Friday, July 16, 2021

GOOD-BYE SCREENED TENT.

Day 58 – We were suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by incredibly close lightning and very loud thunder, followed by high wind and heavy rain coming in the windows sideways. After rushing to shut the RV windows, Rob was soaked with rain that was coming inside. Rob says it was like standing right in front of a fire hose. The girls were scrambling all over the RV, trying to find places to hide. It was dramatic! The storm went on awhile with the wind gusts shaking the RV. It was difficult to get back to sleep.

This morning when Rob got up (I was still asleep), he discovered that unfortunately, the great, old screened tent did not survive the storm. The wind had blown the tent into a pile about 20 feet away from where it was yesterday. The very heavy metal and wood picnic table it was tied to had been dragged about five feet before the tent broke loose from the table. The only thing left was the entry mat still staked to the ground. Surprisingly, the tent had been staked to the ground AND tied to the table AND the RV, and it still broke free. There were several collapsed tents around us in the campground. The park ranger, when making his rounds, had gathered up twisted tents for disposal. We kept ours to give it a proper burial. Campers were laying out soaked gear so it would dry. Wow! Luckily the bikes and kayaks were still strapped to the car and the RV fared well. We’ve had the tent a long time and it’s served us well. Here’s to you, old screened tent. Click any picture below to see a slideshow.

It was wonderfully cool and breezy today. Rob spent most of the morning online searching for a new tent that we could pick up soon on the way from one campground to the next, or one that is at a store within a couple of hours from where we’ll be. (We consider a screened tent to be a necessity when camping to give us shade, and to let us be outside when there are biting bugs.) There are plenty of tents out there, but we are looking for something with a floor, that is fully screened, and that has steel poles as most of the newer ones seem flimsy.

Another problem developed this afternoon when a neighbor from our land in Maine sent us an e-mail to say she was picking mushrooms and that she was happy to see we were camping on our land. We wrote her back to say, “Um, we’re far away in upstate NY. Are you sure you saw someone camping on our land?” And she wrote back that there was an RV with a tent and a BMW SUV with a sleeping area. So we “called out the dogs” (other neighbors to take a look) and will wait until we hear back from them. I mean, what if they are camping there using electricity, septic, and water; it is pretty obvious the land belongs to someone! If someone had asked, we very well may have given them permission. But just ask. Grrrrr.

Meanwhile, the girls have recovered from last night’s traumatic events and are sleeping soundly on the dashboard (except for Pixie who is a princess and sleeps on the bed).

This afternoon we took a short drive around the campground with the campground map checking out all the campsites. In many areas people are practically piled on top of each other, although we did see several possible sites if we came back and could not get this one again. Also, we found this blurb from the Park’s brochure, “Not far from the campground is Ironside Island, owned by the Nature Conservancy, and home to the largest Great Blue Heron rookery on the River. The Island’s treetops are filled with Great Blue Heron nests, which often measure up to six feet wide and four feet deep.” We looked online to try to find this Island, wondering if there was a way to drive to it, but it is not accessible to protect the birds, (but they say you can see the nesting birds from the water).

We made dinner for tonight & the next two nights – Curry Scallops over Thai Rice Noodles (with a new vegetable each night). The high today was 75 degrees, overcast, and a breeze. Tomorrow we move on to another campground in the 1000 Islands region. Someone else gets this great campsite.

For more detailed information about Kring Point State Park, click here.