Do you know what a Honey Wagon is?

A few days ago, I posted, “Do you know what a honey wagon is? Caleb does…” on TheLearning Wagon Facebook page.

For anyone that is interested in learning what Caleb has learned, below I will share what a Honey Wagon is in the RV world. 

 Campgrounds offer a variety of hook ups. Some offer water only. This is traditionally offered to tent campers and provides them with a water faucet they can use for cleaning and cooking. Some offer water and electric providing the tent camper or RV camper the ability to hook up to a power source. This might allow the tent camper to plug in a griddle or the RV camper to power everything in the camper from the water heater for a hot shower to a refrigerator or even a blow dryer. What this option doesn’t give you is a sewer to dump water from your toilet or shower and RV tanks can only hold so much. When you’re staying at a campground that only offers water and electric for more than a few days you are going to have to empty your tanks. No one wants to unhook from the water and power source and hook up their trailer or fifth wheel to their vehicle  just to drive it over to the dump station and then back to the site just to hook back up to the water and power source and unhook from their vehicle again… not once and especially not more than once if they’re staying there any length of time That’s where the Honey Wagon comes into play. 

As you can see in the picture, this Honey Wagon is a tank pulled by a tractor. The campground worker visits sites where  campers need to be emptied, connects hose from the camper to the tank to drain the gray water (water from showers and sinks) and the black water (water and waste from the toilet) into the tank. When the tank is full, it is  taken to the dump station to be emptied and then begins again until all the RVs have had their turn. Most campsites  that have a honey wagon do this once a week, but offer the service to those who need it for a charge on other days that their tank is full. 

We’ve never actually used the service of a Honey Wagon. We prefer to stay  at campgrounds that offer full hookups (water, electric, and sewer), so we can dump on site as needed. In the past, when we have had to stay in a facility where we only had water and electric, we only scheduled a stay for one day. We minimized our use of our shower because that is how our tank fills the fastest. After 2 standard time  showers for us, our grey tank is full.. Instead, we use the showers offered by the campground.  Our black tank can last about a week with our family. 

What is a Honey Wagon? 

Now you know… 

God Bless your Learning Journey ~

CW Tour Update

We’ve been traveling the country in our RV most-time (not completely full-time, but almost) for nearly 2 years. We are currently on the Chicken Whisperer’s fourth tour with Tractor Supply Company. You can view the schedule of events to find out if we will be coming your way by CLICKING HERE. 

We are officially half way through the tour at this point and have been blessed with wonderful campsite, which were all chosen and reserved prior to leaving this time (not something we did for the past tours) It was nice because there was one less stressor of having to search and book a campsite especially since we were traveling over a holiday weekend this time. 

Our campsites included…

Stone Mountain Park – This park is a staple for our family. This is park is close to our family and there’s an abundance of activities for us to enjoy with the kids from playgrounds (one on the campground and another outside), a swimming pool on the campground, a museum, hiking paths as well as amusement park activities and much more! We plan to stop back in at the Stone Mountain campsite at the end of our trip. In October, they plan to have hayride and pumpkin carving for the kids!

On our way, we stopped and enjoyed a fun and yummy meal with a friend and Sponsor of the Chicken Whisperer! Had a great time with Frank from The Chicken Fountain! 

Forest Lake (Thousand Trails) – This was a large campground with 2 outdoor pools. One pool was just for adults, while the other was for families with children to enjoy. They had a large clubhouse area with toys for the kids and a great playground! It was super-hot the day we stopped in, so we enjoyed an ice cream from the on-site store. 

Kosmo VillageCampground – This was a small campground with a separate mobile home area. There were about 7 RVs when we visited and most of them looked to be full time, but well taken care of. They didn’t have a lot to play with in the playground area, but what they did have was very cool… a rocket. I believe they said it was installed in the 1960’s when the campground was developed. Andy was sent back to the memories of his childhood seeing it and watching Caleb and Lily enjoy pretending to take off to the moon. I did find a bunch of broken glass in the playground area that I let management know about. They apologized and said they would take care of it. We left the next day.

Fredericksburg, VA KOA – I really can’t say anything about this campground because we pulled in after dark and pulled out first thing the next morning. Driving through it looked nice and I did spot a playground, but we didn’t have time to enjoy any of their amenities.

Rambling PineCampground – While they seemed to be quite expensive, this was a fun place to stay. They have 3 different playground areas, a jumping pillow, a beautiful lake view, goats, swimming pool, putt-putt and so much more. This was our first stop for laundry since leaving Stone Mountain!  I'm not sure why I don't have any pictures of the campground. I guess we were just having too much fun for me to drag around the camera. Caleb enjoyed playing on all the the playgrounds. One backed right up to our camper and had a wooden train, wooden boat, wooden tractor as well as a slide and swings. He also loved playing in the sand around the jumping pillow with his trucks and tractors... one of his favorite things to do!

