Freedom Valley Sign

We are heading to Freedom Valley in Fitchville, Ohio, about three and a half hours from here. Steve met Jeff Boone the owner, online in a Yahoo chat room in October of last year. We have been well aware that they just bought the campground and are converting it from a straight campground to a male only cg.

Initially, there had been some nasty press about the changes in the small community of Fitchville. It seems there is a gentlemen’s club on the west end of the small town that recently opened and now there is a “gay male campground” on the east end. So, the holy rollers believe the town is going to hell! However, now that they have been operating for since mid-April, the locals realize the boom “gay dollars” are to their business, much more than they ever realized from the straight cg. As a straight cg there were 11 seasonal camping sites. As a gay campground they already have 25 seasonal sites with a waiting list for more. They have applied to the state for licensing to expand the campground already. So, it seems the uproar has died down somewhat, thanks to the almighty dollar. It’s the American way!

Freedom Valley Office

The drive was pretty easy and we pull into the campground to find nobody in the office. Buzz a seasonal camper pulls up on his golf cart and tells us to call the office number. We tell him we do not have cell service and he calls for us but ends up having to leave a message. Soon, Jeff arrives and greets us like old friends and checks us in. Our site is right next to the dance hall and across from the pond. We are very pleased with our site.

While we are setting up Jim and Dale stop by and chat and Buzz returns to talk more as well. Everyone is very friendly. Jeff asks when we were last at a meeting and I reply it’s been two months. He says, “You are going tonight”. The meeting is in Fitchville, less than a mile away. At the meeting, they ask if anybody is celebrating an anniversary and I suddenly realize that today is my anniversary—it has been 14 years since I’ve had a drink or a drug! How much of a coincidence is that?? It is strange being at a meeting with a bunch of straight people. Their habits and practices are different from ours. Meetings are run differently everywhere, but it works!

The next night everyone gathers in the clubhouse to watch Sordid Lives: The Series on Logo. There are 8 -10 people and many agree the series might be better than the movie. It has many of the same characters but the director seems more experienced. Various people call out lines as they are given on TV.

Freedom Valley Pool and Pond

We needed dog food and some other supplies so we went to Mansfield, Ohio. I was surprised that Mansfield is very run down and seems very poor overall. Our later trip to Sandusky for more supplies turned out to be much nicer and the area seemed more well off. I would not go back to Mansfield; they are both about the same distance.

We walk the dogs around the pond and discover a horse on the other side. Rosemary goes crazy, we assume over the “big dog”. We walk down the steep hill at the back of the property reserved for smaller campers and tents and see where our friend Glenn likes to camp. It is a wonderful treed area with a few trailers, campers but mostly tents.

We have free WiFi service so, we decide to work and catch up on uploading photos to our website. We enjoy meeting Tom from Ohio and his beautiful boxer Annie. They are both friendly.

Jeff takes us to another meeting on Friday night which is also movie night in the rec hall. The movie is in progress when we return. Michael set up a big screen and projector TV to watch our movie A Portable Tribe. Everyone seems to enjoy the movie.

Freedom Valley Pool

The pool is one of the nicest pools we’ve been in yet! It was just finished before July 4th. They have a nice water feature at the end. They have recently graded the soil and seeded. We literally are watching the grass grow. This place is new but on weekends already most of the chairs are filled! So, there are several hot guys to watch! We have discovered that usually, most guys gradually relax eventually removing their bathing suits. It is no different here!

Saturday is Country Western night in the rec hall and the place is packed, but the Country music only last briefly before disco picks up. Music started at 10, the crowd peaked at 11 and by 1 had mostly dispersed. There was a great crowd of guys several dressed in CW attire. Everyone was having fun. I like getting to bed early!

We decide that we are going to stay another week here to continue to catch up on our work. Next weekend is the Flea Market Weekend, and someone has reserved our site, specifically. We will have to move in the middle of the week. I’m not so sure that guaranteeing sites is the way to go. Maybe guarantee with qualifications.

We relax a little more, knowing we do not have to leave and getting to know the guys here. They are interesting men. Jim and Dale are planning to spend their winter at Thousand Palms just outside Inverness, Florida. They have bought another trailer to park here and will drive the trailer here to Florida. Apparently, the new trailer they bought is in mint condition, having been stored in a barn for 15-20 some years by it’s original owners. Thousand Palms will not allow trailers over so many years.

Freedom Valley RV Sites

Thousand Palms is owned by the same people who own Campit in Saugatuck, Michigan and is right next door to Camp David. In January we stopped in to introduce ourselves to the owner Michael O’Connor. They already have a gay group that has formed at Thousand Palms.

Buzz is trying to figure out how he can retire a little early and live full time on the road as well. Our friend Glenn from Michigan has called Buzz asking him to convince us to stay a few days longer so that we can see him when he arrives.

I took the truck to Don Tester Ford in Norwalk, Ohio to have the oil changed and a 40,000 mile service completed—all for $88.00—that’s great for a diesel oil change and service check. I certainly spend more money than that in Alexandria, Virginia.

New London, Ohio which is 4 miles from the campground is a very nice little town and the grocery has fresh baked goods and is easy to access. It is very different than going to the grocery at home. I am beginning to like the advantages of small town living.

The additional weekend brought a “flea market” weekend. Everyone is setting up their sites to sell their “stuff” to everyone else. They also set up the rec hall with tables to display your wares. This seems to bring in some unusual characters for the weekend, but overall the seasonal campers are a social and entertaining group of men. Again, the pool is packed on weekends and it is obvious that “day passes” are getting used more and more!

Sunday we receive a call from Randy at Roseland, asking for specifics about our rig size and scheduled arrival time. After telling him the rig is 38 feet, he says they are moving us to site 800, from 104 because of a scheduling conflict. I ask if we should plan to pull in as far as the office then because we had been told to stop near site 104 and walk to the office. He tells me to pull all the way into the office.

We have enjoyed meeting everyone here but it is time to head to Roseland in West Virginia—where we have been warned that getting our rig up the mountain will be treacherous. Several people have told us not to go and that they would not take our rig up there. We are not timid, so we do not change our plans.

