Jane Harms was a newlywed with toddlers when her father-in-law introduced her to Kozy Rest Kampground in Harrisville, PA.
Thirty years later, four generations of the Harms family still camp at the Kozy Rest Jellystone Park Camp-Resort.
“Kozy Rest is like a second home to me,” said Jane Harms, who lives an hour and 20 minutes away in Pittsburgh. “At least twice a month, all four generations of our family are there together. We’ve celebrated some wonderful times there.”
Jane said Kozy Rest is so closely woven into the fabric of the Harms family that they’ve celebrated every family milestone there, including her father-in-law’s 90th birthday, her in-laws’ 65th wedding anniversary, her grandson’s first communion and her granddaughter’s first birthday.
“I’ve loved that park since the day my father-in-law bought his first trailer,” she said, adding that there’s something magical about spending quality family time camping in the great outdoors.
“I love the beauty of nature and being with family and having a good hot dog over an open fire,” she said.
Jane and her family enjoy the park so much they rent campsites for the entire camping season and leave their trailers at the park. That way they can use them on weekends or whenever they want to be there.
Many families use Jellystone Park at Kozy Rest as their venue of choice for quality family time.
Fifty-one-year-old Tom Slayton lives in eastern Ohio, but meets at the park with his father and brother twice a year to have quality family time together.
“We always camped together when we were kids. But we had never done it as adults,” Tom said, adding that he and his brother and father started camping together again about seven or eight years ago.
“We like staying in their yurts. We just bring our sleeping bags and food and we have a blast together,” he said.
The Slaytons also cook gourmet meals together when they camp. In fact, their latest dinner menu included plans to cook stuffed veal chops with spinach and bread crumbs, mushrooms and ham; smashed potatoes; and glazed carrots.
“We’ll cook it all from scratch at the campground,” Tom said. “We’ll even have a bottle of Cabernet from Napa Valley in California.”
