First trip of 2012: Shaking off the cobwebs

This past weekend we took a collective deep breath and set off for our first camping adventure of the 2012 season, at Hickory Run State Park. Since we hadn't been camping in five months, and the last time was somewhat of a comedy of errors, we were a little apprehensive about it. Aside from installing our new batteries, we hadn't moved the trailer from its storage facility home in months, and we had a lovely dump station situation to look forward to.

Posing with the new batteries. YAY!

The drive up the Northeast Extension was pretty harrowing. Because of the construction going on, there are only two VERY narrow lanes, and trucks and buses are alerted to stay in the left lane. Nothing about trailers, but we figured we fell into that category. Hauling a trailer in the left lane of a two-lane highway probably doesn't make a lot of sense - at least it didn't to the two million cars that passed us on the right. Eventually we settled in behind a truck that was driving at a comfortable speed, one where my heart didn't drop to my knees every time an SUV passed us.

Steve admitted he was a little rusty on the driving front, but by the time we arrived he was getting the hang of things again. Which was a good thing, considering the road that leads to Hickory Run is one of those winding, steep labyrinthine delights where any wrong move could send you right off the edge. Needless to say, we were both relieved and exhausted by the time we found our campsite and settled in. We'd brought along fishing rods and even purchased fishing licenses, but laziness and our appetites took over and we decided to eat first instead.

After checking in, I insisted that we pay a visit to the dump station, even though Steve wanted to put it off until we left. First of all, our entire reason for taking the trailer out was to dump the tanks (this was also our reason for taking it out in December, but we learned that in the winter, tanks freeze). Even before we took off, Steve had me dump a bag of ice down the toilet, hoping that would break things up. (Sorry for the imagery. Even though we may make it seem that way, trailer life isn't all glamour all the time.) So luckily we had the whole dump station to ourselves. Steve pulled up his sleeves and did his thing, while I sat back and enjoyed the fact that I don't have to deal with that stuff.

Gettin' busy

The campsite itself was fairly quiet. We'd expected to get a wooded site similar to the one we'd had last year, but this time we occupied a space that was more open and grassy. The sites were situated around a field with a small playground. Behind us, there was a smattering of trees and brush, and just beyond that the road.

Road leading to our site

So we really didn't have the feel of a state park as much as we wanted to. It felt more like a campground this time around. But as far as what we needed, it was great. The temperatures varied between 60s and low 70s, which was perfect for our campfire.

Campsite

The one thing we did have to do before fully relaxing was go to the camp store for some necessities (logs, s'more supplies, bug spray). We left Lola behind and set off for the trek on foot, not wanting to disconnect the Mountaineer if we didn't have to. However, we totally underestimated how far away we were from the store. This wouldn't have been a problem, except that Steve had to carry a bundle of logs on our way back, while I schlepped the four or five grocery bags up and down my arms. Lesson learned: Unhooking the car is worth it.

That night was the first time we let Lola out of her crate to sleep. In the past, we had to struggle to set up the crate in between the dinette and the kitchen counter, so if you ever wanted to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you'd either have to hope you remembered it was there or suffer a painful toe-stubbing injury. Now, we're just using the crate as a gate to section off the bedroom from the rest of the trailer. At our house, we've gradually phased her out of crating and she's been amazing (nothing chewed or destroyed yet, knock on wood!) but we worried that she might whine and cry in a smaller space.

Surprise! She was a real gem and didn't whimper once. I think she's so happy to be able to spend the night on a comfy couch that she doesn't even think about venturing into the bedroom.

Other highlights:
1) Kerplunk. To fill in the "down time" when it's too late to do anything, and there's nothing interesting on the non-cable TV, we splurged on a board game, which happened to be a childhood favorite, Kerplunk. Turns out it's just as entertaining as I remembered (or maybe we're easily entertained) to try to find the perfect spot to pull out one of those sticks so as not to disturb the marbles resting on top.

See all the marbles in my tray? Think this is when I lost

2) Remembering the joys of camping. Even though we didn't go on any extended hikes, it was nice to be able to take a walk around the campground with Lola and check out the other campers. Most of the people there were in tents, but we also spied an Airstream that looked pretty cozy.

I missed posing with Lola!

The area in the middle of the campsites

Steve's mostly successful campfire - the damn thing didn't want to stay lit!