Camp BUCKwood & 4 Seasons Lodge
8670 Spearsville Rd
Morgantown IN 46160-8520

Phone: (812) 597-2450
Website: www.campbuckwood.com
Email: info@campbuckwood.com

Men’s private, members only retreat, offering; Lodge with guest rooms and bunk room, serving breakfast and dinner. Cabins with king size beds and futons, sleep four. RV Sites (20/30/50 amp) w/ water & Tent Sites some with electric, shower house/comfort station, heated in-ground pool, w/ large deck, day passes, free Wi-Fi at Lodge, barns, hiking trails, sand volleyball court, horseshoe pits, croquet, badminton, Boccie ball, free weight gym, stocked lake, canoe, natural swimming hole. Nearby, Little Nashville artist colony, shops, antiques; State Park, flea market, music festivals. Pets welcome in campground.
Directions: From I-65, Franklin exit/SR 44, west; Left SR 135 (south) through Trafalgar approx. 2 miles; Left Spearsville Rd/500 West, through 4 way stop sign and continue 2.8 miles, Spearsville Rd makes a sharp 90 right turn, continue to 4 Seasons Lodge sign. See web site for complete directions.

Evaluation

We headed off the interstate and the anticipation of arriving at our destination begins. The two lane roads are marked at 50mph and the curves are gentle and sweeping. We began to notice tree limbs hanging lower and lower the further we traveled. Soon we began artfully dodging the limbs and came to the realization that we were traveling down a route that sees little truck traffic, making tree trimming a much lower priority. Our rig is 38’ long, 8’ wide, and 12’6” tall so with oncoming traffic and being mindful of the traffic behind us our options became greatly reduced. Fortunately most of the branches were small because they began tagging the top of the rig. Those towing travel trailers should not experience any difficulty, only those traveling in Class A Motor coaches or with Fifth wheels that are over 12’ high. The entrance to Camp BUCKwood is also overgrown and required slow going. How’s about a trim guys? When we arrived we made a few discoveries; ours is the largest rig anyone has brought in, our roof had a lot more scratches, we were missing a vent cover (not the first time, we carry a spare), and our top right running light lens was broken. We consider that this goes with the territory and that if we expected our rig to remain in perfect condition that would need to stay at the RV Resorts by the interstate… what fun?!

We headed into the office to check in and Ben greeted us by name. We love the feeling of familiarity and comfort that this gives us. We were given our choice of sites and Ben hung around until we got backed in and then he left us to go about our business.

The campground is small while offering a wide selection of sites. RV sites are small and some are close together. They are in a grass covered meadow with gravel driveways, fire rings, and either 20/30/or 50 amp service. The dump station is conveniently located for use on your way out. Some tent sites are in the meadow but most are in the woods with  fire rings and your choice of service; water, electric, or totally primitive. New for 2008 are four sleeper cabins. They all come with king size beds, a pull out futon sofa, microwave, refrigerator, and satellite color TV.

Inside the lodge are very nicely furnished and spacious rooms. These rooms will give any decent hotel a run for its money. All rooms include breakfast, two have private bathrooms. The bunk room is also well appointed with bunks that sleep two up and two down as well as a bathroom en suite, if you will, to be shared by all occupants of the room. The living and dining areas are warm, cozy and light filled spaces that will further enhance your lodge experience. The only thing that you won’t find is a liquid filled chocolate on your pillow, but without much effort, we’ll bet you will be able to do better than that during your stay.

Across from the lodge is the club house/rec. barn. Other than being rather eclectically furnished, the barn is well equipped for men’s parties. This includes the basic essentials like music and lights and even features a rectangular aluminum structure that houses a sling. Down the path toward the RV area conveniently grouped together are; the large hot tub, swimming pool, shower house, and video room, all open 24 hours a day. The pool is kidney shaped and has a deck area large enough to accommodate all. The shower house is a relatively new block building with plenty of clean facilities, sans the bars of soap and shampoo bottles left in the showers. The video room is in a small dirt floor barn with, of course, endless videos, a sling and a padded bench. It had the appearance of being a small set for a video that we have seen.

Anyone who is interested in venturing out can find over a mile of trails to hike. Also if you are so inclined you can walk down to the pond to do some fishing, paddle or row boating, or just hang out on the shore and soak up the serenity of the setting.

Ben proved to be a wonderful host. Even though he was saddled with additional responsibilities in Darrell and Cody’s absence (they went camping for several days to celebrate Cody’s birthday) Ben found time to give us and some other campers a tour of the cabins, lodge, and barn. While keeping up with the regular maintenance of the facility by him self he maintained a very calm low key demeanor. We only briefly met Darrell and Cody as we were leaving so we did not have a chance to get to know them, but it is obvious that all three of these guys have worked hard at building a very enjoyable campground that has a nice laid back and comfortable environment.

We honestly did not get to meet many campers because we did not stay through the weekend. The campers that we did meet were very friendly, inviting, and hospitable. We can only imagine that by those that we did meet and the tone that has been set by the owners that the whole crew is a great bunch of guys. We like the rule of leaving your drama at the gate. This has got to make a big difference especially on the many theme party weekends.

Check out Steve & Phil’s Blog from this location

Of all places to take a beating…..

Our first wheel chocks that were broken during storage

Our newer, less expensive wheel chocks

We stop at Camping World as we are heading north. We have had a difficult time with the rig bouncing while set up and recall it being the least wiggly when we had wheel chocks that fit between the tires and put pressure on each of them. The first set we had got ruined when we left our rig in Florida.

Camp Timber Lake Office and Store

I called my brother Greg and invited, he and his wife Sue to join us for a campfire that night. Mike called saying he would be arriving at 8 pm, they would stop and pick up KFC for dinner. We had not seen any of them since Mom’s family reunion last year when Mike and Nancy stayed with us in our pop-up camper. For that reunion we stayed at a terrible campground north of Fort Wayne called Indian Lakes CG. It was just foul. The water had a strong sulfur smell, the lakes were stagnant ponds and the bathrooms were not very nice.

Camp Timber Lake Boat Ramp

We arrive at Timber Lake Campground and are pleased we are at a nice cg. We pull into our site and begin to set up. Steve buys firewood and asks the office to get us a picnic table. Soon we see picnic tables moving but we still do not get one. I go to the office and ask what happened to our table and the owner arrives within minutes with a table for us.

Greg and Sue arrive and within minutes Mike and Nancy arrive as well. Tours are given of our rig. We eat dinner and then enjoy nice conversation and a fire with family members. Catching up with each other’s lives in more detail than through emails, cards and phone calls.

The family reunion is held at our cousin, Marlene (Rockstroh) Pier’s home in Antwerp, Ohio. They have a lake and pavilion in their back yard that accommodates the large group well. Dinner is at noon Saturday. We leave about 11 am and arrive just before dinner. We have a good time catching up with everyone.

