RE: Spring Fling at Pocahontas State Park...

[jstaddwtr]

My comments were never the beginning of a thread.....hence they made no sense....of course they may not have made much sense when i wrote them.....oh well!

[Mahaffey-Family]

 Gone-Camping
Gone Camping,
           We will see you in April. I have e-mailed stateparkgirl my reservation number.  We will arrive on Friday April 9th and leave on Monday April 12.

[stateparkgrl]

 Gone-Camping
jstaddwtr,
 
 The reservation center for Virginia State Parks Campgrounds is not site-specific. That means you have a site reserved, but we will let you choose your site when you get to Pocahontas. I ll just give you a site marker that tells you that you can choose and mark any site between 14 and 65 (it excludes the pull throughs and group sites 45-50)  For you to rent site 50, you would have had to rent at least 3 of the 6 group sites (the group site have a 3 site minimum).  Cliff (Gone-Camping) will probably do that, and let the group take those first, then fill in around them. You can even have a pull through, (sites 1-13) if one is available, but it will be farther away from the rest of the group. (See the campground map on the website).
 
 I am also going to let him mark and hold all the sites that are reserved first thing Friday morning for everyone coming in Friday. We did this at Westmoreland - and it worked well (except for the 2 people that cancelled with the reservation center, but did not tell us!)
 
 Cliff - let me know when you get to the point that you may be interested in a facility for a group get together. I can reserve the conference center, or maybe a large Dining Hall, depending on the size of the group. If you decide to go with a Outdoor Picnic Shelter, give me a call before you call the Reservation Center. If it s during the week, you may can use one without a reservation. We usually only have reservations for these on Saturdays and Sundays.
 
 Looking forward to seeing everyone!
 
 
 Louise
 
 1992 Starcraft Starflyer
 2003 F150 Supercrew
 DH and 1987 daughter

[Gone-Camping]

 Gone-Camping
Group center? Hmmm, didn t even know there was one there! Will keep in mind. Right now we re still thinking of having the group chip in and pay for one extra site that we can utilize for both the Pot Luck Dinner, as well as nightly group campfire. We d set up a tent & awnings to make it looked lived in. We did this at Trap Pond SP earlier this year, and worked really well. Made it easy for everyone in the group to wander in and out of the group get together each night.
 
 EVERYONE...
 Please post your reserveration number HERE so that StateParkGrl can put together a list and make sure we get the site s as she has described!
 

[Gone-Camping]

I wonder what happened to the original opening thread to this???

[Gone-Camping]

Since the original thread that started this has disapeared, I'm reposting it here...

 
For those of you that haven't heard yet, I've volunteered to be Wagon-Master for another 'Spring Fling, presented by MAPCE' (Mid-Atlantic Pop-up Camper Enthusiasts). We are a small, loose knit group of Pop-up (& Hybrid) campers that get together a few times per year. Most of us are regulars at PUT/PUX/PUP/iRV2/RV.net (among other places), and we are extending our invitation to join our "Spring Fling" next April. This invitation is being cross posted at the PUT/PUX/iRV2/RV.net sites and is open to everyone who would like to attend. Though our core group is made up of Pop-up's, we have some Hybrids TT's, at least one Class-A MH, and possibly a tenter or two. It doesn't matter what you camp in, everyone that is interested in attending is welcome to come along.

I stopped in at Pocahontas State Park and spoke with the lone employee in the place, Louise (aka StateParkGrl). We discussed the plans that I was putting together for a spring camp-out, and we that we want to hold it at Pocahontas State Park on Easter Weekend. This particular weekend is being chosen to allow families to take advantage of spring break, which follows Easter Sunday.

Pocahontas State Park was chosen for it's central location. The park is located in
Chesterfield Va, just south of Richmond Va. It's only a few miles off of I-95 which makes it an easy drive for those coming from northern areas as well as south in the Carolina's. The park is roughly 2 hours from Tidewater in the East, Charlottesville in the west, Washington DC to the north, and Rocky Mount NC to the south. I suspect we can get a lot of people to join on for this one, largely due to it's location.

We've started things in motion early this year, in part to ensure we can get enough sites for our group, and to give everyone a enough of an advance to plan on it. Last years Spring Fling was so late in getting it together, the reservations only opened 30 days before the camp-out.

Date: Easter Weekend, April 9th, 10th, and beyond? 2004...

Make reservations by phone, post reservation numbers here.

Phone: 1-800-933-PARK (1-800-933-7275....8am-5pm Monday thru Friday) Then post your reservation number so Louise can keep track of them for us. It was suggest you call them in and avoid using the online system at Reserve America.

Park Address...
10301 State Park Rd.
Chesterfield Va. 23838
(804)796-4255

Campground maps....
Screen size image
Large Hi-Resolution Image

Camp sites are currently $20 per night, price is expected to go up after Jan 1st, so make reservations before then to lock in the lower price.

Pocahontas State Park is not blocking off sections of the loop, not yet anyway. We have to fill both the triple group sites (45-46-47 and 48-49-50) before they will block the rest of the loop. This is no problem, I'll be reserving the 45/46/47 block, so all we need is another group that wants three sites together to claim the other triple site. From there they will block the rest of the 41-54 loop.

