Headed into New England

 Tue May 18 was a moderately long driving day.  We made 340 miles and spent the night at the Walmart Supercenter in Milford PA.  We called ahead and when we asked the associate if overnight parking was allowed she hesitated then said "yes and no"  ????  There is a remote parking lot at the far front edge of store next to the highway that is posted "No Overnight Parking", but she said the rule was not enforced, and that no one would bother us  OK. So that's what we did.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The Other Side of the Rest Stop featuring Flo, Jamie, Mara and Alan

Are we there already???

We were running well ahead of schedule and had made a plan to camp at Chamberlain Lake Campground in Woodstock CT.  That would mean a very short driving day of 176 miles.  But the campground was cheap, had 50A service and, based on the description, was fairly scenic.  The only downside was that it was about 8 miles off the interstate.  When we called ahead the owner said check-in was at 3:00 and an early check-in would incur a $20 penalty.  CRAP!  We were on track to arrive at 11:00 AM.  That meant we could proceed to the campground and pay the $20, negating the cheap rate, or plan to keep going and make it a longer driving day and stay somewhere else, or stop somewhere before there and kill some time.  Ultimately, we decided to visit the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford CT, only about 30 minutes down the road.  We called to inquire about tickets and parking.  The guy there said there was no dedicated RV parking in their parking lot, but we were welcome to park in the general parking area if we wished.  We looked at Google maps and discovered the lot was not very big and finding seven adjacent spaces of right-angle parking to occupy might be a challenge.  But it was right on our way, easy access from I-84, and we could bail if we couldn't find parking there or on the street nearby.  We were feeling lucky, and when we arrived there was a gap just big enough for us.  

"Indeed, none but the Deity can tell what is good luck and what is bad before the returns are all in."  Letter SLC to Samuel Moffett, August 6 1904

Life is Good!  At least for today.

This little guy wanted to help me plan my route as he wandered over my MacBook

From Wikipedia:

"The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. The Clemens family had it designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens biographer Justin Kaplan has called it "part steamboat, part medieval fortress and part cuckoo clock."

Clemens wrote many of his best-known works while living there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Poor financial investments prompted the Clemens family to move to Europe in 1891. The Panic of 1893 further threatened their financial stability, and Clemens, his wife Olivia, and their middle daughter, Clara, spent the year 1895–96 traveling so that he could lecture and earn the money to pay off their debts. He recounted the trip in Following the Equator (1897). Their other two daughters, Susy and Jean, had stayed behind during this time, and Susy died at home on August 18, 1896, of spinal meningitis before the family could be reunited. They could not bring themselves to reside in the house after this tragedy and spent most of their remaining years living abroad. They sold the house in 1903."

"Architects cannot teach nature anything"  Memorable Midnight Experience, 1874

We took a guided tour of the house.  Our guide was dressed in costume and spoke in the manner of the time, 1903.  The premise of the tour was that the Twains were not going to return to the house and intended to sell it.  The guide posed as real life good friend and neighbor of Twain, the Minister Joseph Twichell, who is showing the furnishings to potential buyers for an upcoming auction.

Unfortunately photography is strictly forbidden inside the house.  I was tempted to cheat and take some clandestine shots, but Twichell was keeping a close eye open for scofflaws. I did however lift a few photos from the Mark Twain House and Museum website:

The Mahogany Room, the best guest suite

The library

The Billiards Room where Twain did his writing

The Drawing Room was the scene of formal entertaining

Entrance Hall and main staircase

The Clemens Bedroom, the private quarters of Clemens and his wife

The schoolroom‚ originally designed as Twain’s study‚ later became a play area and classroom for his daughters

Clara and Jean shared the nursery. Susy‚ as the oldest child‚ had her own room

We departed the parking lot, thankful that no one had blocked us in while we were parked, and headed back to the interstate.  We didn't expect the road from I-84 to Chamberlain Lake Campground to be great, but it was worse than expected.  It was 8 miles of twisty turns and steep grades.  A number of yellow caution signs warned us of S-shaped roads and 9% grades.  The road was narrow with no place to pull over to let others pass.  I'm sure we pissed off a lot of locals.  We arrived safely at our camp at Chamberlain Lake Campground in Woodstock CT in time for happy hour and well past the dreaded 3:00 check-in time.

Site #11 Chamberlain Lake Campground

We didn't build a fire, but we did have pretty nifty fire pit on our site.

Chamberlain Pond

The campsite was mostly empty, consisting primarily of long-term sites

This sign was on the restroom near our campsite.

I accept the challenge!

