One of the things that one has to consider when living a nomadic lifestyle is finding a place to stay long-term. We have our summer months covered thanks to Kal Haven Outpost campground – as we can stay for the entire season. But I have to wonder, if they were open year-round, what would our options be?
Here in California, due to the age of our trailer, we have found just one “long-term” campground where we can stay. And that long-term is 90 days. OK, I will confess, cost is another consideration. This season we paid $980 a month for our site. We’ve already been told the price will go up next season. I know as far as “rent” goes that’s pretty reasonable, but our first apartment was $165 a month (including heat, electric and cable). I guess I’m stuck in 1975.
Long story short, in three days we will be moving to another campground (Sweetwater Summit) with a 14-day limit. Our plan was to stay at Sweetwater for 14 days, and then finish out our stay at this campground (Lake Jennings). And here is where the convoluted conundrum comes into play:
We can stay at Lake Jennings once in a 14-day period. The two weeks at Sweetwater ends three days before our 14-day ban expires. If we were not doing babysitting duty, we’d just move to another location. That’s not possible. I found another campground where we could stay for four nights and then return to Lake Jennings. I told King our options — traveling to Joshua Tree for a weekend was one; staying at several of our other favorite remote locations was another; and making a reservation at this new campground was the third option.
I stressed to him campgrounds fill quickly in the spring months so he needed to decide rather quickly. King spent a few days deciding and then said to make a reservation at the other campground for four nights. By that time there was one camp site left. A slow Internet connection had me missing the reservation by six minutes.
I tried to explain all this to King, but I think a white board, calendar and flow chart would have been a better option than resorting to glaring at him over the campfire. To be fair, if it weren’t for making reservations and being denied, I would not be able to follow campground logic either.
I have probably mentioned before that many campgrounds limit the age of trailers to 10 years or newer. Ours will turn 40 next year. I’ve looked at newer trailers but the payments on this one ($0) remains rather enticing.
At any rate we will be doing some remote camping for four days. I rather like the solitude.
So… on the everyday, mundane home front, we are entering into baseball season in California. The boys had a scrimmage Saturday. The season starts early, takes a break for summer, and resumes in the fall. Yesterday the boys’ team, the Giants, played Detroit. It was nice to see the familiar “D” on the other team’s uniform. It was a long, drawn-out affair in what locals considered “chilly” weather. (About 65 degrees I guess). I couldn’t tell you who won.
When we return to Michigan we will have missed all the school concerts and school plays. We hope we will be able to catch some soccer games. I’m fairly certain I will need to dig out our winter coats, wool hats, mittens and hand warmers to watch the games. Spring soccer in Michigan is a little more than “chilly.”
We also have a new great-granddaughter to spoil after we cross the “Pure Michigan” sign on I-94.
Our lives, despite not being what is considered conventional, are fairly normal. It’s a sharp contrast to the mothers, fathers, grandmas, grandpas and grandchildren in Ukraine. Thinking of them and hoping the petulant child running Russia gets a sound spanking before he can inflict any more pain and suffering.
