Reviews written by jsummers

Same ole' Ft. Sam Fam camp- great. No problems getting into the park. Directions are correct. 1 of the mail base gas stations has diesel, the other doesn't. Don't know the names or streets of either, sorry. A 2009 review said TV reception was bad over the air. Not that way any more. We got 15 (english) stations easily. Bathrooms were spotless. $.75 per washer load- great deal too. Still no wi-fi. I will blog later about a "secret" wi-fi hot spot I found on Ft. Sam. otherwise use the base library for email/internet (closed Mondays).

First review of 2010 I see. Barksdale Famcamp is still in great shape. Office area, computers, TV, restrooms, showers, are all clean and well cared for. The new FEMA trailers used for rentals are full, but do not seem to have overburdened the facilities. There are still several LONG time (years) residents and several civilian contractors taking up nice sites. (These bother me, but as long as there are openings when we come, I guess I shouldn't complain) We are in 1 of the "new" sites, closest to the road. The wi-fi signal is lower here, but usable. Just like someone else has noted, the electricity is low and fluxs at night (brown downs, etc.) Nothing damaged, but we don't have any real high tech, high power electrical gizmos. As noted in the "Discussion" section, BAFB is not using the scanners during the day. The new Bio-metric ID cards are only checked after 5:00 pm. Main gate construction is completed. The reworked Famcamp sites/roads are holding up well in the extensive rains BAFB has had this winter. The unpaved RV storage lot was underwater however. Very muddy, very hard to "extract" our TT. I'm on the waiting list at 3 other paved, military RV storage areas.

We're back for the 2nd yr in a row. After last yr's stay we elected to return here to enjoy the Fall rather than tour around further North. I'm glad we came back. I just voted for this RV park to be the Best in the East and I wrote " clean/spacious sites, free laundry, great free cable & wi-fi, lots of activities on base, in the "park' and in nearby St. Marys." (Last Sat. was the St. Marys 'Rock Shrimp festival'. Great fun !!) Kings Bay NSB now has diesel at the NEX gas station on base too !! Last yr during this same time, we had unseasonably cold weather-this yr it's way too hot. But whatever the temps- Eagle Hammock is a super value. (and I'm not shoveling snow) If you're a regular website user, pls. come by & say "Hi". Look for the Alaska plates in D-3.

We called for reservations 1 night out; no problems. The lady was courteous and friendly. We arrived after 1630 (office closed) so we dropped a check in the box at the campground rather than try to find the MCCS office. $15 daily, $300 per mo. There's no camp host or office on site. Each site was paved, level and clean. Picnic table and cute little 8ft sq. concrete out bldg on each site. (tornado shelter maybe??) The RV park and layout are almost identical to Ft. Pickett's RV park. (probably not many of you have been there either.) Beautiful treed sites and QUIET. it's close to MCLB housing area, but you'd never know it. PCS civilians - Larry & Bonnie met us on arrival. They said 1 other civilian had lived there 2 yrs. Larry showed us the "unadvertised" cable TV hook up at our site. Only 4 sites total were occupied. No bath-house/showers. Larry said it was "in the planing stages". Nice little base. It's probably too close to Jacksonville, Mayport, & King's Bay to get much business, but it should. Looks like a nice place to spend the winter. No diesel on base. Website directions were good.

The Alaskans are back to Barksdale, our home Fam camp away from home. Everything's just about like we left it. Facilities still clean & well kept. Bathhouse, showers, wi-fi all working top notch. At 95 degrees, we sure love their never ending ice-machine. Great Fam Camp. The only new glitch is the Global Strike Command (ACC, the old SAC, and Space Command combined) that's HQ'ed here now has got some new requirement to register into a brand new id cardholder Data bank. After 15 Oct (so we're told by base Sp's) you can not enter BAFB without being registered into the new system. It requires electronic finger printing and registering your ID card into this new data bank. We tried twice but no luck. "the system's down" - you know the drill. The best part is that you can't do it as you come on base but need to go sit in a separate line and wait to be re-enrolled. Seems like a lot of crapola to me, but SAC always had some extra security stuff that nobody else did. Hang on... BAFB's still not registering vehicles by the way.

16 new FHU new sites under construction. Please see Forum for more details. Visited but did NOT stay.

Meeting Charly (camp host & mgmr) confirmed my impressions from telephone & email communications. Wonderful, full of information & helpful are but a poor beginning, to describe her. Beautiful park layout & scenery and large indiv landscaped sites. Eagle Hammock was recently awarded (by my wife & I) the "best showers" on any military RV park/FamCamp. The base is about the size of Barksdale in comparison (HUGE). It has everything you need or want except I haven't found diesel yet. The pumps on base are bio-diesel @ $4.89 a gallon. (off base diesel was $2.89 yesterday). Two "socials" so far where everyone we've met is so pleased this campground. "No Homesteading" signs are prominently displayed in several places, w/ detailed length of stay restrictions (hurrah !!). We get great wi-fi in site D-6. Wife reports that the six free washers & dryers are the "brand new, high efficiency" types. 15 channel free cable TV rounds out this SUPER USN operated campground.

We are not presently staying here, but are over at Pelican Roost, also on Naval Station Mayport. We wanted to come over to check it out since there were no reviews since August. It definitely is NOT the super RV park that Pelican Roost is. It looks and feels more like a "trailer park". No insult intended. Many of the rigs have been here a Long, Long time. There is still no bathhouse/showers/laundry. It is back in some beautiful trees, but the RV spots are in great dis-aray. The RV spots require one to back up over a curb some distance from the street. (it is an old trailer park evidently). Elect/water hooks up req one to park on the grass, not on the concrete pads. I understand the negative/poor write ups. We'd hate to be stuck out here away from everything. Even though Pelican Roost's max stay is 2 wks, my advice is get 2 wks there & move on somewhere else.

