A Quick Stay in PA

We spent only two nights at Twin Bridge Campground in Chambersburg, PA because we were on the way to Hershey, PA. If you don't have a weekend reservation at a campground in 1.) the fall, 2.) during October and Halloween mania, (which for RVers is just about a month long celebration), you are up a creek without a paddle. We had a TOUGH time finding a weekend campground because we didn't book out far enough, two weeks isn't enough when you are looking at fall leaf season/October/Halloween in Pennsylvania. But we did find this campground.  It's a good location for exploring nearby town of Gettysburg, about 30 miles. 

It's really nice....and different as far as layouts of sites goes. Most RV campgrounds are laid out with the sites many in a row, fairly close to each other. This campground has singles spread out, or two here, two there, in pairs, and then quite a few of them in rows depending upon which part of the campground you are, in a variety of settings--creek side, field, shade, no shade, surrounded by farmland. We are in the field for two nights with just water and electric and 30 amp for 39.00 a night in October.The backdrop for this lovely setting is the Tuscarora Mountains. It is in Chambersburg, PA, near Gettysburg, Shippensburg, and Hagerstown, MD. AND--a portion of the Appalachian Trail runs through Pine Grove Furnace State Park, which is about an hour from the campground. Oh, boy...Sparky is hoping to get on the trail, but it's Eldo's turn to do something he wants to do, maybe visit Gettysburg or something. So we shall see.....Today we just spent relaxing after a harrowing drive (well, sort of,) from the Uniontown KOA to here...Steep grades for quite a bit, traveling on route 30, 8 and 9% grades. VERY hilly. The truck performed admirably. (That's Chuck, the truck, the Dodge Ram diesel 3500 Laramie Longhorn dually.) Sparky decided to give it that name. Many RVers name their rigs and their trucks/motorhomes. We don't have a name for our Pinnacle yet, as Sparky hasn't decided the gender yet. But the truck is definitely Chuck. (Eldo is just shaking his head....)

At any rate, the next day, we decided to go explore Gettsyburg. Unfortunately, we decided to explore on a Saturday afternoon and not early Saturday morning. The streets all along the battlefields were crawling with cars, and downtown Gettysburg sidewalks were very crowded with tourists as well. We went to the visitor's center and got some information. We thought about doing a double decker bus tour where you could sit out on top and be in the fresh air and be safer than sitting in an enclosed bus for 2-3 hours, but it got to be too late in the afternoon. There was also a car audio tour we could have done, but we like hearing the real rangers or tour guides on a tour. At that point, we decided it was best not to be around such big crowds and we would return another day, another time, and try during the week. We were really surprised at how crowded it was this late in the season! But it's fall, the leaves are incredible, and it's getting closer to Halloween.

Time to leave again...Do we get tired of moving around fairly frequently? No, not yet. We are moving around a little more at the moment because we can't extend our park stays through the weekend so we have to find alternative campgrounds to cover for the weekend until Halloween is over. When we get into December, we will start staying in our membership parks for up to three weeks as a time. FREE....(Thousand Trails membership, Sparky and Eldo really like it.)

We arrived today, Friday, at Thousand Trails Hershey Pennsylvania RV Park. It's just outside of Hershey, the "sweetest town in America". A friend asked Sparky if she could smell the chocolate driving through town. No, darn it! 

It's a beautiful park out in the countryside, actually located in the town of Lebanon,PA. When you arrive at a Thousand Trails park, you don't get a specific assigned site, you have to drive around and find an open one you like, which is a little challenging when you are still hitched up and pulling a 41 foot rig behind you. We found a good pull through site with full hookups. 

Just an FYI...Many Thousand Trails do not have full hookups--(water, sewer and electric). Many Thousand Trails parks do not have very many or NO pull throughs. If you want 50 amp in a newer section of this park, it's 3.00 a day additional charge. It's hilly here, so you have to pick your site carefully or be prepared with stacker blocks (some kind of blocks to put under your jacks so you can get your rig level).

It's a beautiful park, the sites are spacious in some sections, and a little tighter and closer together in other sections. Lots of amenities but restricted during Covid. Newer playground, pool, horseshoes, mini golf, pickle ball, swan paddle boats, laundry, a spa (closed, darn it!) and more.

We will be here five days..it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so it's going to be a Cabelas (THE sporting goods store, an experience in itself), and a Camping World store kind of day. Sparky is researching rails to trails bike trails. They are out there, somewhere, she's sure!

Happy fall, y'all!