Day 20

Beautiful morning.  However, it had been a chilly night and our little electric heater got a workout.  Sure would have been cold if we hadn’t had power.

I was sitting at the table having coffee when I saw the park ranger pull up.  He got out and checked the registration tag that I had placed on the site post last night.  Then he headed toward Lil Pumpkin.  So, I grabbed the envelope and hopped out of the RV.  The guy acted more like a cop on a night-time traffic stop.  He questioned me like I was doing something wrong, all the while looking around like he expected to see some contraband, drugs or something bad.  Almost made me feel like I had done something wrong.  He took the envelope and felt it, then asked if I had provided correct change or if someone needed to bring some change back.  His question sounded more accusing than simply asking if I needed change.  I told him it was a check and he just turned and walked back to his SUV and left.  The guy may be the nicest guy in Pennsylvania, but he sure seemed to me to be a little prick, angry because he was a ranger and not a real cop.  First impressions are usually correct.

Today’s trip was interesting.  We let Gypsy guide from Worlds End to Lake Raystown.  The route was supposed to take us down Hwy 15 to Hwy 220 most of the way.  But, Gypsy or Joyce (I don’t remember who) sent us off down State Hwy 64 which turned to 26 just outside State College.  It was a nice drive, one of those with the dots all along indicating a scenic route.  That took us smack dab through the middle of State College, right alongside Penn State University.  The traffic was stop and go so we had a lot of opportunities to watch the next generation (kids were everywhere!) staring at their phones.  Those not staring at phones were riding bikes.

Shortly after leaving State College, Gypsy wanted me to take Hwy 45.  After a few miles, it took a quick, almost hidden left turn and disappeared.  I rounded the turn and right there just a few feet ahead was an old stone railroad overpass with a big sign…8’2” clearance!  We failed to take a photo of it, but Google Earth was there before us.  So, here's a shot from Google Earth.  Our vertical clearance is 9'7".

I stopped just a few feet past the intersection.  I had to back up into the intersection so I could head on straight down another road.  But, there was a lot of traffic.  It was afternoon rush hour and it seemed half of Pennsylvania was rounding the turn behind me…the other half was coming out from under the underpass heading right at me.  All I could do was wave cars on from behind me when traffic thinned coming at me.  Finally, I was able to back up enough to head on straight.  What’s that?!!  Down the road a few hundred feet was another overpass with 8’6” clearance!  I managed to get turned completely around and we back-tracked until I spied Hwy 45 truck route.  I figured, if a truck can make it, I can make it.  Finally, we reached Hwy 22 which took us to the turn-off to Lake Raystown and Seven Points Rec. Area.  So, now, after a long but interesting day, we’re camped by the lake…well, we did see it, but not from our camp site.  But, another nice Corp of Eng. Campground which means ½ price for us old farts…and we have Internet and phone access.

Day 19

After checking with many campgrounds in the northeastern states and Canada, I found that our early side trip to Tom and Julie’s at Altmar had made us too late.  Most campgrounds closed just about the time we’d get there (we had originally intended to stop at Altmar after Nova Scotia).  So, C'est la vie.  We decided to just run up to the 1000 Islands area, cross into Canada and spend one or two nights then cut down across New York through the middle of the Adirondacks.  From there we’d decide what to do because hurricane Matthew might throw a kink in our east coast plans.  But, all that turned to worms before we left Altmar.  I had prepped Lil’ Pumpkin for the trip and the last thing I did was test the generator.  Many of the campgrounds in Canada and the eastern states that were still open were “dry” camps, which mean no power.  Lil’ Pumpkin has enough battery power to get through several nights if only lights and other minor current draws are used.  But, it’s getting cold at night and the furnace would probably be needed and the furnace blower would drain the batteries much faster.  We would need the generator.  But, it wouldn’t start.  It was doing the same thing as earlier this year.  The generator is fueled with propane and the propane regulator was not feeding enough gas to run the generator.  This will be the 4th regulator since we bought Lil Pumpkin in 2013, but that another story.  In the meantime, we now were faced with no generator and cold nights.  It just wasn’t worth it.  We headed south into Pennsylvania.  We stopped to camp at Worlds End State Park just west of Hwy 220 at Forksville, Pa.

