# Some Common Courtesy Reminders On This Kick Off Weekend.



## outback loft

On this weekend that seems to be the kick off for most I want to offer some little items of common courtesy that seem to be forgotten at times.

The whole campground doesn't need to hear your music, I know you may like it, but others may not want to hear it.

Dogs need to be leashed and taken care of, if they constantly bark then other arrangements need to be made when you are out camping.

When walking your dog, please pick up after it, others don't appreciate stepping in your pets leavings.

Garbage needs to be put into designated bins, or put out when the campground comes around for pickup.

Cigarette butts need to go into the proper receptacle, not on the ground. The world is not your ashtray.

Beer caps, the same as cigarette butts, there is a proper receptacle for them, the ground is not where they belong.

Generators, please place them so they are not an annoyance, and please please avoid the commercial ones. Also there are specific hours for running them, usually a few in the morning and a few at night. You may think that nobody can hear your generator, but more often than not they can.

Campfires, all of the local campgrounds do not allow ground fires. If you intend to have a campfire, bring a fire pit.

Please observe where the limits of your campsite are. Please do not encroach on other peoples sites. Inform children of this as well.

There are quiet hours for a reason, and most are at a reasonable hour for all, please observe them.

Keep vehicles parked on your site, not in the road, or other peoples sites. When cars are partially blocking the road, it makes it difficult to maneuver a trailer.

I don't want to come off as being a pain in the @ss, but; these are just a few little reminders that seem to be the most common things that I see when I am out. I am not out this weekend as everything on this list will happen multiple times a day, every day, and just ruins my time out. I am spending my weekend at my storage lot overlooking the water to enjoy the view and the peace and quiet.


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## duggy

A lot of good suggestions, which sadly shouldn't need to be mentioned, but quite often do!


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## outback loft

duggy said:


> A lot of good suggestions, which sadly shouldn't need to be mentioned, but quite often do!


Well that is why I figured I should post it for all to see. I printed up a few and stuck them on windshields at one of the campgrounds, I am sure that most were probably thrown out or burned, but maybe a few people actually will take notice.


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## Justman

My personal favorite...don't blast your 12 inch speakers across the entire campground assuming everyone else wants to hear the "big game". Also, don't blast your audio for your satellite setup out the window while you're trying to find the best signal...for 20 minutes straight...in order to watch the "big game." Nobody else wants to hear "beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep....unless it's the backup signal for your pickup as you're packing up to leave.


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## outback loft

Justman said:


> My personal favorite...don't blast your 12 inch speakers across the entire campground assuming everyone else wants to hear the "big game". Also, don't blast your audio for your satellite setup out the window while you're trying to find the best signal...for 20 minutes straight...in order to watch the "big game." Nobody else wants to hear "beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep....unless it's the backup signal for your pickup as you're packing up to leave.


I second the satellite setup beeping, and playing the big game so everyone can hear it. I have a backup beeper on my truck and I hate hearing it, but the reason I put it in was because when backing in with the trailer I have had people walk behind me, and I have even had people walk between the truck and trailer as I was backing up.


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## LaydBack

Headed out for our first trip later today, and have a couple of areas of concern. Does the campfire need to be out by a certain time, and the preferred method of extinguishing? Does quiet time at night mean you should be inside or just not have a party going full bore outside? How early is appropriate to be up and out in the morning using outdoor kitchen? Thanks, I'm sure we'll have "was this cool" and "here's what we seen/our neighbors did" when we return. Prepare to laugh.


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## Traveling Tek

I have been trying to teach my children respect and self control and I try to do the same. If you respect everyone else around you, then the above mentioned should happen automatically. I agree that it's sad that we have to remind people of common courtesy. We have camped next to a few of the overly loud, music playing, drinkers. We try to put the kids to bed at 8pm and their lousy music is still blaring and they are still carrying on. *sigh*

I am a dog owner and I just hate it when people don't clean up after their pets. $2 and 2 minutes to have little doggy bags so the rest of us don't have to smell it or step in. I even clean up after my pet at home.

I am also not a fan of nearly being run down by kids driving golf carts.


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## Y-Guy

The key to all of this is to remember not to take life to serious, none of us get out alive. There are all kinds of annoying people camping and in the rest of our lives, if you can look to the positive side and smile at the annoyances you'll have a happier day too.

From one of my favorite speakers... "Attitude is everything"

Happy Camping!


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## Jewellfamily

I also get after my kids for "cutting through other people's camp sites. Go around. You have plenty of time when your camping...


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## ZHB

srwsr said:


> Headed out for our first trip later today, and have a couple of areas of concern. Does the campfire need to be out by a certain time, and the preferred method of extinguishing? Does quiet time at night mean you should be inside or just not have a party going full bore outside? How early is appropriate to be up and out in the morning using outdoor kitchen? Thanks, I'm sure we'll have "was this cool" and "here's what we seen/our neighbors did" when we return. Prepare to laugh.


