Last Few Days of Our Trip

Sunday, August 23, 2015

We left Grandpa's Farm in the morning heading for West Virginia and made great time on I-70.  There was some road construction but nobody was working on Sunday and we breezed through.

Everything was going well until we stopped to fuel up in Belmont, OH at a Pilot fuel stop.  I pulled in the truck fueling pumps and the pressure coming out of the hose was so great that the pump kept stopping.  Finally, a couple maintenance workers came out after I called in about the problem.  They checked it out and said I was right and went in to reduce the pressure at the pump.  Then I was able to take on 88 gallons of diesel fuel in a few minutes.  All in all it took over 45 minutes to fill the tanks.  Diesel is much cheaper in Ohio than Maryland or Pennsylvania.

 One of the problems traveling I-70 is the lack of RV parks or camping parks.  The state parks are far off the road for the most part and the few private campsites are full of seasonal campers or construction workers.  I finally decided we would stop at Cabellas near Wheeling, WV and after checking with the store manager received permission to stay the night.  

Monday, August 24, 2015

We were up early the next morning and had a light breakfast and headed over to the Russell Stover candy store next to Cabellas.  Gerry went in and bought some necessities for the remainder of the trip.


 Construction around Washington, PA was a mess and we had to slow down and navigate some very narrow lanes with barriers on each side.  I cleared some barriers with about 6 inches to spare on both sides of the motorhome.  I think I should have been in another lane at this point, but all went well.

We dropped down on I-79 to Morgantown, WV and caught I-68 east toward Hancock, MD.  Our destination for the day was Rocky Gap State Park near Cumberland, MD.  They have a number of campsites, however only 30 of them have electric.  We called Cassie and invited her and Belle to join us there for a few days.

We lucked out and managed to get a nice end site that was long enough for 3 motorhomes.  It had a picnic table and firepit away from the motorhome so we went around to other sites and picked up some firewood.  Most people leave firewood when they vacate a site since they don't want to take it home with them.

Site 9 at Rocky Gap SP, MD

 
Rocky Gap SP is one of the premier state parks in Maryland with a championship golf course, casino, hotel, numerous covered pavillions, campground, 243 acre lake set in the mountains.  It is beautiful there and very popular so they limit entrance on busy days so it's best to get there early.  Since school is back in session and the campground isn't used much during the week, we were good to go.

I grilled some "whopper burgers" and Gerry prepared some side dishes to go with it.  A whopper burger was a staple when we used to camp with the daughters those many years ago.  It consists of two hamburger patties with cheese and relish stuffed inside.  The cheese melts and the relish sets it off nicely.  It is almost a meal in itself.
 
We called our son on August 24 to wish him a happy birthday but caught him at a restaurant having his special dinner.  We chatted with him a few minutes and said we would call him later. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARRY JR

One of the boat docks and ramp.

Hotel and Casino at the top left on the lake.

 Tuesday August 25, 2015

 Belle wanted to show us how well she could climb a tree and scooted up the pine tree next to the motorhome.  She said the roof of the MH was dirty so the cleaning job goes on the work list.

Cassie and Belle wanted to go swimming so off they went in the afternoon.  I dropped Gerry off at the casino and then went geocaching in the area.  I found 4 caches and then decided to drive around and sightsee in the area.  We all got back together around 5:30pm and I grilled Salmon for Cassie, Gerry and me, while Belle had a cheeseburger..

Then it was time for a campfire and roasting some marshmallows.  It was cool in the evening so the fire actually felt nice.

Wednesday August 26, 2015
 
 Wednesday morning arrived too soon and we were up bright and early preparing to hit the road.  I noticed the front tire on Cassie's car was low so I pumped it up to 35 lbs and it went down to 20lbs quickly.  Oh oh!  She talked to a Ranger and he directed her to a tire repair place about 4 miles from the park and they found a screw in the tire.  Thankfully, they could repair it and she doesn't need a new tire.

We left soon after and Gerry and I drove separately since we were so close to our cabin.  It was smooth sailing by then except for the heavy traffic on I-70E around Hancock and Hagerstown, MD.  

Gerry got this picture of the motorhome and Welcome to PA sign.

 

I stopped and fueled up at a station near the cabin and we parked the motorhome in the driveway.  Diesel was $2.73/gallon and we paid $2.44/gallon in Ohio.  A quick hookup to our 50amp service and water and we called it a day.  

October 23, 2014 was our departure day last year and we were gone a little over 10 months.  We managed to travel through 26 states and covered 8,800 miles in the motorhome.  It was a great trip except for Gerry's sinus problems and a few breakdowns along the way.  We saw a lot of the country and met some nice people and can't wait to hit the road again.  But first, we have to rest for a while.

Rough Outline of  our trip.  Ignore the numbers

That was our last 10 months, what did you do?