Pennsylvania, Hershey - Friday, September 16, 2016 - Hershey RV Show

The last couple of days we have spent looking at all of the new class A RV models.  For those of you who don’t own an RV, those are the ones that look like a big bus, sometimes referred to as a “diesel pusher”.  We still aren’t ready to put out that much money but its fun to look.  Obviously, some of my pictures could have used a little work – not too sharp.

The Tiffen Allegro Bus OOP is one of our favorites.  This particular one has darker wood than we like but the layout was perfect.

The Tiffen Allegro Bus 40 SP has the interior color that we like better.  This coach is 4 foot shorter than the one we currently have, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it makes a big difference. 

I also like the Winnebago Tour QD.  I favor the gray interior and the squared up trim, it reminds me of the Craftsman style of home building.  Some of the top of the line motor coaches go way overboard on the glitz and glamour – too many mirrors, lights and fancy carved woodwork.  Those just look like too much work to me.

I always get a chuckle about all of the glass vases and fancy dishes they have setting out to indicate that this is how you would live in these coaches.  We live in a very nice coach and we do have some fancy plates, but they don’t come out on a regular basis – we go through a lot of paper plates! I listen to the salesmen talk about how you have room for absolutely everything in the large kitchen cabinets – probably not going to happen.  I also find it hard to believe that for a while the top of the line coaches did away with the kitchen pantry.  The pantries are now coming back but some we looked at today still don’t have them, they haven’t figured out that isn’t a good idea especially for people who live in them fulltime.

I heard one salesman tell a couple today that you put the dining room chairs on the bed when you are moving down the road.  Seriously, those things don’t move around much if at all while we are moving.

We didn’t leave the show empty handed.  We bought a new 20’ extending flag pole and flags.  The one we had quit working properly a couple of years ago and Greg finally quit trying to struggle with it.  The new one has better coupling mechanisms and will fit in our hitch rather than in a stand under the tire like our previous one.  Thank goodness the young man who was selling these poles was willing to go out of his way and bring it by the campground last night after he got done working the show.  We weren’t going to be anywhere in the next month where it could be delivered and we sure couldn’t carry a flagpole that only collapses down to about 8’ on the motorcycle.  We have carried some pretty strange things but that would have just been pushing the limit.

Greg also bought some kind of connector that is supposed to allow us to use our current satellite dish with the new Hopper system from Dish.  The discussion on how to proceed with the installation of this thing was totally foreign to me and sounded like it will take all winter to figure out how this is going to work, so more on that later.

We will be headed out in the morning to Pohick Bay Regional Park just outside of Washington, DC to spend some time with daughter Robyn and her family.

Pennsylvania, Jonestown - Wednesday, September 14, 2016 - Jonestown AOK Campground

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAUGHTER AMANDA - HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO DAUGHTER DESIRA SINCE WE WEREN'T POSTING THEN

We are on the road again.  We left Indiana early yesterday morning.

We had a passenger riding on our windshield wiper until well into Ohio.

Our IN/OH state line crossing is a little blurry, guess I’m out of practice taking pictures on the move.

Most of the day the traffic wasn’t too bad although we did run into the inevitable construction zones.

Somewhere in mid-Ohio we were startled by a crash and glass breaking toward the back of the coach.  Both of our initial reactions was that the glass tile wall and the TV that is mounted on it had crashed to the floor.

It wasn’t quite that bad but it was a mess.  We have traveled trouble-free with an eight bottle wine cooler tucked under the desk for over five years.  Yesterday our luck ran out.  The door to the cooler came open and 4 and ½ bottles of wine came shooting out onto the porcelain floor.  Luckily only one of the bottles broke, but it was the darkest one and it just splintered.  I needed to get the flowing wine contained as quickly as possible and guess what was the closest thing to use – a basket of my pristine white flour sack dish towels.  A trip to Wal-Mart for some more towels is in order.  Greg asked if he needed to find a place to stop, I’m saying, “no, I’ll have it cleaned up by that time”.  So I’m on my hands and knees trying to contain what seemed like two gallons of wine that was in that one little bottle.  Once we got stopped for the evening we were mopping and sweeping trying to get up the rest of the glass splinters and to clean up the still sticky floor.  We were both amazed that none of the floor tiles or the grout were stained by the wine – and none of it splashed on the carpet Greg had just cleaned!

