WHERE? WHEN? WEATHER? WAS IT CROWDED?

[Mike]

Hi everybody,
I was wondering if all of our "forumites" would be willing to update the rest of us after you've been somewhere, and share your experience by adding some basic info, to let the rest of us know what to expect, if we were to go there around the same time of year? I would be interested in knowing what the weather was like, but more importantly what the crowds were like at the main attraction, or just whether the campground where you stayed was crowded. I know there are lots of individual postings which have some of this info in them on this forum, but it's a bit scattered about. Just add your most memorable place visited, if you want.
I'll start things off by trying to add a couple of reports of my own. When you look at this posting, you'll see a URL link just below my name. Just click the link and it will open a Google form that our forum Admin (Markopolo) created to allow us to input our trip experience info. When you've added your info, click SUBMIT and your data will be added to the spreadsheet. The link is re-usable, so just click it again to enter a new destination. He will then occasionally publish the results in a chart form that we can browse. Hopefully, we'll be able to see what to expect at a destination before we actually set out. A name isn't required, so it's anonymous, too (if you're shy, like me, NOT!!!). Give it a try!

Thanks,
Mike.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform ... p_SrWXA0CA

[markopolo]

Form output looks like this:



and you can see it a bit bigger here:

Form results

I'll update it periodically.

[julievojo]

Lets see if I can remember which info you wanted, long enough to type it.....

October / Yosemite National Park / low 70's and sunny (beautiful) / way too crowded / couldn't hike or see attractions because there were so many people in the park that we could never find a space to park the B


late Sept / Rocky Mountain National Park / cool , partly crowdy, some sprinkles/snow showers, temps ranged for 50's in valleys to 30's at the top of the passes/ very crowded park - all campgrounds full / the aspens were incredibly beautiful, which explains why so many people were in the park


late Sept / Mt Rushmore Nat'l Monument / beautiful low 70's and sunny / not too crowded / $25 to park???? - we didn't go in to see the monument, just looked at views from the road and surrounding areas

April / Badlands Nat'l Park / cool daytime in the low 50's nights were COLD / had the park and campgrounds almost all to ourselves / nice time to go and enjoy the views without a lot of people, only 1 campground ope and no hookups available that early in the year

late Sept (2007) Yellowstone NP / beautiful warm sunny 70's / not too crowded - plenty of openings in the campgrounds / this was a nice time to go, lots of color and visible wildlife

late Sept (2007) Grand Tetons NP / beautiful warm sunny 70's / pretty busy yet but plenty of space in the campgrounds / good time to go, very pretty in the park with trees changing color


October any year / Oregon Coastline / nice warm days but can be drizzly or damp / nice time to visit without alot of traffic, half price month at OR State parks which are some of the best in the country

Sept any year / Pacific NW Coastline / nice warm days but can be damp or drizzly/ still plenty of traffic but never any problem finding a place to camp if you fairly stop early

April / North Carolina coast / nice sunny days, cool 60's in the day - chilly nights / nice time to go without alot of traffic / easy to find camping although many of the public owned campgrounds (state beaches and campgrounds) are still closed

mid June / Glacier National Park / cool days, cold nights, can get snow / not many people and alot of visible wildlife / campgrounds closed we wound up in a lodge/hotel (with a nice fireplace ) many of the roads still closed due to snow

[dutchduo1990]

1st week in May 2008. Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan. Temp. 60 to 70F crowds were not too large. Camped at local state park for a couple of nights at $35.00 a night. Found that too expensive so moved to local Fair grounds. $ 15.00 a night including Hydro. Great area for cycling. Will go back this May.
3rd weekend in May. 2008 Class B rally in Ohio. Temp. 60 to 70F. Had a great time will go again this May and its in Ohio again. Would recommend it to everybody who enjoys meeting fellow class B'ers.

[markopolo]

Either reply to the form:

Click here for the Form

or just reply to this topic - which ever you prefer - the format is:

Where?
When?
Weather?
Was It Crowded?

You can view the published form results here:

Form results

There is a delay between when you submit it and when I publish it.

[Bruce Campbell]

My son and i traveled to Myrtle Beach last week. We did get to play golf twice where it was sunny and 50 degrees. It rained one day but we had 4 good days. It did get colder on Friday (1/16) but we were heading home. We camped at Myrtle Beach State Park which is beautiful this time of year. There were maybe 20 RV's there and one was a VW Westphalia and another was a Gulfstream Vista Cruiser. I own a Vista Cruiser so it was surprising to see another VC. Living in upstate NY has been a challenge this winter so a trip to SC was fun. Next month DW and I are driving to Mesa, AZ. Can't wait!

[g1g]

I just posted on your spread sheet. Basicly I was at the Pocono Strausburg Garlic Festival and lets just say I won't go back.
I like your idea and would like to know how can someone access the results of the spreadsheet? It can be very helpful when planning vacations.

[Mike]

Hey g1g,
I hope it works and people add something, even if it's just their most memorable place visited, or a place they wouldn't recommend because the weather wasn't what they expected or it was just too crowded. I like to go to places when you can enjoy the attractions without being jostled about, and when the weather is nice.
If you look at markopolo's posting 2 above yours, there's a link that says Form Results. Or, you can click this one.....
http://www.classbforum.com/images/mike.htm
If you click either, it'll show all the form updates so far, except yours, as it needs markopolo to apply the updates. It's usually a day or so for the form to be updated.

Enjoy,
Mike.

[markopolo]

Here's the current updated page:

http://www.classbforum.com/images/mike.htm

Uploaded April 24th, 2009

[g1g]

I was just reviewing the post and had the thought, Is it possible to widen the last two colums since there is more writingt there. The location colum can be made narrower to compensate.
I love the idea on this post and hope many more will join in.

[markopolo]

Yes. Next time I export & upload I'll make them wider.

[Mike]

If you build it, they will come.

[markopolo]

Test:
Direct link to Google doc

[g1g]

Can info be put right into the google doc? or how is it done?
So it is easy to find do you think you may put it under a heading on the forum?

[markopolo]

Yes, info can be entered into a google doc. I have to look at the permissions to see how.

[markopolo]

Can anyone (everyone) see the Google doc at this link: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key= ... wQ0E&hl=en

and do you have the option in the Google doc to click on File then download as html, text, pdf etc.?

So, enter your data here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform ... p_SrWXA0CA

and view or download the file here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key= ... wQ0E&hl=en

[Mike]

I just tried this and it seems to work. (dear me, I'm late adding our latest trip info )
Clicked first link and entered my data.
Clicked "submit" at the bottom of the data entry form.
Then clicked the second link and was able to view my input immediately.
If that was the intent, success!!!