Anyone else frustrated with booking sites in 2021???

I was SO ready to camp last year, so excited. I was all ready with alerts in my phone calendar to book 11 months in advance, schedule around my in-laws so they could watch the dogs (they are not camping dogs), and make sure I knew EXACTLY what parks and what site we wanted. I had 3 trips book with 3 more potentials that I figured I could book later…then COVID-19 happened.

And then…I lost my job. I had to cancel 2 trips so we could get some money back and then when I could book more…NOTHING was available. We went to Buckhorn State Park in June, which was the place that inspired this blog, BUT, it was probably one of the most boring trips we’ve been on.

So to say 2020 sucked was just all encompassing for us. So then we get to 2021. I was able to book 1 site in 2020, but I still haven’t been able to find a job. Tons of applications, interviews, etc., but I’m always either over qualified or under qualified. My last rejection, I WAS TOO NICE. It’s getting more than frustrating. But either way, I couldn’t very well book camping when our finances have been strapped.

Well, enough is enough. Luckily our tax return was decent so that’s been saved for things like booking camping. So, I put down the dates we could go, considering all of the same things above, and started HOUNDING http://www.wisconsin.goingtocamp.com. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING has been available. Yes, we could camp without electric, but our camper can already be a headache and electric just makes EVERYTHING easier. And when I say hounding, I mean it. Checking the site became a constant in my life. I checked it when I woke up, while I drank my coffee, as I ate lunch, when my husband came home for work, during the Brewer game, and before bed and even sometimes when I woke up in the middle to go pee. Not even the crappy places or the places we’ve been to have been available, it’s been agonizing.

And then the most miraculous thing happened today…

An opening! In a park we want to go to… In the section we want to be in… For the dates I wanted… Not while my in-laws are camping… It seemed too good to be true, but it wasn’t! I knew it could happen, and yes, I was losing faith, but low and behold, cancellations do happen!

So look forward to a new posting for Willow River State Park!