

Hermit crabs, Galveston, and debris filled beach sends us to Walmart for the night

This morning we said goodbye to our marine Hermit crabs. We enjoyed them as pets for a couple days but since we are leaving the beach we must say goodbye.

Bye bye Hermit Crabs and bye bye Magnolia Beach. Off we go in search of more beach camping. We drove to Surfside but all the beaches there said NO Camping, we drove through Galveston and again No Camping signs. We did however stop in Galveston at yet another Rainforest Cafe.

This one had a River Ride which looked like fun... Really it was an expensive 10 minute ride along a river. The girls really enjoyed it but I think it should have been free or 1/2 price with a paid meal. It did only cost $5.99 each but still that adds up when you times it by 4! Two years and under are FREE. Everyone else pays the same price.

The ride was decorated much like the restaurant and like a mini Disney ride floating down a river.

After lunch we headed towards the Galveston Ferry. We were surprised that it was a FREE ferry

 since coming onto Galveston Island we had to pay a $2.00 toll.

This FREE ferry was only about 18 minutes but we had fun on it :)





Us parked on the ferry











The ferry actually announces to go to the back of the ferry to "feed the seagulls". There is no way they would promote that at home on our ferries. The girls had a lot of fun. We were told there is actually a store on the dock that sells bread you can buy but we didn't have time when we arrived. The gulls didn't mind our whole wheat!

And we got to see more dolphins :)

We left Galveston (they do NOT allow overnight RVing at Walmart) in search of a beach to spend one night at on our way to New Orleans. The public beaches here in Texas are FREE to camp on and we found a spot just South of a little town called High Island (right at the junction of 87 and 124 just East of Galveston).
We pulled in and parked right on the water again...however we were not impressed with this beach very much. We have found this to be the case with MOST of the beaches we have seen in Texas.

There were also oil wells right behind us.

The girls played for a few minutes and we were going to stay but the longer we stayed the more we wanted to leave so we decided to leave and head to Walmart in Port Arthur for the night instead. A VERY sad state when you choose to sleep at Walmart instead of at the beach due to garbage. The thing that is even more sad is all the beaches here are lined with garbage cans. Sure some garbage washes ashore, some is perhaps Hurricane debris... but we have spent time on many beaches...in hurricane paths like Jamaica and Antigua but we have never seen such dirty beaches. Take some pride people and follow these simple steps...



Step 1 Open drink





Step 2 Enjoy your drink



 





Step 3 Enjoy your time at the beach



Step 4 Finish your drink



Step 5 walk over to the garbage can







Step 6 Place TRASH in the provided
garbage cans or take it home with you!

Sorry to sound so rude about it but come on...these beaches are gross. No wonder they are FREE! Lets have some pride people...no matter if you are living here, or visiting here...do your part. Maybe there would be an excuse if there were no garbage cans around but we have seen more garbage cans on Texas beaches then anywhere else we have been in the world so there is no excuse!

Put your garbage where it belongs so we can all enjoy the beaches! And if you head here and it's still gross...continue on to Port Arthur. The Walmart there allows overnight RVing. Customer Service was unsure but when they tracked down the manager they said it was up to Security and Security said' "of course they can!" We have a very nice sequrity lady keep an eye out on us all night and had no problems what so ever...(except the street cleaner around midnight was a bit loud)

WANT TO WIN an RV COVER? Go take a look at Travels with Kevin and Ruth's post HERE for all the details. Blogger won't let me comment at the moment but I will be sure to keep checking in to enter!

Seaquest State Park (Trial trip part 3 and we are home)

After leaving Cape Disappointment as we are driving I am constantly looking out the window at the scenery and looking for wildlife. As we were driving I was getting a snack out for the girls when Sierra yells..."mommy look at those!" and I barely had time to pick up the camera and snap off a photo of the elk. We have seen a few on different days on this trip but I have never been quick enough to get a picture snapped off. Luckily Sierra saw them way off in the distance, and I had time to scramble for the camera. Not an excellent shot but a photo non the less.

