Wow! That movie seemed to energize everyone in this part of the camp. It got
over shortly after 10 p.m....people went away, then people came back out
again. Can’t speak to what the
atmosphere was like at the front of the campground but heading on 11 o’clock, kids
were still out on scooters and bikes and the adults were either building
campfires or adding logs so they could sit into the night talking. A much different atmosphere on Friday night
than on Thursday night. I witnessed all
that going on because I was at the pavilion posting pictures, etc.
Most of the activity quieted down by 11:30 except for one group of
RVers. There was a lady over there who
had a raucous laugh and she wasn’t afraid to use it. I can’t fault her on that one. 😄 Their voices continued to pierce through the
darkness. We were sitting in the pavilion
and close enough to hear the building effects of the alcohol. When we walked
back to our tent and were inside, Kim quietly said, “And now she’s progressed into the argumentative stage of drunkenness.” Sure enough when I paid attention the
slurred voice that had some humor in it now had an edge. And when we made a final trip to the bathroom
the discussion around the campfire had ramped up to ‘you don’t know what’s it like...I’m on call all the time for her...I
have to go whenever she calls...I’m the only one who blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, etc. There was a male voice giving some
pushback which only drove her to be louder.
By this time the rest of the area was quiet.
--------------------
*At our stay in Pennsylvania, there was a group campfire happening
between our campsite and the bathroom.
They were talking and laughing, no problem. Then a man’s voice rings out from somewhere
nearby saying, “Asshole...you’re an asshole.”
A woman then responded, “I hate you...I never want to see you again.” “Good” was his reply before slamming a car
door.
*At our stay in Delaware, there was a family across the road from our
yurt. At one point the dad got angry at
the kids and his disapproving voice rang through the night air.
*At our stay in Connecticut there was a couple having a good time
singing along with Motown hits...mostly love songs. The fact that they would only play about 20
seconds of a song before finding another one was a little annoying but they
were having a good time with it. They
were singing when I got in the shower and when I got out I hear the man standing
out the trailer loudly saying “What the hell?
What did you do? The door won’t open.”
The woman loudly responded to him from inside the trailer trying to
explain the hardship of closing the door properly.
*Then there was the loud group from last night.
Throughout this week of camping I’ve become aware of just how much the
great outdoors can amplify a voice...and it seems that some people haven’t
realized that yet or maybe simply don’t care.
Alcohol doesn’t help either.
--------------------
Last night it got a bit cool...my feet were chilly throughout the night
and they kept gravitating toward Kim to steal his warmth. He didn’t seem to mind.😊
--------------------
A big group of tenters came in last night while we were on our
ride. Since we got back after dark I
didn’t see them snugged in across the road until this morning. There are kids of all ages on bikes coming
and going from that area. I’m
envisioning a family reunion camping trip.
--------------------
This morning I saw families gathering over by the dog area...then we
heard a clanging bell and the kids started squealing. Trolley time!!
And judging by the gathering crowd, this is a big deal. Between Friday night movies and Saturday
morning trolley rides this campground aims to please and it is definitely going
to get good reviews on social media.
There’s also camp sponsored craft time...today is rock painting. If we were going to be around, I’d be joining
in for that. 😎
--------------------
Checkout time is 11 and we were hustling to get packed up. There’s an order to taking camp down...fold
the linens, deflate and fold the air mattress, empty the tent, and finally fold
the tent. Because of the weight
distribution issue the trailer can’t be packed until the tent is ready to go
in. It’s the heaviest of the gear so it’s
put in the front, then the air mattress behind it and then Kim packs the
remaining gear in the available space.
He was especially pleased with his packing job today....and I agree it
was amazing how everything fit just right.
Tick would have been envious. 😉
A few more things to put on the bikes and we’re ready to go. Suddenly Kim says, “I don’t know where my
wallet is. I had it stored in a wall
pocket in the tent. I hope I didn’t
leave it there.” Oh, shit!
We searched his bike before we turned to the trailer. The air mattress is my domain and I knew it
wasn’t in there so we left that alone. We
looked through the trailer thoroughly before reluctantly taking the tent
out. Neither of us wanted to undo it but
since the wallet wasn’t anywhere else, it was probably still in the tent pocket. Unbelievably it was not in the tent. Oh,
shit!!
I asked the craft ladies over by the pavilion about it...no, they hadn’t
found a wallet. Kim then walked up to
the office to see if it was turned in up there.
