Friday, September 14, 2007: Camp Out Day 2

Great sleeping weather! We were slow getting out this morning. The day was made for relaxing and most took advantage.

About mid morning someone mentioned that Jim Settles had no clearance lights on the rear of his coach. Now, that was a challenge! Larry and Jim tested circuits and replaced fuses for several hours. We needed Chuck Tolson and Jim Matheny to engineer the problem. Bill Freed and Gibby King took a turn later in the day. The end result was that the problem was never solved, but Jim’s lights were temporarily fixed by a jumper wire that will get him home.

The ladies had some board games going for part of the day, and afternoon naps were not overlooked. Throughout the day additional couples arrived and found a camp site. Our newlyweds, Bill and Rachel, were congratulated as the settled in. By late afternoon, the Welfords, Ramers, Ferrignos, Alexanders, Freeds, Goulets, and Zerhusens had joined us.

Happy Hour and dinner were moved to the pavilion for space and dryness. Rain clouds formed around 5:00 PM and the rain began to fall soon after. Hotdogs and hamburgers were on the menu tonight and with several people bring grills and trimmings, we ate very well. The rain curtailed any evening activities, and we all retired to our coaches early on. Two more rigs arrived after dark and parked without tree damage.

What a beautiful sound: rain drops on the motor home’s roof; music to sleep by.

Old Dominion Cardinals September Camp Out

Thursday, September 13, 2007.

We had no Internet service at this campground, so we had to wait until Sunday when we came home to make this post.

We have known we were coming on this campout for several months, long before the Michigan trip. However, we were not ready. We awoke this morning knowing we had much to do before we could leave. The painter was coming to re-paint the kitchen, family room and the office. We had things to move and things to put away so the painter could get to the walls.

Yesterday we had the coach in the road in front of the house for washing, which was limited to the front and passenger side because of the sun. So, half the coach was washed. We never thought about moving items to the coach for this weekend yesterday. Brain dead might describe our condition. This morning we loaded the coach while the painter was doing the kitchen walls. We attribute this lack of concentration to fatigue. Recovering from four weeks of travel takes longer than five days.

Oak Grove is around 40-50 miles due east of Fawn Lake. Miss Garmin couldn’t handle the address without confusion; she insisted we go to Colonial Beach and Route 205. Janice talked to Mem and warned her to not rely on Miss Garmin because of the convoluted routing. Our trip was straight through Fredericksburg on SR 3, but not Route 205. Larry took Miss Garmin’s Route 205 and approached the campground by a back road. He was doing well until he reached a locked gate. So close, yet so far.

We were greeted by the Taylors when we arrived. They are the members that got us into the campground. The campground makes a number of sites available for the group, and then you pick your own. There are seven couples here today with 10 more due tomorrow. We are separated somewhat, but we plan to congregate for Happy Hour and meals. The Halsteads, Kings, Scanlons, Settles and Raymonds complete the early bird arrivals.

We could not ask for better weather: warm but not hot and low humidity. Bug spray will get used this weekend: critters here are huge and mean. Trip Captains are scheduled to provide meals on Saturday.

Halsteads’ rig became party central. Happy Hour with heavy hors d’ouvers was followed by a dinner of enchiladas and barbeque with salad and trimmings. This was an impromptu potluck meal that everyone seemed to enjoy.

We have a BIG WHOOP: the Taylors have a new motor home. Their fifth wheeler is gone, and they have a new Georgetown Class A . Tours were conducted.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

A travel day: we were heading home, and we arrived. We elected to take the scenic route and avoid the Interstate highways. It took longer, but it was interesting and a nice change. The routing was easy: US 30 from Lancaster to Gettysburg and then US 15 from Gettysburg to US 29 in Haymarket, then SR 3 from Culpeper to Wilderness. We unhooked the toad at LOW to make it easier to get gas at Wilderness. The tank took 66 gallons, so we had about 9 gallons left; just about right. Gas here was $.54 less per gallon than the highest price we paid in Michigan.

It was a good trip with zero problems. We had a great trip over the past four weeks, and we are glad to be home. Now we have to get ready for an ODC camp out next Thursday.

