We're taking Pennsylvania at their word After spending long stretches in the same place over the past 2 years, we were excited to hit the road again. Our first stop was Reston VA for doctor’s visits and time with friends. From there we moved on to Pennsylvania, getting a chance to see Dave’s mom and sister for the first time in 18 months. Our next stops would take us to new destinations within PA, as we made our way toward New York, our destination for later in June.
A brood X cicada - one of thousands, make that millions Lake Fairfax Park – Reston VA
The sound was overwhelming. We stepped out of the truck at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, having travelled only 3 hours north from Richmond, but we had entered a different world. It was hard to make yourself heard over the song of thousands of cicadas that were filling the trees around us. Over the course of our stay in Reston (and southern PA), we were never without the reminders of their presence – the sound, swatting away the live ones and stepping over the dead ones. But it was a treat to be around for a 2nd time as they emerged. (Our first experience was 2004, when we lived here.) Where will we be when they return in 2038? Who knows?
The sound was overwhelming. We stepped out of the truck at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, having travelled only 3 hours north from Richmond, but we had entered a different world. It was hard to make yourself heard over the song of thousands of cicadas that were filling the trees around us. Over the course of our stay in Reston (and southern PA), we were never without the reminders of their presence – the sound, swatting away the live ones and stepping over the dead ones. But it was a treat to be around for a 2nd time as they emerged. (Our first experience was 2004, when we lived here.) Where will we be when they return in 2038? Who knows?
On a hike in Lake Fairfax Park Although this park was walking distance from our house when we lived in Reston 20 years ago, we had never really explored it until this visit. We knew it had a water park, and some picnic areas near the entrance, but we hadn’t ventured past them. We drove past cricket fields, soccer fields, a skateboard park as we made our way back to the campground, which was mostly an open field. The bathhouse had all individual showers, which was nice. We enjoyed long hikes through the woods in the park. Only when we looked at the map did we realize how close we were to the busy streets of Reston while we strolled through the woods by the stream that forms the lake.
Our motivation for this stop was doctor’s visits (all good), and to see friends. Cookie and Jerry had us for dinner one night, and we met Joe and Birgit for dinner at Reston Town Center, just a couple of days before they were to head out on their sailboat Freya for a Delmarva circumnavigation. We compared notes on sailing the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, doing overnights on the ocean, and other nautical topics, before we said goodbye. We were headed out the next day for Pennsylvania.
French Creek State Park in PA French Creek State Park – Douglassville PA
Wanting to spend some time with Dave’s mom and sister, we pulled into French Creek State Park, located in the middle of a triangle formed by Lancaster, Allentown and Philadelphia. Having booked the spot only the week before, the options were limited, but we thought we had chosen well based on a video of the campground loop we watched before committing to our site. As we pulled into the loop, we were already a little nervous. This road looked much narrower. The sites, most of which were full, had cars parked right up to the edge of the road. If we had this little maneuvering room, how would we managed to get the fifth wheel backed into our site.
Wanting to spend some time with Dave’s mom and sister, we pulled into French Creek State Park, located in the middle of a triangle formed by Lancaster, Allentown and Philadelphia. Having booked the spot only the week before, the options were limited, but we thought we had chosen well based on a video of the campground loop we watched before committing to our site. As we pulled into the loop, we were already a little nervous. This road looked much narrower. The sites, most of which were full, had cars parked right up to the edge of the road. If we had this little maneuvering room, how would we managed to get the fifth wheel backed into our site.
It always looks easy once you're in. When our site came into view, it was worse than we thought. Cars were parked into the road on the site next to us, and our site was narrow with little angle to make the process easier. Our neighbors graciously moved their car, and we prepared to make the best of this, as we were approached by another neighbor. Now, before we proceed, you have to understand that campers love to “give directions” and “help out” in ways that frequently end in confusion and swear words on our part. However, this gentleman spoke of a career driving fuel tankers for Sunoco, and we were open to suggestions at this point. With Dave following his advice and Cathy spotting in the rear, we managed to jockey the trailer back into the spot with the wheels just on the pad and room for the slides to come out. Expressing our undying gratitude, we exhaled as we had this ordeal behind us. But it helps us learn and hopefully improve.
Dave by Hopewell Lake on our hike to find the group cabins. Since we had chosen this park mostly for its location, we knew very little about it until we began reading the literature from the park upon our arrival. Through that we discovered that its history was parallel to that of Pocahontas State Park in Virginia. Originally a National Recreational Demonstration Area, it was established by the CCC during the late 30’s to recover overused land for use by those from nearby urban areas who lack easy access to the outdoors. Part of the original design and current facilities were – you guessed it --- CCC-built group cabins. This we had to see.
