Thanks to Covid-19, Ohio State Parks (and most of the world as we knew it) shut down just before St. Patrick's Day. We were pretty close to taking our first trip as soon as it quit raining and the ground dried up a bit.
Every day since then began and ended with a visit to the Ohio Department Of Natural Resources (ODNR) web site. Would there be good news today? When will the campgrounds re-open?
The big day was May 21st. Only limited facilities, but the campgrounds were open again. Just in time for Memorial Day.
Let's get the show on the road.
In the old days (like last year), you could pull into a state park, pay and get a site tag, and be enjoying your favorite beverage in less than hour. Not so much these days.
You need to make a reservation online first. No more "walk-in" camping.
The ODNR web site is under construction. Maybe they had this planned for quite a while. Maybe they decided that since everything was closed they might as well re-build the site now. Either way, I'm not a big fan of what they are giving us to work with in the interim. The reservation section is awkward and hard to navigate. Maybe it's just me. The older I get, the more I complain about stuff.
We decided to wait until the opening/holiday dust settled for about a week before taking Believeland on her maiden voyage. We decided on June 2nd-5th (Tuesday through Friday). Geneva State Park.
Normally, an electric-only site is $29/night during the week. Our Golden Buckeye Card got us a 50% discount (weeknights only...10% on weekends). We ended up paying $14.50/night plus a $6.50 reservation fee for a total of $50.00 for 3 nights. That averages out to $16.67 per night. Not free, but not bad.
We have camped here many times over the last 30 years. Covid-19 has changed a few things. Only the shower house restrooms were open. Very clean (as usual). The other two restrooms were closed. The camp store was closed, and check-in was at a drive-up window. Grass at the sites was getting pretty high when they mowed on Thursday. Some sites can get quite sloppy after a good rain.
Normally, we would spend a lot of time on the strip in Geneva-On-The-Lake. Wineries, bars, food and music. Most of this visit was spent at our site planning the conversion of the bus. Except for a stop at Madsen's Dounuts. Get a dozen. You'll LOVE 'em!
We figured that the best way to decide how to continue with construction would be to live in the bus for a few days and see what we liked and didn't like. We learned a lot.
No Wi-Fi, pretty good cell, some antenna TV from Cleveland.
Ever since I was a child camping with my parents, I have considered Ohio State Parks as the benchmark for what a good campground should be like. Well planned and well maintained. I hope that the current health and economic situation doesn't change that.
So, what's next?
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