Camping adventures

As I always say, camping is not a vacation - there is too much work before, during and after to call it a vacation - but it is always an adventure. And some camping trips are more of an adventure than others.

We haven't had our camp-on-wheels out much this season. James was reluctant to have his new Outback wired to hook up the pop-up and researched the least invasive method, and then the installation of that method turned out to be its own adventure. (Warning: approach any service at Great Outdoors RV Superstore with great caution) James and Aidan went on a father-son camping trip three weeks ago, but this past weekend was our first family camping trip.

You know we love the Adirondacks and we like that we can be in the Old Forge area in just two hours, but we have tired of the Old Forge Camping Resort there. James found a campground that is outside of Old Forge, in the Black River Wild Forest - Nicks Lake, which is a New York Department of Conservation campground. Most of the online reviews were excellent and there was just one site left for the weekend, so we booked. The only drawback? Camping sites at Nicks Lake do not have water or electricity. Yes, there are water spigots located throughout the campground and yes, there is electricity (and water) in the restrooms/bath houses, but there are not electrical or water hookups at each site.

I will admit to being very skeptical and my expectations were low. Very low. While I am accustomed to walking to the restrooms, I like being able to turn on lights in the camper and use the sink. And with cool temperatures forecasted for the weekend, we would not be able to use the heated mattresses. Harumph. I know we are camping, but...

I was pleasantly surprised. Nicks Lake is a lovely campground with good-sized campsites that are shaded and are not on top of each other. The restrooms/bath houses are within easy strolling distance and are rather new and very clean. And without electricity at the sites, campers kept to a minimum the number of things that require electricity, so it was much quieter than most campgrounds, with loud music being the most notable thing in absence. There are no street lights, so it was dark at night and it was easy to see the stars.

The only drawback was the weather. The cool temperatures weren't a problem but the rain was. The rain started on Saturday morning and fell off/on all day, and at times was quite heavy. Our hike around the lake was cut short and the guys really didn't get to do any fishing. There are no photos of the campground to share here because it was so dismal and dark.

We did manage to have fun, however. We went into Old Forge and, as always, visited Old Forge Hardware. Then we drove over to Inlet to our favorite ADK bar, Matt's Draft House. We were the second group of people in the door at noon and were lucky to get a table before packs of wet kayakers started streaming in. We had no idea that One Square Mile of Hope was taking place that day on Fourth Lake in Inlet, an attempt to beat the Guinness world record for the largest raft of canoes and kayaks and raise money for breast cancer research.

The people who were first in the door and seated at the table next to us wanted to see the Ohio State football game, which began at noon. Matt is originally from Ohio and a fan of Ohio State, so while he was happy to tune one of the big screen televisions to the game, he was not successful. His brother John finally set up the game to stream on a laptop that was perched on two pizza boxes atop a table:

Is that good customer service or what? We had the Ohio State game on the little screen, and the Syracuse game on the big screen just beyond! There were about seven or eight of us cheering on the Buckeyes, much to the [pretended] annoyance of a group of Penn State fans. We happily ate delicious wings, drank fresh draught beer (well, Aidan had water), watched football and stayed out of the rain for a while.

As we drove home on Sunday, the sky brightened, the clouds cleared and the sun shone bright. Of course! We opened the camper up to dry off and out, and the washing of damp, dirty laundry began. It wasn't ideal conditions for a camping trip, but we did have fun. And we liked Nicks Lake so much that we already booked a trip for Memorial weekend...and there weren't many sites left.