Looking at the forecast, the weather in LAL looks good for camping

They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off.

The last time I went to SNF in 1990, I camped next to my Stinson that I flew
from California for the first night. At 0600 the next morning some fool was
playing "reville"(sp?) on the PA. That convinced me to get a rental car and
motel for the rest of my stay. I don't like to get up early.

Jim


"rich" wrote in message
...
They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off.

rich wrote:
They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off.


I've done it both ways, & my personal pref is camping. Distance to
showers is dependent on where you pitch your tent. Most a/c camping
areas can have a pretty long hike (maybe 200 yards) to the showers, but
if you park in the 'homebuilt showplane' area, there's a homebuilt
shuttle that will haul you & your gear to your choice of tent camping
area closer to showers. Pull up a map of the grounds & take a look at
where the shower houses are in relation to parking. If you can convince
the marshalers to park you in 'classic camping' you will be closer to
the showers and to the center of the action.

The worst thing about SNF camping is that they charge for the whole week
& you can't get a refund for unused nights. But if you stay more than 3
days, a full week's admission is an ok deal.

There's less variety in the food dept than OSH, but the flyin itself is
a bit less commercialized than OSH. (They are *trying* to be as crassly
commercial as OSH; they just haven't achieved it yet.)

I gave up on OSH years ago, but I'm still willing to attend SNF (so far).

Charlie

I plan to bring some of those foam ear plugs for that kind of
nonesense. I like to sleep at least until 7, if I can that is. After
tramping around the fly in grounds all day, I'm usually tired enough
that I wouldn't appreciate a 6 am reville. Thanks for the heads up.

On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:45:20 GMT, "Jim Chandler"
wrote:

The last time I went to SNF in 1990, I camped next to my Stinson that I flew
from California for the first night. At 0600 the next morning some fool was
playing "reville"(sp?) on the PA. That convinced me to get a rental car and
motel for the rest of my stay. I don't like to get up early.

Jim


"rich" wrote in message
.. .
They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off.

I had no idea they charged for a week to camp in a tent next to your
plane. I thought that was just for RV's and trailers in the
campgrounds. I only stay 2 days, so that's not good. I've been down
there some years and it's as hot as summer, then other times it's
cool. It looks like this time it's going to be pleasant for camping,
and that should keep the bugs down a bit also. Hopefully it won't be a
muddy quagmire like last year was. They won't mention a word about it
if it is muddy, for fear of keeping away visitors. We need a
pathfinder who's going early to post a report if it's muddy or not.
I just wonder, if I have the daily arm band and am sleeping in my
tent, who comes around asking to see a week's pass? I parked in
hombuilt camping one year, to get on some nice grass, instead of that
dirty area that's so trampled in the showplane area. I just left the
plane there overnight, but I stayed in a motel. No one ever asked to
see my week pass. But then again, I had no tent next to my plane
either. Do they actually come around to tents asking to see weekly
passes? If they do that, I might fly in and out each day and stay in a
motel.
Do they have sinks and mirrors in those showers so one can shave?
If not, I might need to bring my helmet and mirror like the GI's do.
Can't find info about that on SNF's site. Their camping info is pretty
scarce.
Thanks for the good info.
Rich



On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:22:10 -0500, Charlie
wrote:
I've done it both ways, & my personal pref is camping. Distance to
showers is dependent on where you pitch your tent. Most a/c camping
areas can have a pretty long hike (maybe 200 yards) to the showers, but
if you park in the 'homebuilt showplane' area, there's a homebuilt
shuttle that will haul you & your gear to your choice of tent camping
area closer to showers. Pull up a map of the grounds & take a look at
where the shower houses are in relation to parking. If you can convince
the marshalers to park you in 'classic camping' you will be closer to
the showers and to the center of the action.

The worst thing about SNF camping is that they charge for the whole week
& you can't get a refund for unused nights. But if you stay more than 3
days, a full week's admission is an ok deal.

There's less variety in the food dept than OSH, but the flyin itself is
a bit less commercialized than OSH. (They are *trying* to be as crassly
commercial as OSH; they just haven't achieved it yet.)

