Traveling Through Pennsylvania On the Way to Maine....

June 19th.     High: 85      Low: 60      Site: 149 at Timothy Lakes S.

We left Brian's house (Eldy's son) after a week of recuperating from time zone changes and a red eye flight from Alaska back home to Indiana. (Note: The Alaska blog is still coming, Sparky just is still sorting through and finding the best of the best photos to publish all about Alaska.)

It was great to see family and just relax after maximizing our mileage during our two weeks in Alaska. We were almost always on the go there so we needed time to wind down from all the excitement. Sparky rode the Pumpkinvine Trail for a record number of miles this time--all the way from Goshen to Shipshewanna and back, 32 miles. She did it two days in a row. Sparky loves that trail for all the glimpses into Amish farm life. She saw a little Amish girl leading her little pony to a little cart and her little brother tagging along on their farm at the side of the trail. She couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old. She saw LOTS of laundry hanging out on clotheslines at the Amish and Mennonite farms. Sparky loves to see all the laundry hanging out on the clothesline, because it reminds her that she use to hang up her family's laundry on a clothesline as one of her chores as a kid, and that was in a Chicago suburb back in the 50's! Sparky saw the little "rare specimen", the cactus that has started regrowing in a little patch by the bike trail after being mowed down a few weeks ago. As reported previously, it's doing well! Pretty unusual for a cactus to be thriving in Indiana in the shade at the side of a bike trail, for sure!

We traveled from Indiana to Ohio, staying at a Thousand Trails (our membership) park for free for two nights at Lake Kenisee in Ashtabula, Ohio. If you spend any time there, be sure to do the covered bridges tour, covered in a previous blog. We enjoyed our stay there very much this time, although it was a short two days. The pull through spaces at Lake Kenisee are extremely roomy and spacious between sites. WOW! Look at all this room! They have a huge field behind the pull thru sites that they could definitely add more RV sites, but they haven't done so, despite the fact that the pull thrus fill up really fast and the rest of the park is heavily seasonal and annually rented out.

They do have very strict speed limits in the park, 5 mph. and according to park management, it is strictly enforced with strict penalties if you can't manage to keep your vehicle slowed down enough in the park.  

Sparky loves this park because the Great Western Reserve Bike Trail, a Rails-to-Trails bike route, is within two miles of the park. She rode two straight days in a row, over twenty miles each time. This trail is well shaded in either direction you set out from at the trailhead that is close to the RV park. The trail is mostly forested, with a few open spaces where you can see farms and cornfields in the distance. There are a few wildflowers this time of year but for the most part, the trail is a little on the boring side...Sparky saw some blooming sweet peas....pretty!

The trail is nice and flat and level, however...Sparky saw this beautiful wildflower and had to look it up....Viper's-bugloss or blueweed....It used to be used to treat snake bites a long time ago!

On to Pennsylvania! We are staying for ten days at the Thousand Trails Timothy Lakes South campground/RV park. Timothy Lakes South is in the heart of the Pocono Mountains, so read that as the campground is heavily wooded, so read that as watch your rig when pulling in and out of areas in and around the campground, and choosing a site. Look up above for low hanging branches that could scrape your rig roof. (Ask us how we know!) 

When you drive into a Thousand Trails campground, you have to drive around and find your own campsite, having previously booked a site which you pick once you come into the campground. You have a site, you just don't know which one it's going to be until you get there and look around. It's a lot harder to pick a campsite when you are towing a 41 foot rig behind you and trying to decide what site will work as you maneuver around the campground. The first site we pulled in was tight. Sparky knew we were in trouble when three people started watching us pull in a site that really wasn't big enough or wide enough for good clearance. They were like, OMG, they are going to try and fit in that site! (OMG! Now you tell me! fusses Eldo.) We had some branches scrape the side of our rig. Guess they weren't so soft! 

Back window view

The second choice was much better! We have a lovely view out our back window. A deer walked right behind our rig our first night here! Sparky got a shot with her phone as it walked off. We also saw a momma turkey with eight little chicks crossing the road just outside our campground today...lots of wildlife around for sure! The little ones are hard to see in this iPhone photo, but they were there. So cute!

Sparky saw a sign today..."Caution: MAJOR Wildlife casualty area"....Must be a ton of deer collisions in the area, it's all winding roads, blind curves and mountainous, you can see why the need for the sign!

It's going to be a noisy weekend, with barking dogs, lots of families and Father's Day weekend. But that's ok...Sparky will get to see little kids and families camping, always a wonderful thing and she loves that this park is near the Delaware Water Gap. Should be some great hiking and/or biking trails nearby! It is tough to get information right now about the area, as Pennsylvania seems to be a little more "buttoned up" from Covid and visitor's centers for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are not open. Sparky will try to get information online and from trail apps to get out and hike.

By the way....Eldo is growing a beard if you haven't seen it on Facebook. Sparky loves it! If you don't like beards....SH-SH-sh-sh-shhhhhhh....Just keep it to yourself. He is waffling back and forth about keeping it or not. The great consensus so far, is.....YES! Nice look! This is the first time he has ever had one. His brother has one, his son has one, it's time, Eldo!

Happy Father's Day weekend to all you dads out there! A shout out to all of Sparky's brothers who are wonderful dads...they cook, they clean, they take good care of themselves so they can take good care of their families. A shout out to Eldy's son and son-in-law, who are also great dads...And with that, we will see you again soon...right here!