It has been a hard year for Marlene and her family. Her daughter Wendy committed suicide earlier in the year. Wendy’s 11 and 14 year old boys are now Marlene’s to raise. She is 69 years old and having raised nine children of her own already, she did not anticipate this in her life. She and her oldest daughter both seemed numb still.

Uncle Kenny and Aunt Shirley did not come because he was not feeling up to the trip. Uncle Don was in the hospital (and died 2 weeks later). It is strange. My dad was the 3rd oldest of 11 children and only 1 brother and 3 sisters remain. This leaves it to the 2nd generation of kids to keep this reunion alive and we are not doing too well. Many people do not attend. Families are spread from Germany and Iraq, to Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Iowa, Arizona, California and Hawaii. Will the reunions continue?

Camp Timber Lake Restrooms and Laundry Room

We relax Sunday at the campground for most of the day with Mike and Nancy, eating, walking the trails and talking.  They have two ponds, one with a beach for swimming, besides the main lake.  There is a pavillion, and a children’s playground.  The restrooms are nice and clean, although the shower walls are stained red from the water. 

Mike and Nancy leave around 4 pm heading back to West Lafayette, Indiana. Steve and I are exhausted and spend a lazy evening.

Camp Timber Lake

On Monday we pack up and stop in the office to find Olivia, the owner’s wife. He is at a meeting in Fort Wayne, she tells us. We tell her who we are and she says, “this is an extremely religious area and you are welcome here anytime, but we would rather not be included in your website. I will tell my husband about who and what you do and let him make a final decision.” We’ve never heard from them again. So, I guess they do not want our money, although it is probably one of the nicer campgrounds in the area! Next year hopefully, further research will turn up something else.

Heading south on I-65, I call my friend Dan who lives in Indianapolis and ask him if he is coming to join us at Camp BUCKWood which is about 40 minutes away. He says no but we should stop and see him at work, he is just off the expressway. We arrive around 3:30 and show him the rig, have a bite to eat and he takes us to show us his new townhouse he has just bought.

Camp Buckwood 4 Seasons Lodge

We’re back on the road about 5:30 and heading directly into downtown Indianapolis. We get south of Indy. Off the interstate and on the back roads we discover on many of these narrow roads the trees have not been trimmed to accommodate the height of the rig. At 50 MPH we notice the sound of slapping branches hitting the top of the rig. Just in the middle of a wide right turn a car is heading straight for me and I swerve right and realize, I’ve made a mistake the wheels of the rig are driving over huge rocks by the corner.

We suddenly are there and pulling into the narrow entrance, it is not horrible but they could trim some more trees to accommodate larger rigs coming through the entrance. We stop at the office and are greeted by Ben, who checks us in, telling us we have our pick of where we want to go hook-up. While we’re setting up we realize we’ve broken a light cover on the top right front of the rig (hitting those trees) and the steps are bent. We take a jack and a couple boards and push the steps back into place, so they operate more easily. A more permanent repair we will complete when we return home. Southern Indiana is not a place I would have anticipated causing damage to our rig.

A trip to Camping World the next day gets a new light cover for the rig and a quick stop at Wal-Mart gets our groceries. Steve has worn out another pair of sandals, so we head to Greenwood (Southern Indianapolis) Park Mall to buy a pair of Crocs, hoping those will not break so quickly for him.

Camp Buckwood Pool

On our return we head to the pool. We meet some nice guys and everyone is friendly. Most of them were on day passes. That evening there is a new arrival, a pop-up and they seem to keep to themselves for a couple days such that at night the place is empty.

There is no WiFi, but we do have cell service, although it is not great. Our phones work fine but the data connection was not good, so our internet connection is slow and again we are sharing. The connection is so slow, in fact, that while I am attempting to pay bills I give up. The security certificates would not load for the bank or credit card companies to authorize payments.

Camp Buckwood Cabins

Talking to Ben about the campground, he wishes we were there for the weekend to see the crowds and activity taking place. We tell him that he has nothing to worry about. We actually are enjoying ourselves after the busy, active week at Campit. On a tour we find they have some very nice, large guest rooms in the Lodge (4 Seasons Lodge and Camp BUCKWood) with king size beds. They also have cabins with king size beds, futons, small lofts, refrigerators, microwaves and TV’s connected to satellite. They do provide breakfast and dinner for guests staying in the lodge, which also provides a nice public space. It appears they have 12 or 15 seasonal campsites from park models to tents set up.

Walking the dogs we discover there is a sling and a table with a padded top in the video room. They have a barn that smells kind of musty but apparently is used a great deal on weekends for parties. There is a huge metal structure that holds a sling there as well. That sling was off being repaired. The sexual energy at the pool and the video room and the advertised “Squirt” parties suggest that sex is available if you want it. The emails I receive from this place talking about the weekends past describe it as a sexual playground. Most of these campgrounds have strict policies about no public sex, but sex behind closed doors is as wild as you want it to be.

Camp Buckwood Video Room

One night, since it is so quiet in the cg, we try out the sling in the video room. It is the first time in our lives to ever use one, at least consciously. It is different, fun and kind of erotic to be in a semi-public place. Neither of us have done that in some time or ever together.

Thursday once the clouds clear up we go back to the pool and return to find Gene, who we had met on Tuesday at the pool. He had returned on a day pass from his home in Indianapolis. We enjoyed talking to him and a couple of other men here on a day pass, finally meeting the other campers in the pop-up too.

We begin packing up to leave on Friday and begin to see the seasonal campers are arriving for a long weekend. One of the guys arrives in his Mercedes 500 SL and tells us, he’ll get the frozen drink mixer started and leave cups outside for us to help ourselves. He has the nicest mixer set up I’ve seen. They appear to be commercial mixers he sets up just outside his rig door and has a shelf with plastic cups. He is indeed very friendly and asks about our business, telling us we should stay for the weekend.

As we are leaving on Friday morning we stop by the office and introduce ourselves to Darrell and Cody. Thanking them for everything and letting them know we enjoyed our visit. Ben, Darrel’s partner had joined our website. They thanked us for the visit and asked us to come again.

We are heading to Timber Lake Campground, south of Fort Wayne, for my family reunion. My brother Mike and his wife Nancy are staying with us.

Read the next sequence in our blog:  It’s a nice campground, but you may not want to camp here!

