Camping at A/V

[robert l]

Looking for opinions and suggestions, smart remarks or whatever. I've only had the pleasure of attending A/V three times, the first time, 2011, we stayed at Sleepy Hollow Camp Ground in a small, I'll say cabin, with air matteresses but also an air conditioner. They also have a nice shower house and real toilets. It was pritty nice, although a long walk to the main gate if you didn't want to wait for someone to give you a lift on the golf cart. Also, just an FYI, it's a very short walk to the SOS tent. The second time was 2016 and we drove, mite near 1000 miles and had a 9x13 tent and 12x12 popup canopy, nice cots and self enflating matteresses. Our camp site was the last one on the North end of Stits Rd., again, pretty nice. Also, the SOS tent was just accross the road. The last time was 2018 and we drove again but with a vintage popup camper, the "Ohskosh Hilton" I bought just for this trip and it worked out great. I let the camper go so someone else could enjoy it. The camping spot was just West of Stits Rd. in an unnamed area and we were directly in the flight path of all the ultralights, close to the bus stop and shower trailer. All in all, another good spot. I'm going again in 2020 and was just wondering what areas others have enjoyed. I know it's probably impossible to get the same spots unless you go far in advance which may or may not be the case with me. We may be lucky enouth to fly in and in that case we'll just camp with the plane. Anyway, I've got plenty of time to ponder any and all suggestions and advice anyone has to offer.
Thanks,
Bob

[FlyingRon]

I have friends who stay at Rellumtdats (on the corner of Knapp and the Diagonal road ? Waupan?). Very close in to Vintage and there's a couple of food trucks/trailers that are right there.

We camp with the plane in Vintage.

[Airmutt]

Depends upon what you’re looking for. My priority for camping was a flat dry area. Eventually hooked up with some friends and their friends. They liked be over in the 42nd & Lindbergh area.

[robert l]

Depends upon what you’re looking for. My priority for camping was a flat dry area. Eventually hooked up with some friends and their friends. They liked be over in the 42nd & Lindbergh area.

I've never been in that section before but on Google Earth it looks good. I would imagin it fills up early. The last spot I camped in we could see the night airshow pretty good.
Bob

[malexander]

We've been going for 17 years now. We've always stayed at Sleepy Hollow Farm CG. Jeff adds to, and updates the campground every year. He's adding a swimming pool this year. WX permitting.

[robert l]

We've been going for 17 years now. We've always stayed at Sleepy Hollow Farm CG. Jeff adds to, and updates the campground every year. He's adding a swimming pool this year. WX permitting.

SHFCG is a great place to camp and I have considered going there again for A/V. If I stay there again I'll bring a bicycle !!
Bob

[Auburntsts]

SHFCG is a great place to camp and I have considered going there again for A/V. If I stay there again I'll bring a bicycle !!
Bob

IIRC Sleepy Hollow runs a "shuttle" from the camp grounds to the Oasis (also owned by Jeff I believe) and back. The Oasis is right next to the Waukau Ave gate.

[malexander]

IIRC Sleepy Hollow runs a "shuttle" from the camp grounds to the Oasis (also owned by Jeff I believe) and back. The Oasis is right next to the Waukau Ave gate.


100% correct. My daughter drives one of them.

[robert l]

IIRC Sleepy Hollow runs a "shuttle" from the camp grounds to the Oasis (also owned by Jeff I believe) and back. The Oasis is right next to the Waukau Ave gate.

Where is the Oasis?

[malexander]

Where is the Oasis?

It's across the street north, and just a tad east of the bus tower/stop.

[CarlOrton]

100% correct. My daughter drives one of them.

So that IS you! Given what you mentioned earlier I thought you were connected. I rode with her several times this year. You did well raising her.

[Airmutt]

If you’re a chapter member and want to camp with so of your chapter buddies; you can contact the Chapter Office and they will stake you out an area as soon as Camp Scholler opens. Just one of the bennies of being a chapter member.

[malexander]

So that IS you! Given what you mentioned earlier I thought you were connected. I rode with her several times this year. You did well raising her.


Thanks Carl. I like to think I did a pretty good job.

SO, where, or what site # are you on. We've been on 69 since we started going. I even had Jeff pour me concrete pad for my RV (motorhome).

[Auburntsts]

I just submitted our RV reservation and submitted our Sleepy Hollow reservation a couple of days ago. Pam acknowledged receipt so hopefully we're in. If we are we should be around site 47 with a group of regulars that we have joined. We should plan a "Forum" meetup at some point.

[malexander]

I just submitted our RV reservation and submitted our Sleepy Hollow reservation a couple of days ago. Pam acknowledged receipt so hopefully we're in. If we are we should be around site 47 with a group of regulars that we have joined. We should plan a "Forum" meetup at some point.


