My New Mission

[Dale]

I have a new personal mission. We went to Lake Pyramid on Monday. It was a beautiful day and we were really excited about getting out on the lake.

We pulled up to the kiosk and discovered they don't take debits or credit cards. "Only Cash" Our only option was to cruise up the freeway to Gorman and get cash, Which really set me off. We did it of course, but what a pain.

I spent yesterday calling the managers in charge of the two local lakes we use. Pyramid & Castaic. They both seemed receptive to the idea of getting debit machines. Both of them stated "This happens all the time." Why they need me to tell them to join the rest of the world is beyond me, but I'm going to make sure they have them by next spring. Do any of you have this issue at other lakes or am I just lucky?

Castaic has a great feature. A webcam & current weather. It comes in really handy so you don't waste the trip if the weather is not favorable. They are both an hour away from me and high winds is a big problem this time of year. Here's a link so you can see it. http://www.castaiclake.com/

My next mission will be to get Pyramid to invest in a webcam and weather station. Every lake ought to have this kind of option on their website. It really helps in the final decision to load up or not.

 

[Chris E]

let me see if i understand this right - they close the lake at night?

i have never heard of this before - why would they close a lake?

 

[bigredinohio]

$13 to go boating for a day! That's crazy. I've heard of paying $1.00 to launch a boat. They have to kick everyone off the lake by dark so they can cash in the next day! I'm really surprised they don't have an ATM machine there with those prices

 

[Chris]

let me see if i understand this right - they close the lake at night?

i have never heard of this before - why would they close a lake?

Never heard of such a thing either.

But somehow it beats the heck out of our lakes, which are closed for use from December to April of each year.

-Chris

 

[Fun Times]

Every lake in socal that I know of wants you off the lake At dark it's always been that way that I can remember, And yes most are cash only, Lake perris is $16.00 for the Truck & boat use and lake elsinore is right around the same price for two people and then $3.00 more per person after that. Up in northern cal, They have the sacramento delta and there is a city called discovery bay And launching a 28ft boat there cost us $50.00 Back in the mid 90's.

 

[Dale]

What, keep the lake open at night? Don't charge me to get on the lake? I never heard of such a thing.I wish!

I've never gotten on lake lake in my life for free and out here in La La land there are too many idiots doing stupid things. Because of that we have to be treated like children or we might hurt ourselves.

Since I have to pay I want it to be simple. Drive up give them my debit card and get on the lake. The last thing I want to do is carry cash on the lake. I don't need any. I bring everything with me that I need.

 

[Chris E]

lakes are free in these parts - always have been, and we get to boat 24 hours a day - i can't believe that they close a lake at night.

are there houses on any of these lakes? what happens to them?

this just blows my mind - nothing like a sunset cruise!

 

[bigredinohio]

Ohio state parks are free to the public along with the public waterways such as the Ohio river. You might have to pay to use a ramp on private property but free public ramps are accessible.

I am not sure if our lakes in our state parks close for the winter but I know you have to let the park managers know that you will be out during the night. The Ohio river is open year round and around the clock with barge traffic, etc.

 

[Chris E]

i suppose that technically the lakes around here are closed from late december to late april - but that's only due to 3 feet of ice!

 

[Old Hickory]

lakes are free here in the volunteer state! the Corp charges a launch fee. But you can stay on them as long as you like. The TWRA kicked fees around a few years back but us Tenn rednecks pitched such a revolt they backed away quicker than a NY minute.

 

[RNC]

I do feel they should have a atm machine. But I also agree with the store people are getting out of control using plastic. What pisses most stores off is when people constantly buy under 5 dollars worth of crap and stick it on plastic. A guy the other day at a shop showed me a charge from people using plastic in a 30 day statement. His service charge was 187 dollars that he has to eat. And he is small time

I use cash unless on a big item then I use a check. But no way in the world would I head to the lake with no cash. Once your plastic gets scammed 1 time you will learn the hard way.

I just think people are getting lazy and think that a ATM card is their life. You will get scammed sooner or later if that's all you use. I had 8700 wiped out of my checking account and it took me 3 weeks before the bank gave me my money back.

How you ask?? I got lazy and did not stop by my bank 2 years ago, going to the lake. I stuck my bank card in a gas pump and got 150 dollars in gas. I left went to a bar/restaurant on the lake the bill was 87 dollars I gave the girl my card and it was denied. To make my story short a sleeve was stuck in the gas pump which relayed my card info somewhere and somebody bought all kinds of crap out of state on a dummy card they made off mine. It was only 3 hours later when I tried to use it again.

This happens all the time its a insert crooks sick in card slots. Getting money back from a checking account is not easy. I just think people are getting out of control not carrying any cash anymore.