I was apprehensive about coming to Mayport after reading some of the past reviews, but I was all wet. Even before we arrived we began to appreciate Pelican Roost. About 30 minutes out, we received a call from "Rita", one of the volunteers. She was checking on us because it was 1600 and we had reservations beginning that day. She wanted to know if we were having any trouble & might be arriving late. Ed met us and escorted us to our spot (#16, front row-on the water). He could not have been nicer. Everyone we've met that volunteers here is great. Facilities, activities, the base support, staff, scenery = 1 top notch RV park. Free washers & dryers, diesel gas ($2.99) on base and a wk'ly ice cream social on top of that. I now know why so many of the campers here are regulars. Who wouldn't want to be here all the time?

Once we parked under the oaks dripping with Spanish moss, just 20 yds from the water, we wondered why we should press on further East. The RV park is beautiful, well laid out and in a perfect location. Spot 14 was level and it looked like others had been recently graded. Didn't see any that looked unlevel. The old metal roofed covers over the picnic tables at each site, are coming down, to be replaced. Website directions were correct to the letter. Wi-fi is avail from the closest parking spots to the office. I sat outside under the oaks and used my laptop. I couldn't make myself go inside the Internet "shack" which is luxuriously laid out and well equipped (in case it did rain). Bathhouse was huge, large shower stall and cleaned daily like none I've seen in a while. $1.00 to wash & to dry. The staff was wonderfully cordial and helpful. Eglin AFB is 11 miles away w/ every necessity (but no diesel). Like I said, we didn't want to leave, ever.

We called the morning of our planned arrival like other raters suggested. Joe held a spot for us until 1400. When we arr'ed he asked me if we'd take a overflow spot since he had 2 calls from larger motorhomes coming in that morning also. The overflow spot was right beside the office, 30A/W hook up and easier to get into than the close paved spots in the mail park, so I took it. Cost was half- $10 per night. It was very pleasant, and no problem at all. Bathhouse/showers/laundry all are very clean & kept up nicely. Friendly staff and I piggy backed free wi-fi from the new housing area next door. So we're happy. No Keesler AFB remains from our tour here back in the 70's, but base is rebuilding fine. The tempo BX & Commissary are adequate for us. Base Library next dor to the commissary has internet. Web-site directions off of I-10 were correct. Watch Pass Rd. However. It is very narrow and turns are VERY tight.

We're back at Barksdale prior to beginning our Fall/Winter RV travels. Barksdale Famcamp seems nicer than ever. The "tree men" have been here for the past 3 days removing the dead trees that a previous reviewer mentioned. It enabled us to watch the nearly full moon come up last night over the Famcamp. Four or five FEMA 3 bedroom trailers are now avail for rent @ $49 per night. They don't seem to bother the Famcamp or add to the traffic. The club/bathhouse is still great, ice maker still turns out tons of free ice. The wi-fi seems stronger than last visit and they have a new color Fampcamp brochure/map. Hurrah for BAFB MWR management.

Just a quick report since there were no 2008 reviews on Barksdale. We stay here 4x per yr for 2 wks each stay. It's every bit as nice in 2008 as the great reviews from 2007 say. I wish they had not put 4 rental trailers into the new RV spots, but while we've been here the FamCamp hasn't been full, so I guess it isn't that bad. A great FamCamp.

We were anxious to visit Sheppard's Annex on Lake T., after 35 yrs. SAFB was my 1st assignment & the "annex" was my 1st USAF recreation facility. We had such a great memory of it. But, it was not to be. The "annex" may be operational now after the catastrophic flooding of `07, but there's nothing there. We found it to be a faded picture of a once, booming recreation destination. There are hardly any services there that are touted in the brochure (which I picked up from Sheppard AFB MWR on 20 Mar `08) or on the website. The weekly rates (published in the 2 previous sources) DO NOT exist. It's $20(full hook-ups) a nite regardless. We've never paid $20 a nite at any DOD Famcamp. There are some that may ask $20 a night, but there is always a cheaper weekly/monthly rate. And those bases have dynamite facilities, services and are sparkling clean and are brand NEW. The "annex" bath-house was decrepit, dirty, and lacking daily cleaning. Ex- no handwashing soap, no TP (for 4 days). RV pads are overgrown grassy gravel; that has spread way too thin. (maybe the flooding?) We were told that there was only 1 full hook-up row, but I found that the (cheaper) W/E row had sewer also. No campground host. My neighbor was dumping his gray water out behind his site but w/out a "host" no one would ever have known. The nice ladies that work in the lodge/office don't really know anything about the RV park itself. The "lodge" closes at 5:00pm daily and besides the small store, the services that the base advertises in the lodge are non-existent. The Lake T. annex is way off the beaten path. Sheppard's got to decide if they really want to operate a RV (FamCamp). Note- my write up doesn't include the marina, boat launching, fishing part of the "annex". I'm not qualified to rate it. It appeared that the folks staying in the "annex" cabins that used the marina, thought it was pretty good.

There aren't any instructions (above) for arriving from the south. It's easy. If coming up I-25, look for Gibson street exit. It's right after the International airport exits. Turn right off I-25 & stay on it till you bump into the gate. Had to stay 1 night in overflow, but it had 30amp. Just no water. Moved into a full hookup next morning. Camp host is very nice/helpful. Bathhouse has only 1 toliet & 1 shower (men's), women's has 1 shower, 2 toliets. laundry is a real bargain @ $.75 per load. Sites are mostly pull thru, mostly paved and level. BX/Commissary, etc nearby. Nice place to sit out the Spring wind storms.