"May you always keep your youth"  Samuel Clemmons Speech September 1906

On the Road Again. A Jaunt Through the Mid-Atlantic States. Part 2: Pennsylvania Amish Country

   We departed Endless Caverns about 10:00, in no particular hurry.  We were scheduled to attend a social at our Country Coach International rally in New Holland PA at 5:00, and had plenty of time .... or so we thought.  Google maps suggested it was a 4-hour drive.  We had to make one stop for fuel, lunch and groceries. However, Google maps underestimated the time to get around Hagerstown MD and Harrisburg PA.  Our fuel/lunch/grocery stop in Falling Waters WV took longer than expected, and we arrived at Spring Gulch RV Park in New Holland PA at 4:00, just as the club happy hour was scheduled to start.  

We had a pre-assigned camp site number, however, when we arrived at our assigned campsite, #1551, we found it still occupied.  It was well after check-out time, and the squatter was nowhere to be found.  Furthermore, it was obvious he hadn't planned to leave As he had toys, firewood, laundry and all his other belongings scattered across the camp site.  We unhitched our car and Dorcas drove about 1/2 mile back down the hill to the office to get things straightened out, while I hung out at the coach near our campsite to see what I could find out.  None of the neighboring campers knew where they were. Finally a maintenance worker showed up and called back to the office trying to find us another site.  After about 1/2 hour of back and forth between the worker and the office with no resolution, the worker abandoned me when I had my back turned.  CRAP!!!  Finally Dorcas came back, and said the office told her to park on #1531.  I drove down the lane to #1531, just as another RV pulled onto it. DOUBLE CRAP!!!  It turns out, the coach that had just parked on #1531 was part of our group, but actually was holding conflicting credentials indicating they should park on either #1531 and/or #1532.  Wanting anything but to go back back to the office, we negotiated a settlement, and they stayed on #1531 and we parked on #1532.  By this time happy hour would have been over, except it was canceled when the park made a mistake scheduling the location of our social.  It's a miracle these folks function at all.

As we set up camp it was obvious that heavy tree cover would prevent the use of satellite TV, so I hooked up the park cable.  Guess what: it doesn't work. CRAP!!!  OK we'll use the over-the-air antenna but find out there is no usable signal.  DOUBLE CRAP!!!   Ok, so, instead of watching TV, I'll make good use of this time updating my blog on the resort WiFi.  WRONG!!!  I could connect to their network, but could not create an account to log in, and could not get to the Internet. Another park worker came to our site, but he could not get either the cable or the internet to work.  It's a miracle these folks function at all.  

OK, that's enough whining about Spring Gulch RV Resort.  I'm over it now, but I did return a scathing survey and will post some negative feedback on our favorite campground search sites.  

Except for the resort issues, namely getting parked and the cable and internet issues, we had a really fun rally. 

"I lost my horses!"

This was a week-long rally and we had some really good activities planned.  The first outing was to The Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg PA. 

Group photo at the Choo Choo Barn

Following are some still photos from the Choo Choo Barn, but stills don't do it justice.  Click HERE to see the video, which shows many of the animations and the trains, cars and figures in motion. 

Our next outing was to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, also in Strasburg.

Then we took a ride on the Strasburg Railroad, which featured live entertainment in the form of "The great Diamond Heist" including eight professional actors and audience participation. 

On another day we visited Hershey PA and the AACA Museum, considered one of the best classic auto displays in the country.

A pair of Deloreans

A hot rod and a hot Mama

The exhibit also included several very rare Tuckers, built by Preston Tucker and the Tucker Corporation. Only 51 1948 Tucker Sedans were made. The Tuckers contained many inovative features that were well ahead of their time.

We were only able to see about a third of this museum before our bus left for the climax of our day: Hershey's Chocolate World.

First we took a trolley tour around the town of Hershey. One highlight of the tour was the chocolate treats liberally dispensed by the conductor. 

Another highlight of the visit to Hershey's Chocolate World was the Create Your Own Candy Bar experience.  You choose all the ingredients and packaging and watch it as it flows dow the production line.

The still photos below just don't do the experience justice, so you guessed it, I produced a video. Click HERE to view the video. 

They make you dress funny in order to enjoy the experience.

.

I chose a white chocolate base; Dorcas chose dark chocolate.

You could track your bar as it progresses down the production line:

My bar, the one with sprinkles shown below, malfunctioned just before being packaged, not laying properly in the tray.  It caused a shutdown of the entire line for about 10 minutes, until the jam could be cleared. FUDGE!!!

See our customized packaging, covering a metal container

The final highlight to Hershey's Chocolate World was a 22oz Hershey Chocolate Porter with our lunch.

Of course, Dorcas stocked up on her favorite Special Dark Chocolate.

Stay tuned for A Jaunt Through the Mid-Atlantic States: Part 3