So overall, the trip turned out way better than we predicted. The tanks are finally empty, so we don't have that to worry about. However, we do have to get our trailer in for inspection sometime this month or next (who knew? trailers need to be inspected too) before our trip to Savannah. It looks like all systems are a-go for now! Can't wait to get back on the road. 

guess who's back, back again

Who's the worst blogger in the world? Oh, that's right, me! Apologies, again, for letting my blog languish for two whole months without a single post. I really need to set myself reminders to post because otherwise, the days get away from me. I do have a good excuse, though (don't I always?). WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! So this past month, we've been signing mortgage documents, arranging inspections, getting our current house ready for sale and all that other fun stuff. We're set to close March 17. Our new place is about three times the size of our current hovel...er, house. It even has a sun room, a built-in bar in the basement and a patio! And...more than one bathroom! And closets galore, so I can finally stop donating my clothes after running out of space in this place. Yeah, I'm a little excited.

On the trailer front, we have a couple of things going on...

1. New batteries! For Christmas, Steve's parents gifted us with a pair of golf cart batteries to replace the ones that died. They're supposedly much more powerful than what we had. (Side note: I had no idea golf carts required that kind of power.) As much as we'd like to get a generator, that isn't financially possible right now, so hopefully these will do the trick. We haven't had a chance to install them yet but plan on doing so probably as soon as we're all moved into the new place and have a free Saturday to devote to it.

2. Planning our Summer 2012 getaway. It seems like it's light years away, but we're already squirreling away money for a return trip to Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah, GA. Our stay will take place over the week of the 4th of July, since that's the only week this summer I don't have school (boo!). I'm just impressed we had the foresight to set up a savings account for a summer vacation in January. We realized it was a necessity since most of our expenses come from getting gas, and we don't want those costs to cut into our other *fun* vacation expenditures. We should be pretty well-prepared by the time the trip rolls around. Watch out for me, boutiques of downtown Savannah. I'm comin' at ya, and I'll actually have some cash this time!

3. Looking for a new home for our trailer. Don't worry, it's staying with us! But we need to find a new storage facility that's closer to our new abode. Steve was also looking up ads on craigslist where people offered their driveways as trailer storage in return for a monthly fee. I'm not sure whether or not that's the safest option, but it's certainly cheaper.

As we get ready to move, the trailer's going to come in handy, since we'll probably use it to move some of the smaller items back and forth. Who knew this thing was so multitalented? Hope everyone is having a great winter and safe travels to anyone lucky enough to be on the road right now!

I don't know how we avoided an "Into the Wild" ending...

This past weekend, we strapped on our hiking/snow boots for a night of (mis)adventure at Ricketts Glen State Park in Benton, PA. State parks are our new favorite thing, so we expected to have a grand time. And we did, of course...but with all of the mishaps that went down, we probably qualify to star in our own RV-centric sitcom.

Without further ado, here are the five major lessons from this trip:

1. There's a reason why not many people (or no people) camp in the winter.
On our first camping trip back in March, it was fairly cold. But we did have heat and electricity and there wasn't snow on the ground. We expected to have our fair share of neighbors in the campground owing to the fact it was the last day of hunting season, but there wasn't a camouflage hat in sight. Or any hats, or humans. We were the only people brave (or stupid) enough to be camping.

Nothin' but us and the forest

We both thought this was pretty cool. By the time we arrived for 3 p.m. check-in, daylight was already on its way out, but evening at Ricketts Glen was really something to see. With the snow blanketing the ground and the trees and the full moon glowing overhead, it was actually pretty bright outside. According to Steve, who ventured out there far more often than I would agree to, the nighttime scene was so spectacular that you could see for "miles and miles."

2. So, our battery is shot...
Things were a little bit TOO easy at first. I mean, sure, the ground was covered in snow and patches were quite icy. But Steve managed to maneuver the RV in our spot pretty quickly (it also helped that no one else was around, so I didn't feel as self-conscious about yelling out directions). Once he deemed his parking job adequate, he set about getting our heat turned on.

Before we even attempted this trip, Steve informed me we'd be going without electricity for most of it (save for what was left in the battery) but heat was a definite, thanks to the propane. Well, his surefooted optimism was shot to hell after I walked in the trailer to prepare some post-drive refreshments and the light wouldn't turn on. Even though we'd been driving for three hours and change, the trailer battery hadn't charged at all. And apparently, because the electricity wasn't on, the heat wasn't coming along for the ride either. We were SOL.

While I was sending up fervent prayers that we wouldn't become a cautionary tale for future winter campers, Steve turned the car's engine back on, which did the trick. But the last thing we wanted was to have the car running all night for us to have heat. Unfortunately, that's exactly what we had to do. We did shut it off from time to time, including at night while we were sleeping. But, um...yes. I realized how much I like heat. Especially when it's 15 or 20 degrees outside and the only thing sheltering you is an aluminum box. Needless to say, we packed on the layers and went to bed hoping for the best.