After that we finished off the half bottle of wine.  To say we don’t drink much is a real understatement.  I think this half bottle of wine is leftover from sometime in June and the other four bottles were the rest of our yearly supply.  After just the one glass of wine I was kind of tipsy, Greg had to really help with getting supper ready.

We stayed Tuesday night just outside of Pittsburgh, PA at Pine Cove Beach Club and RV Resort.  It was a nice country campground, but I’m thinking “resort” might be pushing it for a description.  The sites were more than long enough for our coach and neatly maintained with pea gravel.  They have a pool recreational area that is now closed and looked like it could use some maintenance.  We were too busy cleaning up and drinking wine to get out and take pictures but it is a campground we would visit again for an overnight stay.

Our travels through West Virginia and into Pennsylvania yesterday showed most of the trees are still green.  Every once in a while we would see one or two that were starting to show some color.  Our windshield was bombarded by bugs so my picture taking was limited this trip.

We went through two of these mountains tunnels going through the Allegheny Mountains, I REALLY don’t like them.  In one of the tunnels the white tile showed signs of falling off the wall in large pieces.  Luckily, it all stayed intact as we were going through.  I don’t even want to think about what those dark stains are on the ceiling.

Tonight we are staying at a converted KOA campground in Jonestown, PA called the AOK Campground.  This wasn’t our first choice and it certainly won’t be one we revisit.  We are in the area to go to the Hershey RV show which is supposed to be the largest in the nation.  In mid to late July we decided we would make this stop on our way to Washington, DC to visit Robyn and her family.  By that time the really good RV parks in this area were booked up.  We reserved on line with this one and got a reply that they had a full service pull though site for us.  Greg emailed back and asked if they needed a credit card to hold it – no reply from them.  Greg called later to check and they couldn’t find any reservation.  Later they did find it but for dates that were different than what we had requested and now they were supposedly full on the dates we wanted.  They did finally say they could get us in.  What we have is a site with only 30 amp service, good thing the weather is cooler because we can only run one air conditioner and getting the laundry done in the coach is a no go.  Getting level took way too long, even with the automatic hydraulic leveling system it was a challenge.  Thank goodness we planned to spend our time here away from the RV park or momma would be pretty unhappy.

Pennsylvania Matamoras - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - Tri State RV Park

Not much happening here.  One of the white benches on the right was Greg’s barber chair this afternoon while he got a haircut. 

 

 

I think this is the nicest view he has had from the barber chair.  This campground is right on the Delaware River.  On the other side is New York.  Where the geese are at in the middle of the river is a small island.  They have lots of babies, I think they would be pretty protective so we may not venture across the bridge that leads to the island.

We will be here until Tuesday when our two tag axle tires are supposed to be here.  From here we will head into Connecticut to pick up the four tires for our rear wheels.  After that it will be on to New Hampshire and Maine.

Pennsylvania, Matamoras - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - Tri-State RV Park

Although we enjoy this lifestyle, sometimes it can be frustrating.  Last month we had a blowout on one of our steer tires while we were on our way to pick up two new steer tires.  Yesterday we had a blowout on one of the tires on the tag axle.  This time we weren’t on our way to buy tires.  Our plan was to buy six more tires for the tag and rear axles when we got back to Indiana in July.

 

 

We were enjoying some really great views before the blowout happened.

This time there was no advance notice that something was wrong before the blowout.  But, there was no loss of control, Greg brought the coach to a controlled stop on the paved berm.  We were on a long gradual upgrade so we were very visible to traffic.  Which was a good thing because we sat there for over four hours.  Our Good Sam roadside assistance wasn’t able to help us like they did the last time – no tires big enough could be found, they were going to have to be ordered and they won’t help with getting a used tire because of liability issues.  We kind of thought we were a liability sitting on the side of the road.  We had to call 911 where we got the phone number of a couple of tire repair service businesses.  Greg finally located a used tire that was “about” right and one of the tire repair services came out and installed it.  I didn’t keep track of the number of phone calls he had to make to accomplish this.

