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| Memorial Day 2012 |
We went out Thursday afternoon till Monday afternoon to our favorite campground and site for Memorial Day weekend. There was a little rain Thursday night and kind of gloomy Friday but otherwise it was pretty nice especially seeing it can usually get down into the 30's at night on Memorial Day weekend at camp. Everyone is getting pretty used to the mild Winter we had and warm Spring and seems like most have all but forgotten what it's normally like out this weekend but that's okay because I am more than loving it.
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| Site 28 from the road. |
We take up a lot less space on the site now with the camper. First Mike put in long ways but the camper was too close to the fire. It was nice this way, blocked off all the sites behind us and gave us plenty of room to play with the dogs.
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| Our view from the site. The river was at the perfect level and sounded so nice at night. |
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| New fire rings. I like them but I think Mike is kind of partial to the old ones. |
It was pretty nice having a fridge and freezer while boondocking. We ran the fridge off of gas all weekend and it used far less fuel than I thought it would and it stayed perfectly cold. Neither of us can understand how the temperature control works, just a plastic clip on the foils in the fridge. Something I'll have to look into. When Mike asked me I told him I didn't know why or how and that I was just glad it did work. Funny having ice cream at camp without having to wait for the ice cream truck. Kenzie and Mackenna still had their fair share off the truck. Mike made some awesome baked beans in the dutch oven. We had them for dinner with ribs and then in the morning with eggs.
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| Baked beans in the dutch oven. |
The back roads of camp are all gated now and you have to go through Dennison or way back through Birch Hill. I guess there's a few good reasons for that with money probably being the driving factor for the DCR which is all good seeing so many people use the park without paying. Another good reason is less through traffic (aka trash and speeders) and it makes it much nicer riding the bikes, fishing and playing with the dogs. Once you're camping at any state park your pass is good at all of them too. Good thing because the dump station is also at Dennison. Another difference this year is lack of water spigots. The one right near our site is shut off. They had another water main break before the season. Every year there is at least one now and there are only a couple spigots left working in the park. Eventually they will have to close to replace the lines. I'm glad I noticed before we dropped the trailer because usually we would just run the hose right there at the site to fill up. I was pretty thankful for the 30 gallon fresh water tank which lasted us the entire trip.
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| Wild Iris out back. |
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| Butterfly out back. |
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| Tired pups after a long afternoon fishing. |
They also replaced all the site markers with posts which a lot will most likely be backed into and ran over but yay for getting them off the trees. They always push the no nails in trees rule (a very good rule) but then the site markers were nailed to the trees.
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| New site post with our sign covering it. |
We will be bringing the camper down to the dealer to have a couple things looked at. The slider doesn't like to go out evenly no matter how level we are. We are getting some water in one of the front LEDs and something else I cannot remember at the moment. But other than that I am so glad to have this camper. I loved the Aliner and miss it dearly but this unit makes camping so easy, so much less stressful and it's just great to have everything right there and lots of comfort and joy as the Canucks always say. But......it is not fun washing it down after every trip and I do want to seriously look into getting an awning for over the slideout because it is a bitch to clean.
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| Closer view of us sprawled out on site 28. |
We have trips planned back to Otter River in July, August and the end of the season. We're planning a trip to NH in June. We're looking to find a campground with full hook ups for the weekend, maybe a long weekend if we have enough time to take off. For now back to the real world!
Your doggies do look very relaxed. Evidentaly fishing agrees with them. I only have an Alite, so I think I need to think smaller. I wanted a greyhound but a 60# dog and me in an Alite might be too tight. Labs are really energetic doggies, so I'm thinking space and energy might be an issue for me. I agree with you that having a dog would help a tad -- maybe slow a burglar down. I've never really felt scared camping. I'm intrigued by the companion dog thing. I live alone, and have fallen in the past. It could be days before someone figures out I should be checked on. A companion dog that has good manners and is already socialized might do the trick. I have two years to work it out in my head. Akita's and Bisengy's are not tiny, but they're kind of medium and have sweet temperments. I like the idea of using local kennels and Petco for a bath, etc. and then I could grocery shop while the dog is at the "day spa." I'm just a really person that has to think out the pro's, con's and consequences of decisions ahead of time. Appreciate your input.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is any such thing as a rescue for companion dogs or where you could adopt a retired companion dog? We had these two in the Aliner (LX, which I think is about the size of the Expedition nowadays) with us too but I guess we all end up in the bed together at home also. Even in the big camper with plenty of room for all they cuddle up with us. We did a lot of research before we brought them home too, you really have to in all fairness for yourself and them. We found that female labs were calmer and that was why we went with girls. You'll find you match too I'm sure, especially doing your due diligence. I had a good friend that had an Akita and those are wonderful dogs, so smart and he loved to travel and never seemed wound up. They were on our maybe list too when we were looking but I found some information that said they weren't always good with kids and at the time my youngest was around 6 years old. Good luck with your research and new doggie when the day comes!
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