The RV has been sitting idle for two months now! It is time to hit the road again. (While waiting, the batteries are being trickled charge by solar panels, which appears to be working quite nicely!)
Punderson Lake is only 45 minutes from home, so we left Seven Hills around 3pm on Thursday, looking for a pleasant weekend with Kate and Connor. The first problem was discovering that the outside kitchen door latch wasn’t latching. So a little gorilla tape was used to keep the door shut. Second surprise: we weren’t scheduled to arrive at the campground until Friday. So I called the Ohio Parks office and patiently (?) waited while the answering machine told me that I could do everything on-line. After about 15 minutes I did get a live agent who helped me find a spot for the night.
We did get set-up on site #1 (picture left), which overlooks the camp office and all the traffic coming into and out of the campground. But we were happy to be settled in and were soon grilling a steak for dinner.
During the night it started to rain; it is great to be inside an RV during those moments! VG: the rain on the metal roof is really a very calming, sweet sound and makes it feel even cozier to be in our home on wheels.
On Friday we were able to move the RV over to our reserved spot (#11) before check-in time and during a break in the rain. The site is very slanted, the front tires are hanging above the ground by eight inches! But the RV is stable even though there is a large step from the RV steps to the ground.
We spent most of the day relaxing inside because of the rain. Vicki was reading and Steven was working on his computer still creating the blog for our early October trip. We prepared pierogies and fall vegetables (butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots; all orange) for dinner so it was ready when Kate and Connor arrived at 7.
Their phone map (Apple maps?) took them into the campground in an unusual route that used a dirt road (marked with the signs “Emergency and authorized vehicles only”). But they made it here and were hungry!
Not only did we have pierogies and vegetables, but Kate brought an apple pie for dessert.
What was left of the evening was spent talking and teaching them how to play “Hand and Foot” canasta. We played a practice round, but the ‘losing’ team of Vicki and Connor were not very happy with the results.
Kate had decided not to tent camp this weekend (I think she was kidding when she talked about that a couple months ago) and she slept on the couch (pulled out to a bed.) Long-legged Connor slept on the loft. The weather dipped below freezing outside at night (yes, we had frost) but there were plenty of blankets to go around.
Saturday morning, we all took a short hike and checked out the Nature Center, lake dock and the lower campgrounds after a relaxing breakfast in the rv.
Saturday afternoon Steve, Kate and Connor took a hike to enjoy the fall colors. It started out as a two-mile hike around Stump Lake.
Then it extended to a short detour to the beach.
Then we headed to Punderson Lodge.
At that point, we looked at the map and decided it was as short a distance to go around the lake (along Ravenna Road) as it was to backtrack to the beach and then go on the camp road. And by going around the lake we could walk along a cool boardwalk and then hike through the dirt road Kate and Connor used the night before.
So the two-mile hike turned into seven miles but the colors on the trees were prime. As a bonus, our knowledge of nature increased. We saw a double crested cormorant, red-bodied damselflies, shagbark hickory (and their huge leaves) and the root system of water lilies.
Dinner that evening was at Punderson Lodge’s restaurant.
Connor’s research found out about the hauntings at the lodge, but we didn’t see any paranormal activity when we toured the lodge. The dinner was good (not great). Steve’s pork chops were nicely moist and their sauce was awesome. Vicki’s prime rib was only good, she had heard about Punderson’s awesome prime rib so she was disappointed. Kate had a salad and General Tso’s cauliflower and Connor had chicken parmigian.
When we got back to the RV, we started a campfire and made some s’mores. The fire was puny (the wood came from the camp office, was it still wet?) but the s’mores were tasty.
After the fire, we played a couple rounds of “Hand and Foot”, boys against the girls. The girls got the upper hand in the first round, neither Connor nor Steve got into their foot. The boys barely made a positive score in that round. In the second round the boys turned the tables. Steven started his final turn not yet in his foot but a lucky card draw allowed him to get into his foot and end the game by playing all those cards. Vicki’s turn was next and she was ready to play her foot, so she went from tasting victory to a sudden defeat. The boys finished ahead by only 410 points, the red 3 in Vicki’s foot was the difference between victory and defeat. We called the game after two rounds since it was late.
Sunday was another great, sunny day. Steve and Connor biked around Punderson park.
And in the afternoon we each painted a gnome home that Kate had brought in anticipation of rainy weather keeping us inside but we did our artwork outside in the sunshine.
After the craft hour(s), Kate and Connor returned home. Steve went to play volleyball (the courts were only 45 minutes away, about the same distance as from Seven Hills) while Vicki did her Bible study for Tuesday’s class.
We were scheduled to leave on Monday but the weather is so nice we stayed for an extra night. This extra day gave Vicki a chance to ride her bike and see a bit of the boardwalk along the lake as well as tour the entire campground, cabin area and state park.
Dinner Monday night was tortellini with a tomato/zucchini sauce. Simple, quick, yummy. VG: Monday night also gave me the chance to do a good cleaning before we put the RV into storage until January and our Vitamin D/Southern Sunshine trip.
We left the park early (8am) Tuesday morning. Their was fog along the lake as we left. And we got home in time for Bible Study and a breakfast meet.
Did we mention the absolutely beautiful fall colors?
This was our last trip in the RV for 2026. We have spent more than 110 nights this year in Winnie and still loving it!
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