I promised a report on "The Grove", so here it is. It's long, so if you want pertinent info, skip to the end and if I didn't answer anything you want to know, just ask.

First let me say this may not be your typical trip report. For those of you who've read any of our post and/or my blogs, you probably know that Ted and I don't get to spend a lot of time together, and more times than not, when we do get the chance to be together we're very selfish with each other and just enjoy sitting, holding hands and talking. So, even though we spent some time socializing with others, most of our time this past weekend was spent sitting on a glider on the deck and/or a swing by a pretty little pond. I'll summarize our days and at the end I'll give more detailed information about the things that are needed to know about "The Grove".

The Grove....

Beautiful place. Very, very swinger friendly and clothing optional...in other words, our kind of place .

We arrived around 4 p.m. on Friday, checked in, and had our tour of the grounds. It's not a huge place but it's much bigger than you think. It's basically a campground with a few rental cabins and some permanent campers that can also be rented for the week/weekend, as well as camper spots and tent spots for rent. With it being a Holiday weekend, the place was packed.

Once our tour was over and we made our way to our room/cabin (which was basically a cabin that was designed to have three basic hotel rooms) we unloaded our luggage and settled in. Ted was naked before he even started unloading the car...which was unusual as I'm usually the first one naked, but it was cold...you're not really in the mountains but are in the foothills, and after being used to 100 degree weather, 70 degree weather was down right cold to me. In fact, it was the next day before I walked around naked.

Once we were settled in and had gotten a bite to eat, we showered and dressed to head down to the Club House/pool/pavilion area where the dance took place. The place was hopping...everyone was so friendly and there was definitely a community feel to the place. We were asked numerous times if it was our first time there and told how happy everyone was to have us there....I made a comment to Ted at one point during the night that it had been a long time since we had received the "fresh meat" stares we got that night . We hung around the pool/dance area until about midnight talking, dancing and drinking, then headed back to our room where we spent another two hours or so on the glider just holding hands and talking.

One of the great things about our room was the heavy curtains...no light came in so we slept until 11 a.m.. Upon waking, we fixed our coffee and walked out on the deck, naked, sat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery with our morning coffee. There's nothing like sitting outside naked with your first cup of coffee.

A couple of hours later we decided to fix us a drink and head to the pool area. The music and laughter coming from there was very inviting. Once we reached the pool area we discovered it was PACKED...no place to really sit, especially in a shaded area which I try to stay in, even with sunscreen on. As we were walking to the pool area we spotted a swing by the little pond...close enough to the pool so that you could see what was going on and with the music so loud there was no fear of not having any entertainment. We made our way to the swing and discovered we liked sitting there, watching everyone and being able to talk without screaming at each other. We spent all day Saturday on the swing with each of us making runs back to our room to refill our drinks.

Around 5 or so, we decided that a nap was in order. We moseyed on back to our room, decided playtime was more appealing than a nap at that particular moment, had some fun and took a nice long afternoon nap. Upon waking it was time to eat, shower, dress and head back to the Club House for that evenings dance. The crowd had doubled in size from the previous night and the only place we could find to sit was by the hot tub ( a bit away from all the action but still visible to it all)...another couple joined us there and we spent 2-3 hours talking to them and trading swinger related stories and philosophies...we had a lot in common with M & J and the conversation was easy and entertaining. About midnight we all decided to head to the Charter House to see what was going on there. The Charter House is well, a house, set up for the best house party you could ever imagine...group rooms, dungeons, private rooms, voyeur/exhibitionist rooms, massage room...GREAT place. We made the round of the house, watching a few people in the group room and talking to a few others, then decided it was time to head back to our cabin for our own fun.

Sunday was spent pretty much exactly like Saturday was with the exception that we did spend some time at the pool that day, again sitting with and talking to M & J. Also, when it came time to head down to the dance for the evening, we decided that since it was our last night together we'd much rather spend it in our room alone.

Monday morning came way to quickly. We had a very relaxing weekend and was sad to see it end. We enjoyed "The Grove" so much that we will definitely be back.

Things that are needed to know...

1. When you go to "The Grove", you are camping. It doesn't matter if you're in a tent, a camper or a cabin...you're camping. There are no restaurants on the grounds so you either bring your own food or you get dressed and head into town to eat. They do offer a continental breakfast (not that we were ever up in time for it) as well as a member runs a small concession stand behind the club house where they sell hamburgers/hot dogs and such. The web site states that they offer you to order a meal on Saturday night from a local restaurant that they go and pick up for you...I have no personal info for this as we didn't participate as we packed our own food for the weekend. Most guest had small grills for BBQing and I do believe that all rooms have mini-refrigerators and microwaves in them (some of the larger cabins have full kitchens).

2. It's VERY hilly. A week spent in the place walking around, up and down hills would put anyone in great shape. One guest we talked to said they rented a golf cart for the weekend...we were unaware that this was available so again, no personal info for this. It did seem as if all the regulars had golf carts.

3. Coolers are a must and they do sell ice as well as they have a propane bottle exchange (both for a fee). Coolers can be taken anywhere.

4. It's a DRY county. No alcohol is sold. Bring your own. Some members have set up a bar area under the pavilion where they will give you free drinks (they STRESS the drinks are free) anytime they are open. They do have tip/donation jars there and since the members buy the alcohol out of their own pocket, it's nice to leave a tip.

5. Nudity is allowed ANYWHERE...sexual activity is allowed anywhere EXCEPT in the pool or hot tub. If you don't feel like being naked, no one looks at you funny. There were a lot of people that kept their clothes on, so naked or clothed you feel right at place.

6. No maid service during your stay. This did not bother us in the least as I don't change sheets every night at home and I do know how to make my own bed. If you need more towels all you have to do is ask and they are given to you. (If you're there longer than a weekend you might get maid service I really don't know).

7. The age range of the crowd is from late 20s on up....Most there on the upper side of 40s. All loads of fun and very friendly. NOT everyone is a swinger, but they all seem to enjoy the atmosphere. No means No just like anywhere else.

8. This is not a five star resort so don't expect it to be so...it's relaxing, beautiful and fun...it's addictive ...so addictive on our part we even looked at some of the places that were for sale and possibly getting a permanent camper spot.

We loved the place!

T.