Forum meet up would be fun.
If you like, I'll see if Jeff or Pam would accommodate us in the bar one evening. I go a week early and help them get the CG "set up".

[robert l]

If you’re a chapter member and want to camp with so of your chapter buddies; you can contact the Chapter Office and they will stake you out an area as soon as Camp Scholler opens. Just one of the bennies of being a chapter member.
Sadly Airmutt, our chapter disbanded several years ago, just not enough intrest, we only had about 12 members and if 8 showed up at a meeting, we considered that good. All the other chapters are too far to be comfortable getting to. So I just get together with some folks that like flying as much and more than I do. Actually, we see each other more often than the EAA meetings we once had but no one is willing to make the commitment because it's a drive for each of us. Nothing is local for us. Wheather I rent a 150 or a 172 it's a 60 plus mile round trip. Sometimes we all go out to lunch and it's fun hanging around the airport for a couple of hours so it's still good.
Bob

[Aviatrexx]

Your question deserves its own FAQ on these Forums Bob, and the answers are as diverse as the folks attending. However, it's like asking "What kind of aircraft should I buy?" All it does is engender more questions back at'cha.

You've done a pretty good job of telling us what you've done in the past, but the important questions have to do with how much priority you place on which aspects of your Airventure experience:

Do you camp because

you enjoy camping per se,
it's the only way you can get close to the field
you are in a large group
it the only affordable option
other?


Do you want to maximize your time on the field, or is walking a few miles laden with packs and purchases, waiting on buses and trams, sitting in traffic, in all kinds of weather from brutal heat to drenching thunderstorms just part of the Airventure experience?
How important is proximity to bathrooms, water, electricity, food, beer, wi-fi, flightline, stores, and other amenities?
How important is it to not be two sheets of fabric from your neighbors (whose CPAP gives out before you get to sleep)?
How do your traveling companions answer those questions?


Any answer is an exercise in multivariate analysis. We've had college kids from Europe show up with little more than the clothes on their backs (and Snowbird pilots with only a Tudor and a RON kit) to executives and movie stars in their choppers and jets and well-heeled friends in high places.

I've attended Oshkosh/Airventure every year since 1987. Early on, I stayed in the non-airconditioned UW dorms but found the shuttle bus inconvenient and its schedule too limited. One year, my wife and I showed up late and met a newly-wed couple that took pity on us, gave us their bedroom, and slept on a sofabed in their basement. Every other year, we camped on the field, usually under the wing. For the last twenty years, we've pitched our tent in the Vintage Flightline Volunteer compound next to our planes. (Flying Ron is our next-door neighbor.) It helps when you show up a week before the show, but you'll get put to work. ;-)

With all that preamble, here is my latest suggestion for Airventure accommodations:

Last year, ten days before the show, a member of my Chapter (and furniture craftsman) asked me about Airventure lodging. His wife had decided she wanted to visit her sister in northwest Wisconsin, so they were driving up there and would have a couple of days to take in Airventure on the way. They aren't campers (well, she isn't) so he wanted to know if I could find them a hotel room they could afford. From about March onward there's really only one answer to that question, but I told him I'd see what I could do. I found a lady in Ripon who was renting the three-room attic suite of her antique-filled Victorian house for $100/night on AirBnB. In the middle of the week of Airventure! County Road N from Ripon to the Waupun Rd/Knapp St intersection is lightly traveled even during the show, and drops you right at the Rellumdats parking lot and the Ultralight Red Barn gate in less than twenty minutes. Unless you stake out (and pay for) your campsite in June, you can't get to the flightline that quickly from Camp Scholler.

Just one more datapoint for your analysis. YMMV, and all that.

[Airmutt]

Aviatrexx you’re right.
There is no absolute answer but you will see trends. The old hands also have learned what works for them and have their “tricks” like rent sharing a storage unit for you camp gear or volunteering as you pointed out. It’s a learning experience over time.

If you get to know the area you’ll find that there are a number of great options for staying off site. The biggest pro is you can get away from the crowd. Go just 10 miles north into Neenah you wouldn’t even know the show was going on. Hotel rates are still elevated though. A couple of great places out west in Omro and Wautoma. I’ve kinda lost track of what’s south of Oshkosh.

The biggest con is parking. Gotta get there EARLY or you’ll get trapped in the back up and be parked out by 41. In the last several years we’ve lost the Red and Orange lots. Losing the Orange lot really hurt as it was direct across from EAB camping. EAA’s policy of closing a lot for the day once filled despite people leaving early doesn’t help either. I think auto parking & camping are huge challenges for EAA and they’re possibly at critical mass.

