Home » Hooch the Happy Camper
Note: this post is back-dated. I am currently attempting to catch up on many missed memories that I failed to post over the last 2-3 years). I appreciate your patience as I attempt to bring my diary of “special moments with my dogs” up-to-date!
We camped at Sun Outdoors Ocean City Gateway for a dock diving competition.
Note: this post is back-dated. I am currently attempting to catch up on many missed memories that I failed to post over the last 2-3 years). I appreciate your patience as I attempt to bring my diary of “special moments with my dogs” up-to-date!
Happy Easter 2021!
We camped at Spacious Skies Shenandoah Views Campground (formerly Luray KOA)
Our campsite was perfect, the campground was awesome… and the views were amazing!
On Easter Day, the Easter Bunny hopped all the way down to our camper in VA! He left their baskets and hid our pack’s color-coded eggs…
The Pups’ annual Easter egg hunt:
Note: this post is back-dated. I am currently attempting to catch up on many missed memories that I failed to post over the last 2-3 years). I appreciate your patience as I attempt to bring my diary of “special moments with my dogs” up-to-date!
April 3, 2021
During my last Spring Break as a Special Education teacher in 2021, I realized just how grateful I was to have a camper….Not that I wasn’t thankful to have one pre-Covid, but now more than ever I am so appreciative that we could take a trip and still remain safe and self-contained in our own “home” during Covid times. On the way to our 2021 Easter Camping trip, we did an overnight stay at Quattro Goombas Winery/ Brewery/ Pizza Kitchen (a Harvest Hosts spot) in Aldie, Virginia, and it did not disappoint!
All safety precautions were in place and they provided curbside pickup for beer, wine, and Pizza for those who were not comfortable dining/drinking indoors … everything was delicious and there was plenty of room to walk the dogs on the grounds!
This was our first outing after the Covid oubreak
This campground is located between Boston & Cape Cod and has many activities for campers!
On our way out to the 2019 DockDogs World Championship , we did an overnight-stay at Crawfordsville KOA in Crawfordsville, IN.
Hooch wanted to be on the welcoming committee:
Our campsite:
Lager in front of the cool log deer:
On the way out to the 2019 DockDogs World Championship, we did an overnight stay at Washington / Pittsburgh SW KOA Journey .
On our way to Bowmanville, Ontario for a dock diving event, we did an -overnight stay at Brennan Beach RV Resort.
This campground was located right on Lake Ontario!
What a gorgeous view!
The next morning, Lake Ontario had waves like the ocean!
This was their cute snack bar down by the beach:
Tom’s Cove Park, located on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, overlooks Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore Park.
This was our first time camping in Chincoteague. We enjoyed the views, and the dogs very much enjoyed bird-watching all weekend!
Margarita LOVED being on the pier and watching the boats and birds!
Margarita and her main-man, Mr. Spock, did some bird watching together on the pier!
Camping in Virginia also allowed Porter to add a state to his “States Visited Map!”
We stayed on site P65 with a great view of the water (light pink sites closest to the waterfront sites).
Sunrise views from our campsite:
Hooch at our campsite:
Limoncello enjoyed “hunting” golf carts down all weekend from our campsite!
We found out that Porter loves riding in a golf cart!
Whiskey enjoyed people-watching from the camper.
Whiskey:
Lager wanted SO badly to jump in the water:
What a fun, relaxing weekend we had!
We did a quick over-night stay at River Forest Park in Weedsport, NY on our way up to Canada for the 3rd Annual K9 Fun Zone Wild Card Double Header.
Whiskey checked out the Seneca River before we departed.
This campground was our stop-over on the way up to the Hops and Hounds competition in Maine.
We stayed on site 145. This site was awesome!
It was a pull-through site and had a deluxe patio and private campfire/sitting area.
This campground had so much to offer – they even had a wine store with a tasting room featuring local NY wines! You can check out their other amenities HERE.
This was our first stop-over on our way to the 2018 DockDogs World Championship.
If you are looking to visit the DC area, this is the closest campground to Washington, DC.
The campground is huge, and has many different options for your stay such as:
Our campsite:
The campground has so many amenities, there’s too much to list! Click HERE to check out all this campground has to offer!
Around the campground…
This was a great stop-over on our way to TN, but we’d love to come back to this campground again to stay a while longer!
Limoncello, Hooch, Lager, Margarita, and Whiskey stayed at Southlake RV Park while attending the DockDogs World Championship in October 2018.
The campground was decorated for Halloween.
Our campsite:
What a great view and a huge area to walk the dogs!