Phone: (877) CAMPIT-1 / (269) 543-4335
Website: http://www.CampitResort.com
Email: MichaelandSally@campitresort.com

GLBT, 18+, membership campground, 4 wooded tenting areas to RV full hook ups sites (water, sewer & electric up to 100 amp), pull through sites available up to 100’, a full service B & B, log cabins and vintage 50’s & 60’s trailers. Special Club Campit memberships for discounts, daily and seasonal sites on 33 acres including: 2 ponds, wooded nature trails, 3 bathhouses, a rec hall, a club house, a game room, activities, dump station & honey wagon service, private showers, locker room style gang showers, outdoor showers, in-ground swimming pool, Laundromat, store including the “Toy Store” for men and the “Tool Box” for women provides a broad selection of novelties, personal items and accessories. Open Mid-April through Mid-October. Nearby Lake Michigan beaches. Pets welcome.

Directions: From I-196, Exit 30, Glenn/Ganges, Hwy A-2 North, 1 mile; Right on 118th Ave, East, 1 mile to stockade fencing on left.

Evaluation

The drive down I-196 with our 38’ fifth wheel was like driving on a washboard. We were very glad to reach exit 30 and get off the highway. Differently configured and lighter rigs very likely don’t experience the back and forth motion that we did. After traveling many thousand miles this is the first time that we have gotten bothered by this type of ride fifth wheels can be prone to, and we are now giving some serious thought to getting an air ride king pin. Thankfully the campground is only a couple of miles off the highway and the entrance is well marked. Parking outside the office is not sufficient for a rig our size. We parked as far out of the way as we possibly could. Inside the storefront filled with a great variety of convenience and impulse items are a couple of ticket window style openings in the wall from where we are greeted by Carol. We were very cheerfully and professionally checked in and given instructions to leave the park and drive back up the road in the direction that we came from and pull into the entrance to the Westwood area of the park. We follow the instructions and using the campground map, locate our campsite.

The Westwood area of the park is deserted. We see the golf cart used by the two workers that unlocked the Westwood entrance for us parked outside of the rec hall, but there are no other signs of life. No trailers, no cars, just empty cabins and campsites. So we take advantage of the situation and drive through into our otherwise back in site. These are the landing strip or rest area style sites. In this case the sites are a narrow strip of gravel with an area of tree mulch just wide enough to open your awning without hitting your neighbors rig. Each strip has a white pedestal topped with an enclosed light that would be at home on a boat dock. These are located between the back to back sites and house the electrical hook ups and water connections, giving the area a sort of prefab synthetic feel. This combined with the wide open grassless expanse, the row of small log cabin park model trailers and the metal sided rec hall gave the Westwood area a very, commercialized feel. The rest of the campground is a short journey from Westwood which can be reached more quickly by a utilizing one of the many walking trails through the woods.

The main, or older, we are not quite sure how to refer to it, part of the campground is comprised of several sections that have been developed at different times but have a congruent nature to them. The density of the sites is higher than we prefer, but they are all grass covered, many have gravel driveways, and those that are in the original section are nestled among mature trees. Many sites don’t have room to park a vehicle, so auxiliary parking areas have been set up. The East Village was the most recent area to be developed prior to Westwood and was done with a more natural outdoors feel, but is still rather sparse.

Tenting sites in a mixture of electric and primitive settings are available in the Creekside, New Horseshoe, Old Horseshoe, Women’s Horseshoe, Westwood, and Wisconsin (Men’s Horseshoe) areas. The Old Horseshoe is billed as the more social, what we call the, “party area”, and provides access to Wisconsin, which is the Men’s clothing optional area complete with built in play area. The other tenting areas offer a bit more spacious and quiet sites.

The Women’s Horseshoe offers more of the small log cabin park model trailers in a nice wooded circle. There are a couple of much larger deluxe cabins in the Westwood area that have screened in porches. Near the office is the Bunkhouse B&B for those that are looking for the added convenience of campground provided accommodations.

The campground is also equipped with Wi-Fi for those that need to stay in touch, or work via the internet. The set up is a pay by the day, week, etc. but does not extend to the entire campground. Once again we were glad to have our data plan and cell booster.

The registration office/store offers much more to campers than the typical services found at such a place. At this campground it is truly camper central. Outside is a covered patio with picnic tables for gathering and a big dry erase board for writing messages or for just leaving your tag so others will know that you have arrived. Toward the back of the building are restrooms with showers for men and women and out front you can purchase firewood and propane or pick up one of the two golf carts that are available for rent. Not far from the store is the sand volley ball court and swimming pool. The pool is the typical 20’x40’ (approx.) with concrete and wood decking surfaces. The pool house is home to the laundry area as well as a set of women’s and men’s restrooms/showers. We did not see them but a reliable source informs us that there are outdoor showers at the pool as well. We have to confess that we did not use the pool, and we don’t know if it is because we were so busy doing the raffle, or if it felt so far from our campsite, or if having to wear a swimsuit was that unappealing. Most likely it was a combination of all three.
The Westwood rec hall is a very basic metal building that hosts many events, from potlucks to movies and dances to drag shows. Restrooms and showers are also located here. These are by far some of the most upscale facilities that we have seen at a campground. The area is divided into three parts; men’s and women’s toilets with granite vanities and a combined area of private two person sized showers. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with the other restrooms in the campground, other than showing their age, but this location attracted lots of campers who drove and walked over to take advantage of the luxurious facilities.

The community at Campit is vary diverse yet seemingly very cohesive. We were at this campground for “Christmas in July” which was very festive. The campground came alive with decorations and campers in elf and Santa costumes. It really felt like Christmas, right down to the group gift exchange. We met some very nice people during our stay, had some wonderful conversation and felt very welcomed. However, we still came away with a nagging feeling that we never really felt a part of the community. In all fairness this has to be in part due to being so busy with the raffle, but we also feel that, had there been more campers in the Westwood area, and were it more suitably designed for people to spend time outside of their rig, we would not have felt so separated.

Check out Steve and Phil’s Blog from this location

How do you end up with a campground named Campit?

Campit Store

The drive to Campit was uneventful, although we have learned that any trip in the rig with the dogs takes much longer than we plan. Campit is one of the older gay campgrounds in the country. I have been to Saugatuck/Douglas Dunes many years ago and am well aware of its reputation as the premier gay resort in the Midwest.

