It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, as Mr. Rogers used to say. And the neighborhood is Elk Rock State Park on the south edge of Lake Red Rock. We are the only people in the non-equestrian campground so one would think it would be easy to find one's spot. Not so.
We came down highway 14 and crossed a long bridge over the lake. Almost immediately, we spotted a sign indicating the road to the park on our left. Too late, as we turned, we realized the road was closed and blocked with a gate. Normally this isn't a big deal. But pulling a 30-foot trailer, it is.
Larry and Frannie ran into this dilemma in The Blue Coyote but on a country road where there was no traffic. Besides, I can tell you for certain that it is easier to turn a trailer around on paper than on a busy highway.
As we were scratching our heads, trying to determine the best solution, a DNR pickup pulled up on the other side of the gate. We explained that we were lured down this road by the sign. The DNR guy assured us that there was a correct turn a little farther down the road and that they planned to removed the sign for the faux entrance. Good idea. My thought was maybe they could throw a pillow case over it until that chore was accomplished. Whatever.
However, Mr. School Bus Driver was able to back the trailer up onto the left shoulder, enough to pull back out on the highway with Ken and Harriet watching for traffic and flashing their emergency lights. It is harder to back up a trailer than a bus, but on the other hand there were not 50 screaming kids riding with him--only me and I was pretty quiet.
So we finally found the real entrance and headed into the campground. But although there are a plethora of signs for the entrance, there is a definite shortage in the campground. There are no signs on the loops indicating which sites are where. Part of the reason is construction of a new shower house (not operational yet, by the way) and destruction of the old one (also not operational of course). So the only shower house available is in the equestrian campground a half mile away. We aren't sure yet whether we have to share the shower stalls with Mr. Ed or not.
And in this park, the posts indicating the campsite numbers are placed right on the edge of the next parking pad. I mean, RIGHT ON THE EDGE. So first you'd better realize that when you finally find your site number, it's not the one the post is by but the NEXT one. Then when you back into your site, you have to be VERY careful not to take off the trailer siding or the truck side mirrors on the post for the NEXT site. Crazy.
Our sites were described online as having a 'slight' slope. I think we have a different idea of slight than the DNR. And the lack of much gravel on the parking pads means that level boards tend to sink in the soft ground. We are hoping that after the November election, the governor won't need that surplus as a campaign strategy and restore funding to the parks.
The good news? It wasn't raining and the gnats weren't too bad. Cicadas are another story. But we were shortly ensconced in our lawn chairs and later enjoyed a delightful supper and nice fire. You will also be glad to know that we solved all of the political problems in the country around the fire.
We came down highway 14 and crossed a long bridge over the lake. Almost immediately, we spotted a sign indicating the road to the park on our left. Too late, as we turned, we realized the road was closed and blocked with a gate. Normally this isn't a big deal. But pulling a 30-foot trailer, it is.
Larry and Frannie ran into this dilemma in The Blue Coyote but on a country road where there was no traffic. Besides, I can tell you for certain that it is easier to turn a trailer around on paper than on a busy highway.
As we were scratching our heads, trying to determine the best solution, a DNR pickup pulled up on the other side of the gate. We explained that we were lured down this road by the sign. The DNR guy assured us that there was a correct turn a little farther down the road and that they planned to removed the sign for the faux entrance. Good idea. My thought was maybe they could throw a pillow case over it until that chore was accomplished. Whatever.
However, Mr. School Bus Driver was able to back the trailer up onto the left shoulder, enough to pull back out on the highway with Ken and Harriet watching for traffic and flashing their emergency lights. It is harder to back up a trailer than a bus, but on the other hand there were not 50 screaming kids riding with him--only me and I was pretty quiet.
So we finally found the real entrance and headed into the campground. But although there are a plethora of signs for the entrance, there is a definite shortage in the campground. There are no signs on the loops indicating which sites are where. Part of the reason is construction of a new shower house (not operational yet, by the way) and destruction of the old one (also not operational of course). So the only shower house available is in the equestrian campground a half mile away. We aren't sure yet whether we have to share the shower stalls with Mr. Ed or not.
And in this park, the posts indicating the campsite numbers are placed right on the edge of the next parking pad. I mean, RIGHT ON THE EDGE. So first you'd better realize that when you finally find your site number, it's not the one the post is by but the NEXT one. Then when you back into your site, you have to be VERY careful not to take off the trailer siding or the truck side mirrors on the post for the NEXT site. Crazy.
Our sites were described online as having a 'slight' slope. I think we have a different idea of slight than the DNR. And the lack of much gravel on the parking pads means that level boards tend to sink in the soft ground. We are hoping that after the November election, the governor won't need that surplus as a campaign strategy and restore funding to the parks.
The good news? It wasn't raining and the gnats weren't too bad. Cicadas are another story. But we were shortly ensconced in our lawn chairs and later enjoyed a delightful supper and nice fire. You will also be glad to know that we solved all of the political problems in the country around the fire.
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