I gave up on OSH years ago, but I'm still willing to attend SNF (so far).

Charlie


rich wrote:
They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off

Wrist bands (day/week passes) are a separate purchase from the camping
permits. I misstated the weekly camping pass. you're required to pay
from date of arrival to the end of the show. You aren't required to buy
the camping pass unless you camp. If you've got a friend with a tent you
can stay with, you won't need to buy a camping pass; they are sold for
each 'camping unit'. You're supposed to display the (purchased) 'camping
unit' & vehicle/plane tags on your tent/plane, but the 'camping police'
are volunteers.....

Here's the link to camping info:
http://www.sun-n-fun.org/FlyIn/Lodgi...uirements.aspx
Poke around the 'lodging & travel' sub-categories for more info.

There are sinks & mirrors (& electrical outlets) on the outside of the
shower houses.

mud, just check the weather. The whole site is built on sand & the
ground is usually dry again within hours of a rain. Last year was a very
rare situation; I've never seen that much water on the site before &
I've been going almost every year since the early nineties.

Tell 'em hi if my name comes up; I'm not going to be able to go this year.

Charlie





rich wrote:
I had no idea they charged for a week to camp in a tent next to your
plane. I thought that was just for RV's and trailers in the
campgrounds. I only stay 2 days, so that's not good. I've been down
there some years and it's as hot as summer, then other times it's
cool. It looks like this time it's going to be pleasant for camping,
and that should keep the bugs down a bit also. Hopefully it won't be a
muddy quagmire like last year was. They won't mention a word about it
if it is muddy, for fear of keeping away visitors. We need a
pathfinder who's going early to post a report if it's muddy or not.
I just wonder, if I have the daily arm band and am sleeping in my
tent, who comes around asking to see a week's pass? I parked in
hombuilt camping one year, to get on some nice grass, instead of that
dirty area that's so trampled in the showplane area. I just left the
plane there overnight, but I stayed in a motel. No one ever asked to
see my week pass. But then again, I had no tent next to my plane
either. Do they actually come around to tents asking to see weekly
passes? If they do that, I might fly in and out each day and stay in a
motel.
Do they have sinks and mirrors in those showers so one can shave?
If not, I might need to bring my helmet and mirror like the GI's do.
Can't find info about that on SNF's site. Their camping info is pretty
scarce.
Thanks for the good info.
Rich



On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:22:10 -0500, Charlie
wrote:
I've done it both ways, & my personal pref is camping. Distance to
showers is dependent on where you pitch your tent. Most a/c camping
areas can have a pretty long hike (maybe 200 yards) to the showers, but
if you park in the 'homebuilt showplane' area, there's a homebuilt
shuttle that will haul you & your gear to your choice of tent camping
area closer to showers. Pull up a map of the grounds & take a look at
where the shower houses are in relation to parking. If you can convince
the marshalers to park you in 'classic camping' you will be closer to
the showers and to the center of the action.

The worst thing about SNF camping is that they charge for the whole week
& you can't get a refund for unused nights. But if you stay more than 3
days, a full week's admission is an ok deal.

There's less variety in the food dept than OSH, but the flyin itself is
a bit less commercialized than OSH. (They are *trying* to be as crassly
commercial as OSH; they just haven't achieved it yet.)

I gave up on OSH years ago, but I'm still willing to attend SNF (so far).

Charlie


rich wrote:
They are forecasting temps in the 50's at night all next week in
Lakeland. That sounds ideal for camping next to my homebuilt. Sure
would make the trip easier, not having hassle with a rental car and
hotel. Has anyone camped at Lakeland in the homebuilt camping area?
Just wondering if they have showers that aren't a mile away.....Or
showers at all.
There are ways to avoid a rental car also, even if camping isn't
desired. Lake Wales airport is only about a mile from the Super 8
motel, and I can ride my folding bike from there easily. But it's $62
a night. I've found lodging rates in Florida to be routinely
overpriced. As soon as I drive out of the state, they drop in half.
Would be nice to camp and get out of that rip off