We got kicked out of the RV Park!!

After leaving Sturgis we headed northwest and ended up in Virginia City, MT, which was our goal. I had made reservations at the Virginia City RV Park for the appropriate days long before we ever left home. Their website made it look quite inviting with lots of nice amenities, so we were quite disappointed when we checked in to see what it was actually like.

Have you ever gotten the feeling in the beginning of a situation that "this is all wrong?" Well, that's the feeling I got the minute I walked in the office and checked in. We arrived on Sunday evening and intended to stay until Thursday morning when we would head east to Medora. The owner was absolutely WEIRD. She acted like she was doing us a favor by allowing us to stay there. Then she handed me three pages of campground rules and informed me that they were strictly enforced. The interesting thing is that there were only two other rigs in the park at the time we checked in and they both checked out the next morning. We were then alone.

First question she asked was whether we had pets. I told her we had two cats but they never went outside. Then she pointed to Rule #5 on the rules sheet. "If you leave your air conditioning on during the day to keep your rig cool for your pets there would be an additional charge of $5 per day added to your bill." Then there was #3 on the list. "Clean up after your dogs and carry doggie bags with you at all times so that we KNOW you're cleaning up after your dog. We expect to see the doggie bag in your hand at all times if your dog is outside." Rule #8 "There are horses in the fence. Under no circumstances are you to go within 50 feet of the fence. You will be prosecuted if you do because that is our PRIVATE property." Rule #13 "Absolutely no rugs or mats on the grass at any time." Rule #14 "DO NOT park on the grass under any circumstances." #16 "Absolutely no washing or spraying off of any vehicle or motorcycle to be done."

Okay - I understand that there have to be rules, but we felt three pages was a bit on the "much" side. But we thought we're only here for a few days - we can do this. These owners would NEVER make it in Sturgis.

So Monday morning came and Ole and I took off for some sightseeing. We came back to the rig about 3 o'clock, parked the motorcycle by our door and went inside. We weren't there more than 5 minutes and this woman came knocking at the door and said, "You're motorcycle is parked on the grass you'll have to move it. AND your trailer has one wheel on the grass so you'll have to move that too." It was still hooked up - we don't usually unhook if the site is long enough. I later checked the wheel and about half of the rubber was on the grass. She explained that their grass is so fragile that they have to take care of it to the utmost. My thought was if you have to be that careful about your grass you better not have grass in your RV park. Ole explained to her that he was willing to move the motorcycle, but to move the half a tire off the grass involved putting the slide in which involved moving a lot of stuff inside and also unplugging the electric and water. To get the rig/trailer straight enough to not park on the grass involved pulling completely out of the spot and reparking. We would be willing to move the motorcycle now and we would pack up in the morning and move out completely. Then nobody would have to worry about the 6 inches of grass that was under the tire. And besides that it wasn't grass - it was weeds.

Then she got all huffy, etc., and left. Ole moved the bike onto the gravel out in front of the rig and hoped that nobody would run into it. I guess we really didn't have to worry about that though, as there was no other traffic in the park.

A few minutes later she came back and very snottily told him that if he was going to leave in the morning he would have to come over to the office right now if he wanted his refund. He obliged her and when he was in the office as she was calculating things out her husband came in. He told her to refund us three nights as he was giving us 15 minutes to vacate the park!!

We hadn't done anything other than cover 6 inches of weeds with a trailer tire. When Ole spoke with her he was a gentleman - didn't raise his voice or make any kind of a threat. Just stated that if we had to go to all the work of moving the rig we would just leave in the morning.

So - we got kicked out.

There was no cell service at this location, and there was WiFi that was charged for on a daily basis. We went down the road 15 minutes to Ennis, MT where we have cell service and internet service in a beautiful park with all the amenities. When we arrived at the office to check in the office was closed. The note on the door said, "There are lots of open spaces, just pick one, set up, get comfortable and I'll see you in the morning!" Now isn't that a different attitude?

Oh yes, I neglected to tell you that the place we got kicked out of had a very large FOR SALE sign at the entrance. Guess they can't make a go of it - gee, I wonder why!!!

Love, Big Bad Lena