When we competed at the 2018 Hebron Harvest Fair, we camped at Nelson’s Family Campground.
We stayed on site T-48.
Although this site was directly across from the campground’s service center, it was a perfect site for us, as it had a very roomy grass area to walk the dogs.
This campground had a lot to offer!
We camped here while attending the 2018 Hopkinton State Fair.
We stayed on site G9
We arrived much later than expected and it was SO dark that we missed a turn. People at this campground were so nice – before we knew it we had a whole crew of people helping us back up (NOT an easy thing to do where we ended up!) One of the campers even drove in their golf cart to lead us to our campsite. I don’t know what we would have done without their help that night!
There was plenty of space to walk the dogs. All the campers were so excited to meet the “dock dogs!”
This was our first time staying at this campground – but we liked it so much that we already booked it for the 2019 Hopkinton Fair!
On our way to the K9 Central Wild Card Double Header, we stayed overnight for the first time at Bedford Creek Marina and Campground .
We had a nice end spot with room to walk the dogs.
When Rita and I went for our first walk, look at what we saw at someone’s campsite! I was hoping we’d get to see the GSP, but we didn’t. Maybe next time!
This campground offers a beach, boat rentals, marina, pizza & ice cream shop, and mini golf!
Margarita and I walked down to see the beach in the morning.
What a view!
Rita enjoyed stalking all the birds!
Taking in the views!
This campground was a great stop-over!
Brian and I camped at Crystal Springs Wilderness Lodges & RV Resort for our 11th anniversary on August 4, 2018!
The site was spacious!
Around the campground…
Margarita found a friend! This bull is actually a smoker! I was hoping we’d get to see someone using it during our stay – I bet it looks so neat when the meat is cooking and the smoke is coming out of the bull’s nose!
Margarita
Margarita
Whiskey enjoyed the scenery too
Whiskey noticed a friend off in the distance – but was too afraid to go closer!
Hanging out around outside our camper and enjoying the weather!
We love playing Scrabble – and the dogs love helping their Pop!
Hooch wants to play the winner!
Mojitos, beer, and Scrabble – our kind of summer day!
Another great camping trip – and another year in the books – Happy 11 Years to us!
Another visit to Crystal Springs in 2019 for Easter:
Limoncello
Hooch
Margarita
Lager
Porter (His first camping trip!!!)
Whiskey
We camped for the first time at Village Green Family Campground when we competed at Klem’s DockDog Days.
This campground had been hit hard by a tornado in 2011. They are still working to recover from the tragic losses that ensued from that disaster. However, the owners could not have been nicer, and despite what the campground had been through, it looked great and was very enjoyable.
Our campsite was private and had a HUGE living space…perfect for letting the dogs out!
On the way home from the DockDogs World Championship, we did an over night stay at Natural Bridge / Lexington KOA in Natural Bridge, VA.
Our Campsite:
Margarita taking a stroll around the campground – she was fascinated by the free-roaming chickens!
We had a very nice stay at this campground. If you have never seen the Natural Bridge, this is definitely a trip to add to your travel wish list!
We parked our motor home at the Clinton / Knoxville North KOA when we arrived in Knoxville for the DockDogs World Championship.
Our campsite:
We are finally here!
Tennessee is gorgeous!
Cheers!
This may have been the most fun we’ve ever had at a campground!
On the way out to Knoxville, TN for the DockDogs World Championship, we stopped for an overnight stay at Wytheville KOA.
Not only was this campground super dog friendly, it had a snack bar, an arcade, batting cages, AND a bowling alley!
The Arcade:
The Batting Cages:
The Bowling Alley:
Margarita got excited to see a few other “doggies” she could play with! HaHa!
Not much further to go!!
On our road trip down to Knoxville, TN for the 2017 DockDog World Championship, we did an overnight stay at North Fork Resort in Front Royal, VA.
This was a great over-night spot right on the Shenandoah River!
This campground has lots to offer!
The amenities here are endless! I wish we had more time to enjoy some of the many options!
Settling in for the night…
We were able to do a campfire before settling in!
Taking a walk around the campground before we headed back on the road to Tennessee:
Each time we stopped to spend the night on our way to Knoxville, we changed the “miles to go” sign on our camper!
Getting ready to get back on the road… but not before a selfie with HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!
Family GLAMping trip!
Campers from Left to right: Jenny’s parents, Us, Jenny’s Aunt & Uncle
We found a rare time where my mom, my aunt, and us all had a free weekend, so we decided to try Massey’s Landing in Milsboro, DE. None of us had ever been there before, but we had heard great things about this campground – and it truly was very pretty there.