Keep in mind they have a total of 65 campsites, all have water and electric hook-ups. Each site also contains a level site pad, picnic table, ground grill/fire ring, and a lantern pole. Bath houses have flush toilets and hot showers. There is also a drink vending machine near the center bath house.

Louise tells me that Easter is not a huge weekend for them, but we do need to book early enough to keep the group together. Since this time slot precedes spring break and Pocahontas is not exactly a "destination campground" this shouldn't be a problem.

We are considering renting an "Extra" site like we did at Trap Pond this year, that everyone can chip in a dollar or two in order to pay for it. We'll use the "Extra" site for group gatherings such as nightly campfire and a pot luck dinner. We can set up a tent and some quick shade canopies to make it "look" occupied. The exact site for this has yet to be determined, but we'll try and keep if fairly central to the area we are in.

Speaking of which, sites 40 - 54 are the ones that we are currently trying to fill. There are plenty more if they fill fast. A good site for the group thing looks like #52, but I'll have to talk to Louise again and find out. She told me I could drive through and look around today, but the gate was closed as they are still cleaning up from Hurricane Isabel so I couldn't get in there. It's possible I'll stop back in there next week and get a good look around!

We'll also need a volunteer to co-ordinate the Pot-Luck dinner, but we don't have to get into that aspect of if until spring. Right now, we are focusing on reservations.

[Gone-Camping]

Not just a shameless plug to get it on top again, but thought I'd post a list of those that signed up. I haven't quite made the reservation yet, but will do so soon. I also should have pictures available for Pocahontas by next weekend!
 
Currently signed up....
Gone-Camping (ummm, me??) + 2 kids (Reservation made)
SheBantam + DH & 1 kid (Possible Maybe)
ACER + DW & 1 kid (plus 1 very large dog) (Reservation Made)
Davester#5 & Bevgirl + 3 kidsReservation (Made)
Beth Parks + DH & kids
Mahaffey Family (Reservation made)
jstaddwtr + 2 kids (Reservation made)
TJWSantaFe (Definate "Maybe")

[Gone-Camping]

UPDATE: Only about one week left to lock in 2003 prices for this camp-out. Price goes up after January first!

[TJWSANTAFE]

We will make our reservations this week. We will see you in April. (:-))

[SheBantam]

I do not get around Richmond. Raymond really liked NPN, though he did not stay the entire time I did.

Within an easy drive, what is there to do? any great Super Walmarts? (Actually any super Walmart is great since we have to travel 30 miles into PA or 50 miles to South of Dover to find one that does not have a toll enroute.) Or even Bigg Lotts??? I really like that place.

[stateparkgrl]

Yes, the WalMart Supercenter is 10 minutes away. Big Lots is maybe 20 minutes.  Closest mall is 30 minutes. Richmond (downtown) is 30 minutes. Great Farmers market and weekend outdoor flea markets there. Also the Riverfront Canalwalk, which you can walk or take a tour boat on.

Both Richmond and Petersburg Battlefield Parks are within 30 minutes (Pocahontas is half way between the two). There are also some really good wildlife birding places along the James River to see Eagles, Herons, and Hawks nesting.

Or, tour the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or the Civil War Museum, or the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, or a number of other cultural things in Richmond. One of my kids favorite places is the Richmond Children's Museum.

Louise

1994 Starcraft Starflyer
2003 F150 Supercrew
DH and 1987 daughter

[whitestar505]

SheBantam,stateparkgrl,

   You have got me thinking about this trip.. I am thinking about it......HARD

It must be that time again.... Were we not here awhile ago?

[Gone-Camping]

Louise knows the area better than I do, she lives there! I do know that there is a ton of places to see for Civil War Buff's!!!
 
The campground itself is really nice, shaded sites, well spaced, much like Newport News is. We're going to have one site designated as the Group Area with canopy, group campfire, I'm even going bring my new Solar powered path lights and stick them in the ground around the group site.
 
We'll hold the pot luck at that site, as well as nightly group campfires like we did at Trap Pond last year.
 
The location is why I chose this place, it's just very convenient to most everyone, only about 10-15 mins off of I-95 just south of Richmond. I also recommend making reservations soon, as spring approaches campsite's are likely to be reserved by others not in our group.

[whitestar505]

Gone-Camping,

   Just wonder how cold it will be that early in the spring. I am in a Popup right.

I remember last year on the 1st of April, weekend when we were out with 3-4 inch's of snow over Saturday  night. Wake up and battle with closing up was a night mare.

  Hey Cliff, I have to tell you that I really enjoyed your web site!

[stateparkgrl]

We camp every year the week of spring break, and usually rain is more of a problem than cold.  Our average daily temperatures in Early April should get into the 60s at least - with nights being comfortable with a good sleeping bag and a decent small heater.  

I agree that reservations should be made as soon as possible. One thing that may help is that this is Easter Weekend. That's why I haven't committed yet - I may have church commitments I will have to keep. Also - my mom's 75th birthday is April 9th (Friday) and we are planning a big surprise party for her.

Louise

1994 Starcraft Starflyer
2003 F150 Supercrew
DH and 1987 daughter