We pack up, secure loose objects and breakables, empty tanks, pull in slides and jacks and unplug. We’re off on our real first adventure to Acadia National Park. Our first stop as we leave Ohio is Mayville, NY just inside the southwest border from PA. We have a reservation at Camp Chautauqua Lakefront Resort and we arrive tired and hungry around 5:00. It’s a nice place for family camping as there are many activities planned for teens and children.

 roadtrippers.com

Double-wide trailer cottages border the campsite roads. They seem to be privately owned and most are shut down for the summer season. I think it is rather expensive, $50 for a full hookup overnight stay, but we do use their laundry facilities and take hot showers in the morning.

 campchautauqua.com

I contact Verizon about setting up more data coverage and using my hot spot for Wi-Fi. This entails a 20 minute drive the next morning to the nearest Verizon store in Jamestown.

About Lake Chautauqua

The lake has the same geological structure of the Finger Lakes, which is a very long and narrow valley, however it is not one of the Finger Lakes. Chautauqua runs perpendicular to the westernmost Finger Lake and lies in a different watershed. Its name comes from an original set of words of the Seneca Indian tribe and has various translations, such as, Bag Tied in the Middle, referring to the narrow portion between shores in the middle of its length of 17 miles.

   chaut-lakebassmasters.com

Other translations include Place Where Fish are Taken and Place of Easy Death. The area is famous for the Chautauqua Institution, a non-profit adult education center and a summer resort. Founded in 1874 by a Methodist bishop and his inventor friend, the institution served as a teaching camp for Sunday school teachers. The park surroundings were used to teach the geography of the Holy Land. Today the institute offers programs in the arts, recreation, education and religion and sponsors ballets, symphonies, operas, theater performances, and art exhibits. An intensive residential professional music program is available among its schools of fine and performing arts. (from en.m.wikepedia.com)