Recapping our great success! (HH/BW Challenge Series Finale)

When we committed to staying at only Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome locations for 27 straight nights, we knew we were in for an adventure. We did some research ahead of time but ultimately realized that flying by the seat of our pants would be the better way to go. We ironed out logistics and tried to predict all that could go wrong, but reality hit for better and worse. Most importantly, we didn't actually think we would succeed. We were cautiously optimistic...very cautiously optimistic.

So to start this recap post by saying "WE DID IT!" feels really good. We successfully spent all 27 nights at a location we found on the Harvest Hosts website. We had our reasons for setting out on this challenge.

First, we wanted to show all of you lovely readers how cool the Harvest Hosts membership program is! We have had some wonderful experiences before the challenge, and many more to add since the challenge. Beyond that, we were able to showcase local establishments, many of which are open to the public. That means that, even if you're not a Harvest Hosts member, you can visit many of these locations.

We wanted to change up the way we camp, and while we were at it, hopefully save some money. Typically, we like to stay at a mix of campground types, from no-frills boondocking spots to swanky RV resorts and everything in between. Only, we usually plan and book ahead of time. Last-minute overnights are the exception, but for the challenge, we made them the rule. As for saving money? We'll get into that.

Lastly, we wanted to navigate Harvest Hosts as non-drinkers. Many campers assume that the membership isn't worth the price unless they drink alcohol, given the vast selection of wineries and breweries. Even we tended to avoid the adult-beverage-centric locations in the past, but the challenge changed all that. Not only did we visit a variety of alternative locations, but we also got to see what non-alcoholic options were offered at the wineries and breweries.

Even though our reasons for doing the challenge remained valid, we discovered so much more as we entered the day-to-day of travel, overnights, and local patronage. A little later on, we'll share some of our biggest surprises along the way, but first, let's cover some of the statistics.

The Stats

Locations/Geography:

In 27 nights, we stayed at a total of 19 locations. 15 were Harvest Hosts and 4 were Boondockers Welcomes.

The Boondockers Welcome locations were all multiple nights (3, 3, 2, and 3). All of the Harvest Hosts locations were 1 night except for Walker's Bluff Winery, which was 2 nights.

The category breakdown for our locations:
4 farms
3 wineries/vineyards
3 private home yards
3 shops/ice cream stands/restaurants
2 equestrian stables/ranches
1 brewery
1 casino
1 activity venue (escape room)
1 museum

We covered 5 states during the challenge:
8 locations in Illinois
4 locations in Indiana
3 locations in Missouri
3 locations in Kentucky
1 location in Ohio

We traveled approximately 1500 miles. If we had gone straight from our campground in Arkansas to the ATC manufacturer, it would have been 640 miles. This means that we traveled an extra 860 miles for the challenge, which ends up being about 32 miles per day.

Neighbs:

We had a lot of solitude during the challenge! On only 10/27 nights did we have neighbors. Curious who's using the membership? All kinds of campers! Here's who we camped with on the nights we had neighbs:

5 Class Bs/vans
2 Class A motorhomes
2 Class Cs
1 fifth wheel
1 travel trailer (an Airstream)

If you do the math, you'll see that on some nights we had more than one neighbor.

Weather:

We were worried about doing this challenge in the Midwest in springtime, and 2024 has not been a quiet year for severe storms. Over time, though, we realized that perhaps this challenge was exactly what we should have been doing. Because we weren't booking campgrounds ahead of time, we weren't losing deposits if we needed to change plans and escape bad weather. And, since we were only booking Harvest Hosts a few days in advance, we already had a good idea of the forecast. We didn't need to cancel any stays due to weather!

Still, that doesn't mean we came out totally unscathed...

Tornado watches: 2
Thunderstorms: 11
Closest call: We were only a few miles across a county border, which put us in a "no warning" zone when over 100 counties were getting tornado watches and warnings. That following day, a tornado touched down about 30 miles from where we had just left that morning.

Speaking of not coming out unscathed...