We drove 11 miles to an exit that had a truck stop and a Comfort Inn.  We decided to check into the Comfort Inn instead of staying in the coach in the truck stop.  We had to have electricity to recharge our phones J  Twin Rocks restaurant was right next door and supper was pretty good.

 

 

This morning we found out that the new tires roadside assistance ordered for the tag axle wouldn’t be here on Friday as we thought yesterday – they will be here Tuesday.  Staying at the Comfort Inn was going to be rather expensive and we sure didn’t want to stay that long in a truck stop so we decided to move (rather slowly so we didn’t heat up the “about right” tire too much) about 40 miles to Tri-State RV Park.  Greg is going to think my explanation of what happened is rather simplified because he has spent hours finding tires, coordinating someone to get them installed and working with the campgrounds we had reservations for in the next few weeks to get those reservations adjusted.

Our trip to the campground was another scenic trip but we couldn’t enjoy it too much wondering if we were going to make it to the campground.

 

 

The personnel here at the campground are very friendly and accommodating.  The campground is a small country campground – full hook ups but no amenities that we have seen so far, definitely not a destination campground but it will work out well for what we need right now.

Carlisle, PA - Monday, June 1, 2015 - Western Village RV Park

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND!!

We are at Western Village RV Park in Carlisle, PA, sites 56/36 for the evening.

 

 

The pull through sites here actually take up two sites.  Rate is $46 a night.  This is a nice park for a night or two, looks like it is really family friendly with lots of play areas for the kids and a nice miniature golf course.  The pool looked pretty inviting but the weather is turning cool and rain is coming in.

The roads and sites are stone and well-kept.  We didn’t walk all the way back through the park, it appears there may be quite a few extended stay folks here.

The rain has finally arrived and it looks like it is going to be here awhile.

This afternoon I managed to give all the produce we bought when we left the rally in Marion, NC a vinegar bath and got it stored for easy use.  I am amazed at how much longer the produce lasts if I soak it in vinegar and water and get it nicely trimmed before I store it.

I should note that locking in on a satellite for TV from our site didn’t happen and our Verizon phone service and hot spot have been sketchy.  So, I probably won’t get this published on our blog until we leave here.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

We are still at Western Village RV Park.  The rain was continuous through the night and looks like it will be here all day.  We decided we would stay here another day where we know what our accommodations are.  When we leave here we aren’t sure just exactly where we will end up.  We haven’t located any campgrounds on our route so we may just try to spot something as we go and we don’t know what effect the rain might have had on campgrounds to the east.  Or, we might end up for a night in a truck stop or Wal-Mart parking lotJ

We have made reservations at the Riverbrook RV Resort in Ramney, New Hampshire for June 5–12.  We noticed this morning that Bike Week at Laconia, New Hampshire is June 13-21 and it appears that the whole state participates.  We thought we should be heading out of New Hampshire and on into Maine by that time.  We might stop in Laconia to see if we can get a t-shirt before the craziness starts.

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg - Thursday, June 27, 2013 Harrisburg East Campground

We will be leaving here on Sunday morning, headed to Duncan’s Campground in Lothian, MD just outside of Washington, D.C.  Weather has prevented us from getting out on the bike for the last couple of days, each afternoon a storm has come through with very strong winds.  Luckily the winds didn’t damage anything here in the campground – but it sure did make a lot of noise!

Greg came down with a summer cold on Tuesday evening, seems to be getting a little better now.  Good thing we got our sightseeing done earlier in the week.  It was better that he stay home and rest for a couple of days.  While he’s been napping I’ve been doing some miscellaneous things around the house.  I cooked chicken and rice yesterday so we could have some really good chicken/rice/cheese enchiladas and margaritas for supper this evening.

Another couple that had been to the rally in Syracuse pulled into the campground this evening.  That got me to thinking about the comments we heard from people who were looking at the new RVs at the rally.  Those RVs are “dressed to impress” and it seems so many people don’t look beyond that to what the RV would look like once it was “lived in”.  We’ve made several changes to our RV that have made it more “ours”.  It still looks very nice, but it’s not “dressed to impress” it is a comfortable home for us.