When we pull into the campground there is barely room for us to park our rig in the driveway. We pull it out of the way as best we can and go into the office to register. I ask Carol about getting into our space at the other end of the campground. She says that we should pull back out on the road and enter at the other end. Someone will have removed the chain to let us in.

Campit Rec Hall

We pull into our site and are quickly setting up in a completely vacant area of the cg known as Westwood. This is a new area across from the Westwood Clubhouse they have just added this year. The clubhouse has beautiful new bathrooms with granite counters and ceramic tile bathroom & shower areas. These are some of the nicest facilities we’ve seen anywhere.

On Tuesday, we walk to the office to get my prescriptions which I had mailed here over a week ago. They give me the package. Back at the trailer I discover that indeed they shipped my scripts in two packages and I only have one package. I called the pharmacy to find out when they were shipped. Then I call the Campit office to discover they had another package for me as well. Some little details like these seem to slip through and are only annoying since we are so far from the main area of the cg and the office.

We drove 40 minutes to Costco in Wyoming, Michigan for coffee and Perrier. Those two items alone pay for our membership. We like their Costa Rican blend of coffee and the Perrier is a nice treat. Both items are also much less expensive at Costco than elsewhere. We also needed a Petco or Petsmart to buy the dog food we feed the girls. We will not make that mistake again of feeding them Purina!

We are set up in the rig working. The WiFi does not reach the Westwood area—although they are talking about extending the range. That would be a really nice thing to do for their campers—especially since the Westwood accommodates big rigs which are often so luxurious—the WiFi is a nice compliment to the other amenities. We really struggle trying to work with only a single internet connection. They do charge for their WiFi, but if you get more than a few days use it is minimal relatively speaking.

Lucy’s Christmas in July

On one of our walks to the main cg area we meet Sally, the owner and are immediately impressed by her sociability. She has welcomed us graciously and introduced us to many campers and employees. Particularly she introduces us to Mark the event manager. We are discussing how we can introduce ourselves to campers and let them know about our website. Before we know it we were running a 50/50 raffle for the Christmas in July, Toys for Tots campaign.

Sally also tells us about the name Campit. Apparently, the farm that existed here years ago produced a pitted fruit. The owner’s friends and family started camping around the pond. Gradually, more and more campers became aware of its existence and were referring to it as “camp pit” because the owners used the pits as a surface for the roads. Furthermore, since Saugatauk was a regional gay mecca, gay campers became a large part of that community. As the gay visibility grew, the other campers approached the woman whose husband had died, about the gay campers. She expressed her desire to welcome everyone to camp. The other campers gradually stopped coming and low and behold, Campit became institutionalized as a gay campground in 1978 when the last owners bought the land from the woman.

One of the Best Decorated sites for Christmas in July

We begin working to get organized for the raffle and realize we need to make a trip to an office supply for ink for our printer. I thought we had a printer cartridge but it turned out to be for an old printer of ours, the next one I ended up buying in Douglas was the wrong one again, so a trip for more supplies was in order.

So, we head to Walmart in South Haven, Michigan about 20 minutes away. We find a Menards! I’ve heard my brother Mike talk about this store, so I was excited to check it out. We spent an hour wandering around Menards—we decide this is our favorite building supply store—Lowes & Home Depot should take lessons. The staff was friendly and everyone we saw greeted us, asking if we needed help. It is clean and they have everything from lumber, to clothing, to milk! I can’t wait until they expand to our area. Then we go to Walmart for our ink cartridge and Staples for some other office supply products.

Westwood Area

As the week progresses gradually Westwood begins to get more campers. The rig next to ours is really close, maybe 4 feet from our awning. We don’t particularly feel like sitting outside facing the rig, and we are busy working so we spend little time outside. The trio of campers next door to us is deaf, so they are really quiet and very friendly, we do enjoy their company. Although, it is at times like these when I really wish I had taken sign language.

We set a table up in front of the office on Friday afternoon to sell raffle tickets as everyone arrives in the office to check-in and say hello. We have mounted our Gay2zCamping.com banner at the office and signs announcing the 50/50. The office also posted the 50/50 signs throughout the cg.

We have a nice afternoon chatting with everyone and selling tickets, although many people are not interested at this time and say they will buy them later. Friday evening they are showing the movie, A Portable Tribe, in the Westwood Clubhouse. Steve has communicated with the director/producer Tom Murray. It is about the gay camping experience and features campers from Camp Mars, Jones Pond and Campit campgrounds in addition to C-Men a gay naturist group and Starland Desert Community Homestead,
a gay retreat center in the southwest. So, we move our ticket sales there before the movie.

Once we determine that sales have stopped we tear down our booth and take everything (signs, tickets & money) back to the trailer and return to watch the rest of the movie. We catch just the end of it. It is interesting. Afterward the producer/director Tom answers some questions and everyone begins to leave. Steve goes to talk to him and buys a copy of the movie. We think it will be interesting to show the film at campgrounds and have been given permission to do so.

It is Christmas in July and Saturday everyone is busy putting the finishing touches on their Christmas displays. We wander around a little and see what’s happening. Our allergies have returned and Steve is not feeling great. We count the raffle money and discover that we only have $220.00. That is not acceptable, so I head out with just tickets and some change and start walking the campground selling raffle tickets to return three hours later. Counting the money we now have a total of $420.00. The drawing is at midnight after everyone has voted on the best Christmas displays and they are announcing the winners of the 50/50 raffle and various categories of Christmas display.

Campit Pool

We hang out at the office for an hour before the raffle and sell another $23.00 worth of tickets for a total take of $443.00. Sally tells us to get up and tell everyone a little bit about Gay2zCamping.com and then do the raffle. There are about 50 people around and we do our thing. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work. We have not really gotten a lot of our regular work completed.

Sunday, we wander around and take photographs and chat with people. We realize that we have never gone to the pool—which we determine is because it was so far away and did not feel like walking that far to relax and then walking so far back in the heat. Is that lazy or what?

Darin, one of the guys next door is a school teacher and uses our internet connection to report grades due by 5 pm on Sunday. That way they are able to stay later and enjoy another afternoon at the pool.

We begin packing up so that we can get an early start in the morning, heading to Camp BUCKWood in Morgantown, Indiana.

Read the next sequence of our blog: Of all places to take a beating….

