Looking for a place to call home for your tent or RV?
Then look no further than Heritage Hills RV Park.
My husband Duane and I met Don and Cheryl Arnold, the owners of Heritage Hills, during a previous visit on June 30 of 2013. We attended their Wounded Warriors Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser held at the park’s main pavilion. After talking with Don, Duane and I both came to realize just how close this particular event was to their hearts. Don and Cheryl’s own son Cody currently serves in the United States Navy. The project itself helps to bring awareness to the public on the particular needs of our injured service members. The program is a unique one, and it is through this program that the needs of our injured service members are met. The breakfast was held from 9-noon, adult meals $5, Senior’s $4, Kids 4-12 $3 and children under 4 Free. On hand for the event was a Scentsy Representative offering special deals on book purchases and any current stock she had on hand for the event, as well as booking future get togethers.
The morning began with a golf cart ride right after finishing our delicious pancake breakfast by having Don take us all around their 70 acre facility. There are two lakes seen upon entering the park, one used for swimming and the other for catch and release fishing. We learned that around 30 acres are currently being used, with plans for extending the campground, building an amphitheater on the lake allowing for special events and weddings to take place, updating and enlarging their current kitchen within the main pavilion so it will serve 150 to 200+ guests, and finally, next spring, an in ground pool is being installed near the existing office and camp store.
There is a second pavilion that offers a basketball court nearby and a huge children’s playground, all nicely painted and maintained. Along our guided tour with Don, we found that Heritage Hills provides camping from a rustic sleeping under the stars in your sleeping bag, to the elite motor home; the choice is yours.
Two cabins on the lake are available to rent at $40 during a week day or $55 on weekends or $270 for the whole week. The amenities and facilities offered here are up to date with full hookup available where needed. Coin operated laundry is available at the camp store. The park is extremely clean, and offers a centrally located bathhouse, offering the camper a clean shower and a brand new swimming pool was put in recently. The camp store previously mentioned offers the camper everything one might need for their stay over, and if it doesn’t, Don and Cheryl will go out of their way to get it if they can. This park is their home, and they want your experience to be the best that they can offer. We were so impressed that day we decided to book one of the cabins for a future stay with our grandsons, and what a time we had!
Duane and I are not new to camping. We had done that for years with our own children, but with the grandsons, that was a whole new adventure waiting. We were all excited and anxiously counting down the days on the calendar until our stay. I just needed the boys to pack their own clothes, blankets, pillows, and sporting equipment; Papa and I would provide the rest.
When the day finally arrived, we quickly got everything together and loaded up the car, it was packed to the ceiling, and we even included the microwave. The trip was not a long one but somehow the boys ended up falling asleep on the way, making for quiet travel for Duane and me. The boys quickly woke up once inside Heritage Hills. I truly believe kids have sonar with built in alarm clocks! Once the doors opened, they flew out and headed to the office. We registered and were once again on our adventure with keys in hand.
The boys wanted to go fishing first and unpack later. However, we reminded them that you kind of need the poles and bait to fish, so we unpacked the car with very few groans. As soon as everything was unpacked, I served up dinner, and while the guys fished, I sorted out everything that was thrown inside the cabin, and made up our beds for the night. Before too long, it was time to go to the main pavilion for music and take our snack to pass. Mine was puppy dog cupcakes with cream filling that I had made back home. When we got to the pavilion, we found it nice to sit and relax, listen to music, have some wine, snacks, and talk with some of the other campers. We celebrated Cheryl Arnold’s birthday, not telling which one, and ended up having an extremely pleasant evening.
Morning came and the boys slept in while Duane and I enjoyed our coffee, watching the sun rise on the lake. It was quiet and so peaceful. Soon the boys were up, had their breakfast, and it was fishing time again. Together they managed to catch a total of nine fish using just hotdog as bait. Sad to say, a huge catfish got away, but not until our resident park champion, Trevor, got a glimpse of it. In July, Trevor was the 1st Place Fishing Tournament Champion with a 22” Catfish; could it have been the same one? We will never know.
Our day turned out to be filled with so much to do. The boys fished, played baseball with Papa, frisbee, and some swimming in the lake. Everywhere we went introduced us to new campers, all enjoying their stay. We took a walk around the park and later made our way up to the Park Office for the hay ride Saturday night. A huge thank you to Don for getting the tractor and wagon ready for us. It was a fun, bumpy ride that took us out of our seats at times. We found ourselves laughing and talking during the whole ride around the park.
Come Sunday morning, we found our weekend vacation coming to a quick end, but that was ok. The boys fished a little more, we secured our spot for the 2014 season, and made our camping reservation for the 2013 Halloween Bash in October. We said our goodbyes to some of our camping friends, then packed up the car and headed for home.
Looking back, I wish everyone could experience the fun of being outdoors and roughing it like we did with the boys. No running water to the cabin, no cell phones or electronic devices, just good natural fun that included sitting around a fire, making S’mores, telling stories, and talking about everything we did that particular day.
In the end Heritage Hills became our home away from home. Don and Cheryl Arnold along with many of the campers started out as friends, but they ended up as family, and we can’t wait to return!
