The End of Another Camping Season

We're now home from our latest trailer weekend, and the last for 2009.

It wasn't pretty.

The campground was a huge mudhole thanks to non-stop rain Friday and Saturday. Not only was it wet, it was cold. Thank god we have a trailer: we stayed in a great deal, enjoying the civilizing effects of a working furnace.

The leaves were changing colour, but the heavy overcast skies made even the brightest trees dingy and grey. I took a few photos (below) during occasional breaks but I suspect the real show will be next weekend with sunny skies and more trees in transition.

In all there, were about 30 people in the entire campground. The population drops off sharply after Labour Day but I suspect the weather also kept a lot of folks away. The next weekend will be a bigger draw as it is the annual halloween bash; we'd like to attend but have no end of scheduling conflicts preventing that.

One of the highlights Saturday was the annual chili cook-off. There were seven entries, including kent4str's contribution. Awards were given for hottest, most original, sweetest, best overall, etc.. kent4str's chili was tied with another for spiciest, which is evidence enough to me that people were voting to support their friends rather than honestly evaluating the chili: kent4str's contribution was the only hot chili in the lot. Indeed, submissions #5, #6 and #7 were utterly bland. I cannot fathom how #5 could be deemed to be a tie with kent4str's. Ah, well... there were no prizes in this contest beyond a certificate and it was fun to sample all the entries --as well as not have to clean-up our own kitchen.

As previously mentioned, we chose this weekend to winterize the trailer to close the season. All linens, paper products, foods & liquids and such were packed and brought home. All appliances were cleaned and powered down. The propane tanks were closed off and the battery removed. The water system was flushed with non-toxic antifreeze. The water & electrical feeds to the trailer were disconnected and wrapped in protective bags. The trailer itself was entirely wrapped in cover to protect it from the the worst of UV radiation, snow, hail and generally ugly weather.

The folks with trailers at Roseland will be invited to a reunion weekend in early February although the announcement of which city we will be visiting is to be announced next weekend. (The odds are in favour of Pittsburgh, PA.)

The camping season reopens the first weekend of April, 2010. I'm looking forward to it already!

( Click for photos... )

The End of Another Camping Season

We're now home from our latest trailer weekend, and the last for 2009.

It wasn't pretty.

The campground was a huge mudhole thanks to non-stop rain Friday and Saturday. Not only was it wet, it was cold. Thank god we have a trailer: we stayed in a great deal, enjoying the civilizing effects of a working furnace.

The leaves were changing colour, but the heavy overcast skies made even the brightest trees dingy and grey. I took a few photos (below) during occasional breaks but I suspect the real show will be next weekend with sunny skies and more trees in transition.

In all there, were about 30 people in the entire campground. The population drops off sharply after Labour Day but I suspect the weather also kept a lot of folks away. The next weekend will be a bigger draw as it is the annual halloween bash; we'd like to attend but have no end of scheduling conflicts preventing that.

One of the highlights Saturday was the annual chili cook-off. There were seven entries, including kent4str's contribution. Awards were given for hottest, most original, sweetest, best overall, etc.. kent4str's chili was tied with another for spiciest, which is evidence enough to me that people were voting to support their friends rather than honestly evaluating the chili: kent4str's contribution was the only hot chili in the lot. Indeed, submissions #5, #6 and #7 were utterly bland. I cannot fathom how #5 could be deemed to be a tie with kent4str's. Ah, well... there were no prizes in this contest beyond a certificate and it was fun to sample all the entries --as well as not have to clean-up our own kitchen.

As previously mentioned, we chose this weekend to winterize the trailer to close the season. All linens, paper products, foods & liquids and such were packed and brought home. All appliances were cleaned and powered down. The propane tanks were closed off and the battery removed. The water system was flushed with non-toxic antifreeze. The water & electrical feeds to the trailer were disconnected and wrapped in protective bags. The trailer itself was entirely wrapped in cover to protect it from the the worst of UV radiation, snow, hail and generally ugly weather.

The folks with trailers at Roseland will be invited to a reunion weekend in early February although the announcement of which city we will be visiting is to be announced next weekend. (The odds are in favour of Pittsburgh, PA.)

The camping season reopens the first weekend of April, 2010. I'm looking forward to it already!

( Click for photos... )