Wednesday, April 28 This was supposed to have been the weekend of Urban Air in Logan, Ohio (Wake Up Downtown) – but the “city fathers” decided that current COVID rules would not be politically correct for this town-sponsored event. Organizer Kirk came up with a Plan #2, and arranged a group campout at nearby campground Campbell’s Cove. This is not a NOVA event, although a lot of NOVA peeps are planning to hang out for the weekend. It is a celebration of Airstreamers that won’t give up the dream of “Wake Up Downtown.” We were on the road by 10:00 – 73 degrees and hazy. As we jumped on I-270 on the north edge of Columbus, we got a call from John & Suzie and computed that they were just 5 minutes behind us! We slowed down, hoping that we would hook up with them south of the Columbus traffic. Sure enough – 20 miles before we reached Logan we saw them hustling down the highway towards us – then passing us and taking the lead on into Campbell’s Cove. Campbell’s Cove is a newish campground – actually oldish, bought by new owners and renovated. We were located in the newest part of the campground (full hookups with brand new concrete pads, fire pits, and outdoor grills) which rapidly filled up with Airstreams during the afternoon. John and Suzie brought their 1965 Globetrotter – renovated, renewed, restored and refurbished! It is such a mixture of old-style looks . . . with all modern and significant functional parts. There were several other 1960ish Airstreams present and the campground was a nice mixture of new vs. Vintage Airstreams. John hosted a rib-fest and everyone brought side dishes and, as usual, there was more food than what could be eaten. My pictures focused on the food this time – rather than the people! Tom and I contributed BBQ chicken wings, and Tom fried up some Amish onion fritters for everyone! At 8:00 thunder was heard and a check of radar showed that the major storm was south of us, but probably would bring light rain for a few hours. It only took 10 minutes to clean up and evacuate to our individual trailers. John said good-bye to everyone from his lit-up '65 Globetotter. Tom and I sat out for a while enjoying the rain on the awning and the coolness that it brought. It turned out that the rain drizzled all night, and the inside of the Silvermine was decidedly dampish. We solved that problem by closing all the windows and turning on the air-conditioning. Thursday, April 29 Tom was up to water the dogs at 6:30, and then back to bed. At 8:45 we hustled out of bed and joined a crew going in to breakfast at Logan’s M&M’s Family Diner. Nothing had changed much at M&M's since we were there 12 days ago! We were back to the campground at 11:00 – still drizzling. More Airstreams continued to arrive and I climbed the steep, slippery, grassy hill directly behind us to get some overview pics of the view of our loop. Remember, this is just our section of the campground, and there are Airstreams in two other sections. By 5:00 it was still raining, but Tom said this was the last downpour and it would be clearing up at 6:00! It did clear up, but everything was damp and soggy outside, and there was not much incentive to cook and eat outside. It seemed that everyone was doing their own thing, and we called on Alan and Carie and went to a Mexican restaurant across from the campground. It was nice to be away from the camper for a while, and by the time we were back the rain was over! A propane fire pit was set up in the middle of the gravel circle, and that gave people the motivation to come outside and celebrate in the evening! To top it off, there was a nice sunset. Friday, April 30 Bright sunshine early in the morning called for a big breakfast bash. Grills, tables, chairs and breakfast-makings hit the gravel circle and the chefs went to work doing order-up for anyone that showed up! A lot showed up! The morning remained beautiful and some chose to continue to enjoy it sitting outside, and some took off on discovery missions. Tom and I found a nearby antique mall and a craft store, and those took an hour to investigate. Then we went downtown and hit up the “Homegrown” store that has items all made by local artisans. I scored a beautiful and unique bead bracelet! Afternoon was down-time for us – walking the dogs and enjoying being outside. At 1:30 a few big gusts of wind had Tom putting the awning away, and a very dark grey sky and sprinkles had us ducking inside. Nothing more materialized from that, except that people that came back to the campsite said it had poured buckets of rain in town – just 2 miles away! Urban Air (which was cancelled this year) was to have had a new component – an art show of middle-school-aged kid-art featuring Airstream trailers. This was not able to happen as planned in the airstreams-parking-downtown venue, but Kirk did arrange a showing and judging of the artwork right out here at our campground. At 5:00 we marched up to the main campground building and viewed all the creations. They were just wonderful! Tom and a few other guys, were late arrivals to the art showing -- and cheated by hitching a ride up the hill! From the high patio of the Campground Office we overlooked the area of the campground where the Silvermine (and friends) were parked. Tom and I had Cornish hens, reheated in the trailer for supper, and sat out until 8:00. It was lightly windy, and the temperature was dropping quickly. We withdrew into the Silvermine! I’ll close the night with a few pictures of our little puppy buddies! Saturday, May 1 Out of bed to a beautiful and sunny morning . . . and it stayed like that all day long! We ate breakfast in the trailer and popped out of the trailer to see breakfast being grilled in the circle drive! Our goal was to take a little tour of a state park in the area . . . for future reference. Lake Hope was a convenient circle road-trip of about 60 miles. The drive full of dips and twists on a very narrow paved road . . . with no shoulders. I don’t know if Mario/TOM was dreaming he was behind the wheel of the MG, or if he was practicing for truck races. Either way, he thoroughly enjoyed his time behind the wheel. We drove the whole campground area at Lake Hope State Park; there were limited campsites where we might be able to park the Silvermine, but even the road getting back to those campsites was a bit risky. There was a dining lodge that we walked into, considered the lunch menu, decided that it might be a long wait . . . and left. Driving through the rest of the park we saw small cabins, very large cabins, the lake, and a variety of other park facilities. On the way back, we missed a turn and took a 40-mile detour before getting back to Campbells Cove at 1:30. The day remained perfectly lovely and many sat outside. We broke out the button flower vases again and several sat about crafting. I pulled my chair close to the table, and reclined, closed my eyes, and opened my ears to hear all the random discussion. At 2:00 Alan treated anyone interested to pizza, and John grilled them up in his pizza oven. At 6:00 I made sausage beer/cheese queso and served it up along with other snack food that showed up on the community table. Not exactly a full-fledged pot-luck, but plenty to take care of everyone before heading up for the concert. There was a gathering of musicians on the large outdoor patio that overlooked our airstreams. Tom left to hook up (via text-message) with Micah and Caleb to follow the INDY car race in Arlington, TX. I had Pippa with me, but she was snuggled deep down in her new best friend Ed’s coat! Eventually I reclaimed Pippa and went down to check on the race progress. A little group of us got loud enough to crash the patio music, not knowing that the hillside funneled our loud talking and laughing right up to the top to the song-fest! RUDE! That was pretty much a wrap for Tom and I, although I am sure that there was the usual campfire crew into the evening. Our goal was to be off by 9:00 in the morning, get home and clean up, and meet Caleb and Halie for dinner! A perfect end to a weekend!
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |