Finding A Place To Stay After The Campground Closes

I left the Homeland on November 3, 2022 – four days after the KOA closed for the season.

Why didn’t I leave when the camping season closed?

Well let me tell you…

A Last Minute Casualty

October started out with getting a nice sinus infection that resulted in an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.

After a couple rounds of different antibiotics, the sinus related symptoms were gone.

But I still had ever increasing tooth and jaw pain.

This prompted me to see a Dentist to verify that it wasn’t tooth related.

Silly me for thinking it wasn’t a tooth!

Saying Farewell

On October 27, I said farewell to my left, lower, back tooth.

There was no saving the poor little guy.

Any life-sustaining measures would be in vain and needlessly costly. The little guy suffered a major crack and was also infected (even though I still had one more day of antibiotics from the sinus infection).

An Extraction Was Necessary

I had to see an Oral Surgeon to have the tooth removed (a General Dentist doesn’t do extractions).

Knowing I live in my van and was about to leave town for the winter, my Dentist’s office took it upon themselves to expedite the process and got me an appointment with the Oral Surgeon that same day. I couldn’t thank them enough for doing this!!

At the Oral Surgeon’s Office

In what seemed to be about 15 or 20 minutes, the Oral Surgeon gave me a local anesthetic, pushed the gums down around the offending tooth, broke the tooth in half (it had 2 roots), yanked the tooth out, did some drilling (or something that resembled drilling) and stuffed the hole with weird tasting antibiotic laced gauze.

The whole ordeal was much easier than I expected.

I never needed the narcotic pain killer he prescribed.

There was little pain after extraction (possibly because the pain of having a tooth yanked out and drilled through was less than the pain of an infected, cracked tooth?!?).

The Follow Up Appointment

My follow up appointment (to remove the packing and make sure everything looked good) was scheduled for 9am on November 3.

This meant I had to find a place to stay for a few days after the KOA closed for the season.

Lake LeAquaNa State Park

I stayed at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park (in Lena IL) from October 30 to November 3.

The campground is open year round but, on November 1, they shut most of the water off – including the showers and dump station rinse water.

They leave two water spigots open so Camper’s can fill their fresh water tanks. I assume these spigots are wrapped in heat tape or something to prevent freezing.

The dump station is open but there’s no rinse water.

Dealing With The Water Being Turned Off

The water and showers being shut off was not a problem for me – especially since my tanks are portable.

I need to carry my fresh water tank to the spigot whether the spigot is at my campsite or somewhere else in the campground.

I often use a gallon jug filled with water to rinse my porta-potty (this just is only used for this purpose!). Sometimes it’s easier to use the jug than to fiddle with the hose at a dump station. For me, running water at the dump station isn’t necessary.

The grey tank doesn’t need to be rinsed every time.

I’m not always able to use campground showers (due to MCS) but I always have the ability to wash up in the van. With my new kitchen sink setup, bathing in the van is even handier!

It Was A Little Spooky

There were only a couple other Camper’s at the other end of the campground (I couldn’t see them from my site).

It felt like I was the only one there.

Normally, I enjoy being in the solitude of nature but, this time, my mind began to imagine some crazy, cockamamie things – especially after dark.

The only way to get through this is to replace the unfounded thoughts with whatever is happening in the present moment.

Replacing my unfounded thoughts of a Bigfoot-like creature emerging from the woods, breaking into the van with the actual reality of it’s such a peaceful night, all is well, I’m safe inside my van was a helpful coping mechanism.

Thankfully, the weather was decent during my time at the Lake and there were still remnants of autumn to be admired.

Parting Thoughts

The summer of 2022 has been a summer of personal challenges – a few of which I’ve shared with you.

After my follow-up appointment on November 3, I treated myself to coffee at Higher Grounds (my favorite Freeport, IL coffee house) before hitting the road.

I typically drive 2-3 hours on any given day and, then, find somewhere to stay for a few days or more.

As I write this, I’m sitting at a campground in Tifton, Georgia.

My journey over the past couple of weeks has been quite cold. Many nights were below freezing with a few daytime temps barely reaching 40 degrees.

I’m able to stay warm but this is not my preferred weather and I’m thankful to finally be on the other side of it.

I also feel like I’ve reached the other side of my Summer of Challenges and I’m certainly ready for my Winter of Blessings!