Geocaching While Camping & RVing

Geocaching is the equivalent of a high tech scavenger hunt!  There are over 2 million geocaches world wide!  So there is bound to be some great caches near you – no matter where you’re camping!  And, you can do it any time of the day, any day of the week, and as little or much as you choose, making it convenient, family fun with no fees!    
  
Who plants or hides the caches?  The caches are created and placed in the hiding spot and then listed on https://www.geocaching.com/play by fellow geocachers.  You simply look up caches in the area where you’re camping and then go find them!  Then, share your experience on the same site!  Who knows, you may even decide to create geocaches in cool places near where you live or camp often!  And that is how this craze got started!    

Caches come in all kinds of different sizes, shapes, and difficulty!  They often contain a log or paper to sign, or you can swap trinkets if you choose.  As trinkets, people use personalized guitar picks, pencils, toys, polished stones, etc.  Each cache is a reflection of the person who hid the cache.  In many cases, the trip leads the geocacher to new and unusual places they may never have seen had they not been geocaching!
     
What equipment is required to go geocaching?  All you need is a hand held GPS or smart phone – and to download the geocaching app.  Create a free geocaching account and you’re ready to go!  Search for geocaches in the area where you’re camping, choose the geocache you want to go find, and then navigate your way to the find the geocach!  It’s that easy!
It’s very important to be respectful of the geocache requests posted on the app.  If they request you park in a certain area and walk, please do.  Many times, geocaches are on private property.  Damage to the property will inhibit others from being able to experience the cache.  Just as with national parks, the best policy is to take nothing but photos and leave nothing but footprints.  You should be able to take all the time you’d like – and take lots of great memories with you!  Don’t forget to get photos!     

Geocaches aren’t always easy to find – which is part of the fun!  So it’s okay to take the time to celebrate your find when you make your discovery!  Don’t forget to sign the logbook, swap trinkets if you choose, and put the geocache back where you found it.  Then, post your find on the app.  Allow the kids to take photos or selfies of themselves with the geocache and share it on their social media pages for their friends to see.  It’s that simple and it’s that much fun!  This is a great family activity!  It’s fun, great exercise, and gets the whole family outdoors discovering and enjoying the great outdoors!

Make sure you are properly attired for your geocaching adventure.  Make sure you have  jackets, rain gear, and proper footwear for different types of weather and conditions for the area you’re camping, hiking, or exploring.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you’re a few miles from the state hwy or town that there aren’t snakes, bear or other animals that you could encounter, or other hazards such as bees, bugs, or poison ivy.  That is, it’s a good idea to have a first aid kit in your nearby car, at the very least.     

Some areas have “geotrails”.  A geotrail is an area or route through an area which offers multiple geocaches tied together by a common theme.  You collect up the cache items by travelling through all those areas and visiting the caches, and then achieve a coin or some other symbol when you’ve collected them all.  In our area, you can find information about the Allegheny Geo Trail at http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/.  We hope that you’ll spend time exploring Crawford County as part of the Allegheny Geo Trail – the largest geo trail of its kind in Pennsylvania!  You can find more information and get geo coins at the at the Crawford County Visitor’s Bureau.   

One interesting geocache in our area can be found here at: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC11RQE_george-washingtons-lil-drummer-boy?guid=793d21ae-4342-49d9-9f4e-c732b1be414d.  It seems that just a few miles from the campground, in the Brawley Cemetery, is the burial site of Joel Jones, Revolutionary Soldier and drummer boy for George Washington.

As you can see, you may find interesting and little-known historical sites, explore areas and sights off the beaten path not normally experienced, or earn coins for a geo-trail, all while having a blast exploring the beautiful surroundings of Northwestern Pennsylvania! 

So, why not add this fun family activity to your family’s adventures on your next camping or RVing trip?  It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s free!  What’s not to love! 

By Robyn Chilson


Tim & Robyn Chilson are both CPO, own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.

Featured Campers from Fulton, NY

We want to introduce you to a camping family that stayed with us in July of this summer.  They are Dennis & Pat MacVittie from Fulton, NY!

They camped with us on their way home from purchasing their Oliver Travel Trailer that was built in Hohenwald, TN.  Their new Oliver travel trailer was the 153^rd one built on the line.  One of the first things that caught my eye was that they were pulling it with a diesel powered Jeep!  

Their new Oliver travel trailer wasn’t their first experience at RVing.  They started camping when they retired in 2009 with an “A Liner” trailer.  Dennis retired from the Army.  Pat is a retired middle school Consumer Science Teacher.  Dennis is a marathon runner, so they put over 40,000 miles on it from Nova Scotia to all over Western US attending marathon races. 

They saw Oliver Travel trailers were featured in the April issue of the Trailer Life Magazine.  They were intrigued by the article and decided to go to Tennessee and tour the factory.  They liked what they saw and placed their order while they were there. 

Their travel trailer took eight weeks to build.  They went back to Tennessee to pick it up and did a short “shakedown cruise”.  A shakedown cruise is a camping trip taken by purchasers of a new RV to make sure they’ve “worked all the bugs out” before a big trip!  Nothing ruins a vacation any faster than vehicle or RV trouble while traveling.  So most prudent new owners do a trial run to help prevent such catastrophes! 

