One thing we did when we returned was to go visit Earl at the campground, and see how he was doing. He was doing about the same as when we left. We were still working out if we could make a go of owning the campground and running it. We let him know that we would have an answer in the new year.
On January 5, 2019 we called Earl and made an offer to purchase the campground. All of us had plenty of time to talk it over, and we decided to buy the campground. We paid the asking price that Earl wanted, and when he asked if he could stay in the cabin for 60 days after closing just to get his stuff situated and find a place to live; I said that he could stay there for the next 12 months and after that he could rent it for $1 plus utilities.
As soon as we closed on the sale, I had an electrical contractor out and got a bid on making every spot capable of 50 amp. Got an estimate on what it would take to clear out the woods and expand in the near future. They mapped out every wire run and ordered all the equipment needed to get up to the challenge and as soon as the ground had thawed got to work. The contractor setup shop in the campground and would basically update the park map with what sites were open and what ones were closed. The project goal was to get it all done before we opened in early May, latest was memorial day weekend.
By the time we opened up for the season in early May, the electrical project was 90% done and was finished that next week. The campground was booked almost every weekend in advance, and I hired 6 part-time, and 4 full-time employees, to help out, so there was a total of 12 of us working, plus earl still helped out around the office often just covering the phone or holding the desk chair to the floor. He just wanted something to do.
The second week in June, I got up to find Earl’s house dark, and my calls unanswered. I went over and knocked on the door and got no answer. Having a key for this scenario I entered and he was quite sick. We got the squad out and he got to the hospital, and when he came home we knew it was near.
The second week in July, I got a call from the hospice nurse that it was time. Earl’s son had came out from the west coast a week earlier, and we put him up at the local hotel and he was on his way. True to our agreement, he was able to live out the rest of his time in the cabin he built.
The campground was different the rest of the season. Earl’s son had cleaned out what he wanted form the cabin and said to do whatever with the rest. Mom, Max, Dad and myself cleaned the place top to bottom… Putting things in piles of Save, send to his son, send to goodwill, and trash. We worked off an on for 2 weeks, and once cleaned out, we started fixing it up. New windows, new flooring, new furniture. This ended up being a lodge with 5 bedrooms, we put a hot tub in as well on the back deck.
Of course Max’s family came down, we put them up in the new lodge, and they loved it. David and Riley each stayed with us as well on their own. I don’t think I saw David ever out of a diaper the entire time he was at camp. One weekend when they all came, David brought his friend Will too, and I think one night around the campfire I saw the outline of a diaper under his shorts too. Maybe David found a special friend.
When Riley stayed with us, he was still wearing at night for bedwetting that he had developed (or possibly claimed to have developed). He seriously was a different person than that first time I met him.
We had a good income and great campers that summer. We had very little problems with campers, and the ones that we did have were quickly resolved. Maintenance issues were limited to things like broken water and electric pedestals, clogged toilets and showers. We were able to keep most of the work in house. Though our lowes account got plenty of use. Sometimes it is better to just buy the tools you need than to rent them over and over.
We ended up doing almost double the income that first year. We raised the camping fees 10%, but were almost 100% full the entire summer, most of the seasonal people came back from last year, and the holiday weekend people booked for next year too. We had lumber clearing contractor come and we were able to add 15 more spots with electric only, another 15 for primitive camping, with the plan to finish them all out with water and electric.
Like the previous year, we planned to close that last weekend in October, winterize everything and have our RV’s out of there and hit the road for the winter. Dad had scheduled the part-timers who wanted to do winter stuff to check on the place. Really there was not much to do, make sure no trespassers were in there, check for damage in the buildings, check for downed trees, plow the lane, etc.
This off-season we would be completing many projects. The lumber clearing company was able to clear out about 15 more spots, which got us up to 75 spots. The electrical and plumbing contractors would be out when or if the weather permitted it.
Before we closed down we had already sold a good portion of sites to seasonal campers for next year. The campground was definitely turning a profit and I had no qualms about re-investing.
One of the other big things that we decided to do with the profits of the campground was to purchase another 16 acres on the other side of the campground, through the wooded area surrounding the north and east end.
The area was still mostly wooded, with an area in the middle cleared. Somebody had once had an old hunting camp there, but the cabin had long since burnt down. Earl had told me one time that the owners allowed people to walk the trails back in there as long as they did not cause issues years ago, but had since revoked that privilege. So even before he passed we had been looking at the land.
One day I called the owner up, gave him a price for the plot of land, which was about what it was worth, he settled on our offer. I then set about our plans. We were going to build (or buy) cabins for group camping, so we could host private events. One big bunkhouse, and several smaller single bedroom cabins that can sleep 4. I had an architect draw up plans for a bunkhouse that had 6 large bedrooms and 4 large bathrooms, large open floorplan with kitchen. This would take about 2 years total to complete, with needing to get the utilities out there first, so it would take some time. The utility work would start as soon as we closed and be done at the same time as the other work in the campground.
This new area was going to stay wooded and would be gated off from the rest of the campground. We wanted to keep it as a private group camp.
Max and I again ventured over to eastern PA for the ABDL convention, and this time I had even more fun and not as much con drop either. We then headed down the coast to Florida for a month to ourselves, before trying to re-do what we missed last Christmas with my folks, minus the broken arms.
It was nice to relax with no place really to go at any particular time, no phone ringing in the office, camper issues, and more. After breaking both arms, I finally became more comfortable with being little around my folks. I also did not care who saw me in little clothes or in little mode. I did not do dumb stuff like run around in just a diaper, but if I went out and was obviously diapered, I did not care. Even the hushed whispers and stares no longer bothered me.
Mom and Dad stuck around Florida with us until the new year of 2020, and then we all agreed to move on down the road, my mom and dad were on track for the Grand Canyon, which I had given them all the notes and such that I had on where to stay and what to do. I let them know all the places I stayed along the ways.
Max and I kind of meandered around the southeast for a bit, headed west along the coast, ended up being about 3 days behind mom and dad, but they decided to stay a few days in Tucumcari and recharge, so we ended up catching up with them about 5 days later in the Grand Canyon.
We ended up going to the winter places in Ehernberg, Lake Havasu and such. Mom and Dad were both semi-retired, and had nothing to really get back home to until the campground opened.
As it became warmer, mom and dad started heading towards home. Dad was going to be my point of contact on the construction projects around the campground and the new land. We followed them kind of zig-zagging towards the Midwest. We would be a day or two behind, and they would scout out places and we would meet up for a day and they would go ahead.
By the first of March we had made it back to around Indianapolis, where we parted ways. Max and I had tickets to an AB event in Chicago. After that event we decided that we were going to explore this summer. Mom and Dad said they would handle the campground, I had given dad full control over everything he would want to do , including hiring and firing. Over the winter we had to fire one of the guys. He had thought that he could throw a party at the lodge without asking since we were out of town. NOPE! We know when that gate is opened, closes and how long it is opened, plus we keep cameras going all the time.
While traveling we learned about an idea to keep our payroll down, work campers. People who want to make some money, and exchange camping spots for working. We talked with some of the camp hosts about what they liked the most, hated the most, and what they thought a good balance was. We were going to try to entice some people who would be interested in doing the coming season.