So, I decided that when we’ve not been out sightseeing I might fill in with some pictures and descriptions of things we’ve done to the RV.  Today though, I’m sending this picture so my kids can be assured that The Cookie Jar is still intact.

 

This cookie jar has been in every kitchen I have had since 1967, that is 46 years and 13 kitchens.  When we move it gets wrapped up and stored very carefully.  No one would put this cookie jar in a display RV, but it is part of what makes our RV home.

Pennsylvania, Hershey - Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Chocolate Town

Hershey, PA was our destination this morning.  We got to Chocolate Town pretty early, I thought, but it was already starting to get crowded and it just got worse as the day went on.  We opted for the “Chocolate Expert” package which included a tour that gave you the feel of moving through the Hershey factory as we rode in little rail cars, a Chocolate Tasting Experience and a trolley car tour of the town.

 

The tour was one of the best I’ve seen, it explained the process of making chocolate from the cacao pods to the wrapping of the candy bar.  And, we got a sample chocolate bar at the end of the tour.

The Chocolate Tasting Experience told us how chocolate was discovered and enjoyed through the ages.  Then we learned how to taste chocolate (no chewing allowed).  We tasted five different varieties and then we got a sample chocolate bar at the end of the class.

The Trolley tour through town was really interesting, unfortunately my camera batteries were low so I didn't get any pictures worth posting.  There were a couple of young tour guides that kept the kids entertained by playing different characters.  During the tour we got three more sample chocolates – as did the kids on the bus.  Families with small children are not prepared for this much chocolate!!  When that last candy bar came around we looked at each other and just stuck it in our pocket, we were done.

We learned that Milton Hershey failed in the candy business, I think six times before he was successful in Hershey, PA.  Right before the great depression Hershey had great success with sugar cane in Cuba.  He spent the money he made off of the sugar cane to build businesses in Hershey – as a result no one in Hershey lost their jobs during the depression.  Hershey and his wife couldn’t have children so they started a school for boys who were orphans to provide them a home, an education and a trade (usually dairy farming).  That school has now grown to provide a home for 1800 boys and girls in need.  The children no longer have to be orphans, but they didn’t really go into what the requirements were.  The children live full time at the school from K-12.  The funding comes from the Hershey Foundation.  This school intrigues me, I’ll have to find out more.

We did stop by the gift shop to pick up some chocolate to bring home, but trust me, we weren’t tempted to get into it tonight.

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg - Monday, June 24, 2013 National Civil War Museum

The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg is huge!!  There are areas of small grey and blue flags in the yard.

 

And, the amount of memorabilia they have from both the Union and Confederate sides must have taken years to accumulate.  They didn’t allow flash pictures in the museum so I only took one picture – it’s one of the many scenes they have set up, many with narrations as if they are coming from the civil war soldiers.  Even though I had my camera set for no flash it appeared to me that there was a flash, I didn’t want to get thrown out.

 

After the museum we headed into downtown Harrisburg to see the capital building.  We have got to remember to take change with us instead of dropping it in the change jar every night.  For the last two days we’ve driven around towns that had a parking meter at every available parking spot and we didn’t have a quarter between us.  We got lucky today and found one that had 58 minutes left on it – so we pulled in, ate the sandwiches we packed this morning and planned what to do next.

There is an island in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg – called City Island (somebody gets extra points for creative thinking).  We went across to the island for a look.  It is home to the Harrisburg Senators baseball team.  Looks like a nice diamond.

 

We headed north of town to the Fort Hunter Mansion & Park that overlooks the Susquehanna River and was reported to have been a fort before it became a private residence which was then donated to the county.  Unfortunately, we found out that it is closed on Monday – so we walked around outside and took some pictures before heading back home.  It looked like storms were headed our way.

 

This evening Greg decided he needed a haircut.  I haven’t done that for a couple of years, but his hair is shorter and he still has both ears, so I think it was a success.

Tomorrow we are headed to Hershey.

