Mid-week report from Rangeley

Arrived at the state park Sunday afternoon; of 51 sites only 7 were occupied. Two more left yesterday and only one new arrival today. The weather, until today, has been dismal. I would think in a bad economy, more people would be camping in relatively inexpensive state parks. Downtown was like a ghost town; the merchants have to be hurting. Took the boat out a couple times each day since Sunday. Have only seen two other boats running on the lake.

So, is it the weather? I thought campers would be able to hack some cool temps, scattered T-storms and clouds; or is it the economy? A combination. It would be interesting to see attendance data at state parks. It seems to be on the decline. We're heading to Lily Bay July 31. Will be interesting to see what's going on there.

BTW, gotta love the new ADA bathrooms at Rangeley Lake State Park. Talk about your brick sh..houses. Price tage is reportedly $250,000 and was closed for a few days because of poor water pressure. It's a monstrosity, 10 private rooms, each with a shower, bench, GFI outlets. A bit overkill in my opinion and ruins the charm of the place, especuially the heavy steel doors and aphsalt parking lot, complete with two ADA parking spaces. Seriously, do that many disabled people stay at state campgrounds????