3. Steve needs to listen to me more often.
When the heat first kicked on, I mentioned, "So, we have to leave the car running to get heat in here?" Steve brushed me off and said about a dozen times, "I think you're missing the point" and went on to drop some fairly technical lingo that I tuned out. Well, wouldn't you know it, every time we turned off the car, off went the heat and the lights with it. Obviously the two things were related. I also suggested that this was a pretty good way to use up whatever gas we had left. He said it wouldn't, but tell that to our near-empty gas tank the next morning.

4. Lola isn't allowed near frozen lakes.
Because we aren't registered ice climbers or in possession of ice axes and crampons, we weren't allowed to attempt the Falls Trail, the most famous (and difficult) of Ricketts Glen's trails. There were other trails with varying degrees of difficulty, but we decided to play it safe. We ambled along the short Beach Trail on Sunday afternoon, which offered beautiful views of the beach and the ice-covered lake, and took turns taking pictures with Lola next to the lake.

All's well at first...

Lola springing into freak-out mode

When it was my turn to pose, Lola got spooked by something, started lunging away and I lost control of her leash. Before we could grab her, she had skittered out onto the FROZEN FREAKIN LAKE. OMG. She may have realized this was a bad decision because after gingerly making a couple more steps on the ice, she inched onto an equally-slippery log, where Steve was close enough to grab her leash. I have no idea how we got out of this one. We were sure that the ice would break as soon as she hit it. Steve assures me he would've jumped in after her if this had happened, but even that sounds like what nightmares are made of. Now that I've aged about 20 years in that one second...

5. When the temperature falls below freezing, stuff freezes. Like our tanks, for example.
Our one goal for this whole trip? Dump our tanks. I guess we should've known this wasn't going to go our way, either. We both knew we should've done it earlier in the season. Neither of us realized things would freeze that fast. File this one under "common sense isn't so common," I guess.

When it looks like this outside, camping isn't a breeze

Despite all the problems, it was still a fun time. The campfire Steve built was lovely and despite not having much to do other than that, we really enjoyed the feeling of total seclusion and privacy.

Creating our own heat...the way nature intended!

We even used our oven for the first time -- I baked some butternut squash and Steve whipped up a scrumptious dessert of apple crisp. (The things we'll do when we can't watch TV!) And our ice-skating pup got to sleep with us in bed because of the lack of heat, but we'll probably never allow that again after she woke us up about 13 different times with pawing and readjusting. (And every time we woke up, we just realized how much colder it was getting.)

As Steve says, our winter camping days are just beginning. It wasn't the park's fault that our battery went on the fritz (in fact, it's probably ours, but I'm hoping it's something we can blame on the manufacturer). This was one of those trips where you learn what you really need and what you can live without. And as much as I love camping, I love being warm even more.

Stay tuned for more of our battery woes...

Oh, and our rankings! Here we go:
Pros: beautiful scenery, large and spacious campsite
Cons: not much to do, most hiking trails closed (not really the park's fault -- so we'll update these rankings when we return during the summer)

Hitting the Road Again...3 days!!

Well, it's been a while! We've definitely had our minds on other things, some good and some not so good. But I'm pretty sure nothing cures a case of the winter blues like planning a trip. We're ready to get back into camping again -- falling temperatures be damned.

Last night we started searching for a year-round campground within several hours of us. This turned out to be not so easy. There doesn't seem to be a good selection of campgrounds that keep their doors open all year long. We knew it was going to be difficult, though, so we pressed on. Steve checked out PA's awesome state parks website and found out about Ricketts Glen State Park, which is about three hours away from us. It's supposedly one of the "sights to see" in PA and offers plenty of trails for hiking and exploring. Waterfalls are also a big draw (although I'm not sure if they'll be viewable right now). There weren't any sites available with electricity so we decided to rough it and go for one without it. According to Steve, we'll still have heat and electricity thanks to the propane, but we'll just have to use it sparingly.

It'll only be a one-night trip (our main priority is dumping our tanks), but I'm so excited. It seems like it's been forever since the last time we hitched up with our big, beautiful RV in tow. Definitely looking forward to all the joys of the outdoors -- the smells of the forest, gorgeous scenery and s'mores! It's been a long three months and we deserve it!