Hopewell Furnace NHS sits inside French Creek State Park Since the roads to the cabins were restricted to cabin guests, we decided to hike to them. Starting at the Visitor Center, (which we discovered was not for the state park, but for Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site sitting in the middle of the state park), we headed out on a muggy morning to find Cabin Group Camp 2.
Group Cabin at French Creek State Park The trails were poorly maintained –full of roots, large rocks, long sections of mud, and poorly marked. However, we did arrive at our destination, which we learned later was a group of 8 cabins designated as Unit 2 of Site 2. Later, we stopped at the state park office and got a map of the 2 group cabin sites, which caused us to realize we had seen only a small portion of the buildings. Site 2 had a central dining hall, staff buildings and another cabin group. Site 1 was even bigger, with 4 cabin groups around a dining hall and other out buildings. We did a 2nd hike to see a little of Cabin Site 1. The dining hall was smaller than those at Pocahontas, and the closest cabin group (Unit 1) was a long uphill climb. Our sympathy went out to the kids staying in the units that were even further up hill.
The dining hall at Group Camp Site 1 But what we learned was good information. The cabins had similarities that actually explained some oddities at the Pocahontas group cabins. And their differences were interesting as well, eg. the shutters mounted to open inside the cabin, as opposed to Pocahontas where they were mounted on the outside.
But our main reason for staying at French Creek was to visit family. We took 2 days to travel north to Allentown to visit Dave’s mom, sister Diane and friend Pam. Over the past couple of months, their energies had been consumed with problems in getting their heat pump replaced. Our arrival proved a welcome distraction and was timed well for Dave to meet the potential installer on his initial visit.
Gifford Pinchot State Park – Wellsville PA
Given pent-up demand for campsites and the soaring temperatures, we have been taking care to ensure we have reservations for weekends, so that we won’t be sweltering in a parking lot somewhere. That was how we arrived at Gifford Pinchot State Park, situated between York and Harrisburg in south central PA. Arriving early afternoon on a Friday, we had little trouble backing into our spot, which was a relief after our experience at French Creek.
Given pent-up demand for campsites and the soaring temperatures, we have been taking care to ensure we have reservations for weekends, so that we won’t be sweltering in a parking lot somewhere. That was how we arrived at Gifford Pinchot State Park, situated between York and Harrisburg in south central PA. Arriving early afternoon on a Friday, we had little trouble backing into our spot, which was a relief after our experience at French Creek.
Located in rural PA, this park was named for an early pioneer in forest management and a popular Pennsylvania governor, Gifford Pinchot. However, the lake at the center of the park was several feet below normal levels, so swimming was not allowed. That didn’t bother us. Instead we explored a bit of the surrounding area, visiting a U-pick strawberry field and (of course) sampling some Penn State ice cream at Sarah’s Creamery in town.
Ives Run Recreation Area – Tioga PA
With the weekend behind us, we moved north to our final stop before entering New York. Just south of the NY state line were 2 recreation areas around lakes managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. We had chosen the southernmost of the 2 – Ives Run Recreation Area. As we drove the last few miles through heavy rain, we were glad it had passed by the time we needed to park. Even though we arrived midweek, the large campground at Ives Run was full. We were pleasantly surprised that our campsite had full hook-ups, so we took advantage of the opportunity to sanitize our water tanks while there. And the storm had washed away the heat of the last week, which made our stay pleasantly cool and less humid. After a couple of nights, we were ready to head to NY.
RV Stuff
Our trip from Richmond to Reston was short, but eventful. First our tire pressure sensors on the truck’s tires stopped reporting in. First the driver’s rear tire. Then the passenger’s front tire. After a brief stop to check on them, they started reporting again – and then stopped again. We had driven 20,000 miles with no problems, so this was concerning. We managed (to our surprise) to make an appointment the next day to have it checked out. But the tire problems were just beginning. The trailer tires started having issues. At times, all 4 would drop out. They would come back and then individual tires would stop reporting in. It seemed like a conspiracy.
At our appointment at Brown’s Ram dealer the next day, the problem with the truck tires was identified as 2 faulty sensors. The replacements were installed the next day. That went much more smoothly than we had hoped, and they washed the truck for us as well.
