'Chills and Thrills Greet Members at TT Halloween Haunts' . It is time for a short change of pace from the traveling days. It is almost Halloween and spirited fun is brewing at your favorite Thousand Trails preserves this fall. Besides rig-to-rig trick or treating, kids and families can enjoy a cauldron full of Halloween festivities, from spook trails to creepy haunted houses. In addition to costume- and pumpkin-carving contests, which most of the preserves will offer, you'll also find a wide array of frightful and not-so-frightful events. You can make caramel apples at Pacific City, bowl pumpkins at Colorado River, bob for apples at Bay Landing and cozy up around the campfire at Soledad Canyon to hear scary ghost stories.
Would you believe that the weekend before Halloween is the busiest weekend of the year at the Chesapeake Bay Preserve? Not the Fourth of July or Memorial Day Weekend; it's Halloween that brings members out in droves. "You have never seen so many kids at the park, "Preserve Manager Terry DuRose said. "Our members really get into Halloween and go all out for our campsite-decorating contest and costume contest. "DuRose says it's standing room only for the costume contest. One of the funniest costumes DuRose remembers is when a group of adults rented cow costumes. "It was hysterical because we didn't just have one cow, but a whole herd of cows were running around the park!" DuRose recalls with a giggle.
Aliens will be landing at the Medina Lake Preserve as its old Riverside House is transformed into an out-of-this-world haunted house on October 28, helping to raise money for a good cause. Every year, the haunted house has a different theme and this year's theme will be "Aliens". Last year their haunted house, along with a bake sale raised $500 for Christmas for Children.
We thought that was pretty good for one night of fund-raising. The recreation director and some volunteers put their imaginations to work, coming up with creative ways to scare guests. For the rest of the Halloween weekend, kids and families can take part in pumpkin carving, costume contests and an evening dance with the Jimmy Cribb band. For trick or treating, kids are carted around the preserve on trailers pulled by tractors. (how lucky is that!). More spine-tingling haunted houses will be open at Verde Valley, San Benito, La Conner,m Soledad Canyon and Lake Texoma. For a nail-biting stroll down a darkened trail, head to Lake Conroe, Lake Whitney or the Hershey Preserve. You never know what creatures might be hiding behind the next tree. This year, the Hershey Preserve will debut a new haunted trail. They are updating their trail with all new skits. It's huge event in the community and at the preserve, and they want to keep it exciting for everyone. The haunted trail is open on the two weekends before Halloween. For tamer activities, you can pick a pumpkin from the Hershey Preserve's own pumpkin patch to carve and decorate, and then take part in the seed spitting contest. The trick or treating takes place on the Saturday before Halloween. Members who welcome little goblins coming to their door hang an orange colored pumpkin in their RV window. It's a good system, so the kids easily know which sites to go to for candy. For more ghostly and ghastly entertainment, try to find your way out of Lake Minden's haunted corn maze or take a ride on their "hay wagon of doom". For younger kids, the preserve is planning a Halloween festival with games and prizes.
Remember, many of the preserves plan their Halloween festivities for the weekend before Halloween, so be sure to check the activity schedule for the exact dates. Then pack your costumes, lots of candy and get ready for a spook-tacular Halloween!
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We arrived here on 9.22.05. Very pretty and the leaves were starting to change color also. Our neighbors were real nice people and we sat by their fire one night and visited. We also went to see the Wright Brothers Air Force Museum and it was really neat! This Thousand Trails preserve offers 170 acres of gently rolling land surrounding a lake that offers good fishing and calm waters for canoeing (boats available). Eight miles away state parks of Cowan Lake and Caesar Creek offer fishing, boating, swimming, and horseback riding. Local attractions include King's Island Amusement Park and the Clinton Country Historical Society's Museum in Wilmington. This preserve has an adult lodge, basketball court, campfire circle, canoes, enclosed swimming pool, family lodge, fishing, horseshoe pits, nine-hole mini golf course, picnic area, playground, shuffleboard, spa, tennis courts and volleyball courts. I rate these preserves as we go and I rated this one as very nice.