The following pieces of equipment either broke or gave us issues during the challenge:
Transfer switch
Thermostat
Govee temperature monitor
Fresh tank bracket
Truck hitch

With an honorable mention of our axles, which did give us trouble, but it was a problem we had been having for months. We just tackled the problem more directly during the challenge.

Money money money!

Despite wanting to save money on campgrounds, we weren't actually being conservative with our funds. We wanted to have fun experiences, which meant spending extra money in some places, like $40 for access to the pool at Walker's Bluff Casino.

Cost for goods: $708.89
Cost for hookups: $105
Cost for pit stop services (i.e. dumping, generator fuel, our uCamp regroup): $155
Total cost: $968.89
Price per night: $35.88

Our cost per night ended up being very close to what our campground average is. We are happy that we kept our Average Net Usage Statistics in check. Our ANUS remained intact! Of course, we were getting more than just accommodations because in many of the places, we bought souvenirs, food, and other treats.

It's also important to note that, during our challenge, we spent very little on other activities and excursions. Most of our time and money was spent right on site, with the exception of a couple outings. We also ended up saving between $350-400 on groceries that month because we mostly ate at the Harvest Host locations.

Most expensive stay: Walker's Bluff Winery ($100 for our dinner...but we did get that free cheesecake!)
Least expensive stay: Mid-America Windmill Museum ($16 for our tour)

The Accolades

Nicole's favorite location: Walker's Bluff Winery
Anthony's favorite location: Walker's Bluff Winery

Nicole's favorite Boondockers Welcome: Springfield, MO
Anthony's favorite Boondockers Welcome: Sparta, KY

Nicole's favorite view: Sparta, KY and giving an honorable mention to Walker's Bluff Casino for having the pond/fountain view
Anthony's favorite view: Sparta, KY

Nicole's favorite animal interaction: Tie between the Starview Vineyards cat and the sheep/horses at Featherstone Farm
Anthony's favorite animal interaction: Rush Acres Farm

Nicole's favorite food: Walker's Bluff Winery (but Richards Farm is still up there!)
Anthony's favorite food: Walker's Bluff Winery

Nicole's favorite non-animal experience: Walker's Bluff Casino pool and Walker's Bluff Winery trivia
Anthony's favorite non-animal experience: Walker's Bluff Winery or dinner at Richards Farm

Nicole's favorite physical purchase: Soothing body spray from Today's Harvest and a saguaro long-sleeve t-shirt from Iron Saddle Ranch
Anthony's favorite physical purchase: Duck eggs from Rush Acres Farm

Nicole's best night sleep: McKelvey Vineyards
Nicole's worst night sleep: May 10 at the Indiana Boondockers Welcome, though that had nothing to do with the location and everything to do with the futile northern lights chase. Location specific: Iron Saddle Ranch
Anthony's best night sleep: N/A because he can "sleep anywhere"
Anthony's worst night sleep: Iron Saddle Ranch or C-Town Twist (even though he was able to sleep in both of those places, too)

Most accessible parking: Walker's Bluff Casino
Hardest to access: Featherstone Farm (needed to drive on a grass field) and Escape Muncie (needed to unhitch in a short parking spot and nearby streets had low branches) – but in both of these cases, we knew ahead of time what we were getting into and deemed them both worthwhile, which they were.

Most level parking: Most of the locations were reasonably level, or at least workable with a little scouting
Least level parking: Starview Vineyards

Dessert: Da Real MVP

Things got very dessert crazy as the challenge progressed. Turns out, one of the best alternatives to alcohol offered at wineries and breweries is dessert! We ended up not even talking about our favorite dessert in the blog because it got too embarrassing just how many desserts we were buying at each place. However, we like to keep things real here on the blog, and we simply cannot move forward without giving this cheesecake the spotlight it deserves.