Worlds End is a beautiful, well-kept park on the Loyalsock River.  It was mostly vacant except for a few campers sprinkled throughout the park.  No one was manning the office when we arrived so I grabbed a self-pay envelope and we drove on in to find a sight.  Interestingly, they had a special section for campers with dogs.  I’d never seen that before.  The “dog” section was just as nice as the rest of the park, so we weren’t treated as 2nd class campers.  We were just across the road from the river which was beautiful noisy rapids in that area.

I was tired and hit the sack early.  The self-pay envelope stated the payment could be made the next morning if we wished…and I wished.  Joyce filled out the requested info and wrote a check which she stuck in the envelope.  It was ready to drop off as we leave tomorrow morning.

Day 14 thru Day 18

We're at Tom and Julie's in Altmar, NY now.  I'll pick back up with the blog when we leave.

Day 13

We continued northwest to I-81 and headed on toward Altmar.  It was a nice drive and we arrived at Tom and Julie’s about 5 pm.  It was a beautiful evening.  The scene from Tom's backyard was breathtaking.

Day 12

We left Turkey Swamp with little planning for our next stop.  Yesterday, we decided to change course and head on over to Tom and Julie’s at Altmar, NY.  We were relatively close and in need of a long rest stop anyway.  Our original plan had us continuing up the coast through New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  But, since we had to head west a little to avoid New York City, we decided to go to Altmar.  Now I’ll have to plan a whole new northeast leg of our trip.

Finding a campground wasn’t as easy as it had been.  We decided to stay at a Passport America campground because others in the area were quite expensive.  But, when we arrived, the office was closed and the gate was, too.  There was no easy way offered to register, so we just kept going.  I found Valley View Farm and Campground a ways off so we headed there.  The only problem was it was way off in the middle of rural whatever and I had to depend on Gypsy (GPS) to guide us there.  She did, but it was the long way around, I’m sure.

We finally reached the campground just about dark.  What we found was a nice little park, but nary a level spot in the place.  We drove around and tried several spots, but no luck.  Finally, the lady that ran the place showed up and told us we could park in the parking area for one of the occupied sites.  No one was in that camper and she didn’t expect them until the weekend.  It still wasn’t level, but at least we didn’t roll out of bed.

The campground was not much more than a cow pasture.

Day 11

We got up and around, had breakfast and headed out.  I stopped and dumped the waste tanks on the way out then stopped at the main gate to pay for our night’s stay.  No one was there, but they had self-pay envelopes, so I picked one up and got back in the RV.  We were about to write a check when I noticed, it said “no checks or credit cards for self-pay”.  All I had was $20 bills and the price was $25.  Hmmm.  Sorry, Delaware.  Guess we owe you one.

We headed on up around Delaware Bay and crossed the Delaware River on US Hwy 40 on the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  From there, we wandered the back roads up through New Jersey.  I’m not sure just how we got where we are now because I more or less let Gypsy lead the way.  Joyce tried to figure out where we were on the Atlas but gave up.  Interestingly, while wondering around, we passed the McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Joint Base.  I didn’t know we were anywhere near it.  I’d heard of Naval Air Station Lakehurst years ago while in the Navy, but never thought about it except to know it was in New Jersey.  It used to be the Navy's main derrigable base and is where the Hindenburg met its end. 

We kept truckin’ through the backwoods and stopped at a private campground, but couldn’t find anyone to check us in, so we kept going.  It was about 4 pm then.  We finally made it to Turkey Swamp Park up near West Freehold.  What?!  You don’t know where that is?  Look it up.  Google knows.

Day 10

Up and at ‘em!  Well, maybe not so ambitious as that, but we left Kiptopeke State Park and headed up the coast to Lewes Point, Delaware.  There’s a ferry from there over to Cape May and we considered taking it but opted out.  On the way up, we took a side trip to Onancock Wharf Harbor.

While there, we saw Julie's bicycle.

We headed east until we hit Delaware Hwy 1 and followed it up the barrier islands toward Lewes Point.  We took a little break at the Indian River Inlet bridge.

Instead of taking the ferry, we left the east shore madness and headed inland.  We were running pretty late by then so it was just about dark when we pulled into Killens Pond State Park.  Inside the park campground, it was very dark.  We stumbled around a bit finding a spot and hooking up, but then we had some microwave pot roast and hit the sack.  I got up with Ditto about 4:30 am and while outside, I realized I had left one of the rear doors open when I had gotten out the power cord.  I shut the door and Ditto and I got back in and went to bed.  It seemed like it was about the time my head hit the pillow that it started to rain.  Sure glad Ditto woke me up to pee.