camp accommodations

i love going camping. i love the smell of campfire and eating outdoors and taking a morning stroll with coffee in hand. some people wouldn't be caught dead in a tent- they prefer a hotel. i can understand but hotels aren't all their cracked up to be either. with doors slamming from your neighbors, thin walls, weird smells and a blanket that how many people have used? right- I'll share my sleeping bag and air mattress with a few spiders- no problem.

now, we do camp in a tent. no trailer or rv for us. and i don't "hike in" with a load of stuff on my back. that is not fun for me. the car is an essential part of our set up. i also require some type of facilities- preferably a bathhouse with running water, and campgrounds that have actual showers get an A+ rating in my book. (i also seem to require an obscene amount of junk food).

we stayed at sewall campground in acadia national park last week while we were on mt. desert island. it was perfect, quiet, private, wooded and across the street from the ocean. this meant that the entire property smelled like both camp fire and sea breeze- how summery is that?

early on in the spring i had checked the web to figure out where we could stay and what type of accomodations each camp ground had. the national park website said something to the effect of "showers close by for a fee". i figured this meant that the showers were located at a park rangers' station or at another campground in the park. no- it was much more literal than that. the showers were close by (around the corner from the campground entrance) and for a fee ($1 in quarters per min). however they were located here:

let me give you a close up on some of the signage here:

upon our arrival, i was a little skeeved out about the prospect of showering in a camp supply store. i've been in these places before, and they aren't exactly welcoming. they usually sell things like propane tanks, bundles of wood, dry matches, and generic cigarettes and are manned by a hill-billy looking who smokes inside and wears flannel year round. also, this one appeared to have an eatery. can you really shower and get a lobster roll at the same place? well, i am here to tell you that downeast you most certainly can. if you look closer at the signs you can also get both coke and pepsi signs on your store front- which is also weird.

i was a tad disappointed when i read the big sign at the camp ranger station that explained that his was the store to get your shower on. but in keeping with my resolve to "go with the flow" we went to the store to shower and i just smiled. it wasn't exactly luxurious, it got the job done, was plenty private, clean, and had warm water. as much warm water as you had quarters for.

i was proud of myself for not letting this (or the need for a new air mattress pump) spoil my mood. last year this would not have went so well. oh and now i can say i showered at a lobster pound.