Thomaston & Rockport, Maine

July 26, 2008

Our final destination at least for a couple of weeks is Thomaston, ME. Since we are staying with family, we needed a place to empty our tanks prior to parking. 

Stopped at Saltwater Farm Campground and was told that the dump fee is $35, same as the lodging fee. "Does that include two stops, since we are neighbors?"- "No, that would be $70." Figured we could check out the neighborhood campground and pass on a good recommendation but that was not the case.

Traveled up Route 1 to Rockport, ME to the lovely oceanside Megunticook Campground by the Sea where the caretaker was absolutely friendly and charged only $10 for us to utilize her station.

Forest Lake Campground, Winchester, NH

July 21, 2008

Most people here are long-term campers or their park-model is the family summer destination. Clean campground - found it in Woodall's Directory. The lady in the office was not exactly friendly "Can I help you with something?" (no smile). Perhaps we needed to call ahead in order to get a friendly greeting.
Cable is an extra $3, yet ALL you get is the couple of local channels, QVC, CNBC and a Spanish channel! That's it. We weren’t given campsites from which to choose, we were told we’d park at one particular pull through beside a yipping Pomeranian puppy on a tie-out. Doubt we will stay at Forest Lake again, but it could be a perfect stopover for some campers.

Frances Slocum State Park, Wyoming, PA

July 20, 2008

Most of the state and national state parks we've found are not very close to the interstate so it helps when decent signage is provided from the interstate. Our first attempt this day was to find Locust Lake State Park which is said to be 2 miles south of Mahanoy City, PA. Since there were no signs directing us to this park, we stopped at a gas station where they told us to turn left at the cemetery and right at the golf course but we found nothing. Like some comedian recently explained - "I can't afford to get this lost!" After 15 frustrating miles off our track, we back-tracked and decided to try Frances Slocum State Park.

This state park provides excellent signage from I-81. It offers several trails, well-paved roads and a small lake. Campsites were various sizes, wooded and either electric or not, but no water available at sites. The camp office is not within convenient walking distance from the campsites but it's a nice bike ride. A bunch of wild rabbits crossed our path.

Stony Fork State Park, Jefferson National Forest, Wytheville, VA

July 19, 2008

The Stony Fork volunteer caretaker greeted us at the gate in his golf cart. Told us to find a site and it was fine if we paid for the site the following day. $22/night for water and electric. Paved roads to gravel sites.

The campground was chockfull of Warren Jeffs runaways. Gaggles of young girls with hair down past their waists, secured neatly by 1 barrette. Long dresses and sensational smiles that could easily connote obliviousness towards modern luxuries like HBO and WIFI.

The park also had a nice spattering of wildlife. Wedged between the double metal $2 fee signs beside the dump station we discovered 2 squealing tiny baby bats, big as my thumb.

Nanabe Creek Campground, Meridian, MS

July 18, 2008

The guy who greeted us was very jovial. His 'baby-daughter' has a Bounder RV parked out here with baby kittens. It’s quiet and woodsy. Under 5 miles from Interstate 59, the campground is just far enough away to enjoy the first night without the sound of traffic.
$23 flat with tax and Good Sam discount.
Cable and WIFI included, though the signal is not very strong - laptops won’t connect from inside the trailer.
Gravel roads, level and paved sites with tidy areas and a pool.
“It is what it is,” said the weary driver. It is only 220 miles from NOLA, but we got a late start due to a comedy of errors.

Escape the Heat, Version 4.0 - 2008

In preparation to depart New Orleans for Maine, we discovered that our 3+ year old RV's refrigerator was not working. It showed an "N" fault code which we looked up and found a website that described the repair, but at the time it would not show the photo of the electrical innards of the fridge.
Next morning, brought the trailer to our only local RV service location: Bent's Rendezvous RV on Airline Highway in Kenner, LA.

Showed up bright and early at 7:55 a.m. hoping to get someone to help us with a quick fix. The gentleman who was there asked if I had an appointment. I was thinking – ‘Sorry, I didn’t plan on my refrigerator not working the day of our departure.’ I said “No,” and asked if someone could take a look at it and I was informed that the service manager would have to make that decision and he would be arriving at any moment. At 8:20, the service manager had not arrived. As the other service technicians rolled in, they informed me that they would not have time because I did not have an appointment. No one seemed to be in any hurry to get to work but they certainly didn’t have time for me.

Next we decided to call a service station on our route. Contacted Paw Paw’s Camper City in Picayune, MS. I described the problem and the solution. The guy said “Yea, we got a guy who does that. Come on by.” They fixed our fridge promptly, showed us how to take care of the problem in the future – all within an hour of our arrival, for a reasonable fee. The technician was informative and entertaining.

P.S. Don't leave your refrigerator on while it is covered for storage...