2016 Winter Adventure - The End

THANK YOU

This last blog post contains that big THANK YOU to all those who have taken the time to read the ramblings of someone who has too much time on his hands, someone who loves to write, and someone who loves to drive. Sometimes the photography captures that postcard moment, most times "you get the idea." As you know, I'm very fortunate in so many ways and it's this knowledge, realization, and appreciation that enhances everything I see and do. I set out in August or September planning the itinerary that will get me away from home before blizzards (so far, 2 for 2) and return in time to celebrate a mother's birthday...this year the 97th to be exact. Mission accomplished:

The People

97 year old birthday girl

Marybeth who said I "look surprisingly
good" after not seeing me in over 2½
months. I think that was
a compliment, no?

The one and only,  Carlo

   

Being with my beautiful
granddaughter, Rebeca... 

...and my beautiful granddaughter, Sara,
(22 years old next month.)

Beca's friend, Jasmine, another
super soccer player.

The Selfie

Jasmine, Sara, Mom, & Beca

Me, Mom, and Judith who takes care of it all 24/7

The Food

The best meal I've had in over two
months. Sister Judith's creation; she
makes it the best!

And the price we pay 

A good time had by all.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, the reality of mail, bills, shopping, income tax preparation, 12,000 miles maintenance service for Winnie, and doctor appointments all had to be dealt with. The reason I've waited so long to post my final blog is so I could share that all on that agenda have been taken care of:

Dr. Arthur Pidoriano

Jorge, Mercedes-Benz tech
in White Plains who serviced
Winnie 

The mail and bills have been taken care of. One large garbage bag of envelopes/fliers/papers have been discarded, another garbage bag of shredded paper is gone; income tax worksheet has been submitted and now I await the final meeting with accountant; shopping for perishables is complete. Winnie's service complete with thanks to Jorge; met with orthopedic surgeon and the date has been set for April 5th to do my hip replacement procedure: Three days in hospital, then home with PT through VNS.  In addition, I satisfied my sushi urge with a trip down to Hastings to see friends and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Sakura Garden. 

KJ, always a welcomed
dinner companion.

Fresh, thin sliced salmon appetizer
in the house marinade.

Sakura Garden Roll:
Lobster salad and shrimp tempura
topped with spicy crab, avocado,
and a golden sauce.

Rocky Shrimp Tempura, the
signature appetizer at Sakura.

And so it ends. There is one last request, however. Be sure to click and visit the VISITORS tab along the top of the blog page or CLICK HERE. It's finally updated and contains all the friends and relatives who have stopped by and visited me as I traveled. Thanks for your comments and I'll see you in May.
~~Charlie

KOA Jonestown-Hershey NE 3/10-3/11/2016

 KOA Jonestown-Hershey NE 

132 Miles - 3 hours 11 minutes

On site #52 for the night

Not much to share here. This was definitely the place to stop overnight before heading to the next location for RVers. I arrived around 2 pm and watched RV after RV pull in along Whitetail well into the evening. Then? In the morning, out they went; the same RVs I saw pull in the night before. The last leg of my journey home is about 3 hours and about 200 miles. This was my stopover to determine whether or not I would winterize Winnie for storage until my next trip in May. With the nice, mild weather I was experiencing these last three days, I decided not to bother and gamble we do not have two or three consecutive nights with temps below freezing. When I read that it is, it'll be no problem to run out to Cross River and do the deed.

The campsite itself was set on gravel with a concrete pad and picnic table. The General Store which also served the local community was great for the one night stay. They pump propane and the store was well stocked for the RVer and even serve hot foods. 

My last blog of the 2016 Winter Adventure season is next.

I can't call this the "Final Journey," right, George? How about "The last 200 miles

Once again I can say, the 3,400 miles I've driven over these past 55 days have been

enjoyable. Yes, the engine light was on for hundreds and hundreds of miles but try to

find a Mercedes dealer/service in KY, TN or WV.  A blinking engine light while driving on

the other hand is a different matter altogether and would have required emergency services

wherever they would have been found.