We are headed to Seaquest State Park which is very close to the I5 so we can hop on it in the am and head home.

We arrived and took a quick drive around the park as it is self service this time of year. The park was empty. There was no one around at all and only 2 other campers arrived that night. We chose campsite #4 a pull through with electric and water service, a nice open area with the picnic area behind us and playground a crossed the road and lots of space for the kids to roam, explore and discover.

We took a quick walk to investigate a small playground just a hop skip and a jump away. It was a bit too big for Aayla but she made out just fine. There was a second playground as well that daddy made it to with the girls that had a couple of swing sets just on the other side of the picnic area.

Sierra collecting fallen branches for her wedding bouquet

as she walks along humming...here comes the bride!

The sun was shinning through the trees when we arrived so it was a nice little walk before heading out to Mt St Helens. The cashier at Safeway said to hurry up as fast as we could because the clouds roll in and cancel all hopes of any view at all. The drive up was pretty with lots of scenic over views.

With the warm sun shining down as we left we were ill prepared for this:

very snowy scene we quickly came upon as we climbed the mountain on our way to the Mt St Helens Visitor Centre.

FYI this time of year the momuments and visitor centres are closed. Closed to people and closed to cars. It would have been nice to be able to at least get into the parking lot instead of having to brave the snowbanks. Ian ended up with a couple of wet feet but made it in to at least read the signs. We popped into the main visitors centre right beside Seaquest as we pulled in but it was closing at 4 and we wanted to hurry up before we lost all chance of a view. It would have been nice if they informed me that everything was closed up before we left so we could have packed up the boots instead of just informing me that the road is 40 miles long...owell we had a fun drive anyway even if all we could see was this:

Right at the top of this photo above is where the volcano top is and yes, it is right behind the clouds as Murphys law would have it! If you have a really good imagination you can see through the clouds...LOL!

The next morning the girls had a quick bath, (yes they both fit in our little tub) we packed up and hit the road for home. Getting out of the park was a bit narrow but slowly and surly we made it out with no scratches :)

And then somewhere before Tacoma we saw a Cabela's on the left.

We have never been to Cabela's before as we don't have them near us in Canada. Let's just say as we pulled in I was amazed at how crowed the parking lot was and I couldn't image that all these cars were here for this store. The parking lot was huge and full and there was nothing else around so...

As we entered the store our jaws hit the ground I am sure. It was huge and it was 2 stories and even though the parking lot was jammed, the building was so big it didn't feel busy at all. We managed to dwindle away 2 hours in there. The girls loved the Mountain of taxidermies (animals of all shapes, types and sizes) and the mini aquarium inside.

I bought a pair of binoculars (Nikon Monarch 10X42 ATB) which should be more then I need but with the girls I wanted something durable, water proof and with a great warranty!

Ian got a scope for his Robson Arms XCR (the gun of his dreams he recently purchased...I must say it is taking me some time to get used to the guns as I have always been anti guns even in imaginative play with the kids...but I am trying to open up and might even visit a range with him this week so he can site it in???), a wood splitting axe (we had a heck of a time with the firewood this trip), and some other odds n ends...

Which makes me think about this post at Big Dawg and Freeway I read last night about gadgets...funny no matter how compact we are in our RV's there is always room for the gadgets and it's amazing at how quickly our lists of gadgets grow. We have a long list of iphones, laptops, GPS's, many cameras but there always seems to be something else on the wishlist...like an ipad, or a new camera lens... the possibilities are endless! How many gadgets do you have? What are your favourites and what could you have done without? We are considering an in dash GPS as we left home without our portable one on our trial trip and really missed it.

Overall our trial trip was a huge success, despite the rain and cloud cover, we had lots of fun exploring new areas, making new memories and getting a better taste for life on the road! With about 20 days left before our maiden voyage we need to get fixated on finding an internet solution as with the amount of time it takes to sift through pictures, edit them, upload them and write about them, an occasional hour at the coffee shop just won't cut it :) Any suggestions? And what about satellite?

WELCOME to PB & J Adventures! Thanks for joining us on our journey!