I skipped Thursday, mostly because I don't remember Thursday. A migraine had taken over my head, so I only remember being alert enough to eat, and get an ice pack out of the cooler to put on my head. God's mercies are new every morning and I'm banking on His promise that He is sufficient.
Doug says the drive today (Friday) is much different than yesterdays. So I had him recall the drive of yesterday.....
Thursday was moving day, we were up, packing and moving toward our next one-nighter - Choice Camping Court in Mann's Choice, PA.
We started out in Coolville, Ohio going through Parkersburg
crossing the Ohio River back onto the WV road of US 50. US 50 mimicked the roller coasters - Wild
Eagle, Tennessee Tornado and the Mystery Mine at Dollywood all rolled into one.
Near Clarksburg, WV, the gas tank was sloshing on empty.
When we pulled off the road, there was no where to turn to get into the gas
station that was built for trucks. We drove down the road to turn around only
to find a road with no turnaround. We continued down this road about 2/10th
of a mile and what is sitting on the side of the road – a BP station with
gas. Not only that but a great in/out. God leads the blind (and dumb).
Taking I-68, across to Maryland’s welcome center we found
one of the most beautiful views so far on the trip. We had a “quick” lunch of
homemade sourdough bread, sandwich meat and BBQ chips before the rain started.
The rain started about the PA line and stayed with us for the rest of the drive
and light sprinkles during camper setup.
Arriving in Mann's Choice, PA we arrived at the camping court and got checked in at the office. This "Camping Court" is more permanent campers and full time people living here in campers, than those who come for a week to enjoy the great outdoors. The great outdoors consisted of the PA Turnpike on one side and the county road and farmland on the other. We heard the faint rumble of the truckers all night. Faint because we had the AC turned on.
The hardest part of setup was determining which camp site
was ours. B6 would be between B5 and B7. BINGO! Except there were two sites
between B5 and B7. Doug backed into the one we thought was B6 and we settled in
for the night.
We drove around Mann's choice and Bedford after setting up, we found my two favorite types of shopping - frozen custard and a thrift store.
Bedford and Mann's Choice area is wide open agricultural land situated between mountain ranges with towns that are tired looking.
While out and about, we passed the fairground that was crowded with people for the Derby. Hundreds more were hunting parking premium parking sports, while others hurried along the sidewalk to get tickets and find seats for the demolition derby.
We passed a 1760s tavern Jean Bonnet Tavern while tooling around Bedford, PA. I would like to have dinner there sometime.
Approaching the entrance to the camping court, Doug noticed red and blue flashing lights. What was going on? As we turned in, people were clustered around a travel trailer parked on the left. first responders were scurrying around and then we noticed the smoke coming from the camper.
Evidently the camper was on fire and the whole campground had come out to see what was happening.
Friday morning dawned clear, sunny and cool.
Cereal breakfast, make bed, teeth, pills, straighten up
camper, Doug starts outside pack up – black tank dump, gray tanks dump, unhook
water, stabilizer jacks up; hook camper to truck, front jacks up, lock camper
and ready to go. NOT! I looked on driver’s side and realized that the slide was
still out. We would definitely not get far. Unlock camper, put in slide, take
out trash and we are on our way.
So far, the drive today has been through expansive rolling
farmlands, as turning wind mills dotted the ridges in the distance.
We have traveled through North Carolina, Virginia, West
Virginia, Ohio, PA and Maryland on our way to New York today.
The country side is open farmland, the roads have alternated
between interstates, turnpikes and two-lane.
Today is the first day of cooler weather, starting out at 68
degrees, climbing to 79 degrees and now at 12:45 p.m. the outside temperature
is 70 degrees with winds.
We pulled off in a small town - Trout Run, PA for lunch. An Exxon station doubled as a gas station and two restaurants - Subway, Fatburgers. I'm boycotting subway because they removed roast beef from their menu, so we had Fatburgers. This is nothing like the mini burger at Mustards in Old Fort. It was more of a thin skinny burger. It reminded us of Freddie’s burgers in Irmo, SC.
This afternoon’s drive was along an exposed ridge on North
15. The wind gave the camper a wiggle, making the driving interesting.
I’ve noticed that small towns are called townships or
boroughs or villages, having markers on the interstate.
Historic Bowman Field sat along the highway as we traveled north. There is just so much to see.
Our Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night parking took place in Prattsburgh, New York at Finger Lakes Campground - probably our best so far!
