Seeing our boy off to Afghanistan...where to park in NJ?

[blessdx11]

Hello!
Our oldest son will be deploying from Fort Dix (NJ) to Afghanistan in March, and we would like to go up and see him off. While we are up there, we would like to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse (not our first time) helping to rebuild homes in Toms County New Jersey.
We are not at all familiar with the area, and while we do have a Thousand Trails membership, their parks there are closed for the winter. We travel with our 9 kidlets that are still 'at home' (wherever that is 😉 ), and that freaks out most private rv parks. What to do, where to stay? Any suggestions would be appreciated! 🙂
Thank you!!!

[blessdx11]

Thanks for all the help everyone! We got the dates for a 4 day leave before he ships out, but he can't go more than 250 miles away from the base, so we will be finding some fun stuff to do while we have him; still deciding where to basecamp at during that time - not on the base, he has lots of down time, and he'll be sick of it by then.LOL!
When he actually ships out, we might have a friend hold our firearms while we head north for a bit, and just check a handgun at the armory, if they will let us on....
You've all given us some great info/ideas! Thanks again!!! 🙂

[NJ6PACK]

If fort Dix dosent work out farther away in Sea Girt at the National Guard training base there is a Military CG at the beach ......not sure if its still there Also still a little farther away is Naval Wepons Station Earle, according to Google maps there is a cg on the base also

Thank You for your son's service

Thank You for your service. ....there are still many families whose homes are still damaged from the hurricane. My son and I just last night were picking up my daughter from her friends house ( that was heavily damaged also) in my town (Shark River Hills in Neptune) and we noticed how many homes are still destroyed

[orfsotr]

Even if you are not authorized (active duty, retired, National Guard, reservisits or 100% DAV) to use the base FAMCAMP, your son is and can make reservations. He will need to verify that guests are allowed.

[Rockrash]

I'm no help, but thank your son for his service.

[Ts1]

blessdx11 wrote:
Thanks for the information so far!

The location of the rebuild is actually Toms River (oops! memory isn't what it used to be! LOL!). We were tickled to find the 2 locations so close to each other when we were first researching to see if it would be feasible to combine the trips!

We will be traveling from FL. We go south every winter, and while we did the east coast last winter, and would have preferred not to do it again so soon, we really want to see him as much as we can before he leaves, so e. coast, here we come. 🙂

I'm afraid that the military base would probably not work for us. One of the things we enjoy doing on the road is visiting shooting ranges. Not sure they would like some of our cargo on base. LOL! 😉 I may try to call the base and see if we can 'check in' our firearms to stay there; I have heard of it being done, but we haven't found anywhere that would do it just so we could visit their museums... 😞

Ask if you can stay in a site at Range 14, as they have dozen or so sites. Yes, it is on the ranges...And have hookups. Search for their website.

I would worry more about the Republic of NJ firearm laws than Dix/McGuires. I carry small arms within the base boundaries frequently during hunting season. No issues there.

[s1214]

Thank your son for his service.

[pigman1]

First question to ask is if you'll be able to get on the post. If so, second is to ask if you can stay at their FAMCAMP (Willow Pond). If you get a yes to that, you WILL be able to store your toys in their armory.

They won't do it if you're just passing through going to a museum or show, but for those staying on post there will be a place to store things. Just get there early on a weekday as the military always has been a "hurry up and wait" operation.

Good luck

[blessdx11]

Thanks for the information so far!

The location of the rebuild is actually Toms River (oops! memory isn't what it used to be! LOL!). We were tickled to find the 2 locations so close to each other when we were first researching to see if it would be feasible to combine the trips!

We will be traveling from FL. We go south every winter, and while we did the east coast last winter, and would have preferred not to do it again so soon, we really want to see him as much as we can before he leaves, so e. coast, here we come. 🙂

I'm afraid that the military base would probably not work for us. One of the things we enjoy doing on the road is visiting shooting ranges. Not sure they would like some of our cargo on base. LOL! 😉 I may try to call the base and see if we can 'check in' our firearms to stay there; I have heard of it being done, but we haven't found anywhere that would do it just so we could visit their museums... 😞

[pigman1]

Our grandson got back from Afghanistan 8 weeks ago and we stayed at Willow Pond on Dix. They had a dump site, water and 30A service, but with current temps, the water is probably off. Their reservation setup is a bit funky as the long termers tend to park where they want and you may be assigned to an occupied site, which is what happened to us. THey finally got it right and we stayed a week while grandson processed back in.

Here's a site to give you more help. http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/new-jersey/willow-pond-camp

Call and see if you'll be able to get on post. A copy of son's deployment orders will probably help. I'm retired military so we got right in without an issue, but you'll need to check with security to find out if you can get on post and what you'll need to present to the gate folks. Plan on arriving daytime weekdays for sure.

The campsites are back in along Willow Pond, but they're great for sending a warrior off or welcoming him home. No standard "campground" amenities.

Good luck and please thank your son for his service.

[Germania]

Can't help with CG info but in regards to Samaritans Purse info,There is no Toms County, there is Tom's River which is a fair size town in Ocean County. That is within 60 or 70 miles of Fort Dix.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

There are 2 military campgrounds on Ft Dix but they did not get good reviews. You can view them on www.militarycampgrounds.us
You can search by city on www.woodalls.com and select "open all year" as a filter search option.

[Islandman]

Check with the people at Fort Dix, some military bases have on-post RV parks for authorized people, and you probably would meet their requirements; let's hope they have a park. If not, they should be able to recommend a nearby park that caters to military families. Will the drive be okay from MT to NJ in March, might be some bad weather then.