Summer 2017 (Part 1) – Camp Hosting… Assategue State Park, MD
A couple of years ago we started casually exploring Camp Hosting. The logical location to put our toe in the water for camp hosting was “Assategue State Park“. We have never spent an entire month anywhere’s before though since we already know we love this area, just in case the hosting responsibilities didn’t work out, at least we would be somewhere we are certain we enjoy.
It was probably back in early January 2017, after much discussion, we sent an email to Maryland State Park Ranger -Bill. To our surprise he responded quickly and forwarded a packet of information and applications regarding the process to be a Camp Host in 2017. After completing all the necessary paperwork and a phone interview, where Bill made sure we knew that Assategue is “Dry Camping”, we were on board for July 2017 on “I” Loop.
Camp Hosting at Assategue is considerably different than most gigs in this arena. Most Camp Hosting responsibilities come with free or extremely discounted hook-ups as part of the program. Here at Assategue, it is completely dry camping with no hook-ups at all. We just get our site. Fortunately there are bath houses (remodeled over the past few years) where they have bathroom facilities, hot showers, and a place to do the dishes. We figured if we could live a month with no hook-ups here, we would probably be easily qualified to camp host anywhere else with hook-ups. Also, since we know we enjoy this area, even if the responsibilities were tough, at least we would be somewhere we know we enjoy
Now for the logistics to pull it all together:
As a teacher, Joanne’s last day of school for the year was Jun 13, 2017. This would give her a couple of weeks to get all the home front prepared for her 6 week RV adventure. On the other hand, I still have work responsibilities that would require me working through the first week of July before I could get to Assategue. The biggest commitment for my company each year is an event that we have been the exclusive photographers for the past 16 years, which always takes place over the the same 6 days every year (approximately June 30-July 5). The event is part of the US Youth Soccer Region 1 Championships Series and includes 288 teams from the Northeast. This year the event is hosted by the state of Virginia.
Coordination included my flying on Monday 6/26 from Hartford to Atlanta, taking an Uber to NIRVC (National Indoor RV Centers), where we store our Rig, driving North over the next 2 days to Maryland and meeting Joanne (who was driving my loaded work truck South) and then rendezvousing at Assategue. Included in the logistics; Joanne had to pick our son Sean up at Newark Airport in NJ on the way down, as he was going to work the event in Virginia.
My time at NIRVC, which I had originally planned to be about 1 hour, actually turned into an 8 hour delay due to some work that I had asked them to do, which ultimately had to be redone after my close inspection. This time delay was unfortunate though necessary before my nearly 700 mile drive to Maryland. Some of this work included probably the 2 best investments for the RV this year; our Tri-Metric controller for managing power consumption, and our Zamp portable solar panel system. These 2 items in hindsight drastically improved our ability to boondock without having to use our generator much the entire month of July. Looking back we only had to turn our generator on maybe 4 times the entire month.
Arriving in Assategue on Tuesday 6/27 I was able to reserve an open site on “J Loop” for a few days to get Joanne situated before heading to our event. Since we couldn’t move onto our Camp Host site until Saturday July 1st, I thought if I could get her situated fairly close, where we would be eventually set-up for the month of July, it would be helpful and less stressful in my absence.
J loop was terrific for these few Pre Camp Host nights and gave our son the opportunity to visit the beach a few days before heading to Virginia. Our son lives in Colorado (No close beaches there…) though having spent many summers vacationing with us in Assategue, it was an added bonus for him.
Before I headed out to our large soccer event on Thursday, Joanne and I had to be finger-printed and have our Maryland background checks completed in Salisbury; a necessary requirement for any Camp Host. The process was not difficult though fortunately we had scheduled the appointment well in advance, which expedited the process.
Our son Sean and I departed on Thursday 6/29 for our event leaving Joanne with the RV, relocation on Saturday to I Loop, 1st week of Camp Host orientation and duties, and a full plate for sure. Camp hosting includes 28 hours of work a week. Not bad when split between 2 people, though given everything she had to do it was a lot for that first week.
Fortunately her good friend Carolyn arrived to spend a few days with her at the beach. Since I had to take my work truck to the event Joanne had been left car-less aside from her bike, until Carolyn arrived. Carolyn helped her with the logistics of J loop packing and then relocation to I Loop for Camp hosting. Joanne did a terrific job driving the Motorhome to the I loop Camp Hosting site and setting up for the month of July. While Carolyn helped manage the first few days at the camp site, Joanne was definitely putting the time in with her hosting responsibilities on I loop. A couple of times we talked that first week and I could sense she was a little overwhelmed and really concerned if this was a good idea . “It is a lot of work for one person” – she said more than once. Also, she had to deal with several issues that were not traditional for camp hosts, which were probably the result of some campers actually being a little over served while enjoying the July 4th weekend festivities. (mind you Assategue is a no alcohol campground so this compounded the issues as well).
