The Poo Parade
September 1, 2025 — Day 12
Rivers Crossing Campground, Savannah NY — Great Lakes State Park, Fayetteville, NY
Susan here: I’m “guest blogging” today instead of doing grammar checking and adding color. Aren’t you all so lucky!? (Paul here: I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation!)
Today was our last day where the water comes up from the bowels of Hell. Paul chatted up our next door neighbor, who’s been coming here for 35 years (and 3 owners). He told Paul the skinny on the water situation. Previously he told Susan the water had been worse, which was hard to believe. Today he told Paul the reason. The pipes here are very, very old and every time one of us draws water sediment gets stirred up. That jug of liquid is the water they supplied. Chomp chomp yum yum. Not kidding.
Not much to say about the morning beyond we getting packed up. And then we waited. And waited for an opening in the bumper to bumper traffic. Who’d have thought a traffic jam would happen in a campground! All of these campers were waiting to dump their black tanks. There was a clear lane to the left if you didn’t need to dump. Some sites, including ours, had sewer hookups, but there was no way we could even make the turn.
So we did things. Susan decided to clean some. Paul got rid of that water from the bowels of Hell. (Paul here: I got to dump water in Clinton’s Ditch, the original Erie Canal, that was so cool!)
We finally got out and it was a tough exit on the bypass. Too far left and we’re going into Clinton’s Ditch, the original Erie Canal. Too far right and we’re in the pond with the koi. The koi made it unscathed and Clifford stayed out of Clinton’s Ditch. Phew!
Back on I-90, we saw our old friend, Baldy. This is an iron sculpture in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. In the refuge you drive through pristine habitat where you don’t get out of your car unless you’re at a sign w/binoculars and only for 5 minutes. We might have stayed longer but there are no witnesses. But I-90 that cuts through it. Weird. This doesn’t disturb the birds?
At Target we grabbed the freshies & a couple other things we needed. Sure, we could go to a grocery store for freshies and then Target but this was easier and faster. We had no idea what horror awaited us. You want to look. We know you do. We DARE you.
We got to checkout without Chucky’s cousin following us then walked miles thru the desert (parking lot) to the RV, tossed the freshies and other stuff onto the bed and beat a hasty retreat.
It was the ridiculous distance of [checks notes] 5.2 miles to the campground to arrive at … paradise. It’s not often we drive into a park, state or private, that we think “Wow this place is extra.” and this is one of two others that pop to the top without thinking too hard about it. Prophetstown State Park in Indiana and Antelope State Park in Utah are the other two.
For a while Paul tried to get his ham radio things working. He’d forgotten an adapter but he thought he could cobble one together with bits he could get at Home Depot. He got the part, spent about an hour on the antenna. Defeated, took the antenna down. No radio for him.
Dinner was made. It was our first “not a dinner in a bowl” in a while. Susan made sous vide pork tenderloin, green beans and mashed red bliss potatoes. (Paul here: Yum. It was really good. But, BlocksOfFood™ have their place.)
Then there was a sunset.
And now, time to close out this entry. Oh, we’re not sure how long were’s staying at this park so we just put down 3 circles on the map. That might change. There’s something to be said for having the freedom to do whatever you want…
Daily: 48 miles
Total: 390 miles
Driving miles/Day: 98 miles/day
Overall miles/Day: 33 miles