Our second trip to the Finger Lakes

By the time we returned to the Finger Lakes area, it was mid October and most campgrounds had already closed for the season. Only three remained, none of them very close to Ithaca, the town that we fell in love with just a few weeks earlier. We phoned all three, but Flint Creek was so inviting, and offered a military discount, that we just didn't even wait for return calls from the other two. Our first full day there we attended craft time and a "Thanksgiving" potluck (it's nice to celebrate Thanksgiving more than once). When we first arrived we had been puzzled by the fact that there were many RVs, but few people there, so we were shocked to see about 40 people arrive to Thanksgiving dinner. Turns out that most of the RVs are owned by people from the neighboring towns that come out on weekends for a break from life and technology (cell phones don't work there). It's not something we had heard of before, but it's BRILLIANT! Why pay for monthly RV storage when you can pay a little more to keep it at a campground like this for an easy instant getaway, without even hooking up the trailer? They have a pool, mini golf, kid's zipline, playground, weekly craft and potluck dinner, free DVD rentals, toys to play with...I could go on. To top it off the owners here really made us feel like part of the family. It's also one of those places where everyone knows each other. We kept driving by this real (stuffed) bear with underwear on, and lo and behold the owner was at the potluck. Ha!

The second potluck was a "deep fried" potluck. "You bring it, we deep fry it." We brought pizza rolls and baby carrots. They were both surprisingly good fried.  We also enjoyed cauliflower, mushrooms, dough and fries. We really enjoyed socializing and snacking while the kids happily played with legos and miscellaneous toys that the campground keeps on hand. Before we knew it, SIX hours had passed! We received a ton of compliments on how well behaved the kids are. So proud of them!

Just down the road a rocket launch event was happening. We stopped in to watch a few take off.

We ended up buying our own rocket that we can launch whenever we want. 

Then the kids decided to build their own rockets at craft time.

One day Daddy set up their tents and tunnels. Before we knew it the kids had 

filled one tent with their blankets, pillows, books and a few toys...

...and popcorn for a snack. 

All the while being guarded by their fierce dragon!