How to Boondock: Harvest Host, Part 2
THE TRIP, CONTINUED
If you missed How to Boondock: Harvest Host, Part 1, you can read it here.
OAK TREE HOMES: WILTON, IA
If you’ve ever boondocked before you probably understand that at some point you need to stop for a day or two, get at least some hookups (electricity and water maybe), do laundry, and replenish supplies. My next Harvest Hosts stop, and my first time in Iowa provided just that.
Oak Tree Homes is full-service design and building firm owned by Dan & Michelle Marine. They do new home builds, remodels, are certified in green building. If you visit their website or take a trip to their amazing barn/office, you’ll see their amazing craftsmanship. Michelle also has a very cool blog called “SimplifyLiveLove” that has awesome tips for travel, cooking, green living, family fun, and more.
Okay, so this is a unique stay, even by Harvest Hosts standards. And I loved it. No winery, no vineyard, no museum. Just a beautiful location with a variety of farm animals (the ducks like to meet you outside your door), wonderful hosts, and plenty of room for a few RVs. And yes, they had water and electricity so I was able to refill the tanks, recharge everything, and prepare for the second leg of my Harvest Hosts Across America trip.
RV & MH HALL OF FAME: ELKHART, IN
Batteries charged, tanks filled, and feeling like a rejuvenated RVer I set off for the RV Capital of the World, Elkhart Indiana. I figured no cross-country RV trip would be complete without a stop here and luckily the RV & MH Hall of Fame is a Harvest Hosts destination!! Yes, there is a Recreational Vehicle and Manufactured Housing Hall of fame, complete with a very cool museum and tons of space for RVers to stay the night.
The RV & MH Hall of Fame was established in 1972 and houses a hall of fame for pioneers of the RV & MH industry, an exhibition hall, a library, and the very cool “RV Founders Hall”. The Founders Hall has trailers, RVs, photos, and more, spanning nearly 100 years. Seeing the evolution of RVs and these stunningly preserved vehicles and trailers is awesome and well worth the $12 admission.
LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTER: FREMONT, OH
Did I mention that Harvest Hosts offers some very unique places to RV for a night? If you didn’t pick that up in the previous locations then this one will surely prove to you just how unique these places can be. My next location was at Lynnwoods Kennels in Fremont Ohio although it’s listed as the Law Enforcement Training Center.
Lynnwoods Kennels is owned by Brian Woods who is a retired police officer. He’s an expert in training police and military K-9 dogs so guess what, you get to stay at a K-9 training site!! How cool is that? If you’re worried about barking though don’t be. The good boys and girls here are well trained and are very quiet. If you decide to stay here make sure to talk to Brian and see if you can watch some of the training, it’s really interesting.
MAZZA VINEYARDS: NORTH EAST, PA
After three days of completely unique stops, I figured it was a good idea to return to some vineyards, wineries, etc. as I closed out my trip. Yes, I was on the home stretch and my family was only 870 miles away. I decided to break that distance up into three stops and my next Harvest Hosts experience would be in North East Pennsylvania (which is kinda in the Northwest part of the State but whatever). I’d contact the South Shore Wine Company for a stay but unfortunately, they were redoing their parking lot and couldn’t host me…but they were so awesome and said I could stay down the road at their sister winery, Mazza Vineyards!
When I arrived at Mazza I didn’t see much room to park but the awesome crew there offered me two choices: in the parking lot after the employees leave, or 3 feet from the vineyard overlooking their beautiful grapevines. Can you guess what I chose? Needless to say, what a view!!!
Mazza Vineyards has been in business for over 45 years and has grown to include two sister wineries and a distillery/brewery. Pennsylvania and New York still had a lot of restrictions in place concerning tastings so I wasn’t able to sample their products. I did, however, buy some with the hopes that they would be good…and they were GREAT. Their products are delicious and I’m hoping to head back that way with Suzannah again soon.
FOOTHILL HOPS FARM BREWERY: MUNNSVILLE, NY
The next day, and a mere 253 miles later, I found myself in the rolling hills of upstate New York. I’d never been in this area before but quickly realized why Suzannah has always wanted to live here, it’s beautiful! Foothill Hops Farm Brewery in Munnsville New York was one place I was really excited to visit (I like beer). When I was planning my Harvest Hosts route and saw it I knew immediately it needed to be a stop!
This small Farm Brewery is owned by Larry & Kate Fisher who started growing hops in 2001 and selling them to local homebrewers. Their goal was to open a farm brewery and start selling beer where you could find “Our Hops in Every Drop”. They achieved that and when they opened their small 25-person establishment, it was always packed, so they’re in the tail end of an expansion that will not only triple their space but also triple their beer production.
Why? Because they make a damn good beer and people in the area know it! Make this a stop if you can, and pick up a growler, or growlette, of their beer. Hang out for a bit and talk with Larry & Kate. Or maybe just take a walk through their hops. You won’t be disappointed.
HOME RANGE WINERY: CANAAN, NY
What do you do when you find out that your winemaking hobby is producing wine as good or better than the professionals? What if you have the land and the perfect spot to share your wine with others? Well if you’re Peter and Susan you increase production, get a license, turn a barn into an eclectic storefront/wine tasting room, and call it Home Range Winery. Oh, and then you become a host location for Harvest Hosts and let people park their RV’s mere feet from the entrance.
I don’t think I could have picked a better spot to end my cross-country journey. Peter and Susan took the time to give me a tour and walk me around their facility and their land which Peter’s family had owned for nearly 50 years. And then I was able to try their wines and yes, I picked up a few (because they’re delicious!!).
In a way, Home Range Winery was a reminder of every Harvest Hosts location I’d been to. Meeting the owners of these small businesses, hearing their origin stories and their dreams, seeing what they’ve built, sampling what they make, and just experiencing their hospitality was something that I’ll remember forever. These unique places are far from your average RV stay and lucky for me they made my cross-country trip possible…and they made it happen in style. The next morning I would be off on my final 281-mile section of a 3,187-mile journey. Little did I know it wouldn’t go as planned.
THE HOME STRETCH
My amazing trek across America featured some awesome people, locations, and experiences, but getting home to my family with our home on wheels was going to be the highlight. Unfortunately, a mere 166-miles from home, I had a bit of a brain fart and damaged the back of Casper. As of this writing, he’s stuck in Worcester Massachusetts for at least 4 to 6 weeks, and our summer plans are at a standstill.
One thing is certain though when we are finally able to get back on the road and back to traveling, we are going to be using a Harvest Hosts membership a LOT more than we did before. The experiences that this awesome membership gives you access to are so much different than you’d get at a normal RV park. If you’re interested in having your own unique RV experiences then check out our discount link and save 15% on your membership. From Hinton the Trail, thank you for reading, and remember, Life’s an Adventure, Hop On!
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