Why campgrounds have gates.
Recently I traveled out to Michigan from NJ. In Ohio we stopped for the night. The next morning I was getting stuff put away for the trip when a Class A pulled up, stopped and just sat there in the st...
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On the other side, I hang my head in shame. I was that guy. Who overstayed. This season :(
PA's state park reservations used to list the dates by the nights you have reserved. So Thursday being listed on your reservation means you reserved Thursday night and out by Friday 3pm (3pm checkin/checkout)
Now it says "checkout day" or something similar that I apparently did NOT read carefully and overstayed.
We had started packing up, preparing to leave early the next am so a weekend reservation could arrive early, as we like to do. It would also let us get on the road for the long drive home earlier.
But instead, as we were eating our late afternoon meal, the next family stopped in front of our site (at the water spigot), which we assumed was to fill their fresh water tank, as we all do on the way in.
After a few mins, the wife came over with her reservation and asked, "Is this site xyz?" I said yes. She said, "I think we are reserved here" or something very politely to that effect.
I was horrified that we had done this to some other family coming in for the weekend. I apologized and explained that I thought we were actually reserved that night but had started getting ready and if they could give us 15 mins, we'd be ready to go.
Her reaction? She apologized to us for interrupting our meal and said, "It's no problem, we'll take a drive around the park for 15 minutes" or words to that effect.
We threw things into "turbo packing mode" but still took 20-30 mins. This includes the time we took to make sure the site was spotless and well groomed for the next family. We also left a nice amount of neatly stacked firewood and picked up stuff left by some previous campers.
As we pulled out, I stopped and spoke with the husband and apologized to him as well, telling him we left a nice stack of firewood and their campfires were on us this weekend.
We wished each other well and both went on our way.
100% MY fault. Yet I was greeted with the same politeness we try to show every camper. It was really embarrassing, but that is one peek into how it looks on the "offender's" side (or at least this one) ;)
We always try to show kindness to others. I can tell you from experience that it is very much appreciated when you receive it.
So here is a general thank you to all campers who show kindness to their neighbors :)
PA's state park reservations used to list the dates by the nights you have reserved. So Thursday being listed on your reservation means you reserved Thursday night and out by Friday 3pm (3pm checkin/checkout)
Now it says "checkout day" or something similar that I apparently did NOT read carefully and overstayed.
We had started packing up, preparing to leave early the next am so a weekend reservation could arrive early, as we like to do. It would also let us get on the road for the long drive home earlier.
But instead, as we were eating our late afternoon meal, the next family stopped in front of our site (at the water spigot), which we assumed was to fill their fresh water tank, as we all do on the way in.
After a few mins, the wife came over with her reservation and asked, "Is this site xyz?" I said yes. She said, "I think we are reserved here" or something very politely to that effect.
I was horrified that we had done this to some other family coming in for the weekend. I apologized and explained that I thought we were actually reserved that night but had started getting ready and if they could give us 15 mins, we'd be ready to go.
Her reaction? She apologized to us for interrupting our meal and said, "It's no problem, we'll take a drive around the park for 15 minutes" or words to that effect.
We threw things into "turbo packing mode" but still took 20-30 mins. This includes the time we took to make sure the site was spotless and well groomed for the next family. We also left a nice amount of neatly stacked firewood and picked up stuff left by some previous campers.
As we pulled out, I stopped and spoke with the husband and apologized to him as well, telling him we left a nice stack of firewood and their campfires were on us this weekend.
We wished each other well and both went on our way.
100% MY fault. Yet I was greeted with the same politeness we try to show every camper. It was really embarrassing, but that is one peek into how it looks on the "offender's" side (or at least this one) ;)
We always try to show kindness to others. I can tell you from experience that it is very much appreciated when you receive it.
So here is a general thank you to all campers who show kindness to their neighbors :)
