We Were Called Out By A Neighbor At A Wisconsin Campground For Burning Paper Plates
I've made a lot of friends while camping. Generally, people who are camping are 'happy campers.' It's a relaxing time, and it's one of the few ways to get away and have nothing on your to-do list. People generally are in a pretty good mood, I think.
That's what made this bizarre situation so weird. We were camping with some friends in two sites adjacent to each other. They were working on starting a fire in their campfire ring and having a tough time with it. The reason was that the wood we purchased at the campground office was really green. Unfortunately, this was the only wood allowed in the campground and it just wouldn't burn.
We used fire starters, and dry kindling, but the fire wasn't exactly taking off. To help get the fire going, we fanned it with a paper plate and then threw it in the fire to get it to flame up. It worked, and the fire finally was going on its own.
Then the camper came out next to us and told us "Hey, there's a dumpster here so you don't have to burn your garbage."
We replied that we just burned a paper plate, and he was upset that we "were stinking up his camper." I was more confused than anything and it left me speechless for a moment. We burned a paper plate. Yes, it was smoky, but that's because of how bad the firewood was, not the paper plate. Also, it's a campground and there are campfires everywhere, right? I've had smoke come into my camper from other campsites and always chalked it up to something that just happens at a campground. Especially one that packs you in as tight as this campground does. It was at the Hayward KOA, which if you've ever been to, you'll know that you are really close to your neighbors.
From that point on, we didn't burn anything but newspapers to start a fire. Although, I don't think that a newspaper is that much different than a paper plate. We also moved our fire away to the furthest ring from them as we could to try and accommodate them. But, I mean seriously? That was a first for me.
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