While he was gone, I went through everything again....every nook and
cranny on his bike, the tent, the trailer...I even felt around the air mattress.
Searched the ground between the bikes
and the tent area...even looked back where Kim had gone to relieve himself in
the bushes. Nothing. Kim came back shaking his head...it hadn’t
been turned in. Oh, shit!!
I walked one more time over to the pavilion area to check on top of the
outlets, the electrical box, the grass around it, etc. As I’m walking back looking at the strewn out
mess we’d made of our belongings, the anxiety I’d been feeling was ramping up,
turning into panic. Where could it be? We’ve checked everything at least twice. He
can’t ride without a license. He had the credit card but no money but it’s the
license that’s the issue. Oh, come on! Where could it be? Okay...okay...calm
down...think. Remember when the boys
would lose something and then come to you saying that they’d looked everywhere
they thought it could be? You’d tell them to start looking at the places they
didn’t think it could be. So where...?
Putting that into play I realized the only
place we hadn’t looked was my bike. Kim doesn’t put his stuff in my bike but I
didn’t want to leave any stone unturned and as silly as it seemed, it was also the
prudent thing to do. I’d already taken
everything out of the driver side saddle bag earlier looking for my transponder...no
wallet in that bag so I now started with the passenger side bag. Opened it and picked up Kim’s folded
vest...and found his wallet in a pocket.
Well, shit! Look what I found,
Kim! J
How it happened: The day was
getting warmer and Kim wasn’t going to wear his vest but it didn’t fit real
well in his already full saddlebags.
Mine was almost empty so we put it in there. Five minutes later when he discovered the
missing wallet both of us had already forgotten about moving the vest from his
bike to my bike. Doh!!
After all was said and done, Kim said, “The
thing I really regret is messing up my masterful packing job.” 😏
--------------------
Needless to say we didn’t make the 11 a.m. checkout time, but due to the
circumstances we weren’t charged a late checkout fee. Once the wallet was found and the trailer
repacked, we left about 12:30. Since the
speed limit at campgrounds is 5 mph we made a very slow exit. You’d have thought we were a parade by the
way small children stood by the edge of the road waving. Dads, too....dads were waving also. It was a fun way to leave. 😀
--------------------
The coastal Maine KOAs had no availability for tents or cabins for
tonight so I had to look a little farther north. First had to check the map to get a feel for
how far it was from where we were, then checked availability at the
campground...then check map again to see how far we’d have to ride tomorrow. Finally made reservations at the Naples KOA
in Naples, Maine, which is little more than halfway to our ultimate destination
of Ellsworth, ME.
--------------------
Check New Hampshire and Maine off the list...only one state left. This
coming week will be spent in states we’ve already visited so we’ll get Vermont
on the way home.👍
--------------------
Traffic wasn’t too crazy, a couple of slowdowns but nothing horrible. There was this one thing, though. We came up behind a SUV with 2 bikes on a rear
bike rack. However, the bike rack had
tilted outward and the bikes were tangled sideways and looked to be in danger
of falling off. Not good to be behind
the vehicle when that happened. So Kim
pulls alongside the vehicle to alert the driver to what’s happening on his back
bumper. Despite Kim’s best efforts, the
man wouldn’t look, wouldn’t even acknowledge that there was someone beside him
beeping his horn and gesturing to the back of his vehicle. Kim rode on muttering about what a fool the
guy was. I pulled up and also tried to
get his attention but his eyes never wavered from looking straight ahead. He rode with his bikes hanging like that for
miles. First, I hope those bikes didn’t
fall; second, I hope he felt like a real idiot when he finally saw what was
happening and realized why we were trying to get his attention. Kim said he
couldn’t believe that the man was so scared of us that he wouldn’t even glance
our way to see that we were warning him about his bikes. Now that I think of it
that took some kind of concentration not to look out the window. Don’t know that I could do that...I’d have to
see what the commotion was about.
--------------------
The ride to camp was uneventful except for the missed turn which
resulted in a very scenic back road drive.
Bonus that we stumbled across a grocery store where we picked up some
needed items.
--------------------
When we checked in there was a band playing cover songs somewhere nearby...maybe
somewhere in the campground, maybe not. We’d made a campfire and it was
nice to sit and listen to the music. At
11 p.m. it abruptly came to a halt. Then
there was just the noise of the frogs, crickets and such. Then there was the distance howl of a
coyote. That’s when it got creepy. 😧
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Saturday’s miles: 193
Total: 1,703 miles
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