Tomkins Campground–Lawrenceville PA

 

Friday (6/24) to Tuesday (6/28):

We got set up in our site at Tompkins Campground and were able to get the motor home and the Jeep on the site. We had been having some more problems with our jacks and leveling system so we made an appointment at Wilkins RV in Bath NY to have the problems diagnosed.

On Saturday we made a trip up the road to Corning NY to visit the Museum of Glass. We spent about 4.5 hours in the museum and did not see everything. They had demonstrations of glass blowing, fiber optics and the properties of different types of glass. The had some glass items that were several thousand years old from all around the world. Very interesting place although we did not take any pictures inside.

We took it easy the rest of the time we were there. Connie went “swimming” in the lake and I walked a trail around the lake one day. We cleaned the outside of the motorhome along with oiling down the cabinets inside on another day.

On Tuesday we packed up and were about the leave to spend the night in the Wilkins RV campground when we could not get our jacks to retract. We tried several times before I added some hydraulic fluid to the system and we finally got the jacks to retract. We made the drive north to Bath and parked our motorhome for the night in the Wilkins RV “campground”.

Ives Run COE Campground–Tioga PA

 

Saturday (6/18) to Friday (6/24):

This was an unusual Saturday for us since we are moving between campgrounds. We try not to move on Fridays or week-ends, but sometimes you don’t have a choice because of the site availability or lack thereof. Even though Ives Run COE Campground is only 7 miles from Hills Creek State Park, we had to take the long way around (about 25 miles) using US Hwy 6 east and then US Hwy 15 North before turning south on PA Hwy 287 to the campground entrance. This is a very nice COE campground that fills up on the weekends and stays almost full through out the week. We pulled up to the office and were told that our site was still occupied: we had arrived at 1:00 PM and check-out time in this park is 3:00 PM. We went up to the Visitor Center and got some information about the park before returning back to the Duchess for lunch. We turned on the generator and heated up some left-overs as we waited for our spot to open. About the time we finished lunch, our site was available. We backed into our Site 58 and got set up. Unfortunately trees are blocking our satellite dish and we only get 2 over the air TV stations. On the good side we have great AT&T cell service in the park. We walked around the park that evening to get a feel of where things are in the campground.

Sunday I was feeling “under the weather” and we took it easy at our site. I called my dad and wished him a happy Father’s Day, but other than that we did very little. Connie did ride her bike around the roads in our camping area.

Monday we travelled over Colton Point State Park and Leonard Harrison State Park which are located across from each other on the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The depth of the canyon at this point is around 800 feet. Further south the canyon depth in closer to 1,500 feet. The Pine Creek runs along the bottom of the canyon and there is a “rails to trails” path along the creek. The creek was used during the logging days of the 19th century as a way to float the logs down to the saw mills located in and around Williamsport PA. Leonard Harrison State Park is named after the man who donated the land to the state for the park. He was a banker who owned and developed the land as a public picnic area called “The Lookout”. In 1922 he gave the land to the state and the CCC did a lot of work within the park during the 1930’s. Colton Point is named after a lumberman who supervised harvesting of trees in the area. The state purchased the land for the park around 1900 and the CCC built the park during the 1930’s. We viewed a short film in the Visitor’s Center at Leonard Harrison State Park that gave the history of the canyon (formed by glaciers during the ice age), how the Native Americans used the canyon for travel, how most of the original trees (white pines up to 250 feet tall) were cut down for lumber and then how the parks were built to restore the area to it’s former beauty.

On Tuesday we travelled over to our next campground which is located about 15 miles from Ives Run. It is another COE campground that our current neighbors told us was very tight to get into some of the sites and most were very shady (not good for satellite dishes). We got a temporary pass into the park, checked to see if there were any sites available (there were not) and drove into the campground. We found our site and it is among the trees. Our motorhome will fit in the site but we may have to park our Jeep in the overflow area. We did some checking on other campground in southern New York, but they are either completely booked and very expensive.

On Wednesday we took our bikes over to the Pine Creek Trail which runs along the Pine Creek inside the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. It is a “rails to trails” path that follows an old abandoned railroad bed. We rode for several miles before stopping at one of the water falls that empty into Pine Creek. We counted and there were two hundred steps from the bottom to the top of the falls (and two hundred back down to the bottom). The Pine Creek Trail is nice because it is very flat and level while the sides of the canyon are very steep.

On Thursday we took the kayak out and put it in Hammond Lake. The water was rough and we had to keep rowing to keep the kayak heading into the waves. Friday was spent packing up and making the move to Tomkins Campground which is located a few miles north of Ives Run.

