What is the saying " There is a reason for everything" ? As you all know we were actually pretty excited about this past weekends camping trip to the New River in North Carolina. The boys had never gone canoeing before and were "over the moon" about it.
We drove 500 miles, to get to the campground " New River Campground" to meet up with my Brother in Law and his Girlfriend Moo-Moo and kids.
Well, "No Pets over 15 #s" was posted...and as you can guess, people were there with dogs over that weight.
"No Alcohol" signs also posted...and as you can guess, yes there was indeed alcohol being consumed.
"No Firearms" Sign posted as well... and as you can guess...
Basically none of the policies were enforced.
I don't mind alcohol as long as you can drink responsibly and have respect for other campers around you.
We set up camp, the extended family came in later, we cooked out hamburgs, hung around a campfire, and had a couple of drinks ourselves.
Senior, the kids and I retired all around 11pm. That is when the campers on the other side of us, began their party. Until 345am ! Senior got up and did ask them to keep it down, they didn't.
We only got about an hours worth of sleep.
It was then we realized, as nice as the river is, and the mountains are, this campground is nothing more then a place for the locals to hangout and party. Saturday morning I complained to management and they refunded us one nights stay.
Senior was upset and tired, all he wanted to do was to pack up and leave, not so much because of us, but for the safety of the disruptive campers, another sleepless night and no telling what Senior would do. He knew that being in a small mountain town , and campground that caters to the local- If there was an incident, it would not bode well for him being from out of state.
That also meant no canoe trip for the boys, they were heartbroken. But, it was the fact of the matter that we did not drive 500 miles to put up with a bunch of drunks. Then, as we are heading down the mountain, the rain started. I looked at the radar on my phone...
Dark, Dark greens and yellow blobs were moving in to the mountains.
I told Senior, "you know things happen for a reason, No way did I want to be out on that river, in a canoe, in a monsoon, with two small children". He shook his head, weary from lack of sleep and agreed.
It was not until Yesterday, that Seniors brother called to check on us, that he told us "Be glad you left, the rain was horrible and we were miserable the rest of the day, and for those campers, they went on the 10 mile canoe trip, and was double miserable, because they were in that mess longer" Karma!
See, if it hadn't of been for those obnoxious drunk people, playing poker and partying until 345am, we probably would have stayed, and got soaked. And our boys could have gotten colds from canoeing out in the rain-- or worse!
Instead, we left Saturday morning ahead of the weather. Went back to the Estate in South Carolina, and spent the night in a nice warm dry house, and yes got a good nights sleep.
So here are some pictures I snapped :
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| Brother in Laws and Moo-Moos Campsite It started raining on Friday night, so they tried to erect a tarp for cover That is all the kids they brought. |
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| At least we were surrounded by the Beautiful Mountains |
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| The New River |
There was a time when every Friday found me at a river and I kayaked it Saturday Morning until Sunday afternoon from April until October. I had so many run ins with the party campers like you describe. They are a constant menace.
ReplyDeleteOnce on this little river in Arkansas a group of guys got together and were stopping all the female floaters coming down the river and not letting them continue until they showed off their breasts.
Usually you could find some more primitive campsites that were quiet but it took a couple of trips to the area and some exploring to find em and even then several times I would be set up and sleeping when a group would come screaming in at midnight.
Sometimes I just hate people as a whole :)
PP: yes a constant menace, and its just bad that the quiet hours in this campground were not respected, especially since there were families there with kids. We have since found some places closer to home, or near the estate that we can make a day trip to take the boys canoeing....
DeleteHey, you and I think alike!
DeleteAt least moo moo was wearing her tent and could stay dry. It was a nasty weekend here but today is nice so I am going back outside to work.
ReplyDeleteSunny- Oh good grief, they whipped out that tarp Friday night in a down pour, and Senior and I sat there watching...I can only imagine what the other campers must have thought.
DeleteToday was a monsoon here in FL. and more expected tomorrow...pretty soon we are going to break off and float away.
You are better of going to your other place. We camped every now and then. We ran into problems like you had and stopped. Never went camping in Fla. Now that we are back home maybe next summer only it will be away from others.
ReplyDeleteBy not camping in Florida, you really did not miss much. All though there is a really nice place near the cape, but we were there a few years ago in August and the pool was like 1,000 degrees... you know its hot when you start sweating in the water.. ick!
DeleteJUGM,
ReplyDeleteWe had this happen to us one time camping at a park. Our concern the partiers had created a very large uncontrollable fire which in turn caused their tent to go up in the fire. We went up to the management who in turn called the sheriff. The family left after putting out the fire and throwing away all of their camping gear.
The next two days were nice and quiet.
I don't understand why people don't respect the park/camp ground, the people next to them or the belief you leave the place cleaner than how you found it.
Hubby and I want to do some camping this year before it gets too cold, I'm hoping we don't run into this type of situation again.
You, hubby and the boys did the right thing by leaving. The weather would have really put a damper on the trip and you don't want to be sick.
We usually have pretty nice outings when we go camping, this is the first time in our tent. normally we are in our travel trailer. So the crowd is older and more mature. I am not saying tent campers are bad, but usually when we see the tent areas at a campground the age group is younger and with age goes the partying...
DeleteOnce we had some people going through the woods near our site, and was cutting down small trees for fire wood.. that went on until late, and senior called the office to complain.
That's one reason I don't go to camp grounds. There's always some obnoxious people there that spoil it for everybody. Maybe next time, you could look for a wildlife management area. You can camp in some of them, they are really big, and they are hard to get into so the people who just want a fire ring and a camp store never think of going there.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that turned out the way it did. One thing about it, if you stay in a state park, there's always a park ranger on duty. They are law enforcement and at least at the park I worked at, they enforced a 10 pm to 8 am quiet hours policy without exception. Even the Mexicans and Pakistanis had to toe the line.
At least plan another canoe trip, when the SHTF canoeing is a great way to put many miles behind you. Our boys, at 7 and 4, are about 2 more years until we can start some regular trips on the rivers around here. Keep taking those boys out in the woods!
ReplyDeleteIt should be legal to shoot stupid people. I had this kind of thing happen once so I got up at 5:00 AM and let my diesel truck idle next to their tent while it warmed up and I banged around some noisy stuff, they left that day.
ReplyDeleteThat is NOT a place I'd be going back to...
ReplyDelete