Monday, July 9, 2012

Travel Day to West Virginia (!)

Falling Waters, W VA  High: 96  Low: 72
Today was another travel day.. The temperatures rapidly climbed back into the high eighties after that wonderful night spent with all the windows open in Fort Chiswell, Virginia, and temperatures in the sixties at night! Thanks to everyone who emailed to ask if we were ok from the Sevierville, TN storms which hit hard in Cades Cove. We just left the morning that they came through that day in the afternoon! Couldn't believe all the damage and the injuries from that storm that we saw on TV. And to think we were just there in the area where the worst of the storm hit. We had no idea it was coming the day we left.
Jeannie and Cate working on our blogs, Trevor is chillin'
We spent hours last night and this morning searching for RV parks to stop at along I-81 in the northwest corner of Virginia, but there were so many expensive parks with so-so reviews, that we decided to keep going. Sherry, of RV Dreams, suggested a park, Endless Caverns in New Market, but we didn't catch the email soon enough--thanks, Sherry, for the thought, we really appreciate it! We had already gone past the exit and Eldy had decided he would keep going. Today's drive was about 267 miles, a  relatively short drive for him, and the grandkids did great. For the record, Sparky did great, too! The grandkids have been spending hours in the rig watching youtube videos and playing music and movies. We just found out that we are at 50% of our data usage for the first two days of July on our Verizon plan! Holy cow! The kids are going to have to forego watching videos going down the road or we'll be so far over on our data usage we'll have a whopper of a bill by the end of the month! They didn't know about our limited plan, but they do now! :-)  This might encourage some alternative activities like playing cards, or reading a book! What a concept! Very foreign to today's techno kids...Sigh! Sparky, the teacher, is biting her tongue many many times....And doing her best to keep them engaged in educational stuff...but it's a battle.....

For a brief moment, we entertained the idea of heading on to Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park, Maryland, near the Washington D.C. area, but the kids just didn't seem enthused about going to Washington, D.C. (!) Guess maybe you need to be a little older to appreciate that wonderful town! Exploring D.C. in two days would have been difficult, hot, and probably frustrating! Cherry Hill sounds like a wonderful spot to stay, though, if you are exploring the D.C. area. But we are back to our original plan of heading to Hershey and Gettysburg, PA by Sunday.

We found a park called Falling Waters. It's a no frills, overnight park kind of stay. Thirty-three dollars, a bargain compared to many parks in the fifties and sixties range in this area. We spent hours researching the parks, checking out recommendations, and reading more than one reviewing site to finally settle on Falling Waters. The park is attached to a family compound, and there is a shady, nice section of the park on the level of the RV supply/parts store, then an upper level for bigger rigs needing sewer. No shade on the upper level, a gravel parking lot....But it's priced in our range, full hookups, 50 amp, and it's about 1.3 miles from I-81 in the town of Falling Waters. The park specializes in overnight, quick stays, you don't need to make a reservation, you just call ahead as you are traveling toward the town, and they put your name on a site for you. They say they can accommodate over 99% of the time for requests using this informal booking/reservation system. Time to kick back and rest...No rest for the weary, Eldo is researching where to stay for tomorrow.....Bye for now.....

6 comments:

  1. There is a Maryland State Park very close to where you are staying now. Greenbrier State Park on RT 40 just east of Hagerstown, MD. They only have electric service, but have water spigots nearby to take on water. Dump station on the way out.

    We have camped there many times in our 36ft motorhome and recently camped in site C-38 with our 40ft mh. Tight fit, but doable.

    They have a nice lake for swimming and lot of hiking trails in the area. Not sure if this is what your are looking for, but a nice quiet place.

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  2. That sounds wonderful. We always look at state parks first. We love them, but find they are often restrictive as to what length they will accept. After scratching the rig up high rather badly due to a hidden sawed off tree limb in some pine branches we didn't see at the last tight spot we were in, Eldy is understandably reluctant to pick a site where it's a tight fit!

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  3. I usually just drive and find a good spot for the night, or a week or two. But every so often I get stuck and just can't find a decent place, even for an overnight. It's so frustrating!!! I'm glad you found a nice, safe place. Hope you get a super campground for your next stop. :)

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  4. We are having the same issue with RV parks coming across 80. Iowa and Indiana are terrible. Either there are none or they are above our budget. Crazy!

    Oh my...yes, youtube will eat that them real fast.

    Our friends stay at Cherry Hill all the time. They love it. Info for the next time you are in the area.

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  5. I was going to ask what type of Internet connection you had with watching the you tube videos. LOL I would love to be able to watch some, but I need to watch my usage.

    We may be going to DC in a few weeks. There is so much to see and do, but I can understand it not being something on the kids' list of things they want to do. We were there several years ago and loved it.

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  6. ahhh yes. . .we too learned how much data watching videos eat up. . .our grands were also watching movies online. . .ouchy!

    Hershey Park should be a wonderful experience. . .enjoy!

    Janice
    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.blogspot.com

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