Mad Squirrels and Free Coffee
Rip Van Winkle Campgrounds: Saugerties, NY
Before we officially move on to Season 4 we would like to recap a few of our adventures from last summer and fall that didnt quite make it onto the blog.
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We wrapped up our three stop trip to New York State with a four day stay at Rip Van Winkles Campground in Saugerties. Our last stop, at Branches of Niagara, was pretty awesome: zip lining, fishing, kayaking, and, well--Niagara Falls. So the bar was set pretty high for the last stop of our grand tour.
When I booked Rip Van Winkles back in the cold of winter I had been seduced by their websites description of a "clear mountain stream" and "an old fashioned swimming hole." Unfortunately, when we checked in at the camp store and asked for directions to the swimming hole we were told that it had pretty well run dry. Man was I bummed! But fortunately, the friendly worker behind the front desk proceeded to ask me if I wanted a cup of coffee and then informed me that it was free all day everyday for registered guests. The river may have run dry but the free coffee was flowing! And I must say--they made a pretty good brew...
The campground itself was huge, and it was a surprisingly long drive just to get to our site. This was both good and bad. Our sites were incredibly spacious and private. They were more like the kind of sites you would get at a state park, not at a private campground with full hookups. If you take a look behind Theo in the picture above you can see our camping buddies RV at the adjacent site--if our site was spacious then the two sites together were huge. It actually took a little stroll through the woods to get to their site.
But the hugeness of the campground was also a disadvantage--particularly when it came to entertaining the little campers. We couldnt walk to the pool--we had to pack up the crew into the truck and drive. The playgrounds, which they called "fun zones" were also spread throughout the campground--and were not exactly in great shape. There were more snakes playing at the "fun zones" than there were children.
But the natural setting of the campground was woodsy and lovely and deeply relaxing. If you are camping without kids I would highly recommend Rip Van Winkle. If you are camping with kids just dont plan on spending much time utilizing their amenities. You wont really have to anyway. Downtown Saugerties is lovely and the campground makes a great base camp for exploring the Catskills.
If you go you also need to watch out for the mad squirrels. These energetic critters ate through the screen on our camping buddies hybrid and reeked complete havoc inside. They had the munchies something fierce!
They must have overdosed on the free coffee back at the camp store. I know I did...
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