Blair, I know you were reading my blog again. At around 4 am this morning. I have been tracking the ip addresses that log on to it. Quit it. Until you can quit lying and start telling people the truth, I have nothing to say to you.
And whomever it is from the Czech Republic who has been reading my blog, I believe I know who you are. And if I'm correct I have only one thing to say and if I'm incorrect you won't understand this comment anyway. Would you please call him, let him know you aren't dead and give him some closure? Please? He deserves that much. It's tearing him up.
I probably won't be making any posts for a while. I'm going to have to go away I think. We will see.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
I'm taking a break from camping right now and house sitting for my friend Nancy. Well, house and cat sitting. But I need to tell you about the campground I just came from. Crab Orchard Lake Campground in Carterville, IL is a horrible campground. There are spots where it is very beautiful. This doesn't make up for it's lacks and problems. They charge $110 per week to camp there. I'm not sure what the nightly rate is, but that's the weekly rate for a site with electricity.
Problem #1: The first night we were there, we arrived in late afternoon. We set up the camper (it's a popup with a few problems because it's a 1973 Starcraft - an excellent camper, just it's aging and it's showing) which took a while and went to plug in. Surprise! No 110 outlet. Only the weird 30 amp plugin. Of course the office was closed so there wasn't anything I could do about it at that point. Needless to say I had to run into town the next day as I had to get more insulin as I couldn't refrigerate what I had. The next day I asked the lady at the gate about it and she said she thought I could buy an adapter. I called the local RV place and it cost me just under $5. So, there's the cost of the gas driving back to town for the insulin, driving back to town to buy the adapter and the cost of the adapter.
Problem #2: There's a ban on alcohol out there. Which is ok, but I saw no evidence of it or the quiet hours being enforced. The second weekend we were there a group of people moved into the spot next to us and on Sunday night they proceeded to not only get drunk but loud. It didn't quiet down until after 2 am. If I hadn't had some appointments to be at on Monday, I wouldn't have cared much, but as it was it annoyed the hell out of me. I have nothing against having a drink and a good time but when you are at a full campground with families all around, getting drunk and yelling at your yapping little chihuahua at 2 am is just rude.
Problem #3: The bathroom. Where do I begin? They are in state of disrepair to say the least. And apparently the staff seem to think that spraying bleach all over them is good enough to clean them. I walked in one morning and they had apparently just sprayed bleach all over. The floor was still wet with it. I had to go very badly or else I would have turned around and walked out. The big problem here is that I have a condition called pulmonary hypertension. When I am subjected to strong fumes or certain types of smoke, I can't breathe. Straight bleach is one of the fumes I can't tolerate. I came out of the bathroom gasping for air. There are no doors on any of the stalls either. And a curtain on only one of them. I was taking my dog with me when I went to the bathroom because she would sit in front of the stall (on her leash) and people would know the end stall was occupied. One morning I was almost crossing my legs to get to the toilet and there was this woman cleaning the bathroom who told me I couldn't come in because they were cleaning and that I couldn't bring my dog in. I refrained from telling her that my dog was cleaner than their bathroom and that at least she didn't take a dump and not flush or leave toilet paper all over the floor. I went back to my camper and peed in a bucket. By afternoon there was a sign saying no pets in the bath house. I figured if she wanted me to tie my dog up every time I went to the bathroom, I'd be more than happy to and if Roxy began to bark and annoyed the whole campground, that wouldn't be MY fault. I probably wouldn't have been so irritated if the woman hadn't been so snotty in the way she acted towards me. After all, I WAS a paying guest. The showers don't drain properly, there's always sand in the bottom of them I've noticed. Half the time there's no hand soap, the paint is peeling and apparently nobody is allowed to wash dishes in the bathroom sinks. You are supposed to use the outside sink. See the pictures below.
This last picture is the outside sink. No, I'm not kidding. Signs in the bathroom direct you to use the outside sink. One threatens you with being thrown out if you use the bathroom sinks to wash dishes. It's like you are paying for the privilege to stay there and if they decide you don't deserve it, out you go!