Hills Creek State Park–Wellsboro PA

 

Wed (6/15) to Sat (6/18):

We made the short drive from Bald Eagle State Park to Wellsboro PA and then tried to find Hills Creek State Park. Our Garmin GPS sent us down several county roads some of which were not paved. We finally stopped at the top of a hill, unhitched the Jeep, and Connie attempted to find the park. She finally found the park office and was told we had been assigned to Site 8.  I then drove the motorhome into the park and we managed to navigate to our site. This park is definitely not “big rig friendly” as far as the roads go. They have a strange numbering system in the park: Site 1, Site 2, Site 8 and then Site 11 (nothing in between). If you are not careful, you will drive right passed your site.The site itself was large enough once we were able to maneuver by backing up into the site. We later found out that the road that goes over the dam that is the main entrance to the park is only rated for 10 tons (we are much larger than that), so we had to take a back way into the park. Our satellite dish found one satellite so we were able to watch DirecTV even though we were situated among a number of large trees.

Once we finished setting up, we decided to take the trail that goes around the small lake in the middle of the park. One side of the lake is planted with spruce trees while the other side has a number of pines tree planted. The original hardwoods in this area were all harvested before the park was created. The trail was about 2.5 miles and then it was another mile back to our campsite. The temperature was pleasant and the trail was not too wet. Within the park we saw lots of chipmunks, squirrels, deer, one bobcat and one fox.

On Thursday we went into Wellsboro and walked around the downtown area. Wellsboro is the county seat and the downtown area is full of shops and restaurants. For being a small town of about 3,500 residents, it has an active downtown area (no Walmart yet). Early in the 20th century the town was the shipping point and trade center for a large area of northern Pennsylvania. It had fruit evaporators, flour & woolen mills, marble works, saw mills, foundry & machine shops and manufactories of cut glass, chemicals rugs, bolts, cigars, carriages and furniture. Very few of these are active today. We had seen an old “Diner” that looked interesting and so we ended up having pie and coffee at the Wellsboro Diner which began operating in 1939.

We also went out to the Tioga Visitor Center and got information about the area, especially the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania which is located a few miles west of Wellsboro.

On Friday we again went into Wellsboro for the 75th Annual Laurel Festival. They have a lot of vendors (you have to be invited to the festival) selling all types of crafts, pictures/paintings & assorted knick-knacks along with groups/individuals selling all types of food. We walked around the festival, saw the “Queens” from the local towns getting their pictures taken and both ate Gyros & Bloomin’ Onions for lunch. A number of the vendors have been coming to this show for over 30 years. On Saturday they are having a “Festival Run”, “Festival Bike Race” and a parade through the downtown streets. We will end up missing this since we are moving north tomorrow.

On Friday afternoon I started to feel a “bit under the weather” so we returned back to the campground where we both took naps. I continued to feel bad throughout the night (getting cold and then hot) before my fever broke early Saturday morning. We slept late on Saturday morning since we have a very short drive to our next campground. I had cleaned up the loop road out of the campsite earlier in the week by trimming a number of low hanging limbs. We still had a very tight turn and if we had been any longer I’m not sure we could have made it. Again we had to exit through the back entrance to the park along a number of unpaved roads (getting everything dusty).

Bald Eagle State Park–Pennsylvania

 

Thursday (6/9) to Wednesday (6/15):

We drove north from Harrisburg PA after getting the Duchess out of the shop to Bald Eagle State Park. The valley, creek, mountain and state park are named for the American Indian chief Woapalanne, (wopo lonnie) which means “bald eagle”. There are occasional sighting of bald eagles in the park, but you are more likely to see one of the number of osprey that nest every year around the park. The COE built a 100 foot high dam called Foster Joseph Sayers Dam in 1969 on the creek and the park opened in 1971. Foster Joseph Sayers was from the area and won the Congressional Medal of Honor for displaying gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in combat on November 12, 1944 near Thionville, France.

We were assigned to Site 2 in the non-pet loop of the campground. This campground has one loop for campers with pets and another loop for those without. This is the first campground we have every been in with this type of division among the sites. The site was a little tight to get into (a back-in) but we were able to manage. We were definitely the biggest rig in the park.

We had full hookups but only 30 amp electric. This meant that we could only run one air conditioner at a time and had to watch which electric devices (especially anything that produces heat) were on at the same time. Luckily the temperature were mild at night (a couple of nights in the 40’s) and most of the days the temps stayed in the 70’s. We had a great AT&T wireless signal in the park since there was a tower near the entrance to the park.

Sunday we travelled about 25 miles to State College PA. This is the home of Penn State University and is also known as Happy Valley. We visited the campus of the university, went through the Palmer Museum and toured the Penn State Arboretum. The weather was great and we enjoyed the day.

