Not a problem here....

Upper Deerfield Twp,  NJ

First the rains and then wind, lots of wind.  But we never lost power nor had any damage.  Branches are down all over daughter's yard but that happens every time the wind blows.

We were very fortunate considering we were about 35 miles from where Sandy hit land.  It appears the most severe damage is north and east of us.

This is the backyard yesterday just beyond where we are parked.   This happens every time there are heavy rains.  Len always called it Lake Phyllis.  We worked on Sunday putting all outdoor furniture and potted plants out of harms way.   We turned over the three smaller picnic tables in the yard.

 

Only emergency vehicles were permitted on the roads in this county most of yesterday.   Most roads were flooded.    We are in a rural area surrounded by a nursery on all four sides.    This is the road in front of the house.  The nursery also looked like a lake.

 

 

 

We spent the morning in the rig yesterday but once the winds really starting whipping we closed up and went into the daughters house.   Around 9 pm there were no strong winds so we opened up the slides and returned to the rig.  About 10 the winds started up again and we started shaking.   We closed the slides, remained in the rig and went to sleep.  

 

Today it is still raining.   The water behind us has receded.  

 

Other areas of NJ and surrounding states are devastated as I am sure you have seen from the television coverage.    We were blessed and fortunate.

Doesn't look good.

Upper Deerfield Twp,  NJ  (Cumberland County)


Oh my, here comes Sandy.    We will be hunkered down here in southern New Jersey awaiting what is being termed an historic storm.   

We thought about hitching up but where would we go?   North will be getting snow.    South would be heading into the storm.   West, again heavy rains/snow.   East?  That would be the Atlantic Ocean.  We are about 30 miles inland from Atlantic City.

I just heard that Wilmington, DE is being evacuated.  Wilmington is about 25 miles northwest right across the Delaware River.    Storm surges are predicted to be 4-8 feet in Atlantic City.   Not sure about Wilmington but the storm will be moving up the Delaware River.

Since we are in the northeast, I am glad to are here at the daughter's house.   We both have generators.  We will keep the fresh water tank filled in the rig.   Her stove is electric but of course we have our gas stove in the fiver. 

Plenty of food.  Good thing because the grocery stores are no doubt about empty now.   From the maps I've seen, we are in the middle of the storms track.

Hold on tight!   

Back at Camp Driveway

Upper Deerfield Twp,  NJ

We left Codorus State Park near Hanover PA on Tuesday and drove down to "camp" at our daughter's in southern New Jersey until around January 2.

It would have been a treat to stay at Codorus as it looks like they have Halloween down pat.

Rigs were moving in and getting their decorations set up.

 

 

 

 

 

We were talking to one couple who go there for Halloween weekend every year.  They said about 2,000 kids come through the park.   WOW!   That's a lot of candy to buy.   

 

Everywhere we looked the crew were hanging orange or white lights - on trees, on restrooms, along paths.   If it were not that far away, it would be fun to check it out.  However, Hurricane Sandy is expected to come through the area a day or so before.  I wonder how many rigs will be packing it in and heading home.

 

As for us, we will be fine here at Terri and Steve's house.   We have a generator, they have a generator.  We will have the rig's fresh water tanks filled.  We had a appointment in Delaware on Wednesday to get a 2nd A/C unit installed and the roof cleaned and checked out.   This can be done at a later date.    Who knows, after this storm we just might need additional work to be done.

 

 

A Charlotte and Abby weekend

Codorus State Park, Hanover, PA

We are in our last day here at Codorus. Tomorrow we head to NJ to Camp Driveway.

The last several days was spent playing with the granddaughters.   Charlotte had 1/2 day of school on Thursday and was off on Friday.    We picked both girls up on Thursday afternoon at their school and daycare.

