My wife and I went camping this past weekend, and we had a crazy time! We had decided to go camping a few weeks back, but we never made reservations anywhere. Our good friends, who we were going with, knew of a campground that they had been to years ago that always had an open spot. After checking their website we found that they guarantee that they’ll always have an open site since they’ve got such a huge campground. We decided to go camp at this campsite.
The campsite was situated in a beautiful wooded area about an hour from our house. Our campsite was sitting beside a beautiful stream (see photo above). If that had been where it ended, we probably would have had a relaxing weekend, sitting around the fire, enjoying each other’s company. What we didn’t realize was that the campground is actually a huge party campground.
We should have noticed the signs when we pulled up. Near the front office there were dumpsters where people were supposed to leave their garbage when leaving. When we drove by the dumpsters were overflowing with beer cans and liquor bottles. That was clue number one.
When we pulled into the campground it was full to overflowing with college aged kids getting ready for a long night of partying. Many of them were drinking early in the afternoon, and most of them were already drunk. That was clue number two. Not a good sign.
After setting up our tent at our campsite by the stream we had a good time hanging out, cooking dinner over the fire, and just chatting. Every once in a while a large group of tubers would float by our campsite on the river, drunk, spouting obscenities, laughing loudly and screaming. Apparently this campground was also known for tubing, which apparently draws a loud drunken crowd of party people. Duly noted.
Around midnight we decided that we were going to head to bed. Unfortunately for us the rest of the campers weren’t quite so ready to hit the hay. We lay in our sleeping bags listening to the loud sounds of drunken revelers until the wee hours of the morning when I’m assuming they all passed out. The same thing happened both nights we camped there.
Needless to say we won’t be camping at that campground again any time soon – at least not on a weekend when the crazies come out. How can people find this type of thing fun – getting drunk to the point of passing out and engaging in all sorts of horrible behavior? So sad.
Wow! I’ve camped at campgrounds like that before, and it’s not fun. Not exactly the peaceful, back to nature, experience I’m looking for when I go camping. And getting drunk and going tubing sounds like a dangerous combination! Yikes!
Thanks for the mention!
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It’s amazing really how no one drowns on the river while tubing. They tie all their tubes together, with a big cooler tube in the middle and just drink their way down the river. Lucky for them the river/stream/creek is pretty shallow and slow moving in most parts – probably saving them from a watery grave. :)
Wow, sorry you had such a rough camping trip. I’m blessed to live in Washington state and we have a crazy amount of Department of Natural Resource campsites and State campgrounds. Almost all prohibit drinking so much quieter. We ended up at a spot this weekend on the Lyre River which empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A beautiful spot with only 9 campsites and it was free. We really are spoiled. Fortunately the river is also pretty shallow with some serious rapids so no drunken toobers :-).
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We’ve learned our lesson. No more private campgrounds – back to the state and county parks where no drinking is allowed – and quiet hours start at 10pm. :)
I’ve had a camping experience like that as well. At first we didn’t mind so much but once you want to get some sleep it gets real annoying hearing someone’s car speakers blasting!
Chalk it up as an experience and don’t go back there. Though, maybe if you complained to the company that owned the place they could give you some free nights or discounted rates (if you went back on a weekday)?
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I’m pretty sure the family that owned the place didn’t mind as they make a TON of money from these campers. $35 per campsite/tent and the place was FULL. Add to that the fact that they rent tubes and drive people upriver to drop them off to go tubing, I’m pretty sure that they’ll put up with a few unruly drunkards. They probably make 15-30k from a busy weekend like this last one.
By the way, the cost for the weekend was the other thing that bothered me – $35/night plus wood and food is way too much money to spend on a weekend like this. Once again, lesson learned.
I’m sorry to hear that your camping trip went a bit awry. The place sure looks beautiful though!
To tell you the truth, that’s why I tend to stay home on the weekends. If I am going to listen to a bunch of drunks whoopin’ and hollerin’ after midnight, I’d rather do it from the comfort of my own home! ;-)
By the way, Peter, thank you so much for the link love too!
My $0.02 (after taxes)
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
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I can’t believe you lasted two nights at that campground! :)
Yeah, neither can we! (we pre-paid for the two nights)
We went camping on New Years Eve and were a bit worried about the party goers. Fortunately the park rangers had zero tolerance so any raised volume levels were quickly quelled so we got two good nights sleep thankfully.