Sunday, May 30, 2010

Camping at Pec

2010 May Rocky Roller Outing-Pecatonica_0399

Last week was our monthly Good Sam Club campout. The campground is small, only 50 sites. About half have electricity. The inside of the loop are the premium sites this time of year as there are fewer bugs. Spaces are about 40’ wide and can accommodate tow or towed vehicles. The outside of the loop is adjacent to the woods where the bugs live. Every site has at least some shade which is nice.

We arrived on Thursday around noon. Several of our group were already here. We got one of the prime inside electric sites. We had 9 rigs here. One was a new member with a a new rig. The “rigs” vary in size from a van camper to 39’ motorhome; 18’ pull-behind trailer to 36’ fifth wheel pulled by a freightliner. The rigs range from 1978 to new. The campers are from 40-ish to mid-80s. Kids and grandchildren often tag along.

Our campout weekends include an ice cream run to the local ice cream shop, Friday fish fry, Saturday potluck and meeting, Sunday morning breakfast (usually continental style). Various games are available if you so choose. Ladder ball is popular in the afternoon and cards in the evening before the campfire. Various side trips may include a run to the local Wi-Fi hotspot, shopping, or local point of interest.

The days of the HUGE campfire are over. The Emerald Ash Borer has put an end to that. You can’t bring firewood from home (except scrap lumber). Firewood must be purchased on-site usually $5-10 per bundle and of course harvesting your own in the woods if frowned upon.

Almost everyone in our group has a pets. One, two even three dogs; Chihuahuas to a Golden Retriever and even a Cockatiel.

We have a very loud neighbor. A Catbird. He (she) begins his repertoire when there is an inkling of light. In late May that is about 4 a.m. His haunt is the bush behind our motorhome, very near the bedroom. He continues all day until dark. What a busy guy.

We decided to leave the motorhome at the campground for three days as we were going back on the following Wednesday for Memorial Day weekend. This cost us only $8 per night, saving us the cost of gas driving back and forth. The problem is we had to remove all the perishable food, clothing to be washed and a ton of other stuff that we did not want to leave. Of course we needed to restock not only the perishable items but also the dry goods almost more trouble than it was worth.

This weekend there were five from our group there. The mosquitoes were just horrible. I am convinced that they were immune to repellant wipes, sprays, candles and mosquito coils. We did use our screen room a lot, until we sold it. Long story not worth telling really.

A couple of us had hummingbird feeders out and they would come by all day long. At the campfire they would come to the feeder while we were all sitting right there. So several of us got our cameras out. It’s really hard to snap a clear picture of a humming bird, at lease for adults to snap a picture. One couple brought their granddaughter with for the weekend and guess who got the good pictures. Here are a couple of pictures I took. One at our campsite and one at the campfire.

2010 Memorial Day Weekend b_0440

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