One of the things we miss the most from this area is our morning coffee from WAWA, a convenience store like none other.  So on Friday we headed to Lancaster to get that coffee.  Oh yea, Lancaster is a more than an hours drive from Hanover but it was worth it.   The only fast-food restaurant the girls can eat at is Chick Fil-et as they have grilled chicken nuggets (no gluten).    They also offer fresh fruit as a side instead of french fries.  So lunch at Chick Fil-et it was.  

On Saturday Charlotte had tennis lessons at the library next to her school.   We met her Mom there.  While Amy and I watched Charlotte practice Len took Abby to the playground at the school.

Charlotte at tennis.  The pictures came out really dark even with good lighting in the gym and my flash on.  Don't know what this problem was.

Meanwhile Abby was outside doing her athletic thing.   She is quite the climber and a fast runner for such a little person.

That night we attempted a campfire.   No luck.  We've had lots of rain here the previous few days.  We bought wood from the camp store that appeared dry but Leonard just could not get it to burn.  In the future we will be prepared and have a fire starter log.

Yesterday early Leonard woke up to some type of stomach upset that kept him in the bathroom for extended lengths of time. 

We took the girls home in the early afternoon.  Amy had started dinner for us but due to Len not feeling like even looking at food, we decided to head back to the campground.   He slept most of the rest of the day.  Later I made turkey sausage and egg burritos for dinner and we called it a night.

This campground has electric only.   We note we are running really low on water even with using the camp's shower house.   Having 60 gallons of water for four people for 7 days takes a whole lot of conserving.

Today looks to be a "sit around and do nothing day".

INTERENT! I have Internet

Codorus State Park, Hanover,  PA

We left Sinnemahoning PA this morning and drove the 195 miles down to Corodus State Park where we have camped twice before for a few days.    Tonight we will drive over the daughter Amy's and surprise the granddaughters who are expecting to see us tomorrow.  They live about 20 miles from Codorus.

We now have cell phone coverage and Internet.  But still no Satellite TV.  Our site has large oak trees blocking the southern sky.   

While up near our cabin we went  to the nearby town of Benezette, the Elk capital of PA.   Up on Winslow Hill they built a |Visitor Center by the Elk viewing area.    This is the first time we've seen it as it opened in 2010.

After visiting this center and the one at Sinnemahoning State Park we are impressed!   The our delight, when we walked outside to return to the parking lot, there next to the building was this:

Earlier that day we came across a herd of 22 or so about 2 miles from the campground.   

The camping site we left this morning:

Daughter Terri, SIL Steve and their girl Cane came up over the weekend to help Len install a pump at our cabin in nearby Driftwood.  Cane was not a whole lot of help.  She was more interested in running down and checking out the river.

Unfortunately the pump motor was froze up.  It was given to us by a friend in construction who did not know if it was operational.   Oh well, guess we go to plan B.

On Sunday we attended the Methodist church in Emporium.  Some churches are welcoming, others not so much.  Last week we attended one in Renovo - only one person spoke to us, others looked the other way and pretended they did not see us. We will never go back.   But the people of UMC of Emporium were friendly and welcoming.    We were made to feel right at home. 

 This morning as we left Sinnemahoning these critters gave us a good look over. 

 Almost time to head over to surprise those grandkids!  Sure is good to be connected again.

Unplugged.....

Emporium,  PA

We are in north central PA where we have NO cell, Satellite TV or Internet.  Now having breakfast in an Internet cafe eating blueberry stuffed French toast.  Oh my!

We spent last week at

What a great state park.  Our site was nice.

The surroundings were beautiful with the changing leaves.

The sites are electric only but the bathrooms are beyond nice.

We left Ole (pronounced Oh Lee) Bull on Sunday and drove the 50 miles down to Sinnemahoning where we will be until the 18th.   The campground we are at is surely not a destination.   It only has 3 transient sites with electric and water only.   The rest of the sites are rented to people who use it as hunting/fishing camps.   But at $11.47 a night I have no complaints.

