RE: camping fingerlakes region
We go to Sampson State Park every year. Huge sites and tons of trees, great kids outdoor play equipment added a couple of years ago, harbor to walk to and see the nice private boats, small store with ice-cream and pizza etc., amazing view and lots to do within a short drive. They have electric but no water/sewer hookups (there is a dump station and water station) and I think its $17 or $19 per night. We have reservations there for July!
RE: is new camper actually new?
About 10 years ago we went there to buy our first camper...got terrible service and very disinterested sales people. We wound up driving to Alpin Hause in Amsterdam and got a great salesman who spent lots of time with us, gave us freebies, and was always happy to help us. I'll never go back to Kingston and we are close to buying a 5th wheel now and won't consider them.
RE: "Go to" Recipes
Our first night is always something I cooked at home. Either chili, spaghetti (sauce premade and just heat up pasta), or soup (very hearty homemade). This way hubby doesn't have to worry about setting us up quickly in the rain or being too tired to cook on the grill. We have a pop-up so no big fancy meals I just heat up what I brought and he gets the first night off. After that, he cooks the meat and/or side dishes on the grill unless it's raining really hard.
RE: Changing the mood....
A number of years ago, hubby and I had camped for a weekend then he had to go home to work but left me with the camper and my girlfriend joined me for a few days. Well, we saw a young couple struggling in the rain to get their tent set up so we went over to offer to help. They were very surprised and said it was their first camping trip and they hadn't thought to try to set up the new tent ahead of time. Well, we watched for them to either make dinner that night or go out but they didn't so...after we ate (ribs cooked in foil) we had a whole set of ribs left over and took it to their site. We called to them and they camea right out saying they were too wet and tired to go out and had eaten peanut butter and crackers for dinner. We gave them the ribs. They were so happy and appreciative!
We were so happy to have helped them and they came to our site the next day to ask if there was anything they could do for us as they saw we were two women alone. We explained that my hubby would be returning that weekend to help us pack up and get the camper home but we appreciated the offer.
Nice young couple...I hope they are still camping.
RE: Dealer wants more $$ after delivery! Seriously???
When we bought our camper, we had a "new" salesman who was very nice but, apparently, misunderstood his company policy on free add-ons. We were told as part of the purchase we would get a free rack for the top of the camper and an extra awning for the dining area. Well, we went to pick up the camper and they told us they needed additional money to "install" the free rack and that the salesman should not have given us the free extra awning as our pop-up never has one over that window unless there is a "bump out".
We showed them our purchase order which said "roof rack and installation" and "awning and installation". We said we wanted both installed and for no additional charge. We got both. We have never seen a pop-up with the extra awning like ours but it is so useful during rain to keep that window open without getting wet. Other campers have admired it and wondered why they weren't offered one even for a price.
The same salesman is still there 10 years later so he didn't get fired over it. We did get a great deal!
RE: Ideas for New York state?
We go every year to Sampson State Park in the Finger Lakes Region and love it there...huge sites, marina to walk to and see beautiful boats and water activities. From there we do wine crawls all over the region, go to Watkins Glen State Park for the beautiful walk path around various waterfalls, see the Corning Museum etc. Electric on all sites, no sewer.
We also go nearly every year to Rollins Park in the Adirondacks. The best part about Rollins is the huges sites and about 90% of them are on the "pond" (huge) and you can kayak/canoe/swim right from your site! No hookups here but it also reduces noise and is great to relax, kayak, read, hike etc. Not much to do nearby unless you go back to Lake Placid for shopping/restaurants.
RE: What do you do while camping?
It depends on the campground. In the Adirondacks (NY) we kayak, read, hike, swim, and relax. At the Finger Lakes (NY) we bike, visit other state parks, tour wineries, eat at cute waterfront restaurants, read etc. In southern PA or northern Maryland, we bike, hike, and visit lots of Civil War historic sites (hubby's favorite pastime), read etc. In Conn. we are biking distance to the ocean so do lots of relaxing/swimming/kayaking on the ocean.
That's what's so great about camping...depending on where you camp, the fun varies!
RE: Best This Previous Camper Left At Site.
We've mostly found abondoned firewood. One time I did see a brand new Weber grill (small one) on a picnic table but the rest of the site was totally empty. I went back to my site and told hubby. He walked to the other site and said it was already gone. Other than that we've been "given" items from neighbors as they were leaving like partial lighter fluid's.
