OCT. 22, Wednesday to Harrisburg and more problems
We were on the road by 10 a.m. A late start but we are in no rush to get anywhere. I got propane before leaving @ $24. Then we continued on Hwy 209through some very awesome scenery. The Pocono Mountains here are in full autumn color and it makes the drive very pleasant to the eyes. The road was tortuous at some places and the streets in some of the villages were quite narrow but we took our time and had no mishap.
We stopped for lunch and took on fuel. $3.529/Gal. We saw fuel as high as $4.09 on the highway. I don’t know how they get away with this!?
We arrived to I-81 and turned left (south) towards Harrisburg. We got off at exit 90, Lickdale, near Harrisburg and camped for the night at Lickdale Campground, a GOOD SAM park. Paid for two nights. We are stopping here to shop for groceries and visit the town of Hershey where they make chocolate and other places.
As we put the slides out, I found a rip in the roof of the office slide, same place as before so will call Fleetwood on this. Obviously, St-Cyr didn’t check the slide as I asked them to do.
N 40* 27’ 11”
W 076* 30’ 35”
Alt: 458 feet
Av. Speed: 36.4 MPH
Dist today: 146 Km
OCT 23, Thursday, sightseeing
A cold night but it did get up to 60*F during the afternoon. After a late start, we headed south on hwy 72 through Lebanon, all the way down to Lancaster, the centre of Amish County. The country side was absolutely spectacular. We saw lots of horse drawn buggy and Amish men working the fields. Farms were really neat and clean and manicured.
When driving through Manheim, we stopped for a break and I met a guy with a Canadian plate on the front of his car. He was a local man but his wife was from Chilliwack, BC, of all places. Her family name is Schultz. What a small world!!!
We had lunch in Intercourse (Please no smart aleck jokes!!!!), and walked around the town. There are two theories as to where the town got its name. One is that in the early days of 1800, intercourse was an expression meaning “talking between people” and eventually the town was called that as it was known as friendly people place; the other theory is that there was a race in town and the start of the course was “enter course”. People began calling the town “Enter Course” which eventually became “Intercourse”… so there you are!
We then drove back home via Hershey where the chocolate factory is located but unfortunately it was closed.
We had a drink then dinner. It’s cooling off very quickly at night now.
As a side note, Fleetwood finally called back and Fran will call me back with more directions later. In the mean time she wants me to send her pictures of the damage.
Tomorrow, we move to Gettysburg, PA
OCT. 24, Friday to Gettysburg
We were on the road by 10:30 a.m. We headed south west on I-81 then turned south on I-83 in Harrisburg. Once across the Susquehanna River, we took Hwy 15 south and headed for Gettysburg. We arrived there about 2 hours later and stopped at Artillery campground only to find out they were full. We called a couple of other places which were also full due to the Halloween week-end. We finally found another site at Gettysburg’s Campground and were told it was $37/night so we headed there only to find out that it was actually $47/night. After arguing we lost and so we took it for one night only. (And then campgrounds wonder why we go to Wal-Mart…what a rip-off!) We got a site with water and electricity only for $43.
After setting up, we went to the Military Museum, watched a movie on the battle and then were taken upstairs to the Panorama encirclement which consisted of a huge painting of the battle rounding the whole dome and we re-lived the battle with the help of lights, sounds and narration. It was extremely well done and we were both impressed. We visited the museum and then took the Auto-self guided tour where we got a map then drove around to look at all the memorials and history. It was very impressive and I couldn’t believe the amount of memorials and dedications for all the Regiments involved on both side. It really was awesome! Over 51,000 soldiers died, were wounded or went missing during that battle. What a waste of youth. A real carnage!
Gettysburg is a really picturesque town and worth seeing. Lots of history and they have retained a lot of their heritage.
We came back to our site after stopping for a couple of grocery items and found the place busy with Halloween decorations, lights, dozens of kids running around and activities everywhere.
We would have like staying longer but I resent paying these outrageous prices.
N 39* 48’ 54”
W 077* 17’ 08”
Alt: 535 feet
Dist. Today: 118 Km
Av. Speed: 40.9 mph
OCT. 25, Saturday, to Front Royal, Virginia and a minor problem
There is rain this morning but it’s much warmer than it’s been. We left at 10:30 a.m. and headed south on 116 then turned right on 16 to I-81. We stopped for fuel just getting on the Interstate. We paid 3.52 for 10 gals. It began raining in earnest and at times it was so heavy that I had to slow down just to be safe. I find it always amazing how some people drive in that stuff with NO LIGHTS ON!!! Anyway, we crossed into Maryland and 15 minutes later, we were driving in West Virginia. Couldn’t take any pictures due to all the rain. We stopped at the West Virginia Info Centre for some information on Charleston when we go there. It took about an hour to cross W.V. and we finally arrived in Virginia and eventually Front Royal off I-66. As we got off the highway and I made a turn, I looked in my mirror and to my horror, saw a HUGE bulb sticking out of the wall of the rear tire on the 5th-Wheel. I stopped to investigate and saw that there was a 6 inches bulb sticking out of the tire. We drove on slowly to Skyline Ranch Resort where we will be staying for the next 5 days. The bulb blew on the way there but the tire stayed inflated, thank goodness! We will get that fix this week, for sure. Now it’s time to set up and relax. It has been a good day but I am tired and it’s time for dinner.
Oh yeah… I found out that I lost my awning rod. I think I lost it back in Pennsylvania when we were driving on back road and the storage door came open. One more thing to buy!
There is WI-FI here but I have to go to the office so will probably do that tomorrow.
N 38* 54’ 20”
W 078* 17’ 24”
Alt: 804 feet
Dist. Today: 189 km
Av speed: 38.3 Mph
OCT. 26, Sunday, in Front Royal
A beautiful sunny and warm day greeted us this morning. The temperature went up to 66*F in the afternoon. We went to Winchester, about 20 miles from here, to Camping World and bought a few necessary things and awning rod for “Q” (our Quantum). We took Hwy 340 which is very picturesque and also stopped at Costco and Wal-Mart for groceries.
We came back to Front Royal, found out where the tire shop is then came back home to put the groceries away and relax.
I HAVE POSTED NEW PICTURES
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