I took the family camping this last weekend. It was supposed to be the first camping trip of the summer. And it was...if one ignores the snow and overnight freezing temperatures. Of course the CFO did NOT ignore the cold. She didn't like it at all. But she made it through.
Our camper's AC/Heater unit did put out heat, if barely. The 5000 BTU unit had been made to just take the chill out of the morning air, not actually defrost five frozen human beings and one dog. It did keep things from freezing, so there was that. We decided we would bring an actual space heater for any future spring or fall camp-outs.
(Now look - before you go poking fun at me, yes, I have camped out in a tent in the cold with both the Boy Scouts of America and the US Army. I've seen it snow INSIDE my tent as my warm breath rose, cooled, froze, and then fell back on my face. Been there. Done that. Got the polar bear patch. But, I'm paying my own fare now. I don't have to skip the heat just to prove to some jack-wagon who signed up sooner than I did that I can suffer as much as he did when it was his turn...OK moving on...)
This was the first weekend that Meramec State Park campground was open. The electricity was turned on, and there was one working water spigot for the whole camp. While recent river flooding had left several dump truck's worth mud covering the park roads, all surfaces had been scraped and washed clean. There were some uprooted trees that had floated on the floodwaters into the camp and were left lodged precariously 30 feet overhead in the branches. That was not something to camp under, and the park management had cordoned off those sites. Over the previous week, MO State Park employees had been hard at work repairing the damage. Most of the electrical boxes were repaired, and all the picnic tables were still chained to their concrete pads. New grass had even been planted around the shower house. The camp site water was lacking, but the system hadn't been certified clean yet.
(This brings up a good point: April 1st is when MO promises to have all the amenities turned on, not before. So if you pay for a full-hook-up site for March 15th, and nothing is on, you just paid top dollar for a tent site...sorry...And if you reserve a campsite during flood season, don't be surprised if you can't camp at all.)
One of the benefits of going camping this early in the season was the limited number of people at camp. A campground with about 200 sites feels very roomy when there are just a few campers. The ones who came and camped were like us, serious campers testing out this season's equipment to ensure it works as desired. Two of our weekend neighbors had just bought new campers. For us, it was seeing how well our new 2016 Chevrolet Traverse LTZ (yeah baby!) towed the camper. Even the campsite host was testing equipment: after the flooding he was testing and repairing every single one of the electrical boxes. These folks were wonderful neighbors.
There always seems to be somebody who comes to camp just to cause a ruckus. This weekend that was the 50, or so, college kids who thought that it would be a good idea to try to take the group campsite away from the Boy Scout troop already encamped there. If you happen to be one of the hooligans who came down to camp expecting to party hardy over Spring Break WITHOUT paying for a campsite, I have no sympathy for you. Getting lippy with the camp host (not even a Park Ranger) about the lack of water at your campsite gains you no friends. Leaving your trash behind for the host to pick up shows your juvenile arrested development. All you did was frustrate the camp host who was a retired sailor who was actually trying to get the campground back in working order. Have you ever cleaned up after a flood? Try it sometime. I'm a Guardsman. I know. I've been there. Done that. If you are one of the hooligans' parents, shame on you for not instilling better manners in your children. Now the world has to suffer with more child-adults who can't cope with real life.
Our new Traverse worked very well for towing our 1999 Viking pop up camper. The Traverse even has a stabilizing system in it to help take the shakes out of towing, giving it a nice smooth feeling when towing. But, the Traverse was a bit susceptible to having its tail lifted up as the trailer bounced up and down. Having driven an Envoy before, getting my butt lifted occasionally was a bit of a surprise. Another down-tick on the Traverse are the moving mirrors. The mirrors aim at the rear tires when backing, "Park Tilt Mirrors". This is likely handy for backing into a parking spot, but it gave me sea-sickness when backing the trailer. Not fun. I'm turning that option off as soon as I can figure out how. An enjoyable surprise was that the Traverse appeared to get BETTER gas mileage while towing than when slick. The Envoy dropped to a terrible 10 mpg average, but the Traverse seemed to rise up to an over 25 mpg average. I can't explain it. I'm not sure I can repeat it, but I liked it. And I'm hoping for good things on the next trip too.
This is our third season with a pop-up camper. By now, everyone knew their job, and packing was a breeze. The CFO had everyone packed by the time I got home on Friday. I hitched up and the boys stowed gear. We were away from the house within an hour's time. We had some McDs on the way through St Clair, and we pulled into the campsite, just as the sun went down.
