We didn’t stay long in West Virginia – just two nights in Harper’s Ferry KOA. Last time we traveled this way we didn’t actually spend a night in West Virginia but we did spend the day in Harper’s Ferry. So we added a state to our map – #38 and we went back to see Harper’s Ferry again. Our campground was right at the entrance to the National Park there so we drove to the parking lot, got on a shuttle bus which took us to the lower end of Harper’s Ferry. It was a nice day – no rain – so we enjoyed seeing this old town filled with history.
On Friday, April 19th we drove to Gettysburg Farms RV Campground. Along the way, on Highway 7 in Virginia, we passed the world’s largest bottle of Car Engine Oil. We weren’t on the road very long on this particular travel day but it was remarkable since in a one hour span we drove from West Virginia, through Virginia then Maryland to land in Pennsylvania.
Gettysburg Farms is a Thousand Trails park so our twelve night stay was free. We stayed at this park two years ago. It is a farm with horses, llamas, donkeys, goats, chickens, roosters, turkeys and rabbits. There is lots to do, especially for children – two playgrounds, fishing in the river, a mini golf course, huge expanses of grass to play on, crafts, movies, candy bingo, petty zoo and more. I took advantage of a few of the craft activities and created a dreamcatcher and a sand art eagle picture. They have a great laundry, a nicely stocked Trading Post, and a good selection of books and magazines.
We had a few weather scares during our stay – tornado watches, thunderstorm/hail warnings, high winds. Luckily we were spared the worst and only had to contend with lots of rainy days. The sites here are nice but seem to always be muddy. Even with a good sprinkling of gravel where our car sits, the ground under the gravel is mushy all the time. Some sites have huge gouges where the vehicles slid through the mud. In twelve days, we only had a few hours where we could sit outside and feel a little sun. On the few days it wasn’t raining, it was very cold. It’s almost May and I am missing the dry heat and lovely hot sun of Arizona. It’s nice to see and smell grass and there are some pretty flowers here but this has been a very wet spring.
We had a very low key Easter/Passover. We traveled on Passover and then were worried about the rotating wind on Easter which was also Doug’s birthday, so we just kept it simple. Doug had found a restaurant we wanted to try but it was closed that Sunday and Monday (my birthday and Earth Day), so we dragged out our birthday celebrations by seeing a movie on Monday – “Best of Enemies” which was a timely addition to our recent visit to the Civil Rights Museum. And then we had a wonderful Italian dinner on Tuesday night at the Moonlight Café in Dover. We didn’t think to make reservations but we were lucky to get in and get served. It seems to be the most popular place in town. And any reputation it has is well deserved – the food was great. Doug gobbled up his gnocchi and cheesecake while I didn’t leave a speck of my manicotti and tiramisu. All in all, we feel like our birthdays were done right.
We did get out another day to visit the Utz Factory and to take their tour to watch potato chips being made. If you aren’t from the NJ/PA area you might not have heard of this brand but their chips and pretzels are great. This is our second potato chip factory tour. The last one on Prince Edward Island ended with samples of warm chips right on the production line. This one was just as interesting and we got a bag of chips at the end. We found out that Pennsylvania is the largest producer of potatoes that wind up as chips. We didn’t know that. We add it to the information we gleaned about the potato industry on PEI and Blackfoot Idaho (where in both places we went to their Potato Museums). And we add it to what we learned in Washington – that the Tri-Cities area is the French fry potato capitol of the world. Doug loves his spuds so we will continue to visit these places. We also checked out the factory store where we bought lots of snacks at really nice prices.
On Saturday, April 27 we had a really special dinner with our friends Lee and Jill who live near here. Lee and Doug have been friends forever and Jill and I love to explore how much we have in common. Our dinner at Warehouse Gourmet Bistro in Hanover was a few hours of great conversation and yummy food. We hope to see Lee and Jill again in June when we will be in Hershey. We love spending time with them.
On our little adventures through this part of Pennsylvania we once again comment on the huge expanses of perfectly manicured lawns. You just don’t see that attention to lawns in other places. We see something else here we don’t see much of in other parts of the country – bible signs in farm fields. Among the “Keep PA Beautiful”, “Thank You, Jesus” and election signs for the sheriff and judges, there are painted wooden signs with bible passages: John 3:16 “God’s only son died for you.” “Return unto the Lord.” “Watch ye stand fast in the faith.” Matthew 22:37-40 (I looked this one up.)
Tomorrow we leave Gettysburg Farms for Hatfield, PA. We will be close to Philadelphia and we are preparing ourselves to a full month of fun with all our family and friends near there. We already have a full calendar of events to look forward to. There will be lots of entertaining in our RV and plenty of visiting our children, grandchildren, my brothers and their families and good friends.
Looking forward to every minute of this!