Friday, September 7, 2007

The Sight & Sound production began at 3:45 PM. We had all day at the campground to relax, so we decided to clean the coach. This made sense because we had a full hook up, and it was easier here than at home. After a month of travel, we found areas to clean.

The show was excellent in every way. The sets were extraordinarily beautiful. The music and actors were exceptionally good and, of course, the story was spellbinding. "In the Beginning" is the story of the Creation and the years that followed seen through the lives of Adam and Eve and their offspring. A theme of the story is God's love for His creation and the special love relationship He has with mankind. The theater was full; the performance was powerfully done; and we left inspired, humbled, and thankful.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

What do you do when you have an extra day on a trip? We went RV shopping.

Stoltzfus RV & Marine is a Monaco dealer. We were hooked up with salesman Frank. He showed us two 40-foot 2007 Knights and one 40-foot 2007 Diplomat, all he had in stock. He explained that all 2008 models were out at a show and would not return for ten days. This story is a little hard to believe along with some others Frank told.

Frank went to the Sales Manager to come up with a trade price. The customer quote that he presented was a shock: the price of the Diplomat coach was ABOVE MSRP! Frank explained, “This is where the Sales Manager would like to be”. He was serious. Any discussion was pretty much over at that point. We left soon after.

The drive between Strasburg and West Chester is through the Amish farm lands of central Pennsylvania and very enjoyable. We had a deli lunch on the return trip and stayed home during the evening. Tomorrow is show time at the Sight & Sound Theater in the afternoon.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

We had no Internet access in Strasburg, therefore, this is our first opportunity to publish.

What a ride we had from Bellefonte to Strasburg! Over hill and dale and the Allegheny Mountain range we came on US 22 and US 322. The ups and downs and twists and turns slowed our speed, yet provided beautiful scenery of valleys below and picturesque small towns along the way. We enjoyed the trip, and were tired when we arrived.

Before the trip, Ralph chose the White Oak Campground because it is close to the Sight & Sound Theater, our destination Friday. It is a comfortable campground with many trees and quite a few trailers and semi-permanent residents. We have a decent site with full hook ups, but no Internet and no cable TV. After moving the coach to several locations on the site, we have satellite TV. The trees bring welcome shade on a very warm day.

Dinner was at the Hershey Farm Restaurant in Strasburg. The smorgasbord was abundant and enjoyable. We arrive soon after 7:00 PM, and closed the restaurant at 8:25 PM. Strasburg retires early.

We have tomorrow and Friday to see the sights. Tonight, we are taking it easy.

Fort Bellefonte Campground, Bellefonte, PA

This is our campground for tonight. We arrived about 3:00 PM with no reservation. Janice had called several times only to get an answering machine. When she got to the office, the sign on the door said, "If you need help, go to Site 40". We drove around to Site 40 and met a man who said, "I can't help you, but let me check". He walked away while we waited in the road. He came back and said, Sites 37-39 are empty and not reserved. Take whatever one you want. The office will open at 4:00 PM".

This campground is 15 minutes from Penn State University. The road in front of the office is "Penn State Road. There are flags, pennants, and signs everywhere. A field adjacent to the campground is marked for motor home dry camping. We are told that this campground overflows with RVs on football weekends at PSU.

Our departure from Ontario was smooth. Janice disposed of our Canadian money at the campground store this morning. We had an easy drive to the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie and then faced the border crossing immediately after the bridge. The gates were crowded, but not too bad. We followed signs to "cars and RVs" only to find the gate extremely narrow. We got in without damage to mirrors or anything else. The guard asked if we had not seen the sign for RVs far to the right. We said 'no', and decided not to argue with him. He took our passports, entered data into his computer, asked us some questions, took the coach keys, and boarded the coach. He looked in the bedroom, bathroom, and refrigerator. He left the coach, walked to his cube, handed us our passports and keys and said, "Have a good day". Efficient and polite, but not friendly.

We decided to take a cross country route to Pennsylvania. Plans to go to Cooperstown, NY were discarded. We are tired and decided to minimize the driving. Cooperstown will fit into a New England trip at another time. Route US 219 through the Allegheny Mountains was okay. We briefly got on I-86 and were shaken in every possible direction. Fortunately, this was short and we welcomed the two-lane road escape off this washboard.

