Campgound Price

No shots at you John - just shots at what becomes the norm after it happens one place.

I can hear it now, all the MCGs will take a few sweeps of the broom, hose the old dirt off the patio, wash the rec room windows and call it a resort - then start milking the cow.

Trouble is, once it starts, it becomes a train-wreck - one MCG follows another.

Was talking to our Town Manager the other day at lunch, (that's kinda like the Mayor) and the town is in fiscal problems, as are towns all over. And this guy is pretty real, have know him since he was about ten - excellent town manager.

Anyway, recently the town (according to town policy) automatically put in for raises for the management level positions - it's kinda like congress when the raise comes in automatically unless congress actually votes to deny itself a raise. Well, the town does that kind of policy too.

So, I asked Charlie why the managers got raises when the exact guys that are getting these annual raises (like himself) are cutting services around town because the tax base is shrinking - AND, coincidentally to this MCG issue here, RAISING the fee for recreation teams in the town parks (like Little League, for example)

Charlie said, "A committee does a study and if the town managers in other towns are making more than here, we raise it to meet the other towns. You know, like equal pay for equal job title." (Wonder who pays for all these studies that show in this economy, everyone government position needs a raise?)

After we both stopped laughing, it hit me that's one of the reasons the budget is so out of whack, these kinds of automatic raises (like the unions, kind of thing that put Twinkies out of business last year) where everything jumps in price and the other guy says - "He did it, so I'm doing it." One MCG does it, so now the rest do it, and soon enough we have our MCG system at $50-$60 a night for a pad, power, water, and all MCGs sit half-full because the civilian parks are less or same price and it's no longer a benefit - it's just a spot to park our rigs.

All this stuff is self-perpetuating, once it starts it never stops and spills over into the other aspects as well. We'd have a great legacy for out kids and grand kids if the bozos in charge looked at the real world instead of the fantasy world they live in before making these kinds of ridiculous decisions. BLAH !!!

Has anybody stayed at this glorified parking lot or stopped by to see what it looks like? Now that it's opened and the tourist season has started, what's the wait like to get into this premium resort? Do they have an overflow area where we can wait our turn to get raped?

Inquiring minds want to know!!! :whistle:

Sarge3398 that is a good question and there is one review by someone who drove thru the FamCamp in the last few days.

As of Nov 1 , camping at camp Lajune will go up $7.50. It will cost $24.50 a night to camp. That a big jump from $17.00 a night to $24.50.

I bet that this campground starts looking like Ft Meade's campground, which appears to have active duty and long term TDY people living their. It is cheaper to buy a camper and use the housing allowance for rent and camper payment with the high DC rent. I have stayed at Ft Meade for Dr's appointments at Hopkins. If anyone tries to tell you that they are strict with the stay limit. I haven't seen that applied at the few military campgrounds I have stayed at. They all have people living their fulltime, now I have only been to about 5 or 6 over the past few years.

I have just entered the retirement life and we are fulltiming starting in Oct, we now have a seasonal site til Oct(private campground). I just about never pay over $45 for a campsite. I intentionally drive past every KOA I see because the price is not worth it.

I will never pay $60 for a campsite their. Unless I was going TDY to DC for a week or two and per deim would pay for it. I am telling you all, that they will not have very many vactioners in that campground, they will be TDY active duty people or it will become a trailer park for DC personnel.

Cherry Hill is the closest to DC for Commercial and they charge $72 for a premium site - 10% military discount is what $65 a night. Andrews AFB is around $16-20, granted not as nice, but just as close. Greenbelt Park, NPS campground is $16 and has lots to do. Duncan Family Campground is around $60 a night.

I agree that the military campgrounds are for our years of service and shouldn't be to gouge us or make the same profit that the commercial campgrounds do. I hope they stay vacant and then have to explain why they operated at such a lose for the year. But, like I said, it won't happen.

Keep up the fight, might get somewhere if enough complain, but I don't think they care about us anymore, it's all about REVENUE GENERATING and not about the Morale, Wellfare, and Recreation that they were created to do.

(From the Ft Belvoir Website)

Garrison welcomes first travel camp visitors

By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, May 23, 2013

Fort Belvoir’s Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation opened the installation’s new Travel and RV (recreational vehicle) camp to campers May 16 and held its grand opening Wednesday.

The 52-pad camp provides a short-term outdoor rest and relaxation area for guests at $60 per night for a maximum of 14 days. The camp, which can accommodate up to 40-foot RVs, rests in the Tompkins Basin Area along the shoreline of the Potomac River and is open to use for an outdoors experience in a scenic environment. The camp is available to servicemembers, Reservists, Guardsmen, Department of Defense civilians and contractors, Families and guests eligible under U.S. Army regulation 215-1, paragraph 7-1.

DFMWR conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday to officially open the camp.

A couple of the first visitors to Fort Belvoir’s Travel and RV camp arrived relieved and happy to use the site.

“We can finally settle down,” said Capt. Jesse Allgeyer, National Intelligence University student, whose Family arrived at Belvoir’s Travel Camp after traveling cross country from Washington State. “This camp is probably going to be one of those secrets until more people learn about it. You can tell this place is going to fill up because it’s in a great location.”

Pads 1-14 and 36-52 on the lot are back-in types, while pads 15-35 are pull-throughs. The facility features Wi-Fi, electricity, sewage, cable connections, a laundry facility and a shower facility. The shower area will have six bathrooms — three for men and three for women — with one handicap accessible shower each for men and women.

Jesse and his wife, Briita Allgeyer, stay-at-home mom, traveled from Washington with their three children as part of Jesses’s Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move to Fort Belvoir. The Family traveled to various military and civilian travel camps on their way to Belvoir. Jesse and Briita weren’t sure if Belvoir’s camp would be open by the time they arrived but they were relieved once they learned DFMWR was accepting reservations.

“It’s neat to be one of the first to use the camp,” Briita said. “I’m just glad it was open.”

Housing won’t become available to the Family until June 6 so Jesse and Briita will use their RV for traveling and lodging while they wait. They expect to use Fort Belvoir’s Travel Camp for the majority of that time.

Jesse and Briita expect the new facility to draw a large number of visitors each year because of its location along the Potomac River and the area is near Washington D.C.

“My kids can run around and play, we can do laundry and I can do physical training,” Jesse said. “This is a good way to PCS.”

A Captain and his family using the campground for temporary housing until their quarters are ready. Yep, the RVing public is just flocking to Fort Belvoir!!