 

 

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg - Sunday, June 23, 2013 Harrisburg East Campground

Today was a moving day, so no pictures.  Unless of course you were one of the unfortunate ones to receive the picture of me napping.  Honestly, I expect him to have my back while I rest and what does he do – he snaps pictures J.   We left York this morning and stopped for groceries at Wal-Mart, it was painfully obvious that Sunday morning in York is not the time to go grocery shopping but we were able to get most of what we were looking for.

We’ve moved into Harrisburg East Campground.  The good thing is our lot is shaded by a lot of trees so all that hot, hot sun isn’t beating down on us.  The bad thing is (for Greg) our lot is shaded by a lot of trees and we can’t get satellite reception for the TV and the college baseball finals start this week!!

We had a real “summertime” meal for supper - fried green tomatoes from one of the tomatoes we picked up at the round barn market yesterday along with steak and corn on the cob.  We bought a grill mat when we were at the RV rally in Syracuse.  It’s just a thin mat you put on the grill and it keeps the grease from getting all over your grill.  Greg tried it this evening and it works really good, meat still has the grilled taste and the grill marks.  The mat washes up with the dishes and is ready to go for the next time and the grill is clean.

They have a book exchange here so I took over a couple I had already read and got a couple of new ones so I won’t miss the TV at all.

This week we are going to be exploring Harrisburg and Hershey (yum).  We’ve promised our granddaughter, Maddie, that we would bring chocolate when we visit them in Washington, DC over the 4^th of July – hope we can keep that promise, chocolate isn’t safe in our home.

Pennsylvania, Gettysburg - Saturday June 22, 2013

What a great two days it has been for riding the bike!!  We went back to Gettysburg this morning and stopped at the Soldiers National Cemetery.  There are about 6,000 soldiers from all wars buried there.  3580 are Union soldiers from the Civil War – half of them are unknown.  A stone marks the burial site of each Unknown Soldier.

Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery.  The site where he stood is now marked by the Soldiers National Monument.

From the cemetery we went into downtown Gettysburg to look around.  Today was Farmer’s Market Day so the square was packed.  Our guide on the tour of the battleground yesterday told us that Gettysburg normally has about 1.5 million tourists through it in a typical year.  Since next month is the 150^th anniversary, they are expecting 4-5 million in that month!!  So, don’t plan on getting anywhere near Gettysburg for a while.

 

All of the buildings that were in Gettysburg at the time of the Civil War have a plaque on the front

We stopped by the train station where Lincoln came into Gettysburg – guess I didn’t pay enough attention in history class because I always thought he gave the Gettysburg Address at the train station.

 

We stopped for lunch at the Dobbin House.  Dobbin House is the oldest house in Gettysburg, built in 1776.  They have fine and casual dining.  We went for the casual Tavern which is in the cellar of the house – we dined by candlelight.  There was just enough light to be able to appreciate the stone walls and wooden beams and to think about all of the conversations that have taken place there over the years.

After lunch we headed out to a round barn market

 

and the Adams County Winery which is supplying the wine for the 150^th anniversary celebration in Gettysburg.

These are our purchases today.

 

Pennsylvania, Gettysburg - Friday, June 21, 2013 National Military Park

We rode the bike into Gettysburg to the Gettysburg National Military Park.  This park is owned by the National Park Service and is either preserved or being restored to be in the same condition as it was when Union and Confederate soldiers met there.  We opted for the combination 2-hour bus tour, movie, cyclorama and museum package – it was a good choice.

I can’t begin to tell you the emotion you feel if you let yourself get absorbed in the story the guide is telling.  I’m a very distant relative of Robert E. Lee so I’m particularly interested in the telling of his story.  We stood on the Seminary Ridge where the Confederate troops stood before they went into battle on the third day and we stood on Little Round Top where the Union troops stood.  The battlefield was no more than 2 miles wide.

This picture is of McPherson's Barn near where the first day of battle began.

 

This is the view from the Confederate side on the last day of battle.

