To Boston
Up and off bright and early on the 15th.
But first we trimmed the hedge. We had cut it severely back in May/June and it has come back with a vengeance. It was ugly. And the weather had been either raining or miserably hot. It broke on the 15th so we did the hedge, got the bawt loaded and ourselves cleaned up. By then it was 3 PM so we decided to leave the next day.
1st Night - Warrior’s Path State Park, Tennessee
Mrs. Garmin took us in the back way!
It was bad! Through residential areas. Narrow roads. Steep drop offs on the left.
Then looking for the “sign in here” place we went across the bridge to a large building by the Marina. That wasn’t it. The parking lot didn’t have an exit. We had to back it up so we could turn around. There was a guy laying on the grass right where Camille ground guided me to back up. He didn’t budge the whole exercise.
Then the campground was full. It was Friday afternoon. They were having a folk fair the next day. There was room in the overflow campground. No (Nil, none, zip) hookups.
We travel with 5-10 gallons of water in the tank and a few gallons of bottled water so we went for it. Our first dry camping experience. Made it fine. Even fired up the inverter and watched a little TV. Had enough battery left in the morning to get the slide in and to raise the nose up so we could hook up. No disaster if we didn’t, we can always connect to the truck and get power that way.
Notice the proximity to the railroad! They were loud. But they only woke me up once. Between trains we could hear cows mooing.
Our site was a pull through! Couldn’t believe it was still open. Then we figured out why. It was right at the entrance and right on the road. We waved at everybody coming in to look for a site.
Neat young fellow came over in the morning to observe the 5th wheel hook up process. He was camping with wife, dog & three young kids for the 1st time. He had recently purchased a 175 acre farm to have a better environment for his kids.
2nd Stop – Walnut Hills RV Park near Staunton, Va
We stayed two nights here. I had stopped here once with the popup. Very nice park.
We really enjoyed visiting with our neighbors, Jerry & Jan from Michigan. Actually they have sold their house in Michigan and are building a house in South Carolina. Jan was a 6th Grade teacher. They told us all the “must dos” when we visit Michigan.
Our other neighbors arrived midnight the 1st night. Two guys in a brand new Airstream with slideout.
Jan said it took them 45 minutes to get it into the space. Then the next day they spent a while reparking. Jerry said that it was their first trip.
3rd Stop - River Beach Campsites, PA.
It was 2 & ½ days from Staunton to Hanscom AFB. We decided to do a 1 & ½ day trip first so we wouldn’t have a long day into Boston. It took us 8 & ½ hours to get to River Beach.
We have experimentally determined that we have a 5 hour cat. She rides quite happily for 5 hours and then the howling begins. Putting her in the trailer in her litter pan, three times, doesn’t help.
River Beach Campsites is located where NY, NJ & PA meet.
The logical way to get there is I-81 to Scranton and then I-84 to Milford. We especially dislike the stretch of I-81 from the I-81/I-78 split to Scranton and there was construction on 81 north of the split. So we went I-78, 33, 209 through the Delaware Water Gap. Scenic but rough.
River Beach Campsites is a beautiful park.
They are on the Delaware River.
They have about 40 RV sites and 150 tent sites. It was very quiet and peaceful when we were there but a couple of people told us it is a full scale zoo on the weekends. The campground rules require that all campers wear their identification bracelets. (They didn’t give us bracelets.)
Delightful family next door. Federal Cop, Agricultural Teacher at Philadelphia City High School, very outgoing personable 8 year old boy, a friendly Golden Retriever named Tucker, and a 10 year old named Patrick that we never saw.
Tucker & the 8 year old came to visit. Mom came looking for them & stayed to talk. Dad came looking and then went back to fix dinner.
Mom loves her job. She is in charge of the six Arabian horses. “All the girls have to be nice to me or they don’t get to ride”. Philadelphia HS has 640 members of the FFA – the largest high school agricultural program in the country.