Happy Hills Campground 03/08 --> 03/10/2016

HAPPY HILLS CAMPGROUND

On the way, in White Hall, West Virginia, the fellas shown below did some troubleshooting
and determined the generator was fine; either the regulator was defective or I got a tank of
bad propane (I'm betting Camping World will find the former to be true.)

Dave, Mike, & Jim at Cummins
in White Hall, WV

While there I decided to lunch at Applebees. One of the waiters, Darin, took a liking to Winnie and voila, got the tour and a place in the Hall of Fame.

Owners, Terry & Pam (that I didn't meet)

My two night stay was different and interesting. Except for those rows in the green shading, the entire campground was composed of long term residents. Photos of the area follow. Remember, it's March 8th and really the first warm day I experienced outside of Florida.

Down the hill (looking west)

Winnie, the only short term visitor in the campground.

Up the hill

(Clean) bathrooms & showers, right across the way

Dirty though it may be, this
melting plowed mass is the
first and only sight of snow
I've seen this winter.

Flat, small stoned sites w/new picnic table.

Rudy and Lisa

My worst dream realized was to have no cell service AND their Internet "down."  Can you imagine? The horror of it all....and for the next 48 hours. I was beside myself before slapping myself into reality and calmly recited: "Here is you chance to prove to the outside world that I can survive without those two critical society-damaging inventions--the cell phone and the Internet." The first friendly couple who stopped by to 

admire Winnie was Rudy and Lisa. He offered his phone if I needed to make a call. His own Internet was via some provider other than the campground. Next he invited me to join them and their friends for the evening campfire. I respectfully declined having just driven 4+ hours and wanted to capture thoughts on my laptop. Each time he drove by on his golf cart, he checked in on me. He must have seen me with the withdrawal shakes and was concerned. Nice guy.

On my final day, Ed paid a visit to the bath house across the way and on the way back invited me over to his place for the evening campfire. That I accepted but wanted to return by 9 pm to catch the debates on TV. Yes, you heard that right: I watched TV...and both the Dem & Rep. on CNN with all the b.s. that came before and afterwards. No, sorry, no political commentary here.

Rich ("Pop"), Matt, and Ed
Yes, they're Happy

Anyway, when it got dark, I grabbed a beer and my chair and joined them already drinking. Pop is 75, retired from the MD DOT and lives here year round; Matt is 24, lives with his parents here and works at the campground doing almost anything that needs doing. He loves his job and living in the campground because of all the people he gets to meet. He's fascinated about where they come from and what they do/did for a living. Ed is in his early 70's, and has his "summer" place here. He lives in another part of MD. Well, after some time chatting, Matt announces that he's starving and has had no dinner. "Let's go into town to the Tavern, pick up some wings, have a couple of beers, and then come home." But...we had to do it quick cause the town shuts down about 9 pm.  So off we go in Ed's pickup, down the dark, winding, hilly back roads into Hancock twenty minutes away! (All the time I'm wondering how many beers has Ed had before I even showed up?) The first place we stopped was closed.  They couldn't believe it--a Wednesday and it's closed. Down the street we go to the next bar. In we go, there's no seats around a 20 chair bar and grubby as I looked and felt, those eyes of the patrons seated around who made the effort to turn and look knew I was a Yankee. I felt relieved 

Ed's pickup

when Ed started all the talking with his southern drawl. You knew he was a southern boy. Yes, Matt reminded me. Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon line. Ed orders three beers, Matt gets his wings, we finish, pay, and head back to Happy Hills, all the more Happy or at least Matt was. Ever been around folks that drink and drink and show no signs of intoxication? Well, young Matt's eventual slurred speech gave him away and my bladder gave me away.  So back home, safe and sound. I was surprised to see that it was just about 9 pm. But before I could bid them good night, Ed thought I should have a tour around the entire campground.  It is huge and filled with year round fifth wheelers. 

The next morning, off I went headed to the KOA in Jonesberg, PA. 132 miles away. My next to the last blog for the 2016 Winter Adventure will be posted real soon.

