In looking at what I have left to do, assuming no last minute trip-stoppers, I will leave Friday morning. Once I made that decision at 8:00 this morning, I immediately got on the phone with the first two campsites I wanted to stay in, Coopers Rock in WV and John Bryan in Springfield OH to secure a campsite for Friday and Saturday, knowing that the throngs would be clamoring to get, not back to nature, but into nature for the first time.
Unfortunately, as I feared and expected, Coopers Rock was full, but they did direct me to a nearby Chestnut Ridge State Park , and I got one of the last two sites there for Friday. Lucky me. I made a reservation for Saturday, too, just in case I get delayed a day, or if I could not secure a campsite up the road for Saturday. As I wrote before, it is nearly impossible to get sites on weekends this year, now that everyone is fleeing to nature, although mostly in RVs, as if that is nature ---- a wide-screen TV at home would serve them better, as I am sure most will be discovering.
Once I got the reservation at Chestnut Ridge, I quickly called the next camp on my itinerary, John Bryan State Park in OH, to make a reservation for Saturday night. Sorry, all booked up, they told me, but suggested I call nearby Buck Creek SP. I was actually glad to hear that because, while I am familiar with Bryan, my devoted readers (or reader, as the case probably is) of my previous blogs in 2018 or 2017 will recall my experience at 11 pm with the “campfire girls” singing away to their harts’ content the one night I stayed there. I reminded them of 10pm posted quiet hours rule with a few loud blasts on my Titanic whistle, and then playing Taps on my iPad at full blast. It was more fun watching then scurry immediately in all directions than it was to see the big black bear in Tahoe slowly amble away from my Defender in 2015 when he or she got similar blasts from my whistle after trying to get to the top of the Defender..
After hanging up with Bryan SP, I quickly called Buck Creek and it was my lucky day to speak with the most pleasant and most hospitable reservation specialist you would want to meet, Kiana. (I am sure her name in some language most mean “Today is your lucky day,” because she told me she had one site left. I quickly reserved it and celebrated by victory by giving Donner a treat.
This actually works out for the better because, frankly, I never recall thinking that Cooper Rock and Bryan were some of the best camps I stayed on, but they were there when I needed them, and that is good enough for me. And I like to try out new camps along the way. So I really should give thanks to all the RVers for making this work out for me.
Now the pressure is off to find a camp site for at least five days (the next weekend) until I reach Guernsey WY. Many camps are virtually empty during the week.
Below is a map of the first five days, 1207 miles (241 per day), from DC to Perry Lake in KS. The Donner Party trail really begins in Springfield IL just south of Weldon Springs Camp (IL) and then begins in earnest in Independence MO, just southwest of Pershing SP in MO.
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