I always thought I knew Burlingame State Campground in Rhode Island pretty darn good...partly because I had been camping there on and off for 25+ years, and partly because I thought I could trust my memory. Why was it then that every time I showed up at the office, and every campsite on my "favorites" list was already occupied, did I begin to tremor with fear? Breaking out in a cold sweat while standing at the front of a winding line of 50 or so inpatient campers is always such a bad scene. Check the board, check the map, check the board, check the map. Does it look private? Do you think the trees are Pine or Maple? Remember... I can't carry a bucket of water far with my back! How close is the spigot? 101 questions race through my head, and almost every time I hear myself saying..." Is that the one that we stayed at that had/was....???" And since I'm pretty sure I've stayed at that particular site at least once (and i remember it being decent enough)...and we are happy to even get a site on a Friday at 7:00pm... we snatch up our treasure map and head off to set up.
And then quicker then my teenage daughter can come up with an excuse not to clean her room ...the smile is wiped....no, completely blasted ... off our faces! It's definitely NOT the site we camped at before. Not even close! I feel like I've just been bamboozled by a cartographer con man! Not only is the site tiny...its wedged between two sparsely wooded sites with --- let me count... - 1-2-3-4-5-6-7...yes 7 (OMG!) tents combined between the two. OMG AGAIN...look at at array of speaker equipment on the picnic table! Is their dog going to stop barking or what? And it looks like we will have to drive to the bathrooms. Great. I guess I don't need to go into details about how the evening played out. Use you imagination :( Oh yea, then multiple that experience times about 25 stays.
At some point, I say to myself....I wish I had an actual picture of every campsite in this park so I know what I'm getting! And so it began. I spent countless hours through October walking through the park snapping pictures and dodging deer. I've come up with ideas for forums and content that hopefully will appeal to fellow campers. The work is sporadic, and often mind boggling to say the least. I often wonder how long it might take a professional web designer..or 5th grader, to accomplish what I've crackerjacked in all these daunting hours. Them, 2 vs. me, 200? When I look in mirror, am I not the same person who can conquer the Sagas of Candy Crush and Bubble Witch in mere minutes? Have I not cleared the path to Victory Lane with my Coin Dozer... while Hanging with Friends? And how many people can Ruzzle their way into the Speed Spelling Society (SSS for short) in under one minute?Please bear with me during the developmental stages... and probably never-ending (re)construction of my BOUND4BURLINGAME.com website. In lieu, I present you with the BOUND4BURLINGAME Facebook Page! I welcome and consider all input, ideas and advice. Make yourself known....take a seat by my virtual campfire. Let's share the love of the outdoors and camping with each other!
