Roughing It Gently - Our Travel Adventures in our 2015 Discovery 40E: July 4, 2017

On the 4^th the weather gave us a bit of a scare as we made the party time for “after 4pm” expecting that the temperature would be cooler by then, and the shaded side of the coach would be on the passenger side, offering good shade for all. Well, by 3:30pm a big dark cloud and strong winds threatened a downpour, but luckily it passed on through without any rain and by 4:00pm when the first guests arrived the dark clouds had passed and cooled the temperature nicely.

We had a total of 28 guests and even one of them played the guitar and sang. In the photos and videos you can see what a good time was had by all. This is a really nice campground, which may not have a pool or wifi, but it has all the basic amenities that are important to RV’ers. Rightfully so too, as the owners (Jerry and Kathy) are also RV’ers and know first-hand what is important, and have it. The streets and campsites are all wide and thick graveled making the ground solid and level with no mud, though allowing drainage for the heavy rainfalls. They do have a very clean laundry and bathrooms with showers. The absence of other amenities like a pool, playground, etc, also makes the campground more amenable to ‘adults’ without children, as most of our camping neighbors are our age, retired and quiet-loving RV’ers. The other benefit is that the campground rates are very affordable, much less expensive than the larger campgrounds with more amenities. But it is more than that. Many campgrounds we have been in are hard (if at all possible) to find someone to fix a problem when it occurs unexpectedly. Here, the owners Jerry and Kathy are usually around and willing to attend to any issue, but additionally have not just one, but two alternating Camp Hosts on the premises that are always available and very willing to assist anyone with anything. It’s a great campground which we highly recommend to anyone coming this way. Their website is www.southernhillsrvcamp.com but plan ahead because the nicer campgrounds get reserved to capacity and though there are plans to expand this one, so far it has been mostly full all the time.

What a great turnout. We had 28 attendees to the cookout...

a great way to meet our neighbors and socialize.

Sitting under the exterior TV slide (to Mary's right) are Jerry and Kathy, who own Southern Hills RV Park and Campground (www.southernhillsrvcamp.com). Though they have two (2) Camp Hosts in the campground, they themselves are usually onsite, working on the campground and always willing to make everyone's stay more comfortable. Even as late as 9:30pm they have been seen taking and socializing with the residents, or attending to any issues that may come up. The campground is constantly being upgraded to better attend to the camper's needs. This is absolutely the best campground around this area, bar none, and they are the best campground managers.

Kudos to Jerry and Kathy's planning of this campground, which few campground take into consideration... 1) Wide berths between one's RV and the neighbor's, with room enough to sit and entertain without the neighbor right on top of you, AND alignment of the site direction so that the Passenger side (where the awning is) is on the afternoon/evening shade side of the RV. This alone allowed everyone to enjoy a shaded place to sit and socialize.

Jerry and Kathy with Ray (back to camera).

Standing in the back with blue shirt and with black shirt is Shellie and Pops, who own Pop's Grocery Store in Hermosa and live in the campground during the summer, while they rent out their home. They graciously contributed some bread and paper plates to the cookout.

Thanks to Mike (in the background at his trailer and grill) who helped with cooking the brats.

Mary talking with Diane, her husband Mike behind

her, talking with Steve and Karen (redhead).

Jerry and Kathy with Mary (above).

Though everyone did several rounds of stating their names, we admit that we are not good with names on first contacts, so our apologies if we fail to identify anyone in these photos.

If you see yourself in any of these photos and are not identified by name, we would love to hear from you (roughingitgently@gmail.com) to let us know your name (photo) and we will be glad to make the addition.

Steve (taking a photo) and (from L to R) Diane, Mike,

the other Mike, Magda and two unidentified people.

This was one of our neighbors who plays guitar and sings

and graced us with LIVE entertainment for the evening.

Mary baked this cake and decorated it like the flag with strawberry rows on white frosting for the red and white stripes and blueberries to depict the blue square with the white background between them as the stars. Everyone was so impressed with it that there was a row of 6-7 people wanting to photograph it before it was cut. The photo above was Bill's pre-party shot. Everyone loved it and ate it all. Mary is a great baker (as well as a cook).