Reviews written by jsummers

Good ole' Ft. Hood. Official policy is no reservations, but they will "hold" a spot for you if you're driving in & there are openings, that day. Sure helps to know you've got a spot at the end of a long drive. Everything's still clean as as well run as ever. Bathhouse/showers spotless, great hot water too. Amenities/Facilities graded 3 due to no wi-fi. I sure wish they'd put in a wi-fi, even if it's in the clubhouse. You can wash your RV in your Famcamp spot. Value is graded a 4 also due to the $18 per night fees. We love it here, don't doubt it. It's just we stay at a lot of great Famcamps that aren't $18. The new Chili's is open on base. Main base gas station has diesel. FYI- the storage yards here are as good as we've seen or used anywhere. Great people and great service. Dumb as it sounds it's pretty much like the guards on gate duty tell you " welcome to the great place". Ft. Hood has everything you'd need on a base and probably 2 of them.

It's back to Barksdale AFB. Didn't see any current reviews so here's a brief update. Exit 23 off I-20 is still the preferred entrance gate. I-20 construction has not reached it yet. Lots of SP's on base patrolling for speeders. The long winding road around the back of base to the RV park has construction, so be aware. The new main gate construction is complete & the gate is open but it's NOT for trucks or RV's. The RV park has lots of open spaces now. It is the quietest we've seen it in 3 winters. Most of the FEMA trailers turned tempo family qtrs are empty and it appears that most of the "trashy" full-timer, RV spaces have been vacated or cleaned up. Welcomed news for us since we really love Barksdale. RV park facilities and base facilities are unchg'ed.

we drove up to investigate on the chance we'd like KMC better than the place we were staying on the "big island". Beautiful location & mntn scenery. We ate breakfast in the chow hall, shopped at the PX, visited the rest of the facilities and the old review is correct-it's a peach. Everything you'd need if you were staying there. However, the prices were not all that good compared to those on the "economy". We rented a house for $500 a week and that wouldn't get us 4 nights at KMC. I don't understand the whole NAF pricing structure. The longer that I'm retired, the higher the prices for retirees' activities seem to get. An active duty officer might be able to afford to pay $200 a night for a room, but a retiree? We only make 50% of our old base pay. At KMC you're too far from everything. And remember rental cars in Hawaii are super expensive. We paid $300 for 2 wks PLUS $175 extra in taxes. You're stuck; way too far from everything at KMC w/out a car and gas was >$4. We could never afford to stay at KMC.

The hot summer drought season is over at Barksdale. Oct 19 brought the cold spell and hopefully rain. It was good to see Theresa & Paul again. Same great staff and facilities. Everything's working as advertised and we got the last spot available. Yeah, some of the longer term residents here are getting a bit "junkie". I wish the time limits were tighter but then if & when I needed to stay longer, I might wish they were not. All we can do is keep our place spotless and hopefully it will rub off on others. I for one enjoy being a bit away from the main base. Close `enuff to get there easy but far away from the traffic.

Back at Ft. Hood again. Same great folks here and same facilities. Since this is the largest US Mil installation in the world and has everything imaginable for the GI, I can't figure out why they can't hook up Wi-Fi for the RV park. Also, the Golden Age Passport discount goes away end of 2011, I just discovered. We like it here; it's our most visited RV park since we store our RV here. Their storage facility is tops. If you're lucky enuff to get a spot here-keep it.

What's going on RV'ers ? Don't tell me that I'm the only one to use Ft. Hood since Jan of this yr. If you're reading this- pls, pls put in your own rating after using a military RV facility. I want to/need to, read your write-ups as I travel around. Please ? Ok. `Nuff said. West Ft. Hood is still spotlessly clean, handy to use, staffed by friendly folks, & surrounded by the best post/base facilities in the US. The big news is that since my last report the free ice machine at the office has been removed for maintenance. That's it. If you're a user of free wi-fi like me, try the Pizza Hut on post. Or use the Post library. If you're heading to Ft. Hood, call ahead to check on openings and they will hold a place for you, for that day only. It's almost a reservation.

The brand new bath-house is open for business. Turned over & opened up this morning. It's very nice. 2 showers, 3 stalls, 3 sinks. The community room & washers/dryers are on the backside of the same new building. $1 each. We were in overflow for 2 nights. Lots of overflow but only 1 location has water. All have 30amp electric svc. Wi-fi works great. If it were nearer Goodfellow or if San Angelo were closer to "something" I'd have given "Location" a 5 star too. Maybe being off the beaten track is more desirable to some winter Texans. Anyway -it's very nice and the folks are super.

Good ole' Ft. Sam. Everyone's said it all. If they had wi-fi my ratings would be higher.The AAFES PX wi-fi worked flawlessly for us this yr. My wife & I seem to report on showers/bath alot -since we use them more than most; I guess. Ft. Sam's are great. Always spotless and plenty of VERY hot water. Washers are only 75cents too. Even though the AF is officially in charge now of Joint Base San Antonio, I can't see where they've screwed it up here at Ft Sam-yet. Come on down-great folks & diesel on base.

