Maiden Voyage Day 12

Made it home today.  The drive from Erie PA to Lowville NY was great.  We had a sunny day, temps in the 50s, light breeze.  Made the 300 mi in about 6.5 hrs.  The fall foliage along the way was spectacular!
Camper is in it's spot and we'll clean it up and put it away tomorrow.

We were also greeted by some nice fall foliage in the yard.

We had a great time on this maiden voyage and are both sad to put the camper away for the winter.  We learned a lot.  Many of our old camping memories are coming back to us. I'm very comfortable towing now (the first few days was a trial), and set up and tear down gets faster each time we do it.
This will be it for the Maiden Voyage thread on this blog.  Check back in the spring for our next adventure.  We will do some NY camping trips next spring and summer ahead of our first winter trip away from home.
Deer hunting starts next Saturday, so I will have a new passion for the next two months.
Hope everyone enjoyed this, we sure had fun updating it each night.

Maiden Voyage Day 11

Early to bed last night and sleep great!  Rained like the forecast said and the rain on the camper roof was very soothing.
Woke up this morning after sleeping in and the rain had stopped.  So game day was off. Steak and eggs for breakfast, Took Kaylee back to Presque Island State Park and we had a blast.  Kaylee ran her legs off! The leaves in this area are beautiful this week, so we did a short drive and lots of walking to view them.
Decided tonight was seafood night so we got some swordfish and shrimp at Wegman's. Will be doing both on the little egg.
Meet a young man who works at the campground. He is huge into fishing this area.  He gave me his name and phone number and said to call next time we are in the area and he will show me all the local fishing hotspots.
Last campfire tonight and we are both a little forlorn. We are looking forward to our long winter camp trips in the future.
Should be an easy drive home home tomorrow, about 300 mi.
Will post tomorrow when we make it home.

Maiden Voyage Day 10

Today was one of the best days yet.  Left Gina's this morning after a few cups of coffee and toast and jelly.  We had a great time in Newark OH and are looking forward to another trip there.
The drive today was short and enjoyable (255 mi).  Most of the drive was back roads through OH and it was great, leaves are turning, foliage was beautiful. Last few miles was on I90, but went quick and we arrived at the campground around 1430.  It was nice to have all afternoon to set up and relax. Had a nice dinner after a short walk with Kaylee.
Here's a few pics of the camp site:

This is the most level site we have had yet and we are both looking forward to a great night's sleep.  Weather forecast is rain...rain...rain..tonight and tomorrow, so Cath and I have decided tomorrow is game day!  She wants to learn cribbage (should be fun).  We also have a few other indoor projects: catch up on our journal, update roads we have traveled on the map, and clean up the camper.  If we don't get rain we are off to Presque Island State Park again.  Kaylee had a great time there and we would really like to walk the beach when the winds are not gale force.
Plan to leave here Saturday morning and head to the house.  We will both be sad to winterize the camper for the winter as we are really enjoying this traveling around.

Maiden Voyage Day 9

Had another great day with Gina.  Up again late last night catching up on new and old times.
Bacon and eggs for breakfast.  We spent the day fixing some under sink plumbing problems and once again did some wood.  Gina says she has more wood then ever before.
Got the camper ready to travel tomorrow as we are off to Erie PA on the way home.  Easy drive tomorrow (only about 230 miles).

Kaylee is exhausted (I know, hard to believe) but she has been chasing squirrels for the last two days.

Looks like rain starting tomorrow night, Hopefully will be good weather for the drive tomorrow.
Pork,onion, and pepper stir fry for dinner.  Sure can't complain about food on this trip.
We are having a great time, I think this "camping" stuff agrees with us...LOL.

Maiden Voyage Day 8

Had a great time with Gina last night.  We stayed up till 0100 catching up on new and old times.
Coffee and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  We spent the day doing a few projects around the house, cut/split some wood, and little plumbing work.
Got the camper leveled and blocked first thing...sorry...forgot to get some good pics.
Plan on a few more projects and a lot of BSing tomorrow.  Right now it's time for an AB!

Maiden Voyage Day 7

Today was a travel day.  Holland MI to Newark OH.
Said bye to Erich after a nice breakfast.  Hooked up the camper and hit the road. Once again we broke our rule, the trip was 397 miles.
Got to our friend Gina's house with no problems.  Did a lot of back roads through IN and OH. Nice country and the scenery was much nicer than the inter-state.  
Gina's house is on a very steep hill and the camper would not fit up the driveway (no where to turn around).  So we left it in the yard at the bottom of the hill.  The yard was very soft and of course it slipped off the front jack.  The hitch is buried!  I'll post pics tomorrow.
Enjoying a cold one now and Gina made one of my favorites - Nasi Goring and Babi Pangangsaus,  Yum-Yum!.

