Saturday, March 31, 2012

LAKE BISTINEAU STATE PARK - DOYLINE, LA

Day 21

Yesterday I was shown the audacity, the boldness, the brashness, and the disrespect of some people who go camping.  A crew of people pulled into a site on my left, late in the afternoon.  It was a pickup truck pulling a travel trailer and another pickup truck pulling a boat.  These sites are really close together but there is an overflow parking lot not far from where we were.  Well, these folks were determined to put all of their vehicles on their site and took up some of mine as well.

Clowns to the left of me...

Then later in the afternoon another crew of 8 pulled into the site on the right of me.  It was a pickup truck (carrying a motorcycle) pulling a travel trailer which was pulling a jetski.  Another pickup was pulling a large pontoon boat.  They did have the good sense to park the pontoon boat and trailer in the overflow parking lot but brought the pickup back to their site.  Besides small children, they had a little white dog that was not on leash running up and down the street and nearly got hit by a car.  They never once paid any attention to that little dog.  It just ran wherever it wanted while they did their thing.  Even the park ranger had to stop not to hit it, but never said a word to the owners.

So here I am being crunched in by these people who insist on keeping their vehicles on their site and if it happens to overflow onto a neighbor's ... well that is just too bad.  Then to top it all off, the wife shows up in a little black car and parks on the grass (which is against rules) but also on a few feet of my asphalt pad.  That did it.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  It took me about an hour to calm down, I was so angry. 

Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer and I walked out of my coach when I knew they were all standing outside their camper.  I stood in the middle of the street and looked at my camper, then looked at the black car, then looked back at my camper.  Did this for a few seconds then went back into my coach.  I'm sure they thought I was going to call the ranger station.

I knew that I would not be able to exit my site the next morning with that car parked that way.  They saw me and I'm sure could see my displeasure, but didn't offer to move their car.  However, it wasn't long after, the 2 men manuvered their vehicles to where the black car was moved onto their site.

Jokers to the right... here I am stuck in the middle...

I went to bed early and was looking forward to leaving the campground the next morning.  I have never been to a campground so crowded before and it has affected the way I feel about this particular state park.  There were many dogs off leash, many vehicles parked on grass, motorcycles racing through the campground, cars going way above the speed limit, etc.  I would not recommend Lake Claiborne State Park to anyone.

Oh... and one more thing.  Everytime I unhook my water and electric from the campground before leaving I fill a gallon jug with water to put in the black tank after I dump.  Here is what the water from their faucet looks like.

Not exactly clear.  That's why I never drink water out of my faucet.

When we left this morning, I rode around to see where the beach was.  It actually wasn't as far as it looked on the map.


Guess who that is pulling up to the beach in their pontoon boat? 

Nice bath house.

Xi didn't care for this beach and didn't want to go into the water.

Maybe it's because she learned how to read.


Very pretty scene.

NOW IT'S ON TO OUR NEXT CAMPGROUND - LAKE BISTINEAU STATE PARK - DOYLINE, LA

Left Lake Claiborne around 11:30 this morning and stopped for fuel and a foot long meatball subway.  Rode by Gibsland, LA where Bonnie and Clyde were murdered.  May go back to visit the museum.


This is the last road they traveled on before they were ambushed.


Arrived at Lake Bistineau around 1:30 this afternoon.

I love sites with decks.

Right by the lake.

There are 67 campsites in this campground.  It also has a boat launch, playground, swimming pool, beach area, and an 18 hole professional Disc Golf course.

Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc."   Of the more than 3000 established Disc Golf Courses as of 2010, approximately 87% are free. The number of Disc Golf Courses more than doubled in 8 years from 2000-2008.  The game is played in about 40 countries around the world.

Disc resting in the basket.

Other Louisiana State Parks with Disc Golf include Lake D'Arbonne and Sam Houston Jones.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, I'm really sorry you had to put up with those campers. Thank goodness it was so unusual - most campers/RVrs are very respectful of their neighbors and the spaces we PAY for. You should have asked them to chip in if they were going to use part of your site. :)

    I hate campgrounds that don't make people follow the rules. Makes it uncomfortable for those of us that do. :( It's not fair.

    But I'm glad you're now in a beautiful site with a DECK - it looks really nice.

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    1. Hi Barbara... What a great idea to ask them to chip in. I never thought of that. I have a very short fuse for things like that and my anger hinders my ability to think. I have to take a time out and chill before I can confront such a situation... and then it's not likely I'll come across as polite.

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  2. I hate crowded campgrounds with rude campers. Well, this new site looks very nice. Hope you enjoy it !!!

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    1. Hi Sierrasue... I plan my trips during cooler months and when school is in session so I don't usually run into crowded campgrounds or a lot of screaming kids running around. But now it's getting hot and kids are out of school and it's time for me to get myself back home.

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  3. It is amazing how obnoxious some people are. Welcome to the weekend around a holiday. The same campground with different neighbors or none might look very different.

    I saw those weird chain things at a campground last summer and wondered what the heck they were. Thanks for education.

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    1. Hi Tesaje... Yesterday when I arrived here it was pretty full with lots of screaming kids running around. By noon today everyone around me was gone. It was great. I could enjoy walking my dog and not have all the other dogs bark at her or approach her because they were not on leash. Rules are not enforced at this campground, it seems.

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