The coronavirus outbreak is a fluid situation. Today’s guidance from officials may be outdated by this evening. To some extent we are all just waiting for the next domino to fall. Fulltime RVers aren’t exempt from all the uncertainty. The other day I saw a meme on Facebook picturing a class C parked alone on a peninsula overlooking a pretty lake. The caption, meant to bring a smile, said that they were practicing social distancing. Then, in less than a day I saw a news article that New Mexico was closing its campgrounds. I couldn’t help but wonder if that RV was being evicted from that isolated spot.
I see that FMCA and Escapees have announced changes in their rally schedules. No doubt that leaves some fulltimers looking for a place to land now that they won’t be attending their rally as planned.
In our case, we’re still at our winter campground. In fact, we had already planned on a longer than usual stay while I serve as interim pastor at a local church during their pastoral search. A few days ago I mentioned to the campground management that we just might be staying into the summer – not because of the church assignment but because our summer plans might be disrupted by the pandemic.
At this point I think fulltimers might be wise to find a campground they like that will allow longer stays. Many of us are in the higher risk group and it makes sense to take advantage of our more unstructured lifestyle to land in an acceptable spot and wait for the storm to blow over. Of course, everyone has their own particular concerns: family needs, events, appointments and the like. If possible, though, I’d be looking into suitable long term parking.
And, while I’m writing, I’ll switch to my pastoral identity for a moment. From a health point of view, we’re urged to wash our hands to protect against a virus infection. From a spiritual point of view, I urge you to spend time with the Lord – maybe whispering a 20 second prayer each time you wash your hands – pray for our world and for ourselves and those we love. Ask the Lord to protect you against the infection of fear and anxiety that is sweeping across the world. Also, you might include a prayer of thanksgiving for running water and soap. Oh yeah, also pray for our President and other national leaders; maybe health care providers and medical researchers too.
Come to think of it, you might need more than 20 seconds for those prayers.
Some full time traveling RVers set out to visit all the National Parks. Others plan their journeys to see as many minor league ball parks as they can and more than a few focus on seeing the grandkids who are scattered around the country. I think, though, that we have a corner on doing animal highway sketching! At least this year, we did a pretty good drawing of a dog.
We have had a nice stay at Eisenhower State Park, Denison, TX. We came to Denison so I could fill in for a pastor friend while he took Sabbatical leave. The park is located on Lake Texoma and features a large marina and multiple camping areas. However, only the Bois D’Arc Ridge loop has full hookups.
The biggest negative is that many of the sites are rather unlevel both side to side and front to back. Some are so bad that only a small camper has any reasonable hope of getting level. Also, in addition to bringing along plenty of leveling blocks be sure to bring extra sewer hose as the connection is seldom in a spot that will let you get level and be close to the sewer connection at the same time. And, even though the lake is very close by, there are no lake views to speak of. Toward the end of our stay the trees had dropped enough leaves that the lake could be seen through the forest from a few spots but there was nothing like a real lake view from this camping loop.
I really should mention the hedge apples. Some of the sites have trees with this softball sized fruit on them. You certainly don’t want to park your RV under one of those trees in the fall!
Coon Creek Cove Campground is a Corps of Engineers campground located on Kaw Lake, just east of Ponca City, OK. The campground is situated on a finger of land, affording water views to nearly every campsite. Several have water access. The campground roads are paved and the sites are gravel. Each site has a covered picnic table and fire pit. They are reasonably level, mostly with shade, and 30 amp electric and water. There are no full hookup spots. We arrived on a weekend and the place was nearly full with lots of people fishing, boating, and jet skiing. Several children were playing in the water. By Sunday night most everyone had left and there were lots of prime sites available to travelers. Generally speaking, the sites looking out over the lake itself are on a bluff. Those on the cove are closer to water level. We were mildly disappointed that the weeds between us and the lake on our bluff side spot were tall enough to obstruct what would have been great lake views.