Maiden Voyage Day 6

So here a few pics of the trick'n'treaters from last night. Rain did not deter them.  This was a hoot!  Probably had over 200 kids.  We went through maybe 300 tiny candy bars (thank God for Walmart).

The Table (pic above) was our favorite.  

Erich came over this afternoon.  We had some really good steaks, baked taters, and salad.  

We walked the trails today and they are awesome!  Dunes with oak trees.  Kaylee had a blast as she has been on a lease for a few days.  Chased squirrels all day, she is Visla'ed out!

Last night every campsite (250 on them) were full.  Spent the morning drinking coffee and watching the mass exodus.  There are maybe four or five of us in the entire campground now.  

Had a few locals stop by this evening as they were taking their evening walks.  These folks own million dollar homes, but were totally impressed by our little camper.  We had a small campfire going, sipping a little wine, and of course the Wild Visla on display.  Took showers (me in the camper, Cath in the bathhouse).  Early to bed as we are leaving tomorrow. 

Maiden Voyage Day 5

We both slept like a log last night, it was a long drive yesterday and a tough set-up last night.

Erich showed up around 0700 this morning.  Was GREAT to see him.  Had a few cups of coffee and Cath made breakfast (tortilla & eggs with bacon).  BS'ed for awhile, then he left to get a few hours sleep.  The outage schedule sucks!
Here's a pic of our site. Kaylee is standing on the camp road/walking path. Maneuvering that camper around that tree was not fun in the dark, the park is lucky I didn't cut it down (and I do have a chain saw with me).

So here is the story about this campsite.  I made reservations probably two months ago. Almost all the sites were open, only a few reserved.  We show up last night and the place was packed, probably over 200 campers here.  Turns out they have a "Fall Festival" every year on this weekend.  It's like Halloween!  Most people are decorating their campsites for Halloween.  The camp host had 1000 pumpkins that were free for the taking.  Everyone has carved them up and there are Jack'O'Lanterns everywhere!  Kids are trick'n'treating tonight from 1800 - 1900.  WHAT A HOOT!
Bratwursts and fried potatoes for dinner, we found a nice butcher shop when we had to go shop for candy for the  trick'n'treaters.

Maiden Voyage Day 4

Planned to leave early, took us 1.5 hours to pack-up, hitch-up, and hit the dump station.  So we did not get on the road until 0930 (not the plan), but we are getting faster.
Great weather for a change, but was really windy.  I need to pay attention as the camper in the wind wants to drift a bit.
Stopped at Cabela's in Dundee MI.  Both of us got new walking boots, fleeces, and a few shirts.
Back on the road again we hit major traffic jams as there was numerous accidents on the interstate. So we got off the interstate to take a few back roads and probably lost 1.5 hours traveling farm roads.  Oh well it sounded good when we started.
Finally arrived at our site at Holland State Park MI at 1930.  Took an hour to set up in the dark.  That was great fun as we stuck a 30 ft RV in a 20 ft RV slot (and still don't have it real level).
Took Kaylee for a walk, sandwiches for dinner, lots of JD, a quick shower, and now it's off to bed.
Will post some pics in the morning as it's dark out now.
BTW: Broke our rule of 300 mi per day.  We did 482 today...never again!

Maiden Voyage Day 3

Finally a sunny day.  We left camp to to go to Presque Island State Park.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/presqueisle/

What a beautiful place.  Look at a map of Erie PA, it is the land the juts out into the lake. Today was really windy and the surf on the lake was up.  Hard to see from the pics but I'd estimate 4-5 footers.

Cath packed sandwiches and grapes for lunch.  We stopped to get a few things at Walmart on the way and left Kaylee in the truck.  When we went to eat our lunch one of the sandwiches was gone.  I had found a wrapper in the truck at Walmart, but really didn't make the connection.  I was just glad it was Cath's sandwich and not mine!

There are three lighthouses at the Park.  You can see the one near the Coast Guard Station in the above pic.  Here's a shot of another one built in 1870.  It is now a private home.

We're back at camp now.  BBQ chicken thighs and Orzo salad for dinner.  I'm sipping a Genny Light as I type this.
Off to Holland MI tomorrow morning.