Phone: (519) 426-7275
Website: http://www.get-tothepoint.com/
Email: info@get-tothepoint.com

Male gay campground surrounded by Carolinian forest and located near the sandy beaches of Lake Erie. Primitive and tent sites with water and electric, RV sites with 30 amp service, RV Dump Station, Picnic Tables & Fire Rings at Each Site, cabins, and day passes, pets permitted, Free, Heated Showers/Flush Toilets, General Store/Fire Wood/Ice, Recreation Centre/Lounge/Pool Table/Performance Stage, In-Ground, Salt Water Swimming Pool, Poolside Sun Deck & Shaded Cabana, Clothing Optional Areas, DJ & Dancing on Weekends, Special Theme Weekends, Meet & Greet Bonfires on Weekends, & Much More, Surrounding Nature Trails for Mountain Biking & Hiking

Directions: From Hamilton, ON take King St W. to the King’s Hwy. 403 W, go 8.1 km, take the Garner Rd. exit, go 1.2 km, keep left to continue on Hwy. 6 S, go 9.1 km, turn right at 6, go 7.2 km, turn left at Hwy 6, go 5.3 km, slight right toward Hwy. 6, go 0.4 km, slight right at Hwy. 6, go 22 km, turn right at 3, go 17.0 km turn left at Norfolk St. N, go 5.6 km, continue on 24, go 12.0 km, turn right at Charlotteville 2 Rd., go 0.4 km to The Point Tent and Trailer Resort

Evaluation

The journey to The Point from the Highway seamed longer than most due to having to travel 150 kilometers on Provincial Roadways at 80 km. per hour or less. However, the campground was easy to find and is well marked with a familiar rainbow pattern. The entrance was easy to navigate with the office located inside of a trailer park style trailer. The office also contains a store that has a typical variety of convenience items and some not so typical gift items.

Getting settled into our site took a little longer that usual because we were original assigned a site across from the pool that simply was not big enough for our rig. In contradiction to Phil’s (the owner) insistence it just is not possible to place a 38’ fifth wheel between two tree lines that are 40’ apart with a pick up truck. So after some fussing and a physical check of the campground Phil assigned us a different spot which we settled into with relative ease.

The main part of the campground consists of five rows of sites separated by three gavel roads. All of the sites are completely grass covered and tree lined on three sides with picnic tables and fire pits set into the ground. All of the transient sites have 20 and 30 amp electrical service and water, but no sewer connections. The seasonal sites are equipped with sewer service. In the surrounding area there are a few seasonal sites, primitive tenting and sleeper cabins. At the back of the property is an area that is referred to as “The Suburbs”. This area has been in the planning for some time with planted trees now maturing. Water testing by the local authorities is in progress to ready the area for further development. Currently the area is getting some use for trailer dry camping, primitive tenting and overflow.

The amenities are not elaborate, but are very nicely executed for the most part. What is really lacking are adequate shower and restroom facilities. The one shower house is old, funky, and quirky. An attempt has been made to give it a face lift but has not been well executed and looks to have been abandoned prior to completion. The pool is the standard 20’x40’ with a small concrete deck. A considerable amount of wooden decking has been added which provides a lot of room for the upgraded lounges, chairs, tables with umbrellas and cabanas. The pool and surrounding area is spotless, nicely decorated and landscaped with some 20’ tall artificial palm trees lined up along the back that light up in rainbow colors at night. The nearby rec hall which is used for special events also gets opened up during inclement weather, mostly for tenters to have some shelter. The building is shaped like a Quonset hut and has wooden framed walls with a soft roof. We were impressed by the design and layout inside. The scaled down professional looking stage and lighting provided as nice of a focal point for Friday Bingo as it did for Saturday night’s main event. Beer on tap is sold at events however; we were told that this may soon change due to licensing issues. Outside the rec hall and just off the day camper parking area are some walking trails equipped with low voltage lighting to make night time navigation easier. The trails pass through a heavily treed area of the woods and connect various areas of the campground to “The Play Station”. This area which has been constructed for adult entertainment has many different facets to it which are nicely constructed, well designed and very clean. It’s no wonder that the campers don’t attach any stigma to the area when talking about it.

The staff at The Point could use some training on people skills, customer service and bathroom cleaning. For the most part they went about there day doing the work that needed to be done. Given the information about John’s passing and Phil’s current medical situation we had a better understanding of the moral of the staff. Being uneasy about the present and unsure of the future will affect people in unusual ways. Having this understanding doesn’t make it any easier to deal with, but knowing that it is just part of human nature can help us to be a little bit more compassionate.

The campers at The Point are a great group of guys that cheerfully and warmly greeted us and treated us as if we had been camping there as long as they have. The guys have a lot of pride in the campground which is demonstrated by the most tastefully decorated and landscaped sites that we have seen in a gay campground, by how they pull together to make their campground the best it can be, and by how they represent their campground in the local community. We look forward to returning to The Point, as we are sure that the spirit and energies of all will continue to make this a wonderful campground for a very long time to come.

Check out Steve & Phil’s Blog about this Campground

Is Heading into Canada still as easy as ever?
Is coming into the US as difficult as everyone says it is?

We drive northwest stopping at Walmart in Sarnia, Ontario. While we were at Jones Pond, we met Bill and Joe who fed us dinner our first night there. They had electronic fly swatters they bought at Walmart. They said they were no longer available in the US but could still be found in Canada. So, we bought two electronic flyswatters.

Bluewater Bridge

I suggest you check the links for the Department of Homeland Security to plan your border crossing.  We were crossing at Bluewater Bridge at Port Huron. You may want to check Border Wait Times for the day you plan to travel. We turned our cell phones back on and had AT&T service and I checked my voicemail to get a message from Glenn telling me to call him when I had a chance.

As we approached the bridge, US Custom’s directs RV’s to the right lane, trucks to the left lane and cars in the middle lane. We got in the right lane on the bridge and stopped before the peak of the bridge. I called Glenn and he said he would meet us on the highway and lead us to his home. He said I should call him when we made it through customs, that it would probably take us about 20 minutes.

Within 20 minutes we made it to the checkpoint. The guy asked for our ID’s, we handed him our passports and the Walmart receipt. He asked where home was and I replied; Alexandria, then he asked where we were headed and I said Saugatuck. He asked what we would be doing there and I said camping, he asked “where?” and I said, “Campit.” He said, “where?” and I said “Campit”. He said, “I asked you where you were going camping?” and I said, “I told you we were going camping at Campit!” He suddenly smiled broadly and apologetically said, “I am from Holland, Michigan, which is nearby Saugatuck and I know the campgrounds around there. I forgot about Campit.  All I heard you say was that you were camping, when suddenly I remembered Campit really is a campground. My apologies, you’re fine go ahead!” He handed me our passports and I drove off. We were not searched, although the rigs in front of us from Canada were sent to be searched. So, I was relieved, called Glenn and he met us on I-94 and led us to his home.

