Home, Monday, July 14, 2014

There was a storm last evening at the campground but from the news I believe that other areas south of Gettysburg were hit harder. We just experienced a downpour of rain with a few claps of thunder. This morning it was very humid and the temperature was building up. After dumping the black tank and rinsing it well we were headed for Taneytown about 10:30am. The short 13 mile trip was made easily in 20 minutes. Getting the motorhome in the driveway and then moving things into the house was a hot chore. We were hoping to hear some good news about our house but that wasn't to be. We will have to continue to wait and hope for the right persons to come along.

Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival, July 10-13, 2014 Thursday- Sunday

Thursday, July 10, we left the Manheim area and traveled 108 miles to the west to Centre Hall, Pa.  We were rallying with an Escapee group at the Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival at the Grange Park.  Luckily, the area that we were parked in was not crowded and we were able to hook into 50 amp power along with water, no sewer (although, honey wagon service was available for a fee).  It was a busy weekend.  Bluegrass groups performed for about 45 minutes beginning at 12 noon on Thursday, 11am on Friday and Saturday and last performance schedule for 9pm.  Most groups performed twice on the day they were scheduled – once during the day and then again in the evening.  There were 6 groups on Thursday and then 8 groups on Friday and Saturday.  Tom and I attended most of the performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Remington Ryde, the festival name, is a bluegrass group that the promoter, Ryan Frankhouser, belongs to.  Rhonda Vincent & The Rage was the highlight of the festival performing on Saturday with a great show.  Other groups that performed that we liked were: “Little Roy and Lizzie Show”,  “Gentlemen of Bluegrass”, “Idletymes”, “Nothin Fancy”, “Goldwing Express” and “Hillbilly Gypsies”.  An outside stage was used and spectators brought their chairs to sit outside or under a tent.  It was a warm bright sunny couple of days and fortunately we secured an area under one of the tents to place our chairs.  Workshops were also conducted throughout the days.  Tom attended 2 workshops lead by RB Powell, Bluegrass theory and Music Theory.  He also went for a workshop on Guitars but the instructor did not show up.  It was a very busy weekend.  There were numerous food vendors on the grounds as well as sales of CD’s and such and festival souvenirs.

Sunday, July 13, church services were planned followed by some performances until mid afternoon.  We did not attend the Sunday activities.  We were about bluegrassed out and had planned to leave on this day.  So we packed up and were on the road about 9:30am heading for Gettysburg.  A little past 12 noon we were at Artillery Ridge Campground after 128 miles.  We wanted to stay here tonight to be able to dump our waste tanks before going home.  An open house was also being planned for this afternoon by our realtor for our house so we could not go home during this time.

Roots and Last Day, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 8&9, 2014

Tuesday morning we drove just a little south of Manheim, Pa. to Roots Country Market.  This market is only open on Tuesdays and is well attended.  On this day the parking lots were nearly full but we finally found a spot to park.  The market has stalls indoors and outdoors.  We moved about the market as well as we were able purchasing some fresh vegetables and fruits and then some chipped beef and Lebanon bologna and made our departure.   After bringing our purchases back to the motorhome we went to a restaurant nearby, Rino’s, for Taco Tuesday- this really was an Italian restaurant but had tacos for the special.  We did spy a Mexican cook in the kitchen, though.  The skies became a little threatening in the evening and we did have a brief thunderstorm.

Today, Wednesday, is our final day at this campground as we will be going to Centre Hall, Pa. tomorrow to camp with an Escapee group at a Bluegrass Festival.  This morning we ran to a grocery store for a few things and then back to the campground.  I made a cake in preparation for the weekend and made dinner.  Midafternoon the electric went out in the entire campground for about an hour as I was trying to get some clothes washed.  Shortly after the electric returned the skies darkened and we had a bump of thunder with rain.  It has been hot and humid the past several days but it is predicted to be a little cooler and dryer tomorrow.

Reading, Pa. and Water Heater, Monday, July 7, 2014

Today we decided to go to Reading, Pa. for some outlet shopping. I wanted to go to the Easy Spirit store to look for shoes. I found the shoes that I would have liked to buy but not in my size so I struck out there. We then went into some of the other clothing stores and both of us ended up buying a couple shirts/blouses. The day was hot and the humidity was rising so we soon called it a day for shopping. We did stop for lunch on our way back to the campground.

