Bear Creek Campground - Day 2

With temps remaining in the 90's during the day, cousin Kathy, Tom and grandson, Logan, arrived and set themselves up in Tipi 4. Logan is up from North Carolina and staying with Tom and Kathy for the summer. After their day at the theme park next door, Tom and Kathy's daughter, Lisa, arrived to spend the night in Tipi 3 with her children, Elena, Erin, Jenna, and Reid. So, Logan got to be with his cousins. 

The best scenario for nine people was to travel to nearby Southington for dinner. Based on what would most likely be enjoyed by most, they settled on Noble Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse (their choice) and a good time was had by all.

Reid

Elena and Jenna in
background

For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was quite full with three tables in operation. We had to wait our turn for the hibachi chef and he turned out to be quite entertaining. Huge portions were prepared for each and yours truly couldn't resist the Valentine Roll. I should have gone with the hibachi dinner which would have provided me another couple of meals. A couple of the kids didn't finish and fortunately Lisa was able to make a detour home to get the leftovers refrigerated before returning to the campground.

A selfie with Logan and
Grandma Kathy

Erin

Logan and Grandpa Tom

Not to be discouraged by the heat of the day and the fullness of bellies, believe it or not, grandma and grandpa had the fixin's for S'Mores complete with a fire before bedtime. Good job, Grandma and Grandpa. Although the high temperature around my campsite (in the sun) reached 122°, the night time temps dropped down to a low of 66° and made our overnight tipi and RV experiences comfortable. I opened the roof vent, turned off  the AC (finally) and slept comfortably with just a fan. 

How many gallons of fuel?
Bluetooth entertainment center?
What are the tank capacities?
What are these switches for?
How do the steps and awning retract?
Does that light have a sensor?
These leather seats are really soft.

As you would expect, my new visitors came and got the tour of Winnie and thus were 'forced' to pose. As daughter, Marybeth noted, I'm "still lining up victims against that wall." The award for most questions asked about my RV goes to Reid and Logan. I felt I could've been a Winnebago salesman. These two inquisitive youngsters were ready to buy on the spot. Click the tab at the top of this page for the additions to my "Wall of Fame." It's really gratifying to see it grow. I've spilled over onto the side slide-out and eager to have it expand. As of today, there are 91 photos. Is yours there? If not, come and visit me. I'll be camped at Croton Point Park from July 29th until August 8th. Here are my new additions.

Tom & Cousin Kathy
Southington, CT

Lisa, Reid, Erin & Elena
We're missing Jenna
Southington, CT

Elena, Logan & Reid
Logan lives in North Carolina

Bear Creek Campground 07/25 --> 07/29/2016

60 miles - 1 hour from Cross River, NY

BEAR CREEK CAMPGROUND, BRISTOL, CT
(Click link above for details)

Tom, Kathy, and Logan are in TIPI #4 and I'm across Boulder Way in RV #3

After a two week hiatus, I'm once again on the road. A little over an hour and about 60 miles brought me to a relatively new (2014) campground at Lake Compounce called Bear Creek.  I had to look up the derivation of that unusual name and found the fascinating history that goes with it:

"The lake's name is derived from Chief John Compound, a Mattatuck/Tunxis Native American. On December 3, 1684, his wife and several tribal members affixed their waxed fingertip marks to a deed that conveyed the "Compound's Lake" to a group of white settlers, including John Norton, who had migrated to central Connecticut from Massachusetts, for pennies on the dollar and miscellaneous trinkets, including a large brass tea kettle. Legend has it that Chief Compound drowned while trying to cross the lake in a large brass tea kettle."  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

When I arrived at 1:20 pm, the temperature had reached 95°. The radar at 3:25 pm foretold of some nasty weather but the ominous message proved to be just a few showers and passed on. We certainly need the rain and, you guessed it, the pitter patter of rain on my fiberglass roof is always welcomed. As I write this it's 8:15 pm, the sky is yellow and I'm guessing that'll be it for the night.

I was made aware of this campground by my cousin, Kathy, and hubby, Tom. They live in nearby Southington, CT, about a mile from this theme park/RV campground. They expressed a desire to see my RV and this campground was located conveniently close by. They and grandson, Logan will join me and spend Tuesday night in a tipi across the road.

Deluxe Tipi

• 4 cots (up to 5 cots available) • Electricity hook up • Mini fridge • Close parking available • Structure placed on wood flooring • Close access to new and clean bathrooms and showers • Parking for two vehicles  Weekday Price (Monday-Thursday Night)   $74.00/night Weekend Price (Friday-Sunday Night)   $89.00/night

RV Sites

• Electric hook up with 50/30/20 AMP capabilities • Water hook up  • Cable hook up • Can accommodate any size RV • Leashed pets welcome • We offer a dump station on site free of charge to campers at Bear Creek • Close access to new and clean bathrooms and showers • Parking for two vehicles Weekday Price (Monday-Thursday Night)   $45.00/night Weekend Price (Friday-Sunday Night)   $60.00/night

Curious, I took a walk over to one of tipis and forwarded some photos for them as a head's up. 