Problem #4: What they don't tell you. If you aren't from southern Illinois, you might not know Crab Orchard is a man-made lake. And being a man-made lake they of course used fairly cheap land. Land that a munitions plant was on. There's PCBs in the water. It's documented. I won't eat fish from the lake or swim in it. There's all kinds of chemicals in the ground and water that they don't tell you about. I know about it because I used to know a gentleman who worked at the plant and he told me some of the stuff they used to just pour on the ground...
So, In conclusion, although Crab Orchard Lake Campground has some very beautiful spots, it's really not worth it. You would be better off going to a cheap motel and getting a room for $140 a week. At least you would have cable, air and a private bathroom.
Problem #1: The first night we were there, we arrived in late afternoon. We set up the camper (it's a popup with a few problems because it's a 1973 Starcraft - an excellent camper, just it's aging and it's showing) which took a while and went to plug in. Surprise! No 110 outlet. Only the weird 30 amp plugin. Of course the office was closed so there wasn't anything I could do about it at that point. Needless to say I had to run into town the next day as I had to get more insulin as I couldn't refrigerate what I had. The next day I asked the lady at the gate about it and she said she thought I could buy an adapter. I called the local RV place and it cost me just under $5. So, there's the cost of the gas driving back to town for the insulin, driving back to town to buy the adapter and the cost of the adapter.
Problem #2: There's a ban on alcohol out there. Which is ok, but I saw no evidence of it or the quiet hours being enforced. The second weekend we were there a group of people moved into the spot next to us and on Sunday night they proceeded to not only get drunk but loud. It didn't quiet down until after 2 am. If I hadn't had some appointments to be at on Monday, I wouldn't have cared much, but as it was it annoyed the hell out of me. I have nothing against having a drink and a good time but when you are at a full campground with families all around, getting drunk and yelling at your yapping little chihuahua at 2 am is just rude.
Problem #3: The bathroom. Where do I begin? They are in state of disrepair to say the least. And apparently the staff seem to think that spraying bleach all over them is good enough to clean them. I walked in one morning and they had apparently just sprayed bleach all over. The floor was still wet with it. I had to go very badly or else I would have turned around and walked out. The big problem here is that I have a condition called pulmonary hypertension. When I am subjected to strong fumes or certain types of smoke, I can't breathe. Straight bleach is one of the fumes I can't tolerate. I came out of the bathroom gasping for air. There are no doors on any of the stalls either. And a curtain on only one of them. I was taking my dog with me when I went to the bathroom because she would sit in front of the stall (on her leash) and people would know the end stall was occupied. One morning I was almost crossing my legs to get to the toilet and there was this woman cleaning the bathroom who told me I couldn't come in because they were cleaning and that I couldn't bring my dog in. I refrained from telling her that my dog was cleaner than their bathroom and that at least she didn't take a dump and not flush or leave toilet paper all over the floor. I went back to my camper and peed in a bucket. By afternoon there was a sign saying no pets in the bath house. I figured if she wanted me to tie my dog up every time I went to the bathroom, I'd be more than happy to and if Roxy began to bark and annoyed the whole campground, that wouldn't be MY fault. I probably wouldn't have been so irritated if the woman hadn't been so snotty in the way she acted towards me. After all, I WAS a paying guest. The showers don't drain properly, there's always sand in the bottom of them I've noticed. Half the time there's no hand soap, the paint is peeling and apparently nobody is allowed to wash dishes in the bathroom sinks. You are supposed to use the outside sink. See the pictures below.
This last picture is the outside sink. No, I'm not kidding. Signs in the bathroom direct you to use the outside sink. One threatens you with being thrown out if you use the bathroom sinks to wash dishes. It's like you are paying for the privilege to stay there and if they decide you don't deserve it, out you go!
Problem #4: What they don't tell you. If you aren't from southern Illinois, you might not know Crab Orchard is a man-made lake. And being a man-made lake they of course used fairly cheap land. Land that a munitions plant was on. There's PCBs in the water. It's documented. I won't eat fish from the lake or swim in it. There's all kinds of chemicals in the ground and water that they don't tell you about. I know about it because I used to know a gentleman who worked at the plant and he told me some of the stuff they used to just pour on the ground...
So, In conclusion, although Crab Orchard Lake Campground has some very beautiful spots, it's really not worth it. You would be better off going to a cheap motel and getting a room for $140 a week. At least you would have cable, air and a private bathroom.
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