Saturday was a beautiful day. We started it with Mickey Mouse style eggs in a basket, bacon, sausage, and OJ. From there we took a walk through the campsite, saying hello to our weekend neighbors. The host was an old SeaBee who could blacksmith, blow glass, and rewire just about anything. One set of neighbors had just impulse-purchased a like-new 2008 JayCo pop-up camper. GOOD PURCHASE. The next set of neighbors was a cav scout (11th AACR) family with strong ties to Germany and had seen the Wall come down. They had just purchased a fixer-upper Class A RV. Nice family. Dog lovers. Polite teens who'd look you in the eye when they spoke. Good raising. The RV came with 47 states filled in on the rear-side map. I hope they fill in that North Dakota spot real soon. The BSA Scout troop made a parade-like convoy when entering and exiting the camp. They drove slowly and waved at my boys as they went by. Nice folks. We finished the afternoon with a hike along the half-mile nature trail. It was a nice trail with a short detour to a nearby open cave. We photographed what I think is a Little Missouri Brown Bat. Could be an Indiana Bat, but he didn't have any State registration papers on him. By then the sky had gone overcast, the temperature dropped, and my back was starting to tire out.
We started our Dutch oven for jambalaya and a campfire for s'mores. The CFO doesn't like shrimp and isn't much for sausage. BUT when it's cold enough she loves jambalaya, shrimp and all. We don't do ours terribly spicy, since our oldest son doesn't like that too much. But it was hot enough to warm us up, and we did have a 5-nose sniffle chorus while eating. We threw on all three packets of fire wood to roast s'mores, but the temperature dropped too much and everyone was soon inside the camper. Overnight, it dipped below freezing, and early on Sunday morning, I found myself walking through sleet and snow to get to the latrine. The dog, being from Labrador, thought the weather was great. (By the way Labrador is a real place, in Canada. At one point it was its own separate dominion. Kind of like Texas. This place is the only place the German Nazis ever made an armed incursion in North America, installing an automated weather station. Wikipedia has a whole page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador. )
Sunday morning, my oldest and I cooked cinnamon rolls in the Dutch oven, while the others stayed inside. The lack of a good space heater took its toll on group morale, and everyone returned to their sleeping bags after breakfast. The morning saw larger and larger snow flakes and the cold continued. I gave up hoping for sunlight at 11 am. We dropped canvas wet and packed up. The trailer can dry at home.
Campground
Loops
There are three main sections to the camp. We've decided that we like the far left side of the camp best. But if you are a tent camper, then you would probably like the middle section best. And if you have a big diesel RV, you'll probably want the middle or right side.
Shower Houses & Latrines
The shower houses were closed in the pre-season. There was one vault toilet (aka latrine) open. It was spotlessly clean, but smelly (it's a latrine). Regular camping season starts April 1st.
Playgrounds
There was one playground. There was also a big open field for football and baseball.
Trails
There is a short half-mile nature trail near the camp. We took it this time. The trail leads to a small overhang cave, which contained live bats (don't touch...rabies, protected species, etc.) Early spring is a great time to see the small and delicate Ozark wild flowers. It is also a good time to go hiking without all the undergrowth. The trail leads around, up. and over the hill over the main Fisher Cave entrance.
Campsites
Terrain
The main section of the campground is very level, and has good asphalt road between the sites. The area is well mowed providing nice areas between the sites. This is probably the best tent-camper state park near St Louis.
Be aware of the Centennial Tree which hangs over the main road. More than one RV has lost AC or a dish to this low hanging monster.
Pad Space
The pads are generally all of a good length, and are pretty level. The pads are just pads; they don't cover the campsite. There are a few handicap campsites with wide pads big enough to hold the pinic table and the fire pit.
Amenities
Each campsite comes with one picnic table (chained down), one fire pit, and one lantern pole. The pits and poles have likely been in service since the late 80s, but are in good repair. You can pay for electric hook-ups, water hook-ups, and sewer hook-ups, depending on the size of your camper and the type of site you want to rent.
Camp Staff
Check-in Hosts
There were no check-in hosts this time. The MO State Park employee, handyman extraordinaire, was the camp check-in and loop host. The gentleman was knowledgeable and friendly. Between rewiring the electrical boxes, he frequently checked on us, and was disappointed when the weekend campers began to leave. He was hoping we'd stay an extra night.
Campsite Hosts
There were no campsite hosts during the spring pre-season.
Rangers
We had no interaction with any Rangers.
Programs
The camp offers cave tours during a limited summer season, and nightly amphitheater programs. These weren't offered during the spring pre-season.
No comments:
Post a Comment