That is the chocolate caramel crunch cheesecake, made by Schoolhouse Cheesecakes in Anna, IL and sold at Starview Vineyards. Schoolhouse Cheesecakes is run by a high school student using his grandmother's recipe, and if we had the power to make this kid a national brand, we'd do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the business is only local, offering pickup and sales at a few nearby establishments, Starview being one of them. Boy was it a treat! Yes, this slice came into our lives the day after our 3 cheesecake slices at Walker's Bluff Winery. We really like cheesecake.

We only got dessert at 8 of the 19 locations, so you see? It's not as bad as it may seem! Only it totally is, because we got multiple desserts at so many places, it ended up being 25 dessert items at the 19 locations, or 25 desserts for 27 nights.

Our Biggest Surprises

Some parts of the challenge went as expected, but a lot didn't. We're happy to report that most of the surprises were pleasant ones.

We had way fewer weather scares than we expected going into this challenge. We also thought that we'd have at least one location where we'd either get stuck, or we'd arrive and realize we can't fit or access the parking. We had none of that, most likely because we stayed conservative with our selections, choosing mostly non-grass surfaces and sites that allowed 45ft and longer rigs.

We thought we'd have a harder time finding places to throw out our garbage, but this wasn't an issue at all. Many of the locations had dumpsters we could use, and otherwise we found plenty of trash receptacles at rest areas and truck stops.

We've towed tens of thousands of miles in our RV life, so it's safe to say we're comfortable, but this challenge made us so comfortable, we felt like tow mode was our default. During the few times we unhitched and took the truck somewhere, we felt like we were driving ultralight!

We really enjoyed the vineyards, despite not drinking. Most had plenty of alternatives to purchase, and everyone was really chill when we said we don't drink. In the past, we'd mostly stick to farms when we stayed at Harvest Hosts, but now we look forward to trying more vineyards.

We had some miscommunications, declined stay requests, and forever-pending requests, but we actually thought we'd have more of these. The majority of our communication with hosts was fantastic. Lots of staff expressed excitement that we were there, exclaiming "You're the Harvest Hosts people, right?" and asking us questions about RVing and our travels. We love seeing how Harvest Hosts is getting non-RVers interested in the RV life.

Despite all of the heat, we didn't use a lot of generator fuel – only about 25 gallons. We were very thankful when we had electric hookups, though. That heat and humidity were no fun. Which brings us to our unpleasant surprises. The heat was bad and the humidity was worse. We have awarded the humidity as Da Real LVP of the challenge.

The other unpleasant surprise was that we expected more quiet, peaceful nights. We had very few neighbors, and when we did, usually there was space for us to spread out. We were not factoring in how many of these locations were near train tracks or main roads, and we also dealt with lots of late-night thunderstorms. Going into this challenge, we pictured ourselves getting lots of rest. In reality, we ended up very sleep deprived.

As you can see from the list, we definitely had way more positive experiences than negative during this challenge. We did what we set out to do, but even better, we showed ourselves just how savvy we've become with knowing how to choose overnights that work for us and our rig. Part of the reason we didn't use Harvest Hosts much in the past was because we were scared. When we were still learning to maneuver our rig, we were afraid we'd get stuck somewhere. Our first Harvest Host experience proved it, and after that we were pretty paranoid. We were also scared of being that spontaneous with our plans. This challenge taught us to be more free, planning only a few nights at a time. We don't necessarily want to do this all the time, but it's good to know we can. Already, we're factoring Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcomes into our travel plans more. If we have a few nights to kill between campgrounds, we look to see what overnights are on our trip route. It's added a new dimension to the way we travel.

The Burning Question

Would we ever do a Harvest Hosts/Boondockers Welcome challenge again? Why yes, we would! We learned a lot this time around, so any future challenge will hopefully be a little less challenging. Either way, we liked shifting gears and forcing ourselves out of our routine. It's funny to say that, considering so much of full-time RVing in general forces us out of routine, but over the years, our "lack of routine" has become our routine! We like finding new ways to keep the excitement flowing. We can't always take off work and go have grand adventures. Sometimes we just want some extra pizzazz as we live our normal lives, driving through the heart of our country. That's exactly what this challenge gave us.