KOA at Flatwoods WV 03/04 --> 03/08/2016 - Part II

PART II

Good afternoon from Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV. This KOA is part of the Days Inn 200 room hotel back up on the hill.  For those who actually follow my printed itinerary or view it via the tab at the top of the page, you'll notice that the 3+ hour trip was to take me to Little Coal River Campground in Julian, WV.  That's where I arrived around 2:00 pm and found it empty and closed. Called the owner, Angela, who expected my arrival but apparently hubby, Jim, never got around to getting over to the campground to turn on water and electricity. I waited an hour and tried to use my propane run generator to provide the electricity for the heat but that didn't work out. Its erratic operation has been plaguing me for most of the trip and needs to be looked at. Add that to the "to-do" list.  There's a certified Cummins shop about an hour's drive north of here right off I-79 in White Hall, WV. It's on my way to Hancock, MD.  I called and made an appointment with Mr. Jim Burns tomorrow at 10:15 am.  Meanwhile, the campground itself was a big disappointment. It was bleak, small, run down, and appeared as if it were a roadside pull off or rest stop except it had the usual hookups of water and electricity....really rustic with no amenities other than the electricity and water.  It was depressing especially this time of the year and with the chilly, dreary day the thought of spending three nights there just didn't sit well. I was not at all concerned for my safety; the "atmosphere/ambiance" just wasn't there. But to be fair, based on reviews and comments I read, it's a very nice place in season with lots of nice things said about the accommodating owners.

After my frustrated hour, I took a quick, desperate look at my KOA camp book and voila, there was a year-round KOA Campground another 80 miles north in Sutton, WV.  I called, let 'em know I was coming and called Angela to tell hubby not to take off from his full time job to fix things here at the campground. Well, as I'm driving out, he's driving in.  We meet and greet and at the same time Angela's calling me to let me know he's on his way over. I felt terrible but after a little fast talking about my "predicament" (defective generator and low propane level) I was on the road again for another 90 minute ride to Sutton WV.

When I first arrived I had to stop at the hotel and sign in at the front desk. Got what I needed, assigned site #42 but before I left I went into Visions Restaurant  and treated myself to a real dinner.  As a guest at the campground I was allowed full use of all the hotel facilities. Alas, with no way to travel back up the hill from where the campsite was located except by foot, I had to pass. I could have tried but my hip would have said, Nay, Nay. When I leave however, Tuesday morning, I will stop by for their Continental breakfast, then head up north to have my generator serviced in White Hall.

Once again, when I arrived at my site 42, there were two other RVs already present, one of which was next to me on 43.  On the second day, I awoke and it was gone. Yesterday a big Class A pulled into that same spot and that too disappeared the next morning. Perhaps it was something I said? Did I push the envelope? Even today, the first RV I saw left and here I am all by myself. I'm not a sensitive guy but I didn't even see anyone to scare them off; I even showered. Okay, so when I get home I'll get a haircut. 

Some photos for you.

The road down from the hotel complex.

Plenty of empty sites. You can see the hotel on
top of the hill.

My only neighbor for the first two days.

Yes, they had two dogs and two kids. Wherever they went (walked) during the day, the
dogs yapped (not barked, yapped) the entire time. They were inside the RV and yet I still heard them.

Looking to my right I see this is the Mountain Lakes
Amphitheater

A 1,700 seat facility for summer concerts and cultural events.
Check its history: HERE

Gas fired with very real looking logs. Betcha very cozy on those
cool summer nights at a concert. Note my clever attempt to show
you where the gas valve is.

Front side, stage.

In the backside of the stage there is a small game room, bathrooms
and coin operated laundries. I opened the doors to show each.
The center door leads to back stage. $2.00/load. I did a load
while I showered in the men's room to the right

Bathroom/showers were immaculate and spotless,
a welcome sight after 5 hours on the road. By the time
I finished in here, clothes were ready for the dryer.

And, that folks, is about as exciting as it gets. If you need a laugh or a change of pace, allow me to show you the latest shot of my dining room table.

Geeze, I can't wait to get home. I've shown this before but now, there's more.
Thank you Diane & Ed
(I wonder if they took the bills and paid them for me.....nay, nay)

Today, Monday, is my last day here. Tomorrow I head further north and east to Hancock MD for 2 nights at Happy Hills Campground. The name is conjuring up some thoughts but I won't share them here.....yet.  Let's wait on that.

Till next time, thanks for reading.