View from the beach
View from our camper
View of the campground from the beach
This was an unusually cold weekend in September, but we made the best of it.
We enjoyed playing Scrabble…
…And a walk on the beach:
Most of all, we enjoyed our time with family!
We had a “dock diving free” weekend last August , so we had the rare opportunity to camp with family. We chose the Delaware Water Gap / Pocono Mountain KOA .
Our campsite was awesome, but there were power lines running right through the campground. It turned out not being a big deal, but definitely was something we were not used to seeing at a campground.
Margarita enjoyed walking around the campground with her cousin James. We bought James his own little “Rita leash” that we attach along with the leash I am holding so that he can feel like he is walking her.
We enjoyed the relaxing weekend with family. It was nice not to have to get up early, or have any set plans for the weekend!
Overall, despite the first impression we had with the power lines running through the campground, we had a great time playing miniature golf, taking a hay ride, exploring around the campground, and just relaxing!
Brian captured one of my most favorite shots of Margarita and me sitting at the campfire on our campsite:
You can purchase the above “Never Camp Alone” t-shirt from Dog is Good!
Boulder Woods Campground for Jenny and Brian’s 10th Anniversary!
Our camp site #17:
Around the campground…
We had a relaxing weekend of walking, hanging out at our campsite, and playing board games.
We were lucky enough to enjoy our Anniversary dinner outside:
This was one of our rare camping trips where we didn’t have a dock diving event. It was nice to relax, and not have anywhere to go!
We stopped at Lighthouse Landing Campground for an overnight stay on our way to the dock diving Canadian Wild Card Event.
Camp Store
We camped at Lums Pond State Park when the pups competed at the Pets in the Park competition.
We stayed on site 8:
Site 8 was extremely roomy, and had a lot of area to walk the dogs! Other sites we wrote down to consider if site 8 was take are: 9 or 11
Lums Pond State Park is built around the largest fresh water pond in Delaware. They offer camping, fishing, hiking trails, and a tree-top adventure course.
During the weekend of April 22-23, The Liver Killers attended one of our favorite competitions held annually at Frontier Town Campground.
We absolutely love this campground – and the dogs LOVE the waterfront campsite !
Here are the dock diving results from this event:
Limoncello
Big Air:
19’6″
19’9″
19’9″
Extreme Vertical: 4’10”
Speed Retrieve: 8.418 seconds
Iron Dog: 2678.44 points (3rd Place Warrior Division)
Hooch
Big Air:
24’4″
Finals: 23’2″ (First Place)
Extreme Vertical: 6’0″
Lager
Big Air:
19’0″
19’4″
Extreme Vertical: 5’8″ (2nd Place)
Margarita:
Margarita enjoyed competing in a Pie Eating Contest, where she earned herself a 6th Place ribbon!
Rita also enjoyed Lure Coursing… but perhaps enjoyed the horses around the Lure Coursing field more so than the Lure Coursing itself, as she ignored the lure, and bolted off to the fence-line to see the horses! 🙁
We camped at Country Ares Campground for Easter this year.
Our campsite:
Hanging out on Easter Morning:
Happy Thanksgiving 2016 from the Liver Killers!
We camped this Thanksgiving at American Heritage RV Park in Williamsburg, VA.
Our campsite:
View from our campsite:
The weather was nice enough that we were able to get outside a lot with the pups. We went on several hikes:
…and at night, our pack of GLAMpers relaxed in the camper bed …
We liked this campground a lot and had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends. We hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well!
On our road trip back home from the 2016 DockDogs World Championship, the one and only stop-over was at Wolfies Campground in Zanesville, OH.
This was a great stop-over with an easy pull-through site. The owners were very nice also!
Our site (#41):
Morning walk before we hit the road to our final destination…home!
After a long road trip from New Jersey to the 2016 DockDogs World Championship, we arrived in Dubuque, IA!
Even though we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Downtown Dubuqe with all the other competitors, we had driven our motor home out to Iowa, and needed a place to park it for the week. Swiss Valley Campground was the perfect place! Once we saw this beautiful 62 acre park, we wish we had camped for the week instead of staying in the hotel!
Our campsite (site #4):
Immediately after arriving, we had to pack up all of our dock diving gear, and head over to the hotel in our rental car!
The two “Princess and the Pea” gals “helped” us pack:
We said goodbye to the camper for the week – but got to stay the night here at beautiful Swiss Valley Campground on our last night in Dubuque, IA, before heading back home to New Jersey.