About 10 days ago we experienced our tankless hot water heater not producing hot water. Tom called a technician that diagnosed the problem with a faulty thermister. The tech talked Tom through a procedure of bypassing the problem and giving us hot water until a replacement part could be gotten. Last Monday, a week ago from today, Tom called and got the replacement thermister ordered to be sent to this campground by priority mail. It was to arrive here by Wednesday or Thursday last week. When we checked in on Wednesday Tom informed the staff that we were expecting a priority mail package. Checks were made in the office on Thursday (Friday was a holiday) and then again on Saturday. We were told that nothing had arrived. We even suggested looking in the D and B boxes as well as the V, our name often confuses people where the last name starts. This morning Tom called the sender to let him know that we had not received the part. The sender did some checking and said that the package had been delivered here on July 3rd at 10 something in the morning. Tom had called the campground while we were in Reading with this information but they still insisted it was not here. When we returned to the campground this afternoon we went to the office again looking for this package. One gal, Stacey, in the office that I took to be the manager insisted that we needed to get them the name of whoever signed for the package and didn't seem to have any sense of being responsible for where this package could be. Another gal, Susan, immediately, began making phone calls to a neighboring business, as well as, tracking the package with the tracking number. And still no package was found. Tom returned to the motorhome and called the local post office and then called the office to inform them of this. Well, lo and behold, the package had been found and would be delivered to us. The gal delivering the package said that it had been found in the B box so much for the one that supposedly checked on Thursday. Within 15 minutes Tom had the part installed and the water heater working as it should.

Shopping and Dining, Saturday, July 5, 2014

Our ventures on this day took us first to the little town of Bird-in-Hand where we went to a small Farmer’s Market.  This market is unlike most markets in this area.  There are few Amish merchants and fewer fresh vegetables, fruits and meats.  Moving on, we came to the bustling community of Intercourse.   The Intercourse Canning Company store as the name implies has canned goods, many pickled items and jellies and jams.  Samples of the products are out so one can easily eat their way through this store.  On this day the salsa products (and there were quite a variety) were being promoted and offered at a dollar off per jar.   Kitchen Kettle is a touristy shopping area that emphasizes “strumming and jamming”.  In a shady central location on this day there was a group of four elderly musicians entertaining with their instruments and singing voices. 

From Pa 2014

 There are all kinds of shops many selling goods that is from this area as quilts and fabrics, jellies and jams and candy as well as a Christmas shop and home decorating shops.  While in the Christmas shop  was celebrating “Christmas in July” prize drawings were being done and Tom won a box of Christmas cards.
Venturing on, we drove to the town of Lititz.  We were at this time more than ready for a late lunch.  We ate at the Bull Head Public House in the outside patio.  It was such a beautiful day with bright blue skies and comfortable temperatures that dining outside was a real pleasure.  We both had burgers with sweet potato fries, good food.  We walked along the street stopping at the Chocolate Café, a place designated as a must see and specializes in sweet treats and chocolate drinks.  We each had a piece of salty caramel covered in dark chocolate ($3.89 for the 2 pieces, pricey).  We walked through a couple other shops before returning to the car and going back to the campground.  It was a nice day but there were many other folks out enjoying the day also.

Thursday and Friday, July 3&4,2014, Mt. Joy and Hershey

Thursday, the third of July, was a hot humid day.  At lunchtime we took off in toward Manheim looking for someplace to eat.  Manheim had gotten hit pretty bad on Wednesday with a storm that cause branches and trees to be blown down.  We could only go part way through town on Rte. 72 as the road was blocked off for a crane doing some clean-up work.  So we continued out of the town and drove to Mt. Joy where we found a little Mexican restaurant where we ate lunch.  On the way back toward the campground we stopped at a country market.  (It was surprising how the storm on Wednesday skirted around the campground.  We were in Cornwall, north of campground, and saw winds blowing strongly and then we saw the destruction in Manheim which is south of the campground).  We did have some showers Thursday evening and rain continued most of the night.

Today, Friday, the 4th of July, started out cloudy but gradually became clearer by afternoon although there was a good wind until evening.  The temperature remained in the 70’s all day and is to be a cool night (50’s).  Windows are opened and the air conditioning is turned off.  We started out this morning going to Green Dragon Farmer’s Market in Ephrata but when we got there it was so crowded and parking was almost impossible that we just continued on.  We then stopped at Sharp Shoppers super market and purchased a few items.  After returning to the motorhome to put away our grocery purchases we decided to go into Lebanon to see the town and maybe find someplace for lunch.  Many places were closed today due to being a holiday so we continued on.  The GPS showed a barbeque restaurant in Palmyra so we continued to that town but the restaurant was not at the location the GPS took us.  Continuing on we found Funck’s restaurant with a parking lot full of cars so we stopped there and had really nice fried chicken dinners.  A few miles further and we were in Hershey where we visited “The Hershey Story, the museum on Chocolate Avenue’’.  The admission was $9.00 for seniors.  A very nice museum about Milton Hershey and Hershey Chocolate. 