If any of you fabulous RV bloggers have any tips/advice on winter camping, I'd love to hear them!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

In honor of Steve's birthday today, I want to show a bit of wifely appreciation. These past few months have provided us a real crash course in RV ownership, and we've definitely had to take the good with the bad. Not everything can be rosy when you're taking on a new car-sized loan, dealing with mechanical glitches and trying to figure out the best way to maneuver a 26-foot trailer through a narrow, construction-ridden highway. Fortunately for us though, Steve keeps his head on straight.

He's a pretty happy guy

So I'm going to take a walk down memory lane (thank God I blogged about most of these things so the remembering part isn't too hard) and catalog the top six (started with five and came up with six) most impressive RV-related achievements Steve can lay claim to:
1) Figuring out how to rig up a standalone air conditioner in our hot-as-hell trailer when we discovered the central air wasn't working the first day of our Holly Shores vacation
2) Safely getting us through the Beltway in both directions, even though the lanes were narrow, there was ongoing construction everywhere and we ended up in a high-capacity carpool lane that sent us into downtown DC
3) Becoming a complete pro at hooking up...now it officially takes me longer to unpack our clothing/necessities than it does for Steve to get all hitched up. Not so long ago, I had to stand by and yell out directions while Steve put the car into reverse and tried to edge the car into the perfect hitch position. Now, my services are no longer needed, as apparently my inability to tell left from right was more of a hindrance than anything.
4) Always being game to dump the tanks and alert me to almost-full gray water tanks. Thank God Steve knows his way around those pipes, and the dump station is a breeze.
5) Installing the Hensley hitch entirely by himself (I handed him parts and read out instructions) after our RV shop mechanics expressed reluctance at carrying out the job. Only took about five or so hours on a blustery March day, and yeah, afterwards we set off for the hour-and-a-half-long journey home without having the slightest idea whether we'd done it correctly. But we're still alive, so clearly he did something right.
6) Learning how to back into campsites, haul a 26-footer up and down steep hills, and generally drive that thing like it's no big deal. Sometimes, I forget we're even pulling it.

It's been a great year, and I have my awesome husband to thank. Happy birthday Steve, I love you!

Road Warriors

God, I love the South

 By the time we set off for home, we felt like pros. Hitching up, clearing off the tables and couch and dumping our tanks -- no biggie, at least anymore. Before we left, we also got one last visit in with Joey, this time on River Street in Savannah's tourist district (my fave!).

Right before we left

I wasn't super excited about the drive home, but at least I had South of the Border to look forward to. The last time we were there was in late 2006 on our last GA trip, so I was hoping things had cleaned up there somewhat. As a child, a SOB visit was the highlight of any I-95 trip -- everything just seemed brighter, happier and more exciting (kinda like Disney World) in that tiny stretch off the highway. I must've romanticized the crap out of it because when I returned five years ago, it was like an eerie pallor of gloom had settled over the place. The colors and decor were still as bright and in-your-face as I remembered, but they only made the contrast to the lack of visitors and activity that much more striking.

I took a pic of pretty much every sign on the way home...but I'm sparing you the rest!

I remember us sitting down to eat a quick meal of enchiladas or tostadas or something we ended up regretting later, browsing through the near-empty stores, hoping to find a cute knickknack or two to bring home but instead deciding the dust-covered items on the shelves were a little bit too sad, outdated or expensive even for my tastes. (This coming from someone who once had a spoon collection. Oh, and a sugar packet collection too- don't ask.)

So I was hoping there was a bit more spirit, life, vitality at South of the Border this time around.

Well, there's certainly a lot of statues to pose on!

 The verdict: Well, it's still a bit of a ghost town, and I still wasn't willing to fork over money for the selection of souvenirs that I swear haven't been updated since the last time. But we had a delicious meal at the Sombrero Restaurant, shockingly enough. If you read the reviews people write about SOB in general, you'd expect to see roaches crawling out of your chimichanga. That wasn't the case with us (and if there were roaches, they were safely hidden from view). So if you go there, I recommend the Sombrero Restaurant. You won't be putting your digestive system at risk!

The pilot gets a much-deserved break

I won't give up on this place no matter what, dammit!

Thoroughly sated, we took a few minutes to walk around and snap some photos.

On the overlook bridge

I'm imitating the growling bear if you can't tell

Should I regret not buying this?

We returned to our trailer, which we'd left parked in the convention center lot, seeing as there didn't seem to be any other designated trailer/truck parking. Pretty weird for a tourist destination. I guess they think that if you have a trailer, you'll be staying in their campground anyway. In any case, nobody got mad at us for leaving the car/trailer there (we were only gone for 45 minutes at the most).

