When we decide which direction we are going to head we research the area and the available places to stay. We had made the mistake that if it is a certain “brand” it will be nice. Then we ended up in these mega sized parks, all slick and sterile and modern. Cold was the atmosphere, trying to bring the younger people out camping. And they did.

We would sit there in the evening surrounded by young couples watching ball games on their HUGE entertainment centers mounted on the outside of their RV. They open a door and there is a full bar set up. They’re yelling and cursing and pumping their arms in the air ( not a the same time, different plays).

After a couple of those choices, when we first got Gladys, we figured out how to go into depth finding out what kind of experience it was going to give us.

But… sometimes all your research is just that. Research, and you still have hidden surprises. As in this one in Monroe, Michigan. We looked at their website, looked at them on Google earth, and read reviews. We did our due diligence. Here are the pictures I found online. Pretty nice.

It looked quite lovely. But, upon our arrival things did not appear as we expected.

As we drove in Tom asked “do we want to find another spot?”. It was late, we were hot and very tired after driving all day and we had no idea how many hours we might end up driving to find another spot.

We decided to stay, close Gladys up, run the A/C and leave early the next morning.

T

That is a coal burning energy plant across the river. I didn’t see that in any of the “glamour shots” they had online.

They had to have a professional driver park this one behind this tree.

They say they have 100 spaces but they are using areas if they are spaces or not. A section of the local Marathon refinery is taken down every year and 60 families return to the park for their stint every 4 years. The manager has made good friends with many of the families but soon there will be a major exodus as these families pack up and leave to work another location. I was left wondering, where do all these children leave in the morning to go to school? I am assuming they are being schooled. They were playing all over the park first thing in the morning and then suddenly they were gone. A nomad living for the workers and their families.