Weekend At the Trailer

We enjoyed yet another long weekend at the trailer. I could use more of these.

The three of us left DC on Friday morning, pausing in Kensington, MD, to pick up Sean to carpool together to West Virginia. The weather was a little rainy but not heavily so and traffic was lighter than we were expecting. By late afternoon, we were there and the relaxing began in earnest.

jearbear65oh and David joined us later on Friday night but we enjoyed the quiet time until then. :-)

Many photos were taken... click here for the lot.

I'm delighted to report that the campground was quieter than usual. The past few visits have been somewhat spoiled by exceedingly loud outdoor patio music from the cabana deck, pool area and the rec hall. This time, the volume was reduced by a third, a happy compromise from our perspective.

I had only two whiny observations from this weekend: we had far too much food --wow, did we stuff ourselves!-- and the skies were clear. Why am I complaining about clear skies? I had decided to not bring my telescope since we were told to expect cloudy, overcast and rainy evenings. Instead, we had three consecutive crystal-clear nights with stellar brilliance the likes of which I haven't seen in years. Damn the missed opportunities! Ah, well... the Sunday night open lecture at the observatory was fun: I hope to attend more.

Per usual, we didn't especially want to return Monday. One of these seasons, we should plan to stay for an entire week.

On the maintenance side, while dinner was cooking, we accidentally drained the bbq's propane tank. Oops. We swapped it out with one of the trailer's large tanks so dinner was cooked but we discovered later that we had no hot water: the remaining trailer tank was also empty. Doh! We made a quick trip into New Martinsville, WV, to swap the smaller bbq tank; we'll deal with the trailer tanks next time we're at the trailer.

There's also a recall notice circulating about the Dometic refrigerator models installed in many trailers. Apparently, there's an explosion hazard if the fridges run in propane mode rather than electrical mode. That would suck bilge water, should that happen. The campground management is collecting a list of all trailers so a local maintenance company can pre-order the parts kits and install them in a single day-long visit. We are on the list, and running our fridge on electricity mode only until then.

Our lease agreement for the 2009 camping season has also been submitted. By paying before the end of September, we get a one month discount. Including our discount, we're paying $1,643 for the seven month 2009 season, not including electricity, black water pump-outs or custom services.

I'm not sure when I'll be back next. kent4str and cuyahogarvr could go back in a couple of weekends but I'm booked at the office that weekend for our disaster recovery exercise. Beyond that, our next likely weekend is the end-of-season closing Oct 31 & Nov 1-2.

Weekend At the Trailer

We enjoyed yet another long weekend at the trailer. I could use more of these.

The three of us left DC on Friday morning, pausing in Kensington, MD, to pick up Sean to carpool together to West Virginia. The weather was a little rainy but not heavily so and traffic was lighter than we were expecting. By late afternoon, we were there and the relaxing began in earnest.

jearbear65oh and David joined us later on Friday night but we enjoyed the quiet time until then. :-)

Many photos were taken... click here for the lot.

I'm delighted to report that the campground was quieter than usual. The past few visits have been somewhat spoiled by exceedingly loud outdoor patio music from the cabana deck, pool area and the rec hall. This time, the volume was reduced by a third, a happy compromise from our perspective.

I had only two whiny observations from this weekend: we had far too much food --wow, did we stuff ourselves!-- and the skies were clear. Why am I complaining about clear skies? I had decided to not bring my telescope since we were told to expect cloudy, overcast and rainy evenings. Instead, we had three consecutive crystal-clear nights with stellar brilliance the likes of which I haven't seen in years. Damn the missed opportunities! Ah, well... the Sunday night open lecture at the observatory was fun: I hope to attend more.

Per usual, we didn't especially want to return Monday. One of these seasons, we should plan to stay for an entire week.

On the maintenance side, while dinner was cooking, we accidentally drained the bbq's propane tank. Oops. We swapped it out with one of the trailer's large tanks so dinner was cooked but we discovered later that we had no hot water: the remaining trailer tank was also empty. Doh! We made a quick trip into New Martinsville, WV, to swap the smaller bbq tank; we'll deal with the trailer tanks next time we're at the trailer.

There's also a recall notice circulating about the Dometic refrigerator models installed in many trailers. Apparently, there's an explosion hazard if the fridges run in propane mode rather than electrical mode. That would suck bilge water, should that happen. The campground management is collecting a list of all trailers so a local maintenance company can pre-order the parts kits and install them in a single day-long visit. We are on the list, and running our fridge on electricity mode only until then.

Our lease agreement for the 2009 camping season has also been submitted. By paying before the end of September, we get a one month discount. Including our discount, we're paying $1,643 for the seven month 2009 season, not including electricity, black water pump-outs or custom services.

I'm not sure when I'll be back next. kent4str and cuyahogarvr could go back in a couple of weekends but I'm booked at the office that weekend for our disaster recovery exercise. Beyond that, our next likely weekend is the end-of-season closing Oct 31 & Nov 1-2.