Glenn had his trailer parked on the right side of his driveway and I back the rig in left of that and we plugged into an outlet in his garage. Glenn lives in a beautiful home across the street from a park so we walked the dogs in the park. Glenn then took us for a tour of his home and the surrounding areas. He showed us his church, the police station where he is police chaplain and then took us to dinner at Junction Buoy.  It is a cute restaurant on the St. Clair River. Glenn suggested we try their deep fried dill pickles, which were a wonderful treat!  I suggest you include lunch or dinner at the restaurant before or after you cross the border either way.

We sat outside on the restaurant deck and enjoyed the view of the St. Clair River. The St. Clair River is one of the heaviest traveled rivers in the world. It is part of the central section of the world’s longest ship canal-the 2,347 mile (3,776 kilometer) St. Lawrence Seaway. Annual tonnage on the St. Clair exceeds that passing through the Suez and Panama Canals combined.

Olympic Miracle

The bonus for residents and visitors alike is the impressive presence of hundreds of Great Lakes and ocean-going freighters passing up and down the river each week during the summer.

After dinner and some wonderful conversation to catch up with each other’s lives, Glenn drove through some neighborhoods of nice homes and we returned to his home. Walked the dogs and then sat in front of the TV chatting about life and our futures.

It was nearly midnight when we headed back to the trailer. As soon as we got inside Rosemary started throwing up, walking backwards and then she was suddenly pooping all at the same time. It seemed she couldn’t stop the flow from either end. I grabbed a towel and Steve picked her up in that, saying that we were going to need a vet if she didn’t stop soon. We took a deep breath and she threw up one last time and it was over. Then we started cleaning up the mess. It was nearly 1:30 before we got to bed.

We got up and had coffee and breakfast with Glenn and packed and were on our way to Campit!

Read the next sequence in our blog: How do you end up with a campground named Campit?

The Point Road Sign

We are heading to The Point at Turkey Point, Ontario, Canada. We have been told that going into Canada is a pretty simple process, although next year Passports will be required, this year a photo ID still works.  For information on border wait times and other requirements for traveling into or out of Canada, visit the Canada Border Services Agency website.

We stop in Buffalo and get some supplies and then Steve drives to the Peace Bridge crossing. There is a very brief wait and then he’s answering questions. Where are we heading? The Point in Vittoria. For how long? 5 days. Do we have any alcohol or tobacco? No alcohol and only personal consumption of tobacco. The agent tells us to go ahead. It won’t be so easy to get into the US, I’m sure!

We drive off and our exit is closed, but most of Ontario is laid out in a strict grid, so we take the next exit and are quickly back on the route we’ve plotted. The roads are okay and the area looks a little different than the US. In the past I’ve always thought the countryside in Ontario looked like it was stuck in the 50’s or 60’s. While I still have the feeling that something is different, I have a hard time pinpointing exactly what the difference is. It does not appear like it is stuck in the 50’s or 60’s….I can’t quite put my finger on it.

The Point Our Site

Our directions take us through the very picturesque town of Port Royal. We arrive at The Point. In the office the owner, Phil, tells us he’ll be right with us. We check in and are told we’re right across from the pool and we can easily pull the rig alongside the pool and back into the campsite. As we drive back to the pool area, I am skeptical about “easily” doing anything on this site. There is a golf cart parked next to the pool and there are trees lining the site that will not allow a 38 foot 5th wheel to easily maneuver around. We walk the area and determine if we are to get into this site the only way possible might be to do a 360 degree circle around the site across the road from ours, but I doubt it will work. Steve agrees, but I decide to give it a shot. But, there is just not enough room to maneuver such a big rig. The roads are very narrow and the sites are virtually 40 x 40 square. I could have parked it on top of the fire pit, if that had been moved, but it was buried pretty deep so we would not move it—we’ve moved many but not this one. As I pulled away, I asked the guys lined up on the pools edge if they had enjoyed the show? They said they had!

We returned to the office and Phil somewhat indignantly told us he had to go find out if a site was occupied. When he returned he assigned us to yet another site on the main road telling us that we would have plenty of room to maneuver using day parking area the road from this site. We set ourselves up and were soon greeted by several guys admiring our rig, quickly finding out how friendly everyone was! We were welcomed by everyone and made to feel very much a part of the community.

The Point Pool Close-Up

The pool was nice and we enjoyed our time there. We had shut our cell phones off and that meant no internet, so we could just write and catch up on our work. As we are walking the roads of the campground we are impressed with the beautiful landscaping of many of the sites. There were none of the gaudy, overdone, tacky sites we’ve seen so many other places. The seasonal campers here have done a beautiful job and take great pride in The Point. We wonder if that is because of the greater acceptance of gays, since they can now marry in Canada. Such a quick psychological shift seems unlikely. It just seems too good to be true.

We drove the 30 minutes into Simcoe for supplies at the Real Canadian Superstore. It is a very nice store and the produce seemed incredible. The Romaine lettuce was beautiful, unlike much of what we buy in the states with black edges and holes in spots, it was extremely crisp and clean.

Rascal

Friday, the camp filled with many more men for the Mr. Point Contest. We went to bingo on Friday night where we saw Chris, who we had met at Camp David in January. He had recently put his beautiful Greyhound Rascal to sleep.

Saturday, at the pool we saw there were many younger guys in their late teens to early 30’s, several of whom seemed a little more shy and did not remove their bathing suits at first anyway.  Otherwise, this pool has seen more naked men than most we’ve been too.

Seasonal Site at The Point

Saturday afternoon we were invited to a cocktail party to meet and greet the contestants. There were easily 100 guys at the host site dressed in everything from a pipe cleaner shirt and shorts (with everything clearly visible) to leather and drag. They had two tables of food which were quickly moved under the awning, due to the rain.

First, they thanked the group of guys who had assisted The Point with their Port Dover Canada Day Parade float. The Point won the “best commercial float” award. This is not a gay pride parade but a local community parade! They rightfully feel a great deal of pride in their participation and award. Then they introduced the contestants. There are some really hot guys here!

The show later was very funny and entertaining, particularly if you knew the contestants! There were many inside jokes we simply did not get. There were a lot of references to doing whatever it took to win. The music and dancing continued very late. We were of course in bed with the white noise of the A/C allowing us to sleep peacefully.