On the way here we saw one bear in someone's side yard.  This morning driving into town we saw a herd of 22 Elk.    Weather is great.  Tomorrow daughter Terri and hubby Steve arrive with the new pump to be installed in our cabin in Driftwood.

I hope to spent some time later in the week catching up on everyone's blogs.   Next time will try this great place for lunch or dinner!

Two days left

Ives Run COE, Tioga Pa

We have but two days left here in Tioga.   We had planned on going to a small campground in Sinnemahoning, Pa about 80 miles from here when we leave.  From that location we will be doing some much needed repairs to our family cabin up in the mountains near the neighboring town of Driftwood.

I attempted to call the campground a few times over the weekend but the line was always busy so we decided "what the heck, take a ride over" yesterday.    We left Tioga around 9:30 and headed out on route 287 and connected with Pa Route 6 in Wellsboro.  I am the navigator and somehow had us headed east instead of West.   We got about 20 miles down the road when I realized my mistake.  This is unusual for me.   I am really quite a good navigator.   I became somewhat frustrated with myself.

Shortly after we got turned around we saw two fifthwheels pulled to the side of the road with a man checking something under one of them.  As is our usual practice when we see a RV pulled over and we are able to safely stop, we check to see if help is needed.

It appears a branch had caught in the frame and the man was pulling it out.   The woman in one of the rigs noticed our NOMADS placard on the side of the truck and she and her husband asked Len about it.   They are recent fulltimers, also Methodist and are looking for something else to do but travel.   We talked to them about NOMADS and gave them brochures.  They were excited about this possibility and said they could not wait to check the NOMADS website.   We believe it was no accident I got us turned in the wrong direction.  We call this a God Thing.

A while further down RT 6 we picked up Rt 872 that took us 45 miles directly into Sinnemahoning.  Len said he needed to find a restroom.  We knew Sinnemahoing State Park was on this route and having been there many times knew there would be a restroom.    We found the park and pulled in.   After coming to this area for over 40 years, what a surprise.  Last year a Nature/Visitor center was opened.  

After using the facitilies and checking out the center, we drove on to the campground.    We stayed at this campground 5 years ago when we put a new roof on the cabin.  It had lots of open fields and the cost was reasonable.  Now the field is full with permanent sites.  We found the owner who told us he only has 3 sites for transients now.   And since this is a good time of year for Elk viewing he has no site available until late Sunday.   As we know there is no way to get the rig up to our cabin, we booked for 11 days starting on Sunday.    The "campground" has only electric and water for transients but at $12.00 a night, who cares!  Our black tank is good for 3 weeks and the owner said the gray can be run on the ground.  

After lunch at the only place open in the area, we drove the four miles up in the mountain to check out the cabin.

It's not much.  When my Mom and Dad bought it in the mid 60's it had no plumbing, electric, etc.   They added a few creature comforts such as propane heat, running water with even a toilet and shower and electricity.  

This building was once a one room schoolhouse.   It sits about 500 feet up a hill overlooking a river called Mix Run.  We need to replace the pump this trip. Fortunately there is a wood stove inside.  Last year we bought two new 100 pound propane tanks and had them filled.  They were placed on a cement slab and chained.   I guess someone in the area needed them more than we did as they were disconnected and disappeared.  Won't be doing that again!

The name Mix Run comes from a local family who lived about 1/4 mile up the gravel road.   Nothing is left of this homestead but a foundation and a few stone pathways.   The cowboy actor Tom Mix was born there and went to this schoolhouse.   If you don't know who Tom Mix was - Google it!

We decided to take another route back to Tioga to determine which one would be best to bring our rig down.   The roads are narrow and curvy in this area of Pa.   We took route 120 from Sinnemahoming which connects to Rt 144 near Renovo.  

On 144 we passed another state park - Ole Bull.   We turned there and secured a campsite for Thursday to Sunday.   Electric only, but that's okay.  The area is gorgeous.  Our route has been decided - Rt. 144 it is.