Perspective

Perspective: Middle English perspectyf, from Medieval Latin perspectivum, from neuter of perspectivus of sight, optical, from Latin perspectus, past participle of perspicere to look through, see clearly, from per- through + specere to look

Each week or so Denny and I pack up and move to a new or different campground. When we first started our journey I based my location decisions on whether or not the campground was a member of Passport America (an organization that offers camping at half the normal price) and if the campground was located close to golf courses that honored the Golf Card, which offered greens fees at half off or free with the rental of a riding cart. As our health care costs started rising those type of campgrounds became more important to us. After the two of us joined a couple of membership campground organizations our camping was "free" after our initial buy in and the annual dues so we moved around a little more and experienced many different types of campgrounds; restricted to 55 and over, snowbird filled, family oriented, nature preserves, destination campgrounds, fish camps, etc. Sometimes our expectations of a campground are high based on their ads or brochures, sometimes they are low due to the reviews of other campers. I myself have posted reviews on an online campground website but I have backed off doing that simply because I realized what was important in a campground to Denny and me might not necessarily matter to someone else and vice versa. This was brought home to me today when we parked next to a person who is going to follow the exact itinerary that we're going to be following over the next five weeks and who just left the same campground we did. The difference in us is that the couple next to us left the campground early after moving to three different camp sites within the campground and were still unhappy so they cut their stay short. This particular campground has a store, a professional arts and crafts area, a pool, karaoke, a cafe, a horse stable, nature trails and is located on a peaceful river on several acres of land thickly treed with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. There is a Walmart within 4 miles, several good restaurants, 2 golf courses, it's about 4 miles from 2 major interstate highways and is known for its musical concerts at various times of the year. Granted, Denny gets aggravated by the trees because they can block his satellite signal but we have gotten our TV and Internet all three times we've been to this campground (which is free to us.) I like this campground, Denny hates the trees, our neighbors hated it period. They have already told us that another member campground we have reservations at has changed ownership and is the pits. Don and Vicki were there a year ago, said it had gone downhill but had just changed ownership and it appeared they were going to be working to get the campground back in shape. So do we go, hoping for the best, or avoid it on the recommendation of a person who hated the campground I liked? Since it was Denny who had spoken to our neighbor I don't know why he hated the last campground or what his priorities are for a campground. He seems to like the campground we are in now, but we wouldn't come back to it because the golf courses are 24-30 miles away as are any grocery stores or shopping, plus there is no swimming pool here, no lending library and no activities. However, the sites here are long, level 50 amp pull throughs with few trees and ample distance between campers. It is not a free campground for us, although we're staying here at a discounted price, but when you add the cost of fuel we'll have to pay to get to the store then it's not really a saving with our large fuel guzzling truck. Since diesel prices (and gas prices) have slowly crossed over the $3 a gallon mark down here I'm going to have to start considering a campground's closeness to shopping now (or get a Vespa.) We don't have to be by restaurants or movies or big lights but we would like it to be a little easier to run out for a forgotten quart of milk. And as soon as I write that I remember that one of my favorite campgrounds outside of Benson, Arizona is a good ten miles from town but it has a great heated pool for water aerobics and the sunsets can be fantastic.

All of that makes me think that perhaps I should forget writing campground reviews because I can fall in love with a skyline and overlook unmowed grass but can't forgive places that allow campers to let their large dogs romp through the campground unleashed. Priorities and perspective--it's different for us all.