Camp Buckwood - Rain, People, Mud...Oy!!

As you read about my travels, and my foibles, you need to really keep in mind that I am severely geographically challenged. Turn me around twice and I can’t get back where I started. Seriously! I have been lucky that I have had people in my life who excel geographically speaking (and other ways of course) and they have made up for my geographic shortcomings. Well, I am now traveling alone and it’s all on me... so I have three, yes THREE different GPS’s that I use. Most times I only use one, sometimes all three. It depends on how I confident I am and how much we are going off the beaten path.

SO... Following the GPS on my way to Camp Buckwood in Indiana and, once again, here I am turning onto a small road. But this time I had watched a video talking about this camp so I knew this was coming. I knew it was passable by the 45 foot RV in the video so it would be possible for me to do so as well. But still, the road was once again small and twisty and, of course, unpaved at the end of the road... fun! But at least it was dry.

When I pulled into the campgrounds it was overcast but warm enough to be comfortable outside. I was greeted by the nicest man working the front desk, and I felt very welcomed into this latest campground. He helped me pick a spot on the grass right near the pool. He even helped me hook up all my utilities. That was a great reception and helped me get to the pool that much quicker. Most of the people at the pool were visiting like me, with only a couple of the regular residents, the “perms”, showing their faces. I was told they’re spoiled and only come out when the weather is really nice. But I got to know the bunch of guys who were there and enjoyed their company.

I woke up the next morning it was a dark and rainy day. I decided I was not going to let it get to me. I took out my crocheting and continued to watch episodes of “The Wire,” the DVD Justin gave me (insisting that I watch all five seasons.). I sat there for three hours actually quite content. Then all the sudden I decided I did not want to be inside. I got my towel and marched over the covered pavilion hoping somebody would be around for company despite the constant drizzle and occasional downpour. Turns out there were five guys in the hot tub. The hot tub was a giant affair that was in-ground next to a covered pavilion. The air was damp and cold but the hot tub was warm and toasty in the company was quite wonderful. It turned out most of the group knew each other and they were all there for a cigar weekend. The campgrounds all have themed weekends, but I had not heard of Cigars being the theme before. Well, they were enjoying their cigars with gusto, but they were gracious about understanding that the smoke would send me into an asthma attack so they kept it all away from me. What a great group of men… I learned about their lives, mostly in Chicago, and it made the rest of the day goes quickly. Two guys who were not from the group came back with me to my RV and I made us a wonderful dinner. They were appreciative of a full course meal, complete with wine... but they didn’t realize how much pleasure it brought me to be entertaining in my “home.“ I loved the company, and we got to know each other well enough that we still keep in touch with each other by text. One of the guys may even join me at a different campground in Florida. YAY! It’s wonderful making friends all over the country.

The non-stop rains of the day before passed, and the next morning it was bright but cool. Well, it was cool, and it was VERY muddy. I walked around a bit and said my goodbyes. I felt that despite the weather I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Indiana. Meeting the guys from Chicago and getting to know the owner as well made for a wonderful stay. But like all good things this had to come to an end and I was packed up and ready to go.

I was nervous about the mud and rightfully so. I pulled out of my parking spot with no problems but there was the slightest of hills going up to the road leading out and as I was pulling up to the road I could feel myself slogging down in the mud. I tried to keep going, but next thing you know, I was stuck. So close. So close to the road and I just couldn’t get onto it. My next thought was, if I can back up and use the gravity of the hill to get me onto the road I can be on my way. Ha! I turned but couldn’t make the turn tight enough and instead of being on the road, I wound up parallel to the road and deeper in the mud. Going forward was futile, and backwards was now blocked by bushes. OK...This is not good.

The owner of the camp came out and said he would get the tractor to try to pull me out. He then comes out with a tractor. Not that the tractor was small at all, but next to my RV, it was quite small. They attached some chains and try to pull, but to no avail. Luckily I have Good Sam! Good Sam is like AAA but it’s for RVs.

Good Sam said they would dispatch someone to help me and quite quickly I got a phone call asking specific details of my RV. After hearing how big I was she said it was going to take a couple hours for someone to get to my remote location. I sat and talked to people to pass the time until this incredibly huge winch truck came down the narrow lane of the campground. The truck was almost as big as my RV. Somehow he managed to maneuver himself so he was facing the opposite direction; now facing up the road coming in. He was far up the road to give him the leverage to pull me out. It took him a while to set up the winch truck for this particular task and to figure out where to attach the chains. He pointed out that where the tractor had attached was not really the main part of the frame and he wound up attaching to the axle. I guess maybe it was lucky the tractor couldn’t pull... we may have wound up with the front of my RV out of the mud but the rest of it still stuck!!! See, it can always get worse... haha!!!

He told me to get in the RV and leave it in neutral and he would pull me out. It was quite the ordeal. The moving was very slow but steady, and sure enough he ultimately got me out.

I hadn’t noticed when he first arrived, but I really had to laugh at the name of his truck as it sat in the middle of this gay campground - The Big Stick! You know, you just can’t make these things up! Ha ha!

It was funny… I was not happy. I was very anxious and concerned, but I knew I would get out and it would be ok. The owner of the camp even commented on how calm I was and that he couldn’t believe I was joking about stuff (“BIG STICK”? Come on, who wouldn’t joke?). Evidently this has happened many times before and the RV owners always seemed to get bent out of shape. To me, I was amazed that he wasn’t bent out of shape. Look at the mess I made of his grounds! But he was calm. I was calm. It was all ok.

Here are some pics of the aftermath.