We had dinner in State College tonight after we drove around the PSU campus. Like most college towns, car parking is scarce. We drove the two main streets and several side streets through the campus. It was fun to see the students swarming around en route to somewhere. Most had a cell phone to an ear and a backpack over a shoulder. They looked way too young to be in college. We ended up at a mall outside of the downtown where we enjoyed dinner and were able to park. Miss Garmin was a big help.

On the ride back to the campground the mountains were vivid against the early night sky. We could clearly see the valley through which the road took us. Now we have a visual of what Penn Staters mean with the expression "Happy Valley" to describe State College and PSU.

Tomorrow we will continue on to Strasburg, PA. We will stay there three nights and use it as a base to see the area. The big draw is Friday night's Sight & Sound Theater production.

The Falls

Today was worth the trip. We experienced Niagara Falls and enjoyed every minute we were there. Yesterday's decision to book a Grey Line tour was a good one. We were picked up and returned to our campground. The bus was comfortable and the driver/tour guide was excellent. It was a very good day.

The tour began with a trip to the Skylon Tower. The view of the Falls is spectacular. We took many pictures; 170 photos between us during the day. Next we went up river to see the Falls from the up stream river. We took more pictures of the river going over the Falls. The Maid of the Mist boat ride was a highlight of the day. We donned the rain coats and crowded the boat rails to see the American Falls, then the Bridal Falls, and finally the Horseshoe or Canadian Falls. The boat was in the mist and the roar of the Falls made the cauldron of water around the rocks all the more ominous. Those who have done this understand how it is; words fail to describe it adequately.

There were other stops on the tour, but none quite like the Falls. We saw a 3-D film, saw the Whirlpool and the Flower Clock, and a few lesser stops. When we returned to the campground we were ready to rest. Phase I was appropriate and welcome.

We will pass on Niagara on the Lake. We considered staying another day and driving the 35-miles north to visit this tourist attraction. We will leave in the morning and cross into the States over the Peace Bridge at Ft. Erie. Buffalo, NY is on the other side. We are still undecided about where we will go next: east on I-90 to Cooperstown, NY or south on US 219 to Bellefonte, PA.

Sunday at Niagara Falls

Our day began slowly. We couldn't get ourselves in motion and our touring sputtered until late morning when we decided to drive into town. We took some brochures, a map, cameras, and drinking water and drove the 3.2 miles to downtown Niagara Falls.

Before we left, Ralph met the neighbor to our right. He is from Maine and was very friendly. He and his wife travel a lot by RV and go to Florida each winter for a few weeks. He is trying to retire. He has a trucking business that transports seafood (lots of lobsters) as far south as Maryland. He says his son can run the business, but he (dad) is having a hard time letting go after 36 years. We have heard that story before. He said they were leaving here today: it is too crowded. He wasn't sure where they were going, but 20 minutes later, they were gone. Ralph invited him to Crystal Lake. Maybe we will see him again.

We assumed parking would be a problem in town. Plenty of parking was available with rates from $15 to $5 for the day depending on the distance to the Falls. Imagine our surprise when we saw side-by-side lots with one advertising $15 and the other $4 for 'all day' parking. We took the $4 lot. As we entered the lot , we saw a sign "$4 Payable on Exit, Coins Only". Not a problem we thought. We will get some Canadian coins when we buy something, and the neat part was this lot was next to the Imax Theater where we wanted to go.

Several minutes later we realized The Problem: There were no vacant spaces in the lot, and to exit the lot required $4 in Canadian coins which we did not have. Alas, we were not alone. Two other cars were in similar circumstances. They may have had the coins, but objected to paying for a ride around a full parking lot. Naturally, there was no attendant present; that is how they could charge such a relatively low price. The three of us decided to begin a new row of cars in the lot using some of the roadway and some of the spaces already occupied. When we returned later, we found several other cars had filled out our new row, and we had the coins to get out.

Imax has never disappointed us. We very much enjoyed the film about the miracles, myths, and magic of the falls. It was a great way to begin our falls experience. After the movie we sought a tourist/visitor center where we could get information, tour tickets, etc. We found the "official" tourist office, and we were very disappointed in the service. A lady there gave us a map and marked her office location; that was it, "You are here". She pointed to a wall rack of brochures and said, "That's what's available. If you want more, call the number on the brochure". Duh! We wanted more, but she had nothing more to give.

