- [Narrator] Before you get the wrong idea,
here's a disclaimer.
The recreational vehicles at Junebug Retro Resort
are not for driving around, but why would you wanna
drive one away from this oasis?
Junebug Retro Resort has 10 rentable,
permanently-positioned mid-20th century RVs.
It's the creation of Tom and Charlene Pagano.
- About five years ago, I woke up and thought,
you know, I have this idea,
and maybe we should open up a retro park and we would just
put a bunch of these vintage campers out in a field
and people could kinda go and escape modern times.
- I thought he was crazy.
Like, literally whenever he first came up with the idea
I was like, "Okay, sweetie,"
and kinda patted him on the back.
- [Narrator] But Tom was persistent.
And Charlene was patient.
- [Charlene] I mean, I get it now, but sometimes
in the beginning it took me a little bit longer
to grasp the actual idea of what he was talking about.
- [Tom] I always loved the 1950s campers.
Just the artistic aspect of them.
They're just beautiful rolling pieces of art.
- [Narrator] Tom's family actually did the RV thing
for vacations as he grew up.
- [Tom] As children, we traveled a lot from New York
down to Florida and up to Nova Scotia in the back
of one of those slide ins, so the kind you put
in the back of a pickup truck.
I liked it when the family all got together.
I just have good feelings about campers and transporting
yourself back in time and things like this.
- [Narrator] The retro RVs at Junebug
do transport us back in time.
They are actual vintage dwellings,
refurbished and loved with brand names like,
Shasta, Trotwood, and Yellowstone.
They can sleep from one to five people,
they're air conditioned, with running water and bathrooms.
There's also a central bathhouse with modern
shower facilities, a pavilion for a events like
weddings, a newly constructed tree house
that can hold 25 people at a time, and it's all
surrounded by sky, water, and plenty of green landscape.
- So, we're on 50 acres, there's a half mile of creek
that goes to the property called Flat Creek.
There's 30 acres of wooded property and 20 acres
on the flat, right now, we're just utilizing
the land on the flat and we have about one acre
of our organic farm that we still farm to this day,
and it's been farmed for as long as people around here know of.
- [Narrator] Recreational vehicles these days
are tightly engineered machines that are designed
to save gas, fit a lot into a little space,
and to use lightweight products.
Old-time RVs came from an era that had different priorities.
- Back in this day, I think that they got the artists
involved first and then they had the engineers weigh in.
- [Charlene] Because towing this thing from Indiana...
- [Tom] It was a challenge.
- On the back of his truck, like his Tundra pickup truck,
like he couldn't find places to get gas.
- [Narrator] But Tom,
with a certain amount of permission from Charlene,
continues to shop for more RVs.
- Yes, yes we are.
- She told me years ago I have to stop buying campers,
but then when I show her the pictures
I go, "Look at that one," you know,
and then she says "Okay."
- Well, it's one of those things where like,
you don't realize the value until you're in it.
- [Narrator] A perfect example
is Charlene's experience booking weddings for the resort.
- So, the brides and grooms come and take the tours
and they're so excited because they want it.
The idea is to blow their guests' minds,
so they show up and they're like,
"Wait, you're getting married at a trailer park?
"Come on."
You know?
Which is hilarious.
But at the same time,
they show up and like,
they're just completely blown away.