|
|
|
||||||||
LAST TRIP OF '00
Hi, again:
With the new job and all we won't be doing any fall camping this year so August 17 was our last trip of '00. We went to Highland Orchards Resort Park in North Stonington, CT. This was also a chance to meet some new friends we met on the internet.
Highland Orchards is a fairly expensive campground located near Connecticut's
two indian casinos and the Mystic tourist area. Most of the sites are
pull-throughs. There are both a good-size kids' pool and an adult pool.
The playground facilities are nice and include a small, free mini-golf
course. There was a live band on Saturday night. One feature
Tessie and I really liked were the DoggiPot pet waste receptacles and bag
dispensers located throughout the campground
. These
made walking the dog a more convenient task and probably helped to encourage
other dog owners to clean up after Fido. Although the campground was
full we found it to be surprisingly quiet at night (although there was a
bit of traffic noise from the nearby highway).
On the downside, the sites were very small with the RVs only a few feet apart
and no separating foliage
. Although
the weather was cool while we were there and there were few, if any, air
conditioners running the 30 amp voltage was low - often falling below 110v
in the morning. I would be concerned about the voltage on a hot day
with many AC units running (and they even charge extra for AC use!).
We also found all the $5 firewood to be very wet. Another annoyance
was that Highland Orchards had refused to guarantee a full-hookup site for
a 4 day stay even though we made our reservations 3 months in advance. Our
overall impression was that the $40 a night fee was overly high.
We met up with our frequent camping buddies, Kurt and Dawn, as well as new
friends Karen and Stephen. Karen and Stephen turned out to be very
nice folks indeed and we all had fun sitting around the evening campfires
talking about RVs, pastries, and whatever
.
As usual, Steph brought along her polymer clay crafting stuff
and I battled the latest RV annoyance - faulty level sensors in our grey
water tank. The tank constantly declared itself 2/3 full even though
it was empty. A $15 bottle of Thetford Level Gauge Cleaner had no effect
so out of desperation I added a little Camco TST liquid we had in the TT
(the label said it was good for both black and grey water tanks). Sure
enough, that did the trick, so I was able to finish flushing and draining
the holding tanks for the winter. We also remembered to try our new
awning lights
.
By the way, we tried using one of the enzyme-type black tank treatments
(RV Trine) this year and found that it didn't work to control odors as well
as the conventional chemical (non-formaldehyde) treatments we used last year.
Kurt and I took the kids to Mystic Aquarium while the wives hit the craft shops and outlet stores, redeeming themselves by bringing back some very good fudge, crackers, and cheese. Karen and Stephen (www.dvcfans.com), new to RVing this year, talked about their experiences so far and their hopes of buying a new tow vehicle someday (ah yes, the RV buying cycle has begun!). It was a good weekend for all and a nice way for us to wrap up the season. Only 6 months to the 2001 RV shows...