We liberated the car from the parking lot, made two left turns, and we were face-to-face with the American Falls across the Niagara River. We could see the Horseshoe Falls to our right and hundreds of pedestrians walking to and from the respective Falls. Being Sunday with perfect weather brought many people out for a stroll.

By this time in the afternoon, we had decided to take a Grey Line tour tomorrow. The Grey Line uses buses rather than vans; we like comfort. Therefore, there was not a lot for us to do today in the downtown area since all the attractions will be on the tour tomorrow. We headed back to the campground stopping at a grocery store on the way.

On the way back we each expressed our disappointment at what we have found here. The city is shabby and run down even in the tourist centers of activity. The campground is crowded by design. No space exists between sites, and the pools are so over crowded that it would be difficult just to get near the water. Everything is expensive and visitors are on their own to figure out what is where and how to get to it. We considered staying an extra day, but have re-considered and will leave Tuesday morning as planned.

St Clair, MI and Niagara Falls, Ontario

We left Holland and our friends about 9:00 AM Friday morning and headed for the east side of the state and St Clair. The trip was about four hours and with rest stops along the way we arrived in the early afternoon.

Don and Diane were waiting for us. Their home is beautiful and the coach fit easily in their driveway. The neighborhood is very upscale. We are surprised motor home overnight parking is allowed; maybe it isn't. We didn't ask. Don has a 50-amp plug receptacle on the side of his garage for motor homes; he has done this before.

We received a guided tour of the area that took most of the afternoon. The St Clair River is the key feature here. This river is the boundary between the US and Canada and it is a major waterway for the huge Great Lake ships that move ore, grain, coal, etc. The river connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie by way of Lake St Clair and the Detroit River. We traveled by ferry to a huge island in the river and saw some spectacular summer homes on very prime real estate. Looking south from the northern shore of Lake St Clair, we could see the GM Headquarters building in Detroit.

Driving along the river through St Clair, Marine City, and Algonac to the shores of Lake St Clair gave us a new perspective of how the Great Lakes are connected by rivers and lakes.

Don had reservations for dinner at a high rise restaurant in Port Huron with a view of the river. On the way to the restaurant, he showed us a river front development project that is underway and will take years to finish. A man named Jim Acheson has purchased hundreds of acres of river front in Port Huron and will build recreation facilities, housing and commercial, and tourism facilities. Apparently Jim inherited a lot of money from his dad. His dad invented WD-40. Every motor home owner knows about WD-40. We would like to come back over the next few years to see how this project evolves.

Our dinner was very nice and we did see one loaded freighter going down the river and an empty one up bound. We saw more of Port Huron after dinner , to include a Light Boat in the river. We returned home quite tired and ready to kick back.

This morning Diane prepared a wonderful breakfast before we departed. We very much enjoyed our stay with Diane and Don and appreciate their hospitality.

The drive into Canada began at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. The crunch was past the bridge at the security booths. We waited about 20 minutes and had no problems entering Canada. The guard was very pleasant and the process was quick once we got to the booth. Canadian roads are like U.S. roads: under construction. The big problem was a major accident that forced us off the main road and a one hour detour. CB conversation reported that more than one car and at least one tractor trailer were involved and there were fatalities. The road was closed and we were fortunate to be detoured; traffic ahead of us was stopped and unable to turn around. Miss Garmin did a great job of getting us back on the main road although we did have to go through some very small 'municipalities' with one traffic light.

As we neared Niagara, traffic increased and the drive became more intense. By the time we reached the campground, we were ready to kick back and relax. We elected to call it a day and stay close to the coach tonight.

KOA Niagara is a large campground that is populated this weekend by children of every age, size, and interest. The park is celebrating Halloween today; we have no idea why. The children must have know in advance because they have costumes. There was a big parade of the children; trick-or-treating followed with the kids visiting participating coaches, presumably the parents of the children. We are still trying to adjust to today being September 1. It is mind boggling to have Halloween in September.

We plan to begin touring tomorrow. There is much to see and do here and we have two full days to see as much as we can. More later.