Eastern Iowa Campsites Install Wireless Internet

By Mark Geary, Reporter

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By Mark Geary

Story Created: Aug 12, 2007 at 7:51 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 12, 2007 at 9:26 PM CST

MONTICELLO -- You'll find it in coffee shops, city parks and even your own home.

Now, this technology is striking a chord with campgrounds all over Eastern Iowa.

Something is in the air at the Walnut Acres campground. Approach any computer savvy campers, and they'll explain.

Kent and Marcia Baker count on wireless internet to stay in touch with family and friends.

"It's just an easy way to keep in contact and find out what they're doing. And, they like to know what we're doing," Marcia Baker said.

When new owners bought Walnut Acres back in April, they installed wireless internet almost immediately.

Jo Robinson has camped for the past fifty years. She uses the internet to talk to loved ones and to manage her money.

"I look at my bank account and make sure the things that are supposed to be going in are going in and the things that are supposed to go out are going out," Robinson said.

Other campers use WI-FI to sneak some work into their weekend getaway.

"I know everybody says you're supposed to leave the work at home, but it's kind of hard when you're in sales," camper Royal Hughes said.

Camping is changing. High-tech motor homes have swooped in. And, satellite TV tunes out the sounds of nature. So, it only seems to make sense that the great outdoors would go online.

Right now, the wireless service only works in the campground office.

By the end of the year, the owner hopes to have wireless internet available through the entire campground...that means you wouldn't even need to leave your RV to go online.

"As word spreads that we have it, there's more and more people that are happy to come down here with their laptops,” owner Chip Smith said.

Campers love to meet new people during their outdoor adventures. Using the internet to keep those conversations going just seems to click with them.

Click here to visit the Walnut Acres Official Website

E-mail Mark Geary at Mark.Geary@kcrg.com

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