National Park Service Announces Free-Entrance Days
In 2023, the National Park Service will be waiving entrance fees on five special days and allowing free admission to all national parks.
“National parks are really amazing places, and we want everyone to experience them,” said National Park Service director Chuck Sams. “The entrance-fee-free days encourage people to discover the beauty, history, and inspiration awaiting them in more than 400 national parks throughout the country.”
The first of these entrance-fee-free days took place on January 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The remaining days for 2023 are as follows:
*April 22: First day of National Park Week
*August 4: Great American Outdoors Day
*September 23: National Public Lands Day
*November 11: Veterans Day
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm
All-Terrain Wheelchairs At National And State Parks
Many Georgia state parks and similar sites offer all-terrain power wheelchairs for use by visitors with mobility impairments.
A recent Washington Post article shared that Georgia is one of the latest states to offer rentals of motorized all-terrain wheelchairs for exploring public parks. The 500-pound chairs won’t make it possible for folks with disabilities to negotiate narrow trails or stairs, but they do expand the possibilities. They feature tank-like tracks and reportedly can travel over fallen trees and traverse tall grass, snow, swamps, and steep inclines.
Corey Lee, a travel blogger and contributor to Go RVing’s educational series for first-time RVers, has visited 40 countries on seven continents. He has been unable to explore Cloudland Canyon State Park, located about 20 minutes from his home in Georgia, because the trails are not accessible in his conventional wheelchair. That changed when Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources and the Aimee Copeland Foundation unveiled a fleet of all-terrain power wheelchairs for rent at that state park and 10 other parks or outdoor destinations. A list of the Georgia locations is available at www.allterraingeorgia.org.
The Washington Post article noted that Georgia joins states such as Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota in providing these all-terrain wheelchairs.
KZ Unveils New Customer Service Facility
The KZ RV Customer Service Welcome Center also includes a call center, dealer service school training facilities, and a corporate conference center.
KZ Recreational Vehicles has completed construction on its new Customer Service Welcome Center, part of a 75,000-square-foot facility. To accomplish this, a 42,000-square-foot addition was built onto Plant 2 on KZ’s campus in Shipshewana, Indiana.
Collectively, the new service center includes a 30,000-square-foot, two-story warehouse space; the two-story Customer Service Welcome Center, encompassing 12,000 square feet; a 33,000-square-foot full-service repair facility; and a 24/7 customer lounge and camping area. Company officials note that this addition makes it possible to house three times more parts than before, which will assist dealers and in turn provide better service to RV owners.
KZ Recreational Vehicles, an operating company of Thor Industries Inc., produces several brands of travel trailers, fifth-wheels, and toy haulers. For more information, visit www.kz-rv.com or call (888) 829-6320.
Bankston Motor Homes Opens New Location
To serve customers in Tennessee and Alabama, Bankston Motor Homes recently marked the grand opening of a 26-acre location in Attalla, Alabama, which is near Gadsden. The 49,000-square-foot facility houses two heated and enclosed delivery bays, measuring 27 feet wide by 50 feet long, for use when customers pick up a new RV. To facilitate growing RV service needs, it also incorporates two fully covered 50-foot drop-off lanes and 12 fully enclosed service bays that are 25 feet wide and 50 feet long.
This new site represents a $15 million investment for the dealership, which also has Alabama locations in Florence and Huntsville and Tennessee locations in Nashville and Ardmore.
Bankston Motor Homes recently celebrated its 52nd anniversary and is family owned and operated. For more information, visit www.bankstonmotorhomes.com.