Most of the time we were in the park we went hiking, biking and kayaking. The lake is 1.730 acres and sits in the valley flanked by the Bald Eagle Mountains. There are a number of trails inside the park of various length along with a marina & beach. The have built a Nature Inn Lodge in this park: a facility with a few rooms that overlook the lake. This is the first one in the Pennsylvania state park system and its success will determine whether or not they built them in other parks. One day we biked around the community of Howard which is on the other side of the lake from the campground. It is a small town with a number of Victorian style houses.

On Tuesday we rode our bikes to the top of the road that ends at the Nature Inn Lodge.. Very nice facility with a great view of the lake.

One day on the lake it was windy and we had to work consistently paddling to keep the kayak going straight. The next day was calm and the lake looked like glass on top. Much easier in the kayak when the conditions are this way.

 

It was a very relaxing few days at Bald Eagle. We met a couple from Pennsylvania who started full timing about 6 months ago (John & Jean). They are in a 20 foot Lance travel trailer pulled by a diesel RAM pickup with a lockable top on the bed of the pickup for storage. Very tight quarters but it does allow them to get in almost any campground in the country. We also met both of the campground hosts who are from Pennsylvania and both couples are just working the month of June at the park.

Kinzers-Lancaster PA

Wed (6/1) to Thur (6/9):

We arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Roamers Retreat Campground located in Kinzers PA. This is a small campground that is located in the middle of Amish country here in Lancaster County PA. We selected this site to meet up with David and Cindy Potts who we met at the RV-Dreams Fall Rally last October in Michigan. They are closing on the sale of their house next week so they have moved their New Horizons 5th Wheel to this campground as their full time house until David retires in October 2016. We were assigned to Site 65 which is located next to David & Cindy's rig. That evening all of us went to DJ's Diner which is a 50's style diner located a few miles from the campground. It reminded me of the diner from the Happy Days TV show.

Here is a photo of our rigs side by side in the campground.

Thursday we went into Lancaster PA to visit. We took a walking tour of the downtown area that was available through the Visitor's Center. The tour was lead by a local volunteer, Dale, Lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in the USA. It was founded in the 1730's and there are a few buildings still standing from the 18th century. Lancaster was fortunate to have save a number of it's historic buildings that might have been lost due to the urban improvements done in a lot of cities during the 1960-1970's. Today in Lancaster you can stand at the city's center and see buildings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Soon an addition to the Marriott will add the 21st century to your view. The tour lasted about two hours and Dale was an interesting and informative guide. Below are a few pictures from our tour.

Our small tour group lead by Dale.

Civil War Memorial Statue located in the center of Lancaster (Intersection of King and Queen streets).

Visitor Center located in building erected in the 1700’s.

Central Market – the oldest continuous farmer’s market in the USA. This site has been used as a market since 1730. Current building opened in the 1850’s.

Fulton Theater built in the mid 1800’s. Sits on the site of the original jail house in Lancaster and a portion of the old jail is inside the rear of this building.

Trinity Church – established in the 1730’s. For almost 150 years the services were conducted in German.

The Marriott Hotel was built around this old department store. The hotel kept the storefronts but used the inside of the building as part of the hotel.

The Marriott Hotel also enclosed the Montgomery House inside it’s facility. Montgomery was a general during the Civil War and returned to this house at the end of the war.

Thaddeus Stevens house/law office/tavern. Stevens was a US representative from Pennsylvania, an avoid abolitionist and helped pass the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution outlawing slavery and giving former slave the rights of US citizenship.

The Steinman family opened a hardware store in the 19th century (one of the first in Pennsylvania). The family is now in finance, newspaper and media. The hardware store’s first floor is a restaurant called The Press Room.

On Friday Connie went shopping while I stayed home. The small towns in Lancaster County are home to a number of shops as well as several outlet malls. David and Cindy told us that the weekends in the area are packed with people who come to shop: they even bring in bus loads from the large cities up and down the east coast. Some of the towns have interesting names: Bird in Hand - Intercourse - Blue Ball - Paradise for examples.

Countryside around our campground along with a local farmer plowing his fields.

On Saturday Connie and Cindy went into Wilmington DE to visit Salon 926 to see Kervi Marioni the salon/hair stylist that Cindy uses. Connie got her hair cut while Cindy got a pedicure. David and I stayed in the campground and discussed some of the issues with full-timing in an RV. I gave him a rundown of how we connect to the internet and the setup for our DirecTV through the roof top Winegard Antenna on our roof.

It began to rain Saturday night and this continued into Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon the sun came out and we were able to sit outside and continue our visit.

June 6th was our 13th wedding anniversary. In 2003 we got married in Vancouver BC and stayed in the city for our honeymoon. We also visited Victoria Island and Mount Whistler while we were there along with eating lots & lots of fresh seafood. It has been a great 13 years and hopefully we will have many more together.