Circle M (ThousandTrails) – I have to say this campground probably had more free amenities than most I’ve seen and they were geared to children even as young as Lily, whose 17 months old. They had an indoor pool, outdoor pool, water park for the little ones and giant water slide and obstacle course for the older crowd, they had a large playground, putt-putt, golf course, basketball courts and more. We probably could have just enjoyed our time there without leaving, but they are also located in an area rich with activities! We only had 4 days there, but we’re already talking about going back! We spent an entire day at the Dutch Wonderland, which is the best amusement park I’ve been to since it’s is also geared to little ones. For pictures of Dutch Wonderland, CLICK HERE. Most rides allowed Lily to ride with an adult, so she wasn’t stuck in a stroller all day. We rode so many rides and there were still more that we didn’t get a chance to.  We all had a blast and the best part is that we saved a bundle on tickets by finding a coupon and buying our tickets online! The following day we went to Strasburg Railroad. You can see pictures by CLICKING HERE. Again, my thrift husband found a great deal online and saved us a fortune! We rode the train, rode the pint sized Pufferbelly train, and Caleb enjoyed riding the Cranky Cars over and over again! They did have a playground, but we didn’t have a chance to visit it. They also have multiple stores filled with train items. Caleb enjoyed playing with the wooden train set in the back for over an hour, just like he does at home. I had to carry him out of the store so he could enjoy more of the train experience! LOL! On the way home, we stopped at a You-Pick Apples, Peaches, and Nectarines farm. That was a great learning experience for Caleb and Lily too! You can see these pictures by CLICKING HERE. We also stopped into a local dairy and picked up some milk. When we go back, I want to visit more of the Amish area. There is so much to do in Lancaster, PA!

Homestead Campground - This was another quick stay and move out the next day, but we did enjoy playing on their large playground equipment. It was really geared to older children, but the kids had fun swinging, climbing ladders and slipping down slides. We got a quick load of laundry completed and Caleb and Lily enjoyed playing with their wooden train set outside our camper on the concrete pad. 

Cozy Hills Campground – This campsite was a blessing since we tried to reserve about 4 that were all full before finding this one, due to the Labor Day weekend. The best part was that they had a seasonal sight available that had sewer! None of the other sites we previously called even had sewer. This was a hopping campsite when we arrived that night around 5pm. We ate dinner, and then went down to the campground store to enjoy some ice cream and the LIVE band. Andy and I found it amusing to hear country favorites like Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Lynyrd Skynyrd sung by Yankees. While the music was great, it just wasn’t right… We also enjoyed a wagon ride and craft time the next day. Their playgrounds weren’t the most entertaining for Caleb and Lily, but there were some children on site they made friends with and enjoyed playing in the sand together. We did some of our own crafting while there too! Check out our Labor Day Patriotic Hats! 

Sturbridge RV Resort(Thousand Trails) – Here we are today… I’ve done more laundry that I wish to tell you about and we did a Walmart run to replenish our groceries. We’ve also spent time on their playground. They have two areas. One area is mainly swings and the other has play equipment that Caleb does well with. Lily can’t climb the ladders, but one we get her up on the playground she can climb the steps and slide down the slides. We’ve taken a couple of walks around the park and yesterday Caleb learned all about what a Honey Wagon is… do you know?

I’ll try to keep you better updated with our travels and experiences more often, so I don’t have such a lengthy post next time. Here’s looking forward to the next half of our journey…. That it be filled with fun, laughter, and learning!

God Bless your Learning Journey,

Patriotic Hat

To celebrate Labor Day, we had fun creating hats together. We were going to wear them as we watched the golf cart parade at our campsite, but naptime conflicted, so we just went on a walk around the campground in our own parade fashion!

To make the hats…

Materials:

Blue, red, and white construction paper

Glue or paste

Star and heart shaped foam stickers

Marker

Scissors

Tape or Stapler

Directions:

1. Fold the blue construction paper in half so that the long sides touch. Then fold it in half again so that the folded long side touches the opposite long side. When you open it up, you should have 3 folds. Cut on the folds to create 4 strips of blue. The will create the head band. Most likely, you will need to use 2 strips to make it around your child’s head. You’ll need to staple or tape the strips  together at one end.

2. Place the blue headband around your child’s head to measure how big it needs to be. Where the 2 ends overlap, fold that section to the back so the child doesn’t decorate it with foam shapes.

3. I have the children pick one foam shape to place over the staple area or tape used to connect the strips. This is the middle of the headband.

4. Using a marker, either write or have your child write their name on the left side and the year on the right side of the middle foam shape.

5. Have your child decorate with foam shapes on the front.

6.. Tear strips of red and white construction paper down the long end of the paper.

7. To encourage patterning practice, have your child glue the strips of paper in a pattern (AB, AAB, ABB, or AABB). Make sure they place a line of glue on the headband and then match the bottom of the torn strip to the bottom of the headband so that the strips don’t stick out in the child’s face.

8. Let dry.

9. Measure again to make sure the hat will fit properly and then use the tape or stapler to connect the hat in the back.

10. (Optional) You can encourage your child to curl or bend the strips to for added wackiness around their head!

I used to make these with my kindergarten students to wear in a school parade we always did on Constitution day. I believe the inspiration for this craft came from a similar version hat that I saw in a Mailbox Magazine many, many years ago. For all these years, it has been a fun, super cute, and great activity for any patriotic occasion!

God Bless your Learning Journey~

 

The 2014 Chicken Whisperer Tour Has Begun!

We are officially on the road again! It is the beginning of the Chicken Whisperer's 2014 Fall Tour and this time we are headed from our home in Georgia up the east coast all the way to Maine!

We left this morning and headed up to Stone Mountain Campground. Andy has an on-site webinar on getting started with Backyard Poultry at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA. 

From there, we head out to begin the tour. The dates and times are posted below. If we're coming to your town, I hope you can make it out to the event! I'd love to meet you! During the tour, we have 14 event stops, but we also plan on meeting some friends along the way. Although we have a few days of fun built in driving up to Maine, the majority of our family and roadschooling time will be on the way back down to Georgia. I'm looking forward to visiting beaches, children's museums, zoos, aquariums, parks, playgrounds, and various other learning stops, but I'm MOST excited about seeing the Statue of Liberty!!! It will be the first time for our whole family! 

Again, if you live near the areas that we're driving through, I encourage you to come out and join us. Also, I'd LOVE for you to share some of your favorite learning destinations that we could visit! I hope to hear from you soon!

God Bless your Learning Journey ~