We stayed here for the week during the 2019 DockDogs World Championship.
Our Campsite (site #4):
Limoncello and Margarita walking on the nature path:
Porter, Lager, Whiskey, and Limoncello playing in the creek:
Hooch taking a walk through the campground:
Our second stop-over on the way to the 2016 DockDogs World Championship was at South Bend / Elkhart North Koa in Granger, IN.
Our Campsite:
Morning walks and some relaxing time before we hit the road on our last leg of our road trip to Dubuque, Iowa:
Updating our “Miles-To-Iowa” sign!
On our long trip out to Iowa for the 2016 DockDogs World Championship, our first stop-over was at Shawnee State Park in Schellsburg, PA. Shawnee State Park is a 3,983-acre Pennsylvania state park in Juniata and Napier Townships, Bedford County, Pennsylvania ans is absolutely gorgeous!
Our site (#69):
View from our site:
Morning walks before continuing on our way to Iowa:
At each stop, we changed our “Miles-To-Iowa” sign!
Although we were only here for a short one-night stop-over, what we saw of the park was absolutely gorgeous! I hope we get to come back to this state park for a weekend camping trip sometime soon!
All of our camping trips revolve around the pups’ dock diving competitions, except the holiday camping trips we take on Easter and Thanksgiving. We very rarely catch a free weekend – let alone one that matches up with another camping buddy. However, this particular weekend in October we were able to make it happen!
This was only our second trip in the new RV. I decided to ride on the couch with the pups for a little bit to help get them settled.
All settled in and ready to roll!
It was a very chilly weekend, but we enjoyed every minute at Pomona RV Park and Campground!
You would never know this campground was just 10 minutes away from Atlantic City Casinos, boardwalk, and beaches, as it was very quiet and peaceful!
We stayed on site C3:
Campground map:
Lager just loves his new GLAMping window!
We spent quite a bit of time indoors getting a break from the cold, and enjoying getting to know our new camper. We could relax for sure knowing Lager and Limoncello were on patrol!
Hooch and Rita decided to let Cello and Lager do all the patrolling while they soaked up the GLAMping life!
We did get some warmer temps where we were able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air – Rita seems to be more of a cold-weather kind of gal, as she enjoyed every minute sitting outside!
It was a wonderful weekend (not too far) away! We appreciated time with friends, we were delighted to spend some time figuring out all the buttons and controls on the new RV, and enjoyed the campfires each night!
Those of you who have been following our adventures from the start, know that we started out tent camping, moved on to a travel trailer, and then a 5th Wheel. Even though we enjoyed all of our camping methods, once we adopted Margarita, we discovered that we needed to travel in a way where all of us could be a little bit more comfortable while on the road. We decided to trade our 5th Wheel in for a Class-A RV!
Our first trip in the new camper was to Lancaster / New Holland KOA !
What a gorgeous view from the campground:
Our campsite (Site X-16) … we LOVED our site!
We enjoyed this campground very much – one of the days was very rainy, which gave us some time to get acclimated to our new RV!
Once the weather broke, we were able to enjoy the outdoors at our great site!
Friends of ours live nearby the campground, and were nice enough to come by with some Lancaster favorites that we have never had before!
We had a fun (and most importantly – SAFE) first trip in our new camper – during one of the very, VERY few camping trips where dock diving was not involved!
We had never been to New Hampshire before, so we were super excited to cross the border!
We camped at Autumn Hills Campground in Weare, NH when we attended The Hopkinton State Fair dock diving competition.
Our campsite at Autumn Hills: Site T17
When we attended the 2nd Annual Bark in the Park dock diving event, we camped at Sunset Beach Resort.
We stayed on site 154
Another stay at the campground in July 2017 in our Class A:
We had never camped here before – but were pleasantly surprised at the roomy camp sites, beach bar and restaurant, and pool. This campground even has a hotel on the grounds, AND even has a dog beach!
Rita enjoyed her Glamping adventure here!
The Colones RV and Travel Park is probably THE coolest place we’ve camped! We stayed here for the Care-A-Lot dock diving event.
Fort Monroe served as a key defensive site of the Chesapeake Bay from Native American’s use before the settling of Jamestown, to its most recent mission as the US Army’s Headquarters for Training and Doctrine Command until 2011.
Rita is finding Glamping to be fun, and is exploring all over the camper! Here she is in the shower:
View from our camp site:
Around the campground and fort:
The campground was very peaceful, and the pups were able to rest well in the camper after each day of the event!
This was our second year attending Pooch Palooza at Frontier Town Campground.
