Two Faces of the Campground

Arriving at a county campground on a Friday night and staying until Monday afternoon revealed something very interesting: Two faces of the same campground.

When we arrived Friday night at Sandy Beach, the place was in full swing: Families of all shapes and sizes were munching on burgers and dogs after a fun afternoon at the beach along the river. Campsites varied from a simple tent or two with a couple of couples to a complex of three neighboring sites filled with fivers and travel trailers and shared by what appeared to be members of the same family (or very good friends). Kids were everywhere, enjoying the last blast of Summer before school begins.

The fun and festivities continued to build through the sunny Saturday. While we prepared dinner on Saturday night, we watched kids of all ages frolic in the lawn. It was quite a fun scene.

Sunday morning had a bit of a solemn aire, as just about everybody squeezed out the last bit of Summer fun and then started to pack up and move. By Sunday evening, we just about had the place to ourselves.

A couple of others pulled out before we had our Monday morning coffee. As we strolled around the campground with coffees in hand, we paid a visit to the river. This place that had been so busy over the weekend that we really couldn't even approach was now quiet, calm, peaceful and inviting. We lapped up every bit of the peace and quiet we could before we checked out Monday afternoon and headed back to reality.

As we pulled out of the peaceful campground, we passed a Class A and a fiver with happy campers inside. Maybe they were fulltimers, perhaps they were retirees enjoying an extended holiday. Whatever the case, they were savoring the best this campground had to offer: a weekday.

As we're back to another work week, we find ourselves yearning for weekdays spent in a lovely campground instead of an office. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy this most recent peaceful memory.