While we were packing up several guys came by, thanking us for coming and being a part of their community! We really had been included in the wonderful community The Point campers have created!

Read the next sequence in our blog: Is coming into the US as difficult as everyone says it is?

Jones Pond Road Sign

We’re heading to Jones Pond Campground in Angelica, NY. We have heard many good things about Jones Pond and are looking forward going there. It has been in operation more than many of the gay campgrounds and the owners Doug and Steve have operated it for some time. As well, we are looking forward to seeing Bill and Andre, who we met at Camp David in January. They love it there and have taken an annual site.

We stop in Binghamton at Petco for dog food and Walmart for groceries. Finally, we needed fuel and remembered we needed air in one tire. It was nearing 5 pm and my phone rang. It was Doug at Jones Pond, checking to see what time we would be arriving. I said it would be about 45 minutes. We arrive in 20! He had left our paperwork in the mailbox and told us to check-in the next day but came out of the office greeting us, telling us to come back and register tomorrow.

Jones Pond Our Site

As we drove into the campground we were amazed at how large the sites are. We stopped at the dump station; since they do not have sewer hook-ups, we wanted our tanks to be totally empty. Finally, we pulled up in front of our site 251, next to Bill and Andre. We get out checking how we would position our rig. There is a wooden deck on the site we want to get next to and the previous campers had left a rut next to that deck. The site measures 100 x 50—my parent’s home lot was 100 x 40, this is huge for a campsite!!! Especially after having gone to Hillside recently, where there are sections barely large enough for a tent!

We thought that getting the rig in place would be easy so, we did not stretch out our slider hitch. We spent the next hour attempting to place the rig just so. The rut, the deck, and not stretching out made it extremely difficult. Finally, we just put the rig in place and decided we would live with it. Meanwhile, we had a group of campers up the way who seemed to enjoy our movements. Finally, Joe came insisting that we join them for dinner. Fresh hot dogs, corn and Oreo Cookie Pie! It was a nice welcome to JP. Exhausted we went to bed.

We registered the next day and finished setting everything up. We have cell service when nobody else in the campground does, thanks to our booster antenna and the 18 foot pole it rises on. We were able to set up the satellite dish and I spoke to Dish about local channels. We have to get those from American Direct—for $12.99 a month with credit card payment, you get Atlanta and San Francisco local affiliates for ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. I think that is a ridiculous. I already pay for my local channels for my home region and I think I should be able to view those. Apparently, the FCC will not let me view those! I think I should be able to watch whatever I am willing to pay for–and that might be NY or LA or Nairobi! I also ordered a new remote, since the buttons on the old one were not working—it arrived within two days!

It rains a fair amount here. It almost seems like Florida—you can expect rain daily, it may not rain but if it does it will usually clear up and be sunny when it is over! According to the National Weather Service precipitation is actually down this year. However, everybody we have talked to asks if it rained while we were there and they all say it rains a lot.

Jones Pond Pool

We spent some time at the pool, which is not just a 40 x 20, but has a circular section and a much deeper end than most. It has a very sociable layout. We enjoyed cocktail hour at Randy’s, who’s site was across from ours, we learned all about many new frozen cocktail mixes they make—and even had a few “virgin” cocktails. Randy is from Rochester, NY and seems like a good guy.

The dogs loved having a large grassy site to relax. We met many nice guys walking them and were able to let them run over to the neighbors off leash without worrying about trouble.

Friday night we went to bingo at 8:30 and one of the owners Steve called the numbers and provided interesting commentary about life and the campers at JP. Later we had a campfire with our neighbor Pete who is most recently from Towson, Maryland, about 40 miles from our home. It really is a small world! Bill and Andre had met Pete at Camp David in February and suggested he might enjoy Jones Pond. Pete has sold his home and is full timing in early retirement.

Saturday night we had dinner with Bill and Andre. We were able to catch up with them and their travels. Also they told us of the trouble they had been experiencing with their Holiday Rambler Ambassador Class A, Motorhome. They are hoping that Monaco who owns Holiday Rambler will extend their warranty as a result of the problems they have had. They bought the unit used but with only a few thousand miles and have replaced many things from the hydraulic system to the front axle. They are both in their early 40’s, full-timing and anticipate continuing to RV for many years. They could own another Class A or more but that completely depends on how Monaco handles the current problems. The rig has been in for service for 3 1/2 months of the last 13 months.

We left shortly after 9 pm to get ready to head to the Leather Ball in the Barn. After sorting through our leather and not being happy that we are both older and larger than when we bought our leathers, decided we would simply have to go without! By 10:30 Steve was asleep and I sat watching some television.

Jones Pond Barn Windows

Finally, I wandered to the barn about 11:30. Things were definitely hopping. I am not sure when I have seen so many men in leather! It has been years—it must have been a club night at the DC Eagle. They had a DC Eagle poster from its 7th Street, NW location. There was a huge mix of men from 20’s to 60’s. Many were dancing. Everyone brought their coolers for drinks. The music was good and offered a nice mix of dance music, country and some line dancing took place. Most looked pretty good in leather. Several guys spent time checking out each others leather and more. Several had glow sticks strategically placed to draw your attention. It was a fun night. They have thought of everything here including windows to welcome smokers into the action taking place inside the barn!

Saturday and Sunday cocktail hours are in the 300’s and then on Sunday Bob hosts a pot luck dinner at his site. Because the sites are huge, the elaborate decking, walkways, awnings and fire rings are welcoming to large crowds. We were able to see the community that these men have created. They love their home away from home.

We had a really great meeting with the owners Steve and Doug. They seem like really good guys, who love their business and are serious about keeping it one of the best run gay campgrounds around! They have had interesting lives and never anticipated running a gay cg. After a number of years they obviously have a great deal of experience and they run a tight ship. They anticipate developing the “old restrooms” into a laundry room, when they can get approval for additional septic capacity. The campers will love that. Steve and Doug live onsite in their home at the entrance to the campground and adjacent to the office.

As we are packing up to leave several guys come by to chat, leaving us with a friendly feeling. Driving out the entrance, we stop to throw our trash away and Steve and Doug come out of their home to say goodbye. As we drive away they went back into the house, not the office. So, we determine they specifically came to say goodbye. They are great at public relations!

 Read the next sequence in our blog: Is crossing the border into Canada still as easy as ever?