This evening at the campground a local band was performing and we sat through the first set of their music.

PA Dutch Country Campground, Manheim, Pa. Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Today, Wednesday, we left the Gettysburg Farm Campground and drove 53 miles to Manheim, Pa. to PA Dutch Campground.  We arrived here about 11am but did not get set up until 1pm.  The campsites here are not level, the sites have a slope that makes leveling the motorhome very difficult.  We tried one site and then moved to a second site where with help of boards under the front tires and jacks we are level.  And it was a hot, humid day for this aggravation.  We then drove into Cornwall and had lunch at "Quinten Haus" restaurant.  The skies had become dark as we got to the restaurant and as we sitting inside the rain began with wind but it didn't last too long.  The rain did not offer much relief from the heat.  We stopped at an RV store located next to the campground to get a folding step- with the front of the motorhome elevated we needed an additional step to get into the motorhome.  Both of us took naps after returning - those grandkids took their toll on us.  We plan to be here until July 10.

"Good-Bye Kiddos, Hello Rest", Monday, June 30 and Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Monday morning we had to get up earlier than usual as Tom and I had dentist appointments in Taneytown starting at 9:30am.  The kids were not too excited about the early start but we also would be returning them back to their dad later in the day.  (We opted not to change the appointments when we had made plans to be out at this time knowing we would be less than an hour away.)  After the appointments and checking on the house we then drove to Frederick, Md. where we got Gabi and Parker some lunch at McDonald's.  And then their dad, Todd, arrived to take them home.  We had a nice time with these kids but was looking forward to a slower pace.  As Todd and the kids took off for Virginia we took off for our favorite restaurant in Frederick, La Paz, for our lunch before heading back to the campground in East Berlin, Pa.

Tuesday morning started out as an early morning again.  Tom was found to need a filling done on a tooth on Monday and he was able to be worked in on this morning (or he would have had to wait for several months).  So a little before 8am he left and I remained at the campground.  While he was gone I did some cleaning and cabinet reorganizing.  When Tom returned we drove to Hanover for lunch at Famous Hot Wiener and then to the movies to see "Jersey Boys".  In the evening we took a walk around the campground and noticed a storm headed our way.  We quickly put away chairs, picnic table covering and the grill before a couple drops fell and the storm circled around us.

Steam into History, New Freedom, Pa. Sunday, June 29, 2014

Sunday morning we all took the hayride that went through the campground and the out along the corn fields.  Parker said that he had never been on a hayride before.  After lunch we drove to New Freedom, Pa. to take a 2.5 hour train ride, "Steam into History" to Hanover Junction.  Parker has always been infatuated with trains so this was exciting for him and Gabi got caught up in Parker's excitement.  The steam engine is a replica of the locomotive that Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to deliver his famous Gettysburg Address and the tracks that Lincoln's funeral train traveled.  The train traveled at 10mph taking about an hour to make the 10 mile trip to Hanover Junction from New Freedom.  At Hanover Junction we got off the train for about 40 minutes.  Conveniently, an Italian gelato truck was there selling ice cream treats which we had to have as we waited for the return trip.  Driving back to the campground we stopped in York at a Cheddar's restaurant for dinner.
The train ride was real nice.  Folks in period dress were on the train and at  Hanover Junction.  Narration  told of the history of the train and the sights along the way.  It was a warm day but with opened windows on the train a nice breeze made the trip a comfortable ride.

Friday and Saturday, June 27 & 28, 2014 Campground days

On Friday and Saturday we stayed around the campground.  Spent a few hours in the pool.  Took some walks about the park.  And played on the the playgrounds  Grandpa made a campfire Friday evening and hot dogs, campfire pies and marshmallows were cooked over the fire.  When lightning bugs made their appearance in the evening the kids had fun catching lighting bugs.  Saturday evening both kids had mishaps on the playground- Gabi had some scratches on her chin from falling into the sand and Parker hurt his knee on the sliding board.