We have a cabin about 35 miles NW of Oshkosh so I commute. The convenience of staying on the grounds does have its advantages too. But when it rains it’s nice to know I’ll be sleeping in a dry bed!!!

[CarlOrton]

SO, where, or what site # are you on. We've been on 69 since we started going. I even had Jeff pour me concrete pad for my RV (motorhome).

This was our first year. We were in Dock 29. Had to wear flip flops the first several days due to standing water from those Friday/Saturday frog chokers. One friend has been on 28 for a few years, then another friend/neighbor/CFI got 27 2 yrs ago, so we rounded it out this year on 29. Prior 15 years were the dorms so this year was a blast.

[robert l]

This was our first year. We were in Dock 29. Had to wear flip flops the first several days due to standing water from those Friday/Saturday frog chokers. One friend has been on 28 for a few years, then another friend/neighbor/CFI got 27 2 yrs ago, so we rounded it out this year on 29. Prior 15 years were the dorms so this year was a blast.

So, are you camping at SHFCG or Scholler?

[CarlOrton]

So, are you camping at SHFCG or Scholler?

Sleepy Hollow

[malexander]

Did you get the newsletter from Jeff/Sleepy Hollow Farm? It had the 2020 registration form with it.

[robert l]

Did you get the newsletter from Jeff/Sleepy Hollow Farm? It had the 2020 registration form with it..
No, not yet. Haven't decided if I'm driving or flying next year. I want to fly in at least once in my life and 2020 may be it.

[CarlOrton]

Did you get the newsletter from Jeff/Sleepy Hollow Farm? It had the 2020 registration form with it.

Yup! Already sent-in my reservation request and heard back from Pam.

[SkipRD]

I've only been to Oshkosh once (but I'm going to start going every year). So, FWIW, we stayed in one of the water-electric sites (L12) in our smallish (31') motor home. Doing so had several advantages: A/C in case it got hot and we needed a cool spot to rest for a while (we did), water for showers and bathroom (we have enough holding capacity to make it through our stay), and power for miscellaneous things (like frig, lights, computers, charging, etc.). Our site was just a few spaces off of Schaick Avenue, which made it easy to walk to and from the flight line. Downside: it was WAY expensive, especially since I reserved days in advance (and had to pay for the advance days). Still, it was worth it for us--we're getting on in years and beyond the "camping" phase of our lives. :)

[robert l]

I've only been to Oshkosh once (but I'm going to start going every year). So, FWIW, we stayed in one of the water-electric sites (L12) in our smallish (31') motor home. Doing so had several advantages: A/C in case it got hot and we needed a cool spot to rest for a while (we did), water for showers and bathroom (we have enough holding capacity to make it through our stay), and power for miscellaneous things (like frig, lights, computers, charging, etc.). Our site was just a few spaces off of Schaick Avenue, which made it easy to walk to and from the flight line. Downside: it was WAY expensive, especially since I reserved days in advance (and had to pay for the advance days). Still, it was worth it for us--we're getting on in years and beyond the "camping" phase of our lives. :)

I'm not fimilar with that area, L12, but I see on the Camp Scholler map that W/E sites start around 20th st off of Schaick ave and go on into the 40's or so. Last year, well, 2018, we were way out in an extended area and it was 24 hr generator use but we didn't need it. Not sure what my plans are this year other than being there, and I definitely know what you mean about the "camping" phase !

[skyfixer8]

Quick question for "Glampers" Where is the water fill location at Schooler where I can fill my tank ? Cost ?

[krw920]

Quick question for "Glampers" Where is the water fill location at Schooler where I can fill my tank ? Cost ?
Water fill is at the same location as the dump station near the campground south gate on Stitts. Doesn't cost a thing.

8269

[Psojka]

Water fill is at the same location as the dump station near the campground south gate on Stitts. Doesn't cost a thing.

8269


Can you only fill/dump on your way in/out of the campgrounds? Or can you access during show? Forgive my ignorance...have not camped before but planning to this year.

[robert l]

I have seen R/V's make the trip several times. Undoubtedly, no one was willing to use the shower houses or port a jons. :eek:

[krw920]

I'm reasonably sure you can access the dump fill station all week.

[MNWORD]

Can you only fill/dump on your way in/out of the campgrounds? Or can you access during show? Forgive my ignorance...have not camped before but planning to this year.

There is a service that will come around and dump your RV for you for a cost. You can sign up for it at the store.

[CHICAGORANDY]

There is a service that will come around and dump your RV for you for a cost. You can sign up for it at the store.

Boy, and they say all the 'good' jobs are taken.