Hayes and Gays

We had a few more overnight stops to make in the State of Ohio before arriving in New York.  On the way to our next destination in Ohio, we happily happened upon another Presidential Library that had not been on our list, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.  This presidential library is run by a non-profit organization, not by the National Archives, which is why it was not on our radar; but as we drove through Fremont, Ohio, on our way to our next campground, we noticed signs advertising its presence nearby.  This became the fifth presidential library we have visited since we started full-time RV traveling. 

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums was the first presidential library, opening in 1916.  It is located on President Hayes’ 25-acre wooded estate, called Spiegel Grove.  Each entrance to the estate is marked with original White House gates, which were used at the White House during Hayes’ presidency and later purchased by the Hayes family to use at Spiegel Grove.  We toured the 31-room Victorian home of Rutherford and Lucy Hayes, and the museum.  President Hayes and his wife are also buried on the grounds.  Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, in 1822.  He fought in the civil war and was wounded.  In 1867, he was elected Governor of Ohio, and in 1876, he was elected president (after a controversy with the Electoral College, which led to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which added to procedures set out in the Constitution of the United States for the counting of electoral votes following a presidential election and was scrutinized during the most recent election.  On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, which made changes to the procedures laid out in the Electoral Count Act, along with adding clarifications on the role of the vice president).  During his presidency, President Hayes worked tirelessly to heal the wounds of the civil war and help the newly freed slaves thrive, although pulling troops from the south to ease tensions ultimately backfired as southern governors went back on their promises to implement Hayes' reforms.  His accomplishments include improving relations with Native American Tribes; returning the U.S. to the gold standard; and implementing civil service reforms including prohibitions against politicking on the job in the executive branch. 

The Spiegel Grove tour was much more hands-on (than the museums run by the National Archives) as you can see in the above picture where Pat was able to hold the Hayes State Dinner Service (White House China). 

After visiting the presidential library, we stopped at a nearby Walmart to purchase groceries.  Then, we headed to our next destination: Freedom Valley Campground.  Freedom Valley is the fifth gay campground we have stayed in since we started full-time RV traveling.  Our RV site was gravel, with a picnic table and fire pit (no grill).  We had electric and water hookups, but no sewer hookup; so, we would have to use the bathroom facilities to shower, which were located near to our site.  As we finished setting up, it began to rain, so we relaxed in the RV from our journey.  After the rain ended, our neighbors staying across from us in the bunkhouse (Gary, Greg, and Warren) invited us over for a beer.

Gay campgrounds often have themed weekends, and Freedom Valley was no exception.  We discovered that we had made our reservations for the country/western themed weekend.  We immediately regretted that we had left our boots and other country/western costume wear in the storage unit; these two boys who had lived in Texas could not “represent” at the campground.  Nevertheless, we went to the meet-and-greet that evening, which was well attended.  There were free shots and line dancing lessons, and we chatted with our new neighbors and a few others that we met at the meet-and-greet.  

The next day, the sun came out late in the morning, so we went to the pool to take advantage of it.  We stayed at the pool until midafternoon, where more shots were served and there were cowboy themed pool games with big prizes!  We returned to the RV to grill some steaks and bake potatoes for dinner (we also grilled some burgers, which we froze to eat at a later date).  We watched more of LSU in the College Baseball World Series, which went into extra innings and ended late, so we decided to skip the meet-and-greet that evening, which was our second and last night at Freedom Valley.

Review of Freedom Valley Campground

Freedom Valley Campground, located in New London, Ohio, is managed by some very nice guys named Jeff, David, Lee, and Michael.  The campground has approximately 50 sites for RVs, with electric and water hookups (no sewer); along with tents sites that have electric only or no hookups.  The campground also has cabins and a bunkhouse that sleeps eight.

Amenities include a camp store, pool, dance hall (with an outdoor large fire pit), laundry facilities, restroom/shower facilities, and a food trailer called Buckeye BBQ.  There is also a lake for fishing, canoeing, and paddleboats.  Additionally, there are hiking trails and volleyball courts.

We didn’t stay at Freedom Valley for very long, but we met some really nice people and had fun at the meet-and-greet and at the pool.  We really liked that the shower facilities and pool were located near to our RV site, and the dance hall wasn’t too far away either.  We would definitely consider staying at Freedom Valley again if we are in the area.