Back to Barksdale. 1st visit of 2011. From the last visit, the big difference I see is open spaces. 7 open today for example. The construction & placement of the 6 new FEMA double-wides is completed and FamCamp boss Teresa says it's allowed her to take out several MWR rental Travel trailers that were taking up regular Famcamp pads. So now there's more room in the Famcamp. Guess the FEMA trailers did some good after all. Same great park, facilities and staff. Lots of new building & renovations going on here at Barksdale, thnx to Global Strike Cmd, I guess. Still no diesel, however.

Looks like the first review of 2011. We store our RV here so we get to stay on Ft. Hood alot. Same great RV park. The facilities are spotless, and staff is friendly. If not for the Wi-Fi that they "haven't got", I wouldn't have a thing to ask for. Don't forget to use your America the Beautiful/Golden Access card for $5 discount. And as for Ft. Hood, what it lacks, you just don't need. For example, there is a new Chili's restaurant being constructed across from the Main base Gas Station (the one w/ Diesel) on TJ Mills Avenue. What a base !

Only 2 chg's from 2 months ago. This visit Dee asked me if I had an (federal) America the Beautiful Pass. Just having finished our grand western tour -I had the National Parks/Monument pass and it saved me more money right here at BLORA. Only $9 per night w/ the pass!!! Now that's a deal. Thnx Dee. Back in Sept no one told me about it & I didn't know to ask. Second update -BLORA's Christmas light show starts today. It begins at 1730 nightly. This update is significant because BLORA chg's the roads in & thru the RV park. After 1730 each evening you can't get out of the RV park. It's open to the public & I'm told there is a LOT of traffic. So it you're coming in to stay at BLORA for the next month- be sure you know the new times to get in & out of the park each evening.

Overnight only due to family emergency. We planned on staying longer. Beautifully kept up RV park & bath house. Noel (host) was so helpful getting us parked and set up. All website info/directions above on LRAFB is correct and up to date. Still no diesel on base, but avail 0.6m out the back gate, near the RV park. This was my first look at LRAFB since C-130 Initial Qual back in 1974. It sure has weathered the years well. We slept well, rocked to sleep by those turboprop "sounds of freedom".

We just arr'ed for a 2 wk stay. So this is just a quick, emergency info entry for someone reading up on Barksdale before coming here soon. It's full !Packed !Overflowing. If you're inbound & reading this- pls call first. No they don't take reservations but they're great with current info & advise. They've been this full for several weeks according to the staff. There are no real RV sites empty; and there are MH's & RV's in every possible overflow spot that can reach electricity. My retiree neighbor says most of the "campers" are civilian contractors working on the new FEMA trailer/mobilehome "city", being constructed next door to the Famcamp. Pls don't get me started on civilians using the FamCamp. That's for the community blog section. Paul & Teresa were super helpful getting me squeezed into a makeshift spot that still got us w/e. I see some trailers that have been here for yrs. I really love this FamCamp & the staff but it's turning slowly into a "trailer park" in my opinion.

Thnx to JohnJay. We stayed at the "new RV park" on post. Mil ID card required for entry. This is NOT the old one that's been turned over to the county. The gate guard at the Main Gate on Ark Hwy 22 will give you instructions to check in. If it's after hrs or on wk ends the MP's do it but both places are easy to find. The turn off to the RV park is on the right, 3 white blgs past the PX. (8:00-1630 Mon -Fri, 9:00-1300 Sundays) It's an unmarked gravel road immediately after white bldg 1599, but billeting will help w/ directions. Larry, I forgot to take pics believe it or not. They have 20 sites. The park is a circle with a road down the middle. This wk end the back-in sites in the middle row, did not have any water. Three large pull thru sites are on the upper level (left hand road as you enter). All others are back -ins. All are 50 amp w/ w/s, but only about 10 have a 30 amp plug in also. No bath/shower house. No dumpster yet and the new lights that are installed don't come on yet at night. They're working on all that, in addition to picnic tables for each site are on order. Only opened since April. The RV park wasn't officially ready but they decided to open early for Ark Nat Guard Annual training back in Apr. according to the billeting mgr. Yes, they take reservations. I'll email you that number Larry. They were MOST interested in getting the info out about this new RV park. They get many to show up, not knowing that the old one is not the only option now.

I was nearly scared away from trying Ft. Tuthill by a fellow at nearby Camp Navajo. We had reserved a cabin for family and "had" to be here too. Anyway the RV parking/sites are dis-arranged.(like Arnold AFB used to be) Depending on your rig/size, it IS possible to drive into the wrong road in the campground & get in trouble. But it's not that difficult if you walk thru first. After learning which sites I was Ok to occupy (specific site reservations are not made) I walked thru & asked the guy in one of them how he managed driving in & backing up, etc. W/ his suggestions I made it fine. The sites' water & electric hook up are NOT in the standard place (or even together). So before you unhook- stretch out the electric cord & water hose and make sure you can reach the plug-ins. You might have to jockey your RV about some like I did. End of story- beautiful place, nice washroom/bathhouse. Wi-fi here in the hotel and close to lots to see & do.