My plan was to work for 5 days in VA, drive back to CT, Spend 2 days with post work in our CT office, dropping Sean at Newark airport on the return trip to Assategue. This return trip was in our toad (a 2006 Mini cooper convertible) which we usually tow behind our coach and we needed for our post Assategue plans.
Needless to say when I got to Assategue at 3:55 PM on Friday 7/7 I was totally exhausted having only slept about 10 hours over the last 4 days and finding out that I was scheduled to be orientated on the wood & ice cart at 4:00 pm. Joanne handed me my Camp Host shirt & hat as I headed to the gator at the front entrance to begin my shift. The next morning Saturday 7/8 I also had the 8:00 am shift at the Camper Contact booth where I met my Camp host supervisor (Donna) and received that training. By the afternoon of Saturday 7/8 I finally got a chance to relax for a few minutes which was long overdue. I remember how tired I was that afternoon and just writing it down today is a quick reminder that “the plan ” actually had all come together, though it was a tremendous amount of effort…
Enough back ground … on to Camp hosting and vacation!
After Joanne’s overwhelming initial first week and my first couple of days on the job we both agreed we really loved being Camp-Hosts. While camp hosting has a significant number of responsibilities, including: daily site cleanups, Camper contact/communications, shoveling those deposits of horse-apples off the loops/pads, working the park entrance booth, cleaning fire-pits, selling ice & wood off the gator cart, making sure guidelines are being followed/observed, and completing our logs/paperwork, all in all it was a very rewarding experience.
28 hours sounds like a lot, though working as a team, the two of us often found we worked more than those required hours and still managed to have a terrific time at the beach. Often we dove-tailed activities like early morning sunrise walks that included our picking up trash on the beach along the way. We got to have beautiful sunrises, contribute to improving the environment, and also full-fill our volunteer/hosting responsibilities on these morning walks. Another dove-tail was walks or bike rides around the loops where we got to connect with so many other campers visiting the seashore. We met Canadians, Germans, a Washington diplomat, some recently graduated High School students on a van-life road trip, and overall some just great down-to-earth families enjoying the outdoors at the beach.
Biking at the Beach…
Our Camp Host Book Swap- This is a busy place…
Joanne smiling and ready and riding the loops….
Just another day at the camp site…
Being there for 4 weeks sounds like a long time and I can honestly tell you we could have gone even longer. Nearly every week we had company. Week 2 found our daughter Caitlin and her college friends for a few days, Week 2.5 we had us with Caitlin’s boyfriend Bruce (an Assategue newbie), Week 3 Joanne’s sister and husband arrived, Week 4 we had some of our own college friends stop by. Even with all that company and our host responsibilities we still found time to visit Dumser’s for ice cream, have Thrasher Fries on the board-walk, enjoy a cold beverage at Cork Bar on the Ocean City board-walk, get fresh corn and produce at Cathy’s farmstand, and listen to music and Karaoke at the Harborside. When you combine all that with the daily beach walks, raising and taking down our RV Flag, Joanne putting out her school of fish flags, the nightly camp-fires, and bike rides to the National Park, the nature center, or visitors center, it couldn’t have been better!
Dumser’s Dairyland – The Best Ice Cream in Ocean City, MD
Dumser’s Dairyland – The Best Ice Cream in Ocean City, MD
Bruce’s first visit to Assategue…
Mike & The Nunan girls…
Stonehill Skyhawks showing their MD & USA pride…
The girls getting ready for a campfire and some Smore’s…
The daily fish school set-up…
While we have visited here for years we found meeting so many terrific people the highlight of our 4 week camp hosting experience. Other camp hosts like Bob & Dee, Mike & Jan, Donna & Paris, Warren & Natalie and many others all made the experience more rewarding then we ever thought it would be. Donna was our Host Coordinator who promoted the team concept and tirelessly worked to make everyone’s experience better. Her organization and caring made our team feel like genuine Assategue Ambassadors, working together and enjoying this magical place.
Assategue can be beautiful though can also be quite challenging. When it’s 95 degrees out and 100 % humidity ugh…when there is no breeze or a small one coming off the land the mosquitos and biting flies are nearly eating you alive, when the wild horses rip through tents, screen rooms, or drop their deposits, when the rangers are making warnings for severe weather, lighting storms or tornado warnings… It’s all this that contributes to the complete, REAL Assategue camping experience.
So there you have it, the good and the bad. The good’s far out weigh the bad and we have already signed up to continue this Revolutionary Journey as camp host again in Summer 2018…
Next stop Asheville, NC…
A well deserved rest by the campsite….
