I’m so far behind in blogging but don’t want to forget these two. Such different experiences, but both memorable in their own way.
The first was the Minuteman Campgrounds, close to Lexington and Concord. It’s been in the same family for a long time and their love and care is evident.
Office at Minuteman Campground
We’re used to staying in state parks when they’re almost empty, so we enter this private campground with trepidation. Not to worry – our site is amazing.
Minuteman Campground campsite - Concord MA
My favorite fire pits ever. I wanted to set up a nativity scene!
Stone fire pit Minuteman Campground
We stay a second night and get to talk to one of our “neighbors” – he’s there for a some kind of period gun-shooting contest. He tells us they’ll all be in costumes in the morning and I get up in time to catch a few of them.
Nice gun-toting neighbors
The second campground is hard to get to, and when we get there, we almost want to turn around and head the other way. It’s packed with seasonal trailers. Row after row. And more recreational vehicles, golf carts, motorcycles, etc. than we’ve ever seen in one place. We reject the first site they suggest for us, it’s so crowded we’re not sure how we would back into it (and we’re SMALL!) so we find a site in a less crowded area and settle in.
And then we take a walk at dusk. We are dumbstruck by the lights, strings of all kinds and colors, flags, banners, decorations, tiki bars, full screen porches, patios, rock gardens – and everywhere campfires with loungers, chairs, so many people sitting outside together, kids playing, music blaring. We aren’t used to this.
We go off to see some history the next day and come back to the same site. We take another long walk. Once it’s completely dark, I’m seriously concerned we might get lost – there’s a whole city here, block after block of huge rigs, lit by firelight. Where do we turn to get back to our campsite…was there a flamingo on the corner? A bear statue? An American flag?
But we do find our way back, and climb back into the Navion. Sometime while we were gone, or later in the night, we have a visitor. We don’t know about until we pull back out of the site in the morning.
Snapping turtle who lived under our Navion overnight
Thank God we still have our toes, after walking around in the dark, and then in the morning, oblivious. It’s the largest snapping turtle I’ve ever seen and ornery as all get out.
And, this is where I have a mind-set change on this campground. The nicest young man comes out of his trailer when he sees Dick trying to move this prehistoric beast with a stick. He tells us that this turtle does this all the time and is not a happy camper.
Snapping turtle snapping at stick
He goes to borrow a shovel, for transport to the pond, while his wife and some kids join us for the event. It’s not an easy process, but the man perseveres and gets the turtle back into the water. We talk for awhile about what this time spent together as a family means to them (they’re seasonal, so the rig stays, they come on long weekends). He was so cheerful, helpful and friendly. I thought who wouldn’t want to have neighbors like this?
Snapping turtle going for a ride
I would skip the reptilian variety however…
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