Now, as you know, I'm height deprived 
and that opening would require me
on hands and knees to crawl inside.

30" at most.

Yes! There's electricity.
A mini-fridge and a vertical fan
or heater is provided.

Inside, deceivingly spacious. Tall
Tom will not have to bend.

I'm sure they'll pull that 2nd cot out
as well as request a third one

No way was I crawling in so I just stuck the iPhone
in a shot straight up...a make believe selfie.

An aerial view of the campground shows the lack of trees and shade. You can see the young saplings on each site. It'll be another 10-20 years before they provide shade. There are no septic fields so digging for underground electricity and water lines would have been the only reason to remove trees and other plants.

The End of Day One with more to come.

Croton Point RV Park 06/24 --> 07/08/2016

As I begin my second and final week here at Croton Point's RV park, there have been so many things to write about. On this 4th of July weekend, I thought I'd better get to it before I forget it all and capture all the memories. For most folks, these recollections are not noteworthy and won't mean much.  Dinners, new friends, new RV's, future travel plans, the day of compliance with new park rules and regs, visitations, tornado warnings, and outside activities for me. Seems I've been very busy.

Tricia & Craig

Vicki & George

First and foremost has been my continuing friendships with fellow RVers Craig & Trish, Ray & Kathy, and Vicki & George.

Kathy & Ray

Big news here is the new Allegro by Tiffen recently purchased by V&G in MS and worked on in Red Bay, AL. That saga is available on Vicki's blog, Click Here. Morning coffees with Ray came to an end Friday when both C&T and R&K took off to continue their planned itineraries. C&T are traveling to Long Island then returning here to CPP before taking off out west. R&K traveled to a Finger Lakes wedding then on to Rochester to visit family.

Karen & Warren

Tommy

My continuing friendships with some of the long term bridge and pipeline workers who also live here have been lots of fun and most informative. Jimmy, Danny, and Carl are working on the Tappan Zee Bridge and Warren and wife, Karen and Tommy are Pipeliners. Their work, their experiences, their lives are amazing, and informative; and many times hilarious. One evening I had my neighbor from the River House, Jack, down for a visit.

Jack 

He brought dinner, delicious as usual. By the time the evening had ended my "neighbors" had all decided to stop by, visit, and chat.....a total of 14 people standing around my site: Me, Jack, Ray, Kathy, Vicki, George, Trish, Craig, Tommy, Warren, Karen, Jimmy, Carl, and Todd who is also a pipeliner. Fortunately, seating wasn't a problem because the crane operators on the bridge and the excavator operators on the pipeline sit all day on their 10-12 hour shifts and didn't need to sit.

Jimmy

Craig

George

Jimmy & Carl

Vicki & Jack talking recipes 

The boys

Karen

Tricia

Warren

Ray Kathy & Karen

Warren & Tommy

So far, on two occasions, I've had the pleasure of dining with friends, Dina, at Samurai and Vicki, at Sakura which took care of my sushi fix. I'm in the process of making plans for another dinner this week with friends Oscar, Maryellen, Vicki and George.

Dina

Vicki

The big news has been the introduction of new, printed rules and regulations from the County regarding the RV campground. On June 1st, four pages, front and back, with 54 paragraphs detailing what can and cannot be here on the campground were distributed to all campers and July 1st was to be the date of compliance. A lot of folks were up in arms about interpretations and comments about going "too far" with stipulations. All agree, however, that the overall plan to "clean up" some of the long term sites and not have it look like a "trailer park" is a worthy endeavor. How successful they'll be remains to be seen

The weather presented us with some excitement with the issuing of a tornado warning for most of Westchester County. Heavy rains came and lasted into the evening hours but we were spared the gusty winds.   

Saturday and Tuesday afternoons are spent visiting my 97 year old mother in Fishkill. 4-5 games of Scrabble keep both our minds alert and sharp. She is an excellent speller. Scores aren't kept but the real achievements are using all 100 tiles to complete the game more often than not.

Lots of RVs have left Friday morning but many have arrived to spend the holiday weekend here. Fireworks from the surrounding villages were heard but not seen. Vehicles Sunday and Monday evenings were turned away when the parking lots reached capacity. Folks were forced to park in the not-so-nearby ShopRite parking lot and, with chairs and coolers, hike the  1.4 miles to the parking lot inside the park. Although the County didn't provide any fireworks, the beach and the park area bordering the Hudson River gives excellent views of some of the river towns and their celebrations

Thus ends this portion of my Summer Adventure. When I pack up and leave Friday there will be a two week break before my next series of trips. As mentioned in earlier blogs, clicking the "2016 Summer" tab above will show you my upcoming itinerary. Until next time, stay safe, stay happy, and don't forget comments if you're so moved. Next blog will be from Bear Creek Campground in Bristol, CT Check it out by clicking here.