We arrived at Janes Island State Park on a blustery April 1st, the day before the park campground officially opened for the season on Easter weekend. We’ve spent the time since then getting to know this beautiful park as camp hosts for the month of April.
Hosting on Maryland’s Eastern Shore
Janes Island State Park sits on the southern tip of Maryland’s Eastern shore next to the small town of Crisfield. While most of the park resides on the large Janes Island, the campgrounds and cabins sit on the mainland side of the canal overlooking the island to the west. The island is only accessible by boat, so kayaking and canoeing are popular past-times, with several water trails mapped out that are rated to accommodate the beginner to experienced paddler. Sunsets at the park are amazing.
Janes Island State Park sits on the southern tip of Maryland’s Eastern shore next to the small town of Crisfield. While most of the park resides on the large Janes Island, the campgrounds and cabins sit on the mainland side of the canal overlooking the island to the west. The island is only accessible by boat, so kayaking and canoeing are popular past-times, with several water trails mapped out that are rated to accommodate the beginner to experienced paddler. Sunsets at the park are amazing.
There are 102 campsites divided into 3 campground loops, along with 4 mini-cabins and 4 full-service cabins and a lodge. We clean campsites and greet campers in the campground that caters mostly to tenters, loop C. We also tend the exteriors of the 8 cabins and the lodge. We managed to just get into our pull-through site next to the bathhouse, which is one of the 5 sites in our loop with electric. Since none of the campsites have water, we have to string several hoses together to fill our tanks from a spigot at the bathhouse. We’re not hauling water, so it’s all good. And, of course, we have access to the park’s portable waste tank to empty our tanks.
When not hauling ash out of firepits or talking to campers, we have been helping out ranger Mark Herring (whom we met at Pocahontas Cabin Work Week) with a light inventory. You may ask what is that and why would it be needed? Well, it is one of the early steps in a process to certify the park as an International Dark Sky Association park, i.e. it is a great place to view the night sky. The park’s remoteness makes it a likely candidate to qualify for the certification. Even without the certification, visitors are already making the park a destination to enjoy the night sky.
While weekends are busy, the weekdays are pretty quiet. There is only the occasional drama. We had a snake scare when some campers trapped a baby “copperhead”, that turned out to be a Northern Water Snake. And on our 2nd day here, we exited the camper to see snow falling. That was the first snow we’ve seen all winter. Certainly didn’t expect it to be in April.
RV Stuff
Shortly after arriving at Janes Island, and just after disconnecting the truck from the RV, our attention was focused on getting set up when one of our tire alarms sounded. The driver’s side rear tire on the RV was low on air. Since we had topped it off before heading out that morning, that was odd. Since this tire sits under the slide, it made sense to check it before setting up any further. Sure enough, the tire had a slow leak (later determined to be a screw) that we had picked up shortly before our arrival.
We waited a few days to let the winds die down and the temperatures to rise before tending to the flat tire. A call to the Good Sam support line confirmed that, on level ground, we could use the RV’s landing gear to raise the RV to remove the tire and replace it with the spare. A local shop was able to plug the leak, and we had our full complement of tires once again.
Shortly after arriving at Janes Island, and just after disconnecting the truck from the RV, our attention was focused on getting set up when one of our tire alarms sounded. The driver’s side rear tire on the RV was low on air. Since we had topped it off before heading out that morning, that was odd. Since this tire sits under the slide, it made sense to check it before setting up any further. Sure enough, the tire had a slow leak (later determined to be a screw) that we had picked up shortly before our arrival.
We waited a few days to let the winds die down and the temperatures to rise before tending to the flat tire. A call to the Good Sam support line confirmed that, on level ground, we could use the RV’s landing gear to raise the RV to remove the tire and replace it with the spare. A local shop was able to plug the leak, and we had our full complement of tires once again.
“Did you know that your bikes almost hit your trailer?”
This comment came to us from an observer who watched us transit a speed bump while at Kiptopeke State Park. This remark caused us to more seriously evaluate the way our bikes were mounted on the Cougar.
While we have always had the bikes on the back of our RV, the Puma had a bumper-mounted bike rack, specifically designed for an RV. However, the Cougar had no bumper, but instead had a receiver for a hitch. Since we had a hitch-mounted bike rack that we used on the truck, the solution was simple. Using this hitch-mounted rack, we drove north from Florida without any apparent incident. But what we didn’t understand was that the back of an RV is not the same as the back of a pickup. There is more movement in the chassis, which combined with any movement in the bike rack allows the bikes to have a range of motion that could easily cause them to hit the RV if we hit a big bump.
This comment came to us from an observer who watched us transit a speed bump while at Kiptopeke State Park. This remark caused us to more seriously evaluate the way our bikes were mounted on the Cougar.
While we have always had the bikes on the back of our RV, the Puma had a bumper-mounted bike rack, specifically designed for an RV. However, the Cougar had no bumper, but instead had a receiver for a hitch. Since we had a hitch-mounted bike rack that we used on the truck, the solution was simple. Using this hitch-mounted rack, we drove north from Florida without any apparent incident. But what we didn’t understand was that the back of an RV is not the same as the back of a pickup. There is more movement in the chassis, which combined with any movement in the bike rack allows the bikes to have a range of motion that could easily cause them to hit the RV if we hit a big bump.
Dave’s research revealed that there are RV-approved bike racks that have a more solid structure. Given the Covid-driven surge in biking and RV’s, many models were not available. While we didn’t mind driving from Kiptopeke to Janes Island, we wanted to have a better solution before we headed out at the end of April. Despite the shortages, we found one that had good ratings for a reasonable price. It arrived at the park shortly after we did and was pretty easy to install. And it had significantly less movement than its predecessor. However, there was a small amount of movement still.
Dave discovered there was a “rattle-reducer” attachment that would stiffen the bike rack even more. Once this was installed, the bikes were even more solid. They’re not going to swing into the RV now.
While the park's remoteness makes it an attractive place to view the night sky, it also makes TV watching iffy at best. So, we've been putting the combination of our Visible phone's mobile hot spot and our Roku device to the test. It's allowed us to stream shows pretty successfully, and we're very pleased that it works so well. (If you want to learn more about how Visible works, we have more info on our discounts page.)
Dave discovered there was a “rattle-reducer” attachment that would stiffen the bike rack even more. Once this was installed, the bikes were even more solid. They’re not going to swing into the RV now.
While the park's remoteness makes it an attractive place to view the night sky, it also makes TV watching iffy at best. So, we've been putting the combination of our Visible phone's mobile hot spot and our Roku device to the test. It's allowed us to stream shows pretty successfully, and we're very pleased that it works so well. (If you want to learn more about how Visible works, we have more info on our discounts page.)
Parting Shot