Connie picked up this “yard sign” for our anniversary. “WHEREVER we are TOGETHER that is HOME”

Monday morning we took a trip into Philadelphia to visit some of the historic sites in the downtown area. I took a wrong turn in downtown Philly and we ended up in New Jersey: across the Franklin Bridge with no way to turn around. So we ended up having to pay a $5 toll to get back across the bridge into Philadelphia.

Franklin Bridge between Pennsylvania & New Jersey.

We found a place to park a few blocks away from the Independence Hall Visitor Center. We walked to Visitor Center, got a map of the area and then watched a short film about how several young men & women lived through the Revolutionary War. We visited the Liberty Bell, the site of the first Presidential Residence (no longer standing), Independence/Constitution Hall, the First and Second Bank of the United States, area where Ben Franklin's house stood (no longer standing) along with his shop, oldest Post Office in Philadelphia, Christ's Church and Betsy Ross' house. In Christ's Church (opened in 1744) we sat in the pew used by George Washington and his family when they were in Philadelphia. There were other pews used by the families of Ben Franklin, John Adams and Betsy Ross. At the Liberty Bell we listened to a NPS ranger give a history of the bell: it broke the first time it was ever rung and the efforts to save the bell over the years. There were several thousand school kids in the area most of them in groups wearing the same color t-shirts. We forgot that with the summer recess for school more and more people will be out traveling. Also 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and there is a big campaign to get people out to the national parks.

 

Independence Hall (originally the site of the Pennsylvania legislature).

Left: Statue honoring signers of Declaration of Independence. Right: Second Bank of the United States building.

First Bank of the United States.

Inside Ben Franklin’s printing office.

Betsy Ross’ house. Some claim she came up with the first flag of the United States.

This is the church pew inside Christ Church used by George Washington’s family when they were in Philadelphia.

Tuesday we hung around the campground and got the Duchess ready to travel. We did make a quick trip into Lancaster to visit the Central Market and pick up some pastries to celebrate this evening. Connie had a crab cake for lunch and bought a few other items at the market. We have an appointment with the Cummins Power Shop in Harrisburg to have the belts on the engine replaced along with diagnosis an oil leak we have developed. Cindy and David closed on the sale of their house Tuesday morning so they are now officially full timing in their RV. That evening all of us went to a local restaurant that is located in a building that looks like a steam ship. Robert Fulton, who created the first commercial steamboat in the US, in from this area. We celebrated the sale of the Pott's house along with our wedding anniversary.

We left the campground on Tuesday evening to spend the night in the Cummins Power Shop parking lot. They have 50 amp electrical hookups available and our appointment was at 7:00 AM on Wednesday. We got checked in with the office (they work 24 hours a day with three shifts in the repair shop). We maneuvered our rig into a spot and got ready for the night. They had music playing in the shop which kept Connie up most of the night (I slept through it). The next morning we left the keys with the shop and went to a Friendly's restaurant to have breakfast while they diagnosis our problems. They told us that the both belts needed replacing along with the air filter. The oil leak would involve lots of labor to replace several gaskets and O-rings inside the engine. They would work through the night to have us on the road by Thursday.

Since they would be working on the Duchess all day, we decided to visit Hershey PA, see Chocolate World and take the factory tour. It started raining on our drive (about 15 miles) from the Cummins shop to Hershey. Lots and lots of families and school groups even with the rain as we entered Chocolate World. We took the 20 minute factory tour: it is like an amusement ride that shows you how they make their chocolate candies rather than an actual tour of the factory. We then spent some time in the large shop but ended up not buying anything there. We then did some shopping at the local COSTCO before heading back to Harrisburg.

Since the Duchess will inside the shop on Wednesday night, we had to get a hotel room. After calling several places with very high overnight rates (summer season with lots of tourists), we found a reasonable rate at the La Quinta and booked a night. We had picked up a few items to eat for dinner and then "chilled" out for the evening. The hotel had high speed internet and we spent the evening watching shows available to us through our Amazon Prime account.

Thursday morning we visited the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in downtown Harrisburg while we were waiting for Cummins to finish up the repairs. We took a brief guided tour of the building and then walked around for a while admiring the facility. The original building had burned in the late 19th century and this capitol building was opened in 1906. Connie and I both commented that this was the most impressive capitol building we have ever been in: beautiful 23 carat gold leafing in the structure, grand paintings and chandeliers that weighed up to 4.5 tons hanging from the ceilings in the House and Senate chambers.

Around noon-time we picked up the motorhome from the shop, paid the bill (ouch!) and then headed north to our next stop: Bald Eagle State Park.