Apple Valley (An Ohio resort)

[Maggie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maggie]

I just got back from a really great RCI exchange in a little known place called Apple Valley Resort in Ohio.

I’m originally from Ohio and have lots (I do mean lots) of family still living in Northern Ohio. I own lots of Bluegreen timeshare points but I’ve gotten really spoiled on vacations and I like having my own kitchen. I don’t like staying with family, but I love visiting with family. I had an extra RCI week to use up and decided I’d see if there is any RCI timeshares in Ohio. I only found one so I decided early May would be a good time to visit Ohio. What a treat. The Lilacs and dogwood were in bloom.

Apple Valley is an older resort but the inside of the units are well maintained and huge. The living room must be at least 24 ft by 24 ft or larger. There were two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and a large kitchen, but there is an extra room which holds a hot tub large enough for 6 people. There are patios with gas grills off the kitchen and hot tub room and a patio off the Master Bedroom. Apple Valley is located in central Ohio (about 90 minutes from must of my relatives) in the heart of Amish country. There are lots of interesting sights and shops around. When I go to Ohio I always have to buy a supply of cheese and trail bologna. You can buy cheese anywhere but there is something special about Ohio cheese and only in Ohio and Pennsylvania do you find really good trail bologna

On Friday night 2 of my lady cousins and 2 of my sisters showed up for a “girls” night. We drank wine, play cards, drank wine, got in the hot tub, and gabbed into the wee hours of the morning.
Saturday after the “girls” left another sister and her husband came down and we went out for a sight seeing excursion, had some supper and came back and watched a movie. Sunday morning I was scheduled to join a brother and his wife over at my other sister’s newly purchased property in Coshocton County. It was about a 40 minute drive from Apple Valley. My sister and her husband bought 13 acres in the country and have put up a barn and built a pond there. They plan to someday build a cabin by the pond but for now they camp out in the barn. Jo cooked us cheeseburgers at the barn and then my brother and his wife returned to Apple Valley with me to spend the night. My visitors were from Carey, Tiffin, Doylestown, Massillon, North Canton and Minerva Ohio. No one had to travel more than 2 hours to get to Apple Valley.

So if you are looking for a great family place in the Ohio area, consider Apple Valley. I loved my visit. I had the unit for the entire week but things were popping at home in South Carolina and I missed my husband so on Thursday morning I packed up and headed South. I arrived home last night with a fresh supply of cheese and trail bologna and all the bargains I picked up at the various antique “junque” shops.

Happy trading and vacationing
Maggie

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Maggie, would you like to post this on Travel Tales? It sounds like a wonderful trip. What is that kind of bologna? What all is there to do in that area? shaggy

[Maggie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maggie]

What is Travel Tales? I did not find it as a forum within this site. I'm not all that familiar with all the forums here. Trail Bologna is one of those things you either really like or really don't like. It's also one of those things that if you saw it made you'd probably never want to try it, but it is delicious. It is a beef product with lots of spices. It's made into rings and the ring has about a 1 3/4 inch diameter. It's not hard like salami, but it's more dense than a hot dog or regular bologna. It needs no cooking. You just slice it into thin slices and put it on crackers. It's a great snack food or appetizer. Usually Ohio hostesses will put out a plate of sliced cheese, trail bologna slices and crackers and people make their own little canapes. My husband just takes a hunk of it and a knife and slices off a slice at a time and pops it into his mouth like candy. He isn't even from Ohio but he likes it.

What is there to see in the area? Mohican State park with it's Castle in the Park is not far away. Velvet Ice Cream has factory tours and nice park and restaurant called the Old Mill Restaurant. There is a park that features restored areas of the Erie Canal. This area is not for people who like large city malls. It's historic and rural and extremely scenic. Ohio's longest covered bridge is also less than 15 miles away. It's preserved and you can walk over it but it is no longer open to motorized traffic but there are indications that horse traffic is still allowed. You will see many horse and buggy's as you travel this area.

The resort itself has a golf course, indoor and outdoor pools, shuffleboard, badminton, a lake, and many other amenities.

[dolly1504 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dolly1504]

Thanks for the good comments about Apple Valley. I booked an exchange for this resort for next May. We have family living in Ohio so I thought it would be nice to invite them to the timeshare and see a different part of the state rather than going to their home again.

Joyce

[ronandjoan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ronandjoan]

Sure is nice that your family members will visit you! Seems we still have to go to their houses even though we have travled that far already!

Glad to hear all the good remarks about Apple Valley. I have been wanting to go!

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Maggie, go to the community forums which is all the way down toward the end and you will see travel tales. It's with the G & A Cafe, Big Franks Hot Tub etc. YOu can read about others trips . shaggy

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We useta go the Apple Valley every year from the mid '90s to the early 2000's (if that's the way you say it). Same week, 30, for Longaberger business.

For those of you who know of my 1-in-4 brouhaha, the one where someone at RCI threatened to sic their legal department on me, it was Apple Valley that was the culprit. AV had years of financial problems and brought in one of those management companies that rebuilds struggling resorts. What they did was to open up another duplex unit, one that had been used for storage, started a marketing campaign, and slapped on a 1-in-4 rule.

A year later, that company was gone, the marketing campaign was abandoned, and the 1-in-4 rule was gone.

Then, our last year there I was addressing my second shot on the first fairway when I was hit in the right temple by a ball from the adjacent driving range. There was no net or any sort of protection. Someone saw me collapse and told the pro, but they chose to leave me lying on the fairway. I had to take myself to the ER. The doctor there and back home said people don't normally survive a blow like that where it was.

Even then, the golf course (which is separate from but adjacent to the timeshare resort) did not offer to do anything. I insisted with their insurance company that a net be put up, because the driving range was right between both the first and 18th fairways. In subsequent visits I saw that they had not.

Then, one time I parked in a place I normally didn't there, next to one of those above-ground transformer boxes for buried electric lines. When I pulled out, I forgot about it, and because it was low to the ground I could not see it when I checked the passenger side mirror. I turned into it pulling away. We still have that van and it still has that crease in it and I still hear about it every now and then.

Yeah, fond memories here.

[Maggie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maggie]

Their current literature still says they are a 1 in 4 RCI resort but I don't know if they are enforcing that. Sorry you had so many problems there. I didn't play golf so I didn't have that problem and was very pleased with the inside of the units however the outside says that they could use some maintenance. I wish there were more RCI resorts in Ohio