The rain and thunderstorms continued yesterday afternoon, leaving our campsite pretty wet and muddy. Yuck. Definitely no fun to camp in the rain, and everything just ends up so damp and impossible to dry out! Not to mention all the mud and muck that tracks into the RV. Oh well, rain happens. At least we were dry inside and had games and iPads to keep us entertained. Rummikub was the game of the day and we each won one!

We went for a walk around the campground once the rain stopped…played dodge-em with the puddles everywhere! Came across these bright orange mushrooms…turns out they are “Jack-o’lantern Mushrooms” (Google Lens is so cool – quickly identifies unknown plants!).

I was also more aware of the extensive gardens that some of the seasonal campers have planted around their trailers – so many flowers! Really makes the campsite look nice!

On Monday night, we couldn’t believe how many mosquitoes were around – we’ve had such a rainy July that they’re definitely thriving. And, our campsite was really wooded, which is great for privacy and shade, but not great if you’re trying to avoid mosquitoes. We tried everything – bug spray, bug zappers, citronella, the heat of the Solo Stove, but those buggers were everywhere. They drove us inside early! Fortunately, I don’t think I ended up with more than one or two bites! And Tuesday night, after the rain, several mosquitoes managed to find their way inside RoVer, so we were on a mission to kill them all before bedtime. I think we succeeded! I even killed one on the wall with my bare hands, which is really not something I would typically do (I hate bugs!). But, desperate times call for desperate measures!

By Wednesday morning, the ground wasn’t quite so muddy, although still wet. We packed up and made our obligatory trip to the dump station before heading out. On our way home, we stopped at one of New York’s newer parks, Beechwood State Park. It’s a fascinating place – founded in 1929 as a Girl Scout camp (Camp Beechwood!). In the mid-1990s, the Girl Scouts closed the camp and abandoned the property as it was; the state purchased it in 1999 and unfortunately, due to lack of money, hasn’t yet been able to do much with it. It was so interesting to walk through and see the remnants of Camp Beechwood – cabins, bathrooms, lodges, etc. The location is amazing, right on Lake Ontario, with incredible views and a huge variety of towering trees providing lots of shaded trails. Hopefully, over time, NY can add some facilities and take advantage of the location – so much potential! And a fun place to take photos!

This must have been one of their main gathering buildings…pictures taken from two angles to show the collapsed roof

The location of this lodge is amazing…look at that view! And the stone fireplace is really cool (minus the graffiti!)

Just a few of the incredible Lake Ontario views from the park/camp….

And there were so many plants and trees to see along the trail! While we were on the trail, we heard roosters in the distance…it was about 11:15am, however, so they must have been a little confused (or on Pacific time)!

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And near the parking lot, we found this brick wall – not sure what the building was, but the remnants are really cool!

It’s so fun to have the time and opportunity to explore places like this – one of NY’s many gems! One more NY state park campground on the schedule for this summer, coming up next week…see you then!