This year is the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.  It took place over three days in 1863 – July 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd,.  The Confederate troops won the first two days but were defeated on the 3^rd day and retreated on July 4^th.  The small town of Gettysburg (population 2400) was left to deal with over 51,000 dead or wounded soldiers.

After the bus tour we went back to the visitor’s center for a look at the Gettysburg cyclorama – this is awesome.  It is a 377 x 35 foot painting completed in 1884 by French painter Paul Philippoteaux, depicting the battle of Pickett’s Charge – the last battle of Gettysburg.  They have it displayed in a circle, visitors stand in the middle and when lights and sound effects are applied you feel like you are in the middle of the battle.  They don’t allow pictures to be taken during this showing, believe me when I say it can bring tears to your eyes to realize how sad this battle was.

We are headed back to Gettysburg tomorrow to check out some different sights.

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg - Thursday, June 20, 2013

We went up to Harrisburg late yesterday afternoon and spent the night at the Cummins dealership lot.  We needed to be there by 6:30 this morning so we could get some work done on our Oasis hot water system.  They have a place where we could park and have 50 amp service.  Then this morning while the coach was in the shop we relaxed in their comfy lounge especially for RV customers.  Seems a fuel injector was plugged along with problems with some hoses.  So, $469 and several hours later we were good to go.

When you stop to think that most RVs were built to be used for recreational purposes several weekends and then maybe a couple of weeks on vacation, it’s a wonder that more things don’t go wrong when we are using it on a fulltime basis.  That’s probably more use in a year than it was meant to withstand in 10 years.  And, every time we go down the road it’s like putting our house through an earthquake.  I’m really glad Greg has a mechanical background – I’m amazed at all of the things he knows how to maintain or fix.
This picture is of a series of three or four identical bridges that go across the Susquehanna River on the way to Harrisburg.

Tomorrow we are heading out on the bike to explore Gettysburg.

Pennsylvania, York - Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Harley Davidson Tour

We got up early this morning and headed into York for the “steel-toe tour” at the Harley Davidson Vehicle Operations facility.  This is the plant where the bike we ride, an Ultra-Classic, was made.  We toured the York plant once before, but they are in a different building now.  The steel toe tour lasts about 2 hours and takes you behind the scenes to see how a bike is built from start to finish.  Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed while on the tour.

This year is the 110^th anniversary of Harley Davidson.  Mr. Harley and Mr. Davidson and his two brothers started out in 1903 in a small shed, they made 3 bikes that year.  The plant’s goal today was 388.  Soft tails, Touring and Trikes are all built at this plant, all on one assembly line.  What I found amazing was that the bikes are built in the order that orders are received so you might see a Soft tail, then two Touring, a Trike and then back to a Soft tail coming down the assembly line.  This is a picture of the 110^th Anniversary Edition Trike.

I did try out one of the 1200 Sportster’s, I’m still too short to touch the ground.  I’m only able to sit on this one because it is bolted to the ground.

 

Pennsylvania, York - Monday, June 17, 2013

This is a travel day.  We left Syracuse about 9:30 and didn’t arrive in York, PA until about 2:30.  We are staying at the Ben Franklin Campground.  It isn’t going to make my list of top 10 campgrounds, but it serves our purpose right now.  It’s a small country campground with full hookups with a decent price and it’s close to the Harley Davidson factory that we want to tour.

I didn’t realize York was known as the Factory Tour Capitol with 14 factory tours available-part of the Made in American Tours Event.  Another of those tours is Martin’s Potato Chips which advertises “enjoy our kettle cooked chips hot off the line”, I think that one is worth considering.

Coming down here on I-81 I thought we were in the mountains, but according to the atlas there was no mountain range around.  Look at this picture – to this Midwest girl those look like mountains.

 

This coach has a GPS unit built into the dash, but we bought another one that is supposed to be especially made for RV routing.  At one point today both of the GPS units started giving Greg conflicting directions so we got a little off route for just a bit.  Imagine two of those voices talking to you at the same time, would have been pretty funny if we had known where we were going.  Not long after that they went blank and we had to resort to the old-fashioned way – Diana reading the atlas.  Seems the one we want to use is reset and working now, but we’ll still keep the atlas handy.