In no man's land

We got back on the road pretty quickly and driver-of-the-year Steve got us into Virginia by a little after midnight. This time we boondocked at the Pilot Travel Center in Colonial Heights, VA. (From my research it appears Pilot and Flying J have merged, so we were expecting the same standard in quality.) Our stay was nice and very quiet, actually- considering we were parked right by the gas pumps, so you'd think we'd be disturbed by the constant in-and-out of travelers. But, nope. We settled in from some snacks from the travel center and went to sleep.

The view from our sleeping quarters

 The next morning came the hair-raising part. My dad had given us directions for an alternate route through 301 (the old 95, I think) so we wouldn't have to brave the Beltway again. Ah, the scenic route - now we'd finally get to see what exists BEYOND 95 (well, from what we saw of Richmond, it wasn't pretty). The only problem was that there were traffic lights pretty much every five feet. Speeding up only to have to downshift quickly for a red light equaled a jerky, unpleasant ride. So with much consternation, we decided to tough it out for the Beltway.

Ahh! Abort mission!

All was going well at first. Somehow we came upon a high-capacity commuter lane, which apparently nobody else knew about because we were sailing through there, not a care in the world. Well, there's a reason nobody else was on it. It ended up taking us through downtown D.C., which, lovely place but you couldn't pay me enough to drive in that. So THAT was fun. Beltway, you win again.

That sums up the trip, I think...aside from those few hours we had to battle the Beltway, it was a complete success. Especially 'cause we don't feel like such newbies anymore! I-95 turned us into a couple of road warriors.

Now for the ratings:
Pros: beautiful scenery, spacious and private campsite, gorgeous trails and plenty of areas to explore
Cons: no dumping station on our site (but let's be honest, that's a bit of a luxury), the 30-minute drive to Savannah was a little inconvenient

All in all, our best trip so far! And it's only gonna get better, and easier. Thanks for reading -- we appreciate it so much!

Georgia's still on my mind a month later (I'm a slow blogger, sorry)...

Georgia, come back to meeeee

WOW, so sorry about the lack of posts! When Steve starts getting on my case about my apparent blog neglect, you know there's a problem. I guess it's just hard to get into that whole vacation-mindset when you've been back in the land of the real world/work for so long. Plus, the days have been gray and rainy for a century, so it's really hard to conjure up thoughts of palm trees and sticky-sweet humidity when you're stuck in this drab mess.

Summer is over, of course (*sob*) but we're still trying to plan one last trip of the season. It would be a short one, an overnighter just so we could dump our tanks. We'd like to get it done before it gets too cold, and also a lot of campgrounds around here close after October anyway. It's just a matter of picking the right weekend so hopefully we can squeeze one in before the end of this month.

That being said, I still have some ground left to cover from our Savannah trip, so to avoid another Steve-freakout ("You're NEVER gonna update the blog again!"), I'll get right to it.

Yay! Visitors!
We had, as I've mentioned before, the absolute nicest campsite ever. So we were thrilled when one of Steve's friends from Savannah, Joey, came over to join us for a barbecue. He lives about 15 minutes away from Skidaway and had no idea the place even existed. And because he's awesome, he brought his own charcoal grill, not to mention some crazy-huge Georgia sausages, a couple bottles of wine and some fancy lights to brighten up the place.

The whole mess of BBQ stuff

We couldn't be real fancy with the light-rigging

Joey and Steve tending to the fire

 It's always so fun to get visitors because I don't think people really grasp what it's like to travel in a trailer if they've never done it before. Even people who don't like camping, I think, would be surprised how enjoyable it is. Heck, I spent a large portion of my teenage years hating the great outdoors (well, mostly bugs, and I still hate those) and now I'm writing a blog about RVing. I'm a changed woman!

Nature walks
At home when I take Lola for walks, I might worry about her freaking out over the occasional dog or squirrel. Here, the danger was a bit more ominous. What would she do if she was faced with a gator? We were (sort of) hoping to find out, because how often can you say you've encountered a real gator in the wild? Skidaway's teeming with trails and marshy areas, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

Nice view, eh?

Awkward shot of me #2,938

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), no gators crossed our path during any of our walks. We did, however, spot some neat stuff near the marshes:

Swampy swamp

He blends in, but he's the little brownish-green fiddler crab on the right

Cool looking bird in the distance (can you tell I'm a real avian expert?)

And this thing wasn't so cool 

Our trip was pretty much wrapped up at this point, so we just had a lovely 13 hours of driving to look forward to. And per Steve's promise, a stop at South of the Border along the way. Woohoo! I can taste the quesadillas right now (you'd be surprised how good they were...). I swear I'll get to that part tomorrow, you can hold me to it!