Wed Feb 08 2012
Driving into Elkhorn Campground off Georgetown Road can be a bit foreboding. The downed trees and lightly-tracked, winding road look like a graveyard for ice and snow-covered RVs.
But knock on the door of the "Bill & Anita Hanley" RV, and you'll be greeted by all the comforts of home, including, of course, heat. In fact, their daughter is staying with them at the campsite because " you guessed it " there's no heat at her house in town.
Bill Hanley, 65, and his wife, Anita, 57, started RVing in 2004. They sold their house a couple of years later when Bill retired from the U.S. Postal Service, and now the camper - a gooseneck - is home.
Both work part-time for Enterprise Cars, picking up and delivering cars to various locations throughout the state.
"We get to travel everywhere on someone else's gas," Hanley laughs.
But after each trip, they return to the campsite. "We love it here," says Anita. "We've got everything we need; cable TV, electricity, heat, water, and all for a reasonable price each month."
According to Bo Sutherland, the site's owner, there are currently 18 long-term campers. "We have people here who work for places like Toyota, state government, trucking companies, factories, and we even have someone in the U.S. Army."
In fact, he's expecting four more campers to arrive tomorrow. They will be in the area for a couple of months helping to remove and cut up limbs and trees from this week's winter storm.
Sutherland, 45, from Frankfort, took over ownership from his parents in 2000 and runs the campsite with his wife and sister.
"I do all the maintenance, make sure the pipes are working and the propane heating is working."
So far, Sutherland says there have been no electrical outages and he watches to make sure the campsite is functioning as it should.
As he leaves to do some more scraping of the roads, his sister, Kathy Marshall, 50, of Frankfort, prepares to update her reservation calendar for the 2010 World Equestrian Games. They already have 40 reservations and are getting calls everyday.
As for regular tenants, Bill and Anita Hanley, they are pulling out summer clothes, getting read for a perfectly timed trip to the Virgin Islands. "We'll be glad to get into some warm weather soon," Anita said.
And after their break in the sun, they will return to the campsite, staying as long as the job with Enterprise lasts. If the job should end, it's no problem for them. They simply hitch up and go. To wherever. Whenever.
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