Homeward bound

The Guppy leaving Loop 2

Our month at Montauk is now behind us, we're in Farmington for a few days, and then we'll be heading North. At this point, we seem to be lucking out with the weather. The latest forecasts show mild temperatures in the Upper Peninsula through next Wednesday so we may not have to plow snow in order to get the Guppy parked in its winter location near the barn. Last year we got home just as snow started falling, managed to get the Guppy positioned, and then got hit with a storm that dumped about 18 inches of snow in a little over 24 hours. Timing is everything. . .

We did decide that we like Montauk enough that we're going to apply to come back in 2016. I may whine about idiot campers knocking on the Guppy's door at odd hours, but they're actually a pretty minor nuisance. We do like being at the park in October so will ask for that month again. We are not, however, going to request March. We've figured out that the Guppy is too uncomfortable in truly cold weather. RVs are notorious for condensation problems, and the Guppy is no exception. Between the lack of insulation in the walls and the condensation building up on every glass and metallic surface, when the temperatures outside dip below freezing life in the Guppy becomes unpleasant. Then when you add in the nuisance of having to haul water in a bucket for a couple weeks because we knew the water hose and filter would freeze if we connected them, Montauk in March is not something we want to repeat. So we may shoot for April -- although I'm sure there's a lot more competition for April (spring flowers blooming, warmer temps in general) than there would ever be for March.

Campers in Loop 1

We are going to make one change in our application. We're going to ask for the Loop 3 host site. Host 3 is the relief host -- they cover the other loops when those hosts are off duty so they get to see the whole campground. The way the rotation works, if there are 3 hosts, Host 2 covers Loops 1 and 2 and only 1 and 2; Host 3 does their own Loop and Loops 1 and 2 when Host 2 is off duty or their own Loop and Loop 4 when Host 4 is off. Host 4 covers Loop 4 and when Host 3 is off they also cover Loop 3. So Host 3 probably has the best overall sense of what's happening in the campground; they get to see all 4 loops on a regular basis. If there are only 2 hosts, then each host has two loops all the time and covers the entire campground when the other host is off duty. 

Once again, I'll include some second and third choices on the application form. One of the attractions of campground hosting is seeing different places. I'll probably put Johnson's Shut Ins as a second choice again and maybe someplace we haven't seen at all, like Pomme de Terre, as a third. Maybe. I keep hearing Pomme de Terre is a nice quiet park with an under-utilized campground. Nice and quiet sounds good when you're sitting in a park that's at 100% occupancy, but that 100% occupancy also means you're rarely bored.You get to see stuff like the interesting tents, the retro campers, and general weirdness (hammocks dangling 20 feet up in the air, systems of ropes to hold up rain flies that are sufficiently complex that it looks like they're trying to install a zip line), not to mention dealing with the guys who want to build campfires big enough to serve as Hindu funeral pyres and then getting to pick semi-melted beer bottles out of fire rings when those guys leave.