Regarding quite hours - generally, it's just that - quiet time. Normal conversation around the fire at your site should be fine, just not music blaring, kids running around yelling, generator blasting - the same goes for those early morning hours. I know a lot of guys love to be up at 6 enjoying a cup of joe around the fire.

On the second point - and this comes from my Boy Scout training; good habits never die - drown the fire when you're done for the night and make sure the coals are cool enough to touch. Just take the bucket of water that you have sitting near the firepit (right?) and dump it over all the coals. This is a great time to drain the water from your cooler too.

it sounds corny, but~

Only YOU can prevent forest fires.


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## LaydBack

ZHB said:


> Headed out for our first trip later today, and have a couple of areas of concern. Does the campfire need to be out by a certain time, and the preferred method of extinguishing? Does quiet time at night mean you should be inside or just not have a party going full bore outside? How early is appropriate to be up and out in the morning using outdoor kitchen? Thanks, I'm sure we'll have "was this cool" and "here's what we seen/our neighbors did" when we return. Prepare to laugh.


Regarding quite hours - generally, it's just that - quiet time. Normal conversation around the fire at your site should be fine, just not music blaring, kids running around yelling, generator blasting - the same goes for those early morning hours. I know a lot of guys love to be up at 6 enjoying a cup of joe around the fire.

On the second point - and this comes from my Boy Scout training; good habits never die - drown the fire when you're done for the night and make sure the coals are cool enough to touch. Just take the bucket of water that you have sitting near the firepit (right?) and dump it over all the coals. This is a great time to drain the water from your cooler too.

it sounds corny, but~

Only YOU can prevent forest fires.
[/quote]

Thanks, just what I was looking for. We survived without pissing anyone off, and the DW and boys had a great time, as did I. We actually drew quite the crowd of admirers of the new Outback. We arrived around dusk, so we didn't bother building a fire after we got setup on Friday, but we did have one on Saturday night. I extinguished it as you described. I noticed most people bedded down around 10-10:30ish (early for me), but you could still see a few fires going when I went to bed at 11 something. I probably wouldn't be up and out at 6, but 7:30-8 wouldn't be a stretch. The music didn't seem to bother anyone, but I didn't have it blaring and I didn't have any next site over neighbors.


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## vdub

> Dogs need to be leashed and taken care of,


I saw an example of this today as we were leaving our campground. The CG was generally empty except for maybe 5 or 6 rv's, so why not carry your leash in your hand and let your wouldn't-hurt-a-fly-loves-little-children-goes-to-church-every-Sunday big lab run free for a while? Well, the reason is because there might be someone with a small maltese on the other side of the bath house. Guess which one won that contest? It wasn't the maltese. Yes, the maltese was on a leash. I'm sure the owner of the lab felt bad, but that doesn't help any.


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## dirtengineer

vdub said:


> Dogs need to be leashed and taken care of,
> 
> 
> 
> I saw an example of this today as we were leaving our campground. The CG was generally empty except for maybe 5 or 6 rv's, so why not carry your leash in your hand and let your wouldn't-hurt-a-fly-loves-little-children-goes-to-church-every-Sunday big lab run free for a while? Well, the reason is because there might be someone with a small maltese on the other side of the bath house. Guess which one won that contest? It wasn't the maltese. Yes, the maltese was on a leash. I'm sure the owner of the lab felt bad, but that doesn't help any.
Click to expand...

AMEN! I hate it when an unleashed dog runs up to my leased dog and they fight.


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## vdub

You can usually get an aluminum baseball bat at Goodwill or any of the other thrift stores for about $3. They make very good walking sticks.....


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## hautevue

I agree with vdub--a used softball or baseball bat, aluminum, is a decent walking stick. I just carry it down towards the ground and try never to make it look threatening.

Only once have I needed it, and that was at Glacier -- dogs are not allowed on the trails ("a dog on a leash is a snack on a string for a bear") so we were in a nearby cleared area. Up ran an unleashed big black dog, not really aggressive but definitely scary. I kept the baseball bat between the dog and my pooch (35 pounds, looks like Little Orphan Annie's dog Sandy). The owner showed up all apologetic, etc., so the situation was defused quickly.

But that sold me on just walking with a "tapered walking stick".


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## TwoElkhounds

hautevue said:


> I agree with vdub--a used softball or baseball bat, aluminum, is a decent walking stick. I just carry it down towards the ground and try never to make it look threatening.
> 
> Only once have I needed it, and that was at Glacier -- dogs are not allowed on the trails ("a dog on a leash is a snack on a string for a bear") so we were in a nearby cleared area. Up ran an unleashed big black dog, not really aggressive but definitely scary. I kept the baseball bat between the dog and my pooch (35 pounds, looks like Little Orphan Annie's dog Sandy). The owner showed up all apologetic, etc., so the situation was defused quickly.
> 
> But that sold me on just walking with a "tapered walking stick".


Funny how people who let their dogs run loose are always sorry and apologetic when an incident happens.


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