We love this event, and the best part is – it is held right at one of our favorite campgrounds!
This was also a special trip because it was Rita’s first camping trip!
Lager is helping Rita get acquainted with Glamping:
Brian’s dad bought us a PetCube pet camera so we can walk outside of our camper
View from our camp site:
This was our first dock diving event of 2016!
Photo Credit: Precise Video Productions
Limoncello:
Big Air: 22′ 3″
20’11”
22’9″
Extreme Vertical: 4′ 10″
Speed Retrieve: 8.566 seconds 2nd Place Express Division
Iron Dog: 2697.17 points 2nd Place Warrior Division
Hooch:
This was the first time Hooch tried Iron Dog!
Big Air: 23’6″ 2nd Place Elite Division
Big Air Pro Finals: 19’11”
Photo Credit: Precise Video Productions
Extreme Vertical: 5’10” 1st Place Cadet Division
Speed Retrieve: 7.409 seconds
Iron Dog: 2902.83 points 3rd Place Titan Division
Lager:
Big Air: 12’9″
19’2″ 3rd Place Senior Division
19’3″ 1st Place Senior
Photo Credit: Precise Video Productions
Extreme Vertical: 6’0″
Margarita:
Margarita enjoyed her first camping trip and her first dock diving event! She got LOTS of attention from everyone!
Hanging out under the team canopy
This year’s Easter camping trip was at Old Mill Stream Campground in Lancaster, PA. We had a great view, and a wonderful weekend with friends!
Our campsite (Site 125):
View from our campsite:
This campground is located at Dutch Wonderland and offers discounted tickets for the amusement park. The amusement park was closed during our Easter visit.
Old Mill Stream is also very close to many area attractions and shopping in Lancaster, PA. For those who would rather stay-put in the campground, there are lots of amenities such as:
Unfortunately, Rita had to stay with a friend for this trip since she had just gone into heat, and Hooch is still intact. However, we still made sure the Easter Bunny took care of Rita in our absence!
The Easter Bunny always leaves great treats for the pups in the camper:
Every Easter camping trip, we let the pups have an Easter egg hunt in the camper:
The Pups finding their Easter Baskets:
The pups on Easter Morning:
(Hooch, Limoncello, Lager)
When we were able to pick up Rita, we gave her the rest of her Easter Bunny goodies:
Happy Easter 2016!
Our first non-dock diving camping trip of the year all by ourselves! This was our annual Anniversary Camping Trip. This year, we decided to camp at Black Bear Campground, located in the Village of Florida, New York.
We stayed on site 55:
Black Bear Campground is located in Orange County, about one hour Northwest of New York City.
Amenities here include:
This Campground is also close to many attractions – lots to do in the surrounding area! Here are just some of the things to do/see (click on the attraction to read more):
We camped at Cherrystone Family Camping Resort for Cello and Hooch’s dock diving event in Cape Charles, VA.
site # 636 on Clam Lane
You can see by the campground map, this place was pretty big! It was also right on the water, and although we weren’t able to secure a waterfront site, we had a water view from our campsite:
With just a short walk to the water’s edge, we had a wonderful time walking the pups!
This campground offers cabins, cottages, on site rental trailers, and campsites. Cherrystone also offers many great amenities:
Little Neck Cafe
General Store
Farm Stand
Bait and Tackle Shop
Laundry Facilities
RV Services
Rental Golf Carts
ATM Machine
Free Wi-Fi
We wish we had more time to explore this great campground. We hope to be able to take advantage of some of the great amenities mentioned above at our next stay!
While Cello and Hooch were competing in their dock diving event at Codours State Park, we camped at Merry Meadows Recreation Farm.
Our campsite (site A1) was very private and wooded.
Here are some pictures from around the campground:
This campground was very unique. The list of amenities goes on forever!
For Cello and Hooch’s dock diving event in Zoar, OH, we camped at the Canton/East Sparta KOA in East Sparta, Ohio.
We could not have been happier with our site (Site 77)
Our site had a level, concrete pad, and nice landscaping. The site also had a fire pit, and two wooden benches at the fire pit.
We even had our own “nest” style chair, , patio set, and grill!
The concrete slab had imprints of different plants – pretty cool!
This campground had lots to offer:
We very much enjoyed our stay here!
We camped at Lake Fairfax Park for Cello and Hooch’s dock diving event at Celebrate Fairfax.
Our campsite (site A-18):
This park was HUGE! It has recreational sports fields, a skate park, and a water park!
Skate Park:
Marina and Fishing Pier:
