Buena, NJ

June 28th - July 1st

The Good Sam Club is an organization of RV owners that promotes safety and provides its members group insurance and travel protection. They also organize "Samborees". These are run by either the state or the national organizations. Each state has local chapters based on interests, etc. They publish a monthly magazine, Highways, which is filled with travel destinations, tips, and equipment reviews. One feature is a list of the upcoming Samborees. Two months ago, there was an article about a Samboree in Buena, New Jersey. We signed up. The cost for four days with some meals and RV hook-ups came to $132.

Thursday morning we headed out for Buena. The town is located northwest of Atlantic City. I have only been to that part of New Jersey once to Vineland on a work-related trip. We arrived at the campground and got our site and our meal tickets. The site we were supposed to be on was occupied by a circus, so we were assigned another. We were out in the middle of this big field basically by ourselves. This only lasted a couple of hours. By nightfall, it was half filled and it was filled the next day. There were over 150 rigs of all shapes and sizes. We leveled the rig and hooked up.

I had intended to go to Atlantic City after dinner, but we met some people and ended up talking 'til after 9. One of the couples sell various RV-related items at these rallies. One of the products they sell are folding chairs that have a folding table on one side and a carry-all type thing on the other. We ended up buying two. It was cheaper than AC. Another vendor embroiders names and other stuff. We have our names and a Wire Haired Fox Terrier on ours. The chair people introduced us to their two pets, skunks.

The campground is huge. We were in the big open field, but there were the individual sites in an area three times where we were. We took a brief ride into this portion of the park. Unlike the other parks we've been to, this one was laid out with numbered streets, east to west, and avenues running north and south.

Saturday evening, after barbecue, we met some folks from one of the local chapters and talked to them about possibly joining their group. They are either retired or about to retire. We hit it off well. Darryl, the chapter leader, invited us to join him and some other members of the group on one of their trips before deciding to join. We will be going to Maine July 28th through August 5th. The reason for going to Maine is that there is a lobster fest in the area where we will be staying. I would image that all Maine is a lobster fest during the summer. The campground we will be staying at is in Damariscotta. This is the first I ever heard of the town.