Jellystone Camping Part I

Friday it did nothing but rain all day, and it was soooo cold. I complained but continued to get things packed up and ready for the weekend. After my shopping was finalized I suggested to my hubby that we consider upgrading to a cabin if they had one. Yep they do...only $500- more for the weekend, after we were so glad we did. So cabin set, car packed we were off.
North Java NY home to pretty much nothing else but Jellystone Campground is about 2 and 1/2 hours from our home, an 30-40 minute drive south of Buffalo and 45 minutes south west of Rochester. There might have been something else in the area, but all we saw as cows and fields. We arrived about 4pm and were ready for the long weekend.

 The entrance to Jellystone Campground. North Java NY.

 Here is our cabin for the long weekend. I spent the cold weekend grateful that we were not in tents on this trip. Despite the additional cost, it was so worth it. If we were in a tent we all would have been unhappy and the weekend would have been a totally different experience.

 The inside were it was nice and warm. I think the warmest it got all weekend was in the 60's and at night it was well into the 30's. There was even a frost warning. We were snug as a bug in a rug in our 78 degree cabin all weekend. Only thing was the heater would kick on about every 6minutes and it was LOUD! I'm not sure what that was all about...and it was right next to my head all night. Oh well, warmth or noise. I figured out how to sleep through the noise. I might have been less then happy about the cold. The cabin had all of the needs of a home, bathroom, kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and tv, plus a screened in porch, and the boys loved the loft, that they immediately took over and step up for their own. The cabin reports it sleeps 8, but with the boys in the loft (on air mattress) we could have easily slept 12. We had a few guests over the weekend that needed a warm bed for the night.

 In hindsight if I had planned for a cabin I would have packed differently. I'm sure we wouldn't have needed as much stuff, and I might have brought different items. We survived despite it all. Stupid of course I forgot my nice warm jacket, and spent most of the weekend in two sweatshirts.

Just look at the sunshine! Terribly deceitful, the sun was nice, but the wind was awful. Just take a look at how hard those flags are flying. The park itself is very nice, I think we all would have enjoyed and taken advantage of the camping amenities more if we didn't spend most of our time inside. The pool and waterpark for example, were totally off my list of things to enjoy at all this weekend.

Once we were established in our cabin, we were happy to see that our camping friends Mary and Brian were right down the way, but no Tami and Rich and I had no cell service. (Our cabin was actually right across the way from our original camp site, so everyone was just as close as we had planned).  I finally called her and found they would not be arriving until Saturday.

We spent most of the first evening getting settled, had a nice dinner and enjoyed the park. The boys went scouting  for things to do, and we stayed in to keep warm, hoping that Saturday would be a much warmer day.

 The pond, which although there was a beach and boating as well as fishing, we did not engage in any of those activities. For future reference and warmer days, bring fishing poles and make an effort to spend some time at the beach and take a boat out.

 The waterpark. The picture was taken after it had closed for the day, not that anyone was enjoying the water when it was opened.

 Mark testing the "heated" pool. Apparently not TOO cold. Still empty.

 Another view of the pond.

 The boys in the loft with Mary's son Alex.

 here is a picture of the beach area... notice it is vacant.

this is about as close to Yogi my boys got all weekend. They are simply just much to mature to pose with the real guy and only allowed this picture to shut me up.

Day one was really more about setting up shop, making claim in our new weekend home, and relaxing. I enjoyed my new Game of Thrones book (Book II) and the kids enjoyed the loft and playing games. Tomorrow's adventures are much more exciting.