The trailer tires were a bit more confusing. We assumed the batteries were weak, so we replaced all the of the sensor batteries. However, our next time out, we started having problems again, replacing the battery in the problem tire twice along the way. Dave was coming to the conclusion, confirmed by a conversation with someone from TST that our problems were related to the backup camera, compounded possibly by the age of our battery supplies. It was suggested that a repeater to bridge the distance between the truck and the tires would solve the problem, as well as some newer batteries. More to come on this one.
With the weekend behind us, we moved north to our final stop before entering New York. Just south of the NY state line were 2 recreation areas around lakes managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. We had chosen the southernmost of the 2 – Ives Run Recreation Area. As we drove the last few miles through heavy rain, we were glad it had passed by the time we needed to park. Even though we arrived midweek, the large campground at Ives Run was full. We were pleasantly surprised that our campsite had full hook-ups, so we took advantage of the opportunity to sanitize our water tanks while there. And the storm had washed away the heat of the last week, which made our stay pleasantly cool and less humid. After a couple of nights, we were ready to head to NY.
RV Stuff
Our trip from Richmond to Reston was short, but eventful. First our tire pressure sensors on the truck’s tires stopped reporting in. First the driver’s rear tire. Then the passenger’s front tire. After a brief stop to check on them, they started reporting again – and then stopped again. We had driven 20,000 miles with no problems, so this was concerning. We managed (to our surprise) to make an appointment the next day to have it checked out. But the tire problems were just beginning. The trailer tires started having issues. At times, all 4 would drop out. They would come back and then individual tires would stop reporting in. It seemed like a conspiracy.
At our appointment at Brown’s Ram dealer the next day, the problem with the truck tires was identified as 2 faulty sensors. The replacements were installed the next day. That went much more smoothly than we had hoped, and they washed the truck for us as well.
The trailer tires were a bit more confusing. We assumed the batteries were weak, so we replaced all the of the sensor batteries. However, our next time out, we started having problems again, replacing the battery in the problem tire twice along the way. Dave was coming to the conclusion, confirmed by a conversation with someone from TST that our problems were related to the backup camera, compounded possibly by the age of our battery supplies. It was suggested that a repeater to bridge the distance between the truck and the tires would solve the problem, as well as some newer batteries. More to come on this one.
“How tall is that bridge?” This is not a casual question, when you are driving in downtown Harrisburg. Given the high profile of an RV, it is helpful to have navigation software that will take this into account. We had used the CoPilot app in the past and had re-installed it for this summer’s journey. It allows you to input critical information about your RV’s height and weight, along with driving preference (avoid side streets, tunnels, etc.) in order to plan a route that will prevent driving down what will become a dead-end if we can’t pass under the bridge, for example.
However in Harrisburg, we found ourselves driving our 12’ tall RV under bridges that were uncomfortably low: 12’6” and 13’. Later, Cathy learned that she had been using the default RV specifications instead of the custom parameters Dave had input when he set up the app. Oops. However, even with the right profile being used, CoPilot chose this treacherous route. So Dave decided we needed to tell CoPilot that we were 13’ tall to prevent it doing this again. I hope it’s listening.
However in Harrisburg, we found ourselves driving our 12’ tall RV under bridges that were uncomfortably low: 12’6” and 13’. Later, Cathy learned that she had been using the default RV specifications instead of the custom parameters Dave had input when he set up the app. Oops. However, even with the right profile being used, CoPilot chose this treacherous route. So Dave decided we needed to tell CoPilot that we were 13’ tall to prevent it doing this again. I hope it’s listening.
Parting Shots
It was a rewarding couple of weeks for the Pocahontas’ Group Cabin Stabilization project. While attending monthly Friends of Pocahontas meeting on Zoom, we were thrilled to have the team presented with the Virginia State Parks Volunteer Group of the Year for 2020 by Dorie Stolley, Director of Community Engagement and Volunteerism, and Andrea Hasenfus, Virginia State Park’s Camp Host Program Manager.
It was a rewarding couple of weeks for the Pocahontas’ Group Cabin Stabilization project. While attending monthly Friends of Pocahontas meeting on Zoom, we were thrilled to have the team presented with the Virginia State Parks Volunteer Group of the Year for 2020 by Dorie Stolley, Director of Community Engagement and Volunteerism, and Andrea Hasenfus, Virginia State Park’s Camp Host Program Manager.
A week earlier, while cooling our heels waiting on our truck to be serviced, we had wandered through the nearby Wegman’s and grabbed a bite to eat. Coincidentally, Dave checked his email and discovered that Wegman’s had granted the project $1,000 in response to his application. That made our meal all the more enjoyable.