They were on their way back home to Fulton, NY when they decided to stop for the night at Meadville KOA!  We’re so glad they did.  Not only did we get to meet a really nice camping couple, but it allowed me an up close and personal glimpse at an Oliver travel trailer.  The Oliver travel trailers are pretty neat looking and compact.  Inside, their streamlined design is sleek and elegant.  The fiberglass exterior’s rounded design is sure to be arrow dynamic.

The seemed happy with their decision thus far, and were sure excited to allow me to see in it and get a glimpse of this new innovative design RV.     

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at one of our camping families this summer, and their new Oliver travel trailer.  We hope you’ll check out Oliver trailers at http://olivertraveltrailers.com/.

We hope that you’ll come see what’s behind the yellow sign at Meadville KOA this summer, bring the family and spend your vacation enjoying a campground where modern convenience meets nature! 

Until we see you, we wish you safe and happy kamping, where ever your travels take you!    

By Robyn Chilson

Tim & Robyn Chilson, CPOs, who own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA. Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.  

Thank you!

It’s been a great summer!  The spring weather was too wet, but the summer and autumn redeemed itself with some great weather for camping!  We can’t ask for much more than that, can we? 

We met campers new to Meadville KOA and some new to camping!  We also saw many of our regular campers who’ve camped with us for years!  Some have even camped with us for generations.    

We just wanted to take this time to tell you how much we appreciate having your family camp with us!  We try to run a family campground with fun activities, and clean facilities for your family’s enjoyment.  We take that responsibility seriously, and hope that it shows in the facilities, our cleanliness standards, and the type of entertainment we provide your families. 

We’ve enjoyed watching children grow up over the years, and seen many of them turn into fine young adults.  What a great investment you’re making by camping with your kids.  And we are eager to meet, and get to know new families who are just beginning their journey into the camping and RV lifestyle.  We too hope that they’ll spend many years camping with us! 

As we’re beginning our task of planning our events and activities for the 2016 season, we want you to know that it is our plan to continue to make improvements to our events, facilities, and amenities at Meadville KOA Campground. 

We hope that you will bear with us while strive to make those changes, and that you will continue to provide us your input and assistance in making the changes that you, the camping consumer want.  We hope you’ll continue to do that through our KOA Guest Surveys.

Your ratings in 2015, helped us to achieve us both the KOA President’s and Founder’s Awards again this year!  We thank you, our campers, for taking the time to tell us what we need to hear!  We sincerely thank you!    

We’re already looking forward to seeing you next spring or this winter at the RV Shows!  Stop by the booth to see us and say hello!  We have some great fun in store for next season.

Until we see you again, we thank you and wish you a great winter season!

See you soon!

Sincerely,
Tim & Robyn Chilson, Owners


Tim & Robyn Chilson are both CPO, own and operate Meadville KOA Campground in Meadville, PA.  Robyn can be reached at 814-789-3251.

May is national Lyme Disease Prevention Month

Lyme Disease Awareness Month is a campaign which promotes preventative measures which can be taken against Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is an acute inflammatory disease caused by the bite of a tick infected with the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi; Lyme disease is spread through the bite of ticks which carry Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium.

In the United States there are two main species of tick which carry and spread Lyme disease. The deer tick or black legged tick(Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the north central and eastern parts of the United States.

The western black legged tick (Ixodes pacifus) spreads Lyme disease on the west (Pacific) coast. Both species of ticks are found in wooded areas. The life cycle of the Ixodes tick is complex.

Symptoms:

There are two types of symptoms of Lyme Disease: first and late symptoms. First symptoms are usually flu-like and include fatigue, tiredness, joint and muscle pain, and also a characteristic rash. Late symptoms can take much longer to develop: weeks, months or even years. Late symptoms may include fatigue, mental health issues, the condition arthritis and chronic encephalomyeltits.

Chronic encephalomyeltits is a progressive condition (symptoms become worse or more widespread), and include back pain, bladder problems, vertigo and weakness in the legs. Late Lyme disease can also cause brain, joint, and heart infection.

The Need For This Awareness Month:

In the United States over the last few years, there has been a steady increase in the number of reported cases of Lyme disease. Lyme Disease Awareness Month educates both the young and old about Lyme Disease and how they can take steps to prevent it.

As both types of ticks which carry the Lyme disease virus live in wooded areas, people who visit these areas are encouraged to wear protective clothing around the ankles.

White or light clothing is recommended as it is easier to spot any ticks. Shirts and T-shirts should be tucked into your pants (trousers), and socks pulled up over the bottom of the pants. Using an insect repellent can also help prevent the ticks from getting on to you. Pets should also be checked. Before returning inside it is recommended to do a tick check first.

Tick Removal Lowers The Risk Of Lyme Disease:

Carrying a tick removal kit is advised as they can be used to effectively remove ticks from body reducing the risk of disease transmission. Often the disease is transmitted when a tick is not removed properly.

The body breaks away with the head still buried in the skin; this causes the tick to regurgitate its contents into the persons body.

'Do It Yourself' tick kits should include an insect repellant, a pair of fine tweezers, an antiseptic and small vial.

Using the tweezers, remove the tick with the tips of the tweezers as close as possible to the skin around the ticks mouth parts. A gentle upward action is recommend by the Lyme Disease Foundation. By placing the tick in a vial with a blade of grass, the tick can be kept alive for testing.

This article was reprinted from Lyme Disease Foundation Page.  You can get more information at: http://www.whathealth.com/awareness/event/lymediseaseawarenessmonth.html