Cherrystone 2014

My goodness I have so much to catch up on here. This will be day number ten of camping and everything is starting to blend together a little bit. I was finally able to get my net book fixed so hopefully the next trip i can write while we're camping and then ill be able to remember everything.
We had really great weather the whole time we were at cherrystone. About 2 weeks before we got there Cherrystone was hit by a tornado and killed two people. I thought for sure it was going to be a complete mess, but surprisingly it was very clean and there wasn't any down trees. You could see where the had to cut some trees down but everything looked really good. They have 5 pools one is an 18 and over pool on the other side of the campground, a little splash zone, and waters war game you can play with water balloons. They also have a golf course, bounce pillow, camp store, restaurant, a bait shop, and a little fruit stand that also has fresh seafood and steamed crabs. Cherrystone is awesome because its like a little town, they really have all you need right there. They also have 4 fishing piers a tennis court and basket ball court.
We really had a good time and we did lots of stuff.

Williamsburg KOA 2014

We came to Williamsburg from the Outer Banks North Carolina and Mrs Ann and Mr Lee (Pauls parents) followed us up. We stopped at a cracker barrel on the way and ate lunch, who doesn't like cracker barrel its so good and reasonably priced. Mckenzie started to not feel good when we go there so she laid down and I took her temperature and it was 104 so I had to stick her in a cold bath before we even got anything set up. So while Paul was setting up I was taking care of Mckenzie and was debating on if we were going to making a trip to the ER. Her fever came down eventually after taking a nap with an ice pack on her head so crisis averted but she did throw up a couple of times and refused to eat dinner.
 While mckezie was napping Mrs Ann and I decided to go to the local Walmart to do some grocery shopping and some in promp to school shopping. Ive been to that Walmart a couple of times and thought I could find it with no problem to the point where I didn't bother listening to the directions Paul was trying to give me. Needless to say we got a little lost and Mrs Ann couldn't figure out how to find it on the GPS, but I didn't let it feak me out i just found and exit and made a uturn and headed the other way lol. Mrs Ann however was freaking out a little because i was trying to figure out where we were on the GPS while I was driving. Eventaully I found the exit I needed and we were fine.We made our way back to the campground with no problem I blame me getting lost on the fact that it was dark lol.
The next day Paul and I took the kids to Water country USA while my inlaws went to the outlets in Williamsburg. If you ever get the chance to go to Water counrty USA don't bother, it was crowded, we waited in a line to get on a raft ride for 2 hours and the kid sections were out of control. Not only do they make you pay to get in the park they also made you pay 15 dollars for parking, 18 for a locker, and we payed 29 dollars for 2 drinks and 2 soft pretzels. If it wasn't for the fact that we got free tickets through the military we would have left and demanded our money money back. The only reason we stayed as long as we did was because the kids were having a good time and didn't want to leave. we left there after being there maybe 4 hours and went to the pool and had a much better time. Mrs Ann and Mr Lee come home and we had dinner together and sat by the fire.
Thursday we were conflicted because I wanted to go to the oulets and do some school shopping for Mckenzie and of course Paul and the kids wanted nothing to do with that, so we went our seperate ways. Paul Mr Lee and the kids went to play pirate golf and Mrs Ann and I went to the outlets. The Williamsburg oulets are huge, one of the biggest I have seen anywhere, and they have a lot of kids stores like Carters, Childrens place, and Osh Gosh. I bought some stuff and so did Mrs Ann so I think Mckenzie made out pretty good, and I got JP a pair of monster truck footie pajamas because he's been wearing Mckenzies daddy princess ones lol.That night we visited Mr Lees aunts and cousin, Aunt Fran Aunt Bay and Debbie. I really love visiting Aunt Fran she is the nicest lady and so easy to talk to. We stayed there tilll 930 and she had lasagna and garlic beard and salad for dinner and ice cream for dessert everything was so good. the next day we left.
 I can't believe I didn't take any pictures on this trip. We didn't do much and non of it was super interesting.

OBX Camp Hatteras 2014

I have to tell you I was not to happy about going to the Outer banks to camp. Not only because it was over 6 hours away but also because I hate the beach, the sand, and the heat. Pauls been wanting to go for a couple of years and since the kids were 6 and almost 5 I decided to agree to it. Surprisingly the drive wasn't that bad, I think we left around 10 and got there around 6:30. I made sure a packed them each a busy bag and plenty of DVDs.The busy bag included their leap pads, coloring books, a couple of cars, some paper, and crayon. The crayons fit perfect in those travel soap bar containers you just have to make sure they put them all back or they will melt onto your seats. We stopped a couple times once for a bathroom break and once for lunch and a quick stop to get a North Carolina map.
Apparently the OBX was hit by a hurricane fourth of July weekend because we arrived at our destination and thought we were in the ghetto because there was trash and debris piled up on the sides of the street. The campground itself was in pretty good shape though considering.
This was the start of a 17 day camping trip, we set up the trailer and met our neighbors Nicole and Mick and their children, very nice people.Camp Hatteras is a very basic campground all they really have to do is a playground, a small putt putt course, a small indoor pool, outdoor pool, hot tub, and a lounge with games and puzzles and a TV. Other then that there's not much to do but go to the beach, and that would have been ok but it rained all but one day we were there.The one thing I really didn't like about this campground was the fact that they didn't allow you to have a fire unless you had a fire pit that sat off the ground.

Thursday we had a great beach day, like I said I am not a beach person but i did have a good time. I had my blanket and umbrella and it was very breezy. after we left the beach we sat down and got to know our neighbor, we got along so well that we both didn't get to cooking dinner till after 7 I think. Pauls parents came down that night around 8, they planned on staying with us will left for Cherrystone. When they arrived we finally ate dinner, I made marinated chicken with noodles and broccoli, I had to ask Nicole if she had extra broccoli since I only planned on cooking for the 4 of us. That's why its good to make friends with the people around you.
The next day (Friday) we woke up to rain and it didn't stop until the day we left. I think this was one of the most disappointing trips we had, mostly because of the rain. Even though it rained we tried to make the best of the day. We heard from some of the people at the campground about the aquarium so we all piled in the truck and made the 45 minute drive to the aquarium. I think we paid 10 dollars per person to get in and considering its close to 40 a person at the national aquarium in Baltimore that's pretty affordable. it was a nice place but it was small but it wasn't crowded and there were decent amount of fish to see. They had a lot of local fish from the bay and ocean. Unfortunately though almost as soon as we got there JP started to get a little sluggish and started complaining that he wanted to go home so we had to kind of rush through everything because he wasn't feeling well. When we got back to the trailer I took his temperature and It was 102.9. Now I always pack a little tub full of medicine and the thermometer because my kids, mostly Mckenzie, always get sick when we're camping. i thought I packed Ibuprofen or Motrin but all i packed was cold and cough, and of course the closest pharmacy was like 20 minutes away, and of course it was closed. So once again like I saw always get to know your neighbors because I had to ask the family two doors down if they had some and luckily they did.We stayed in the rest of the night and just relaxed and watched the direct TV. Thank god we had it and we actually got a signal.

Saturday again we woke up to rain but decided we were going to take the Ferry to Ocracoke and on the way there we saw the Cape Hatteras light house so we took advantage of the break in the rain and Paul ,Mr Lee, and both kids climbed the 257 steps to the top of the light house while Mrs Ann and I stayed behind. I think the kid were really excited about seeing me waving to them from the ground. Some fun facts about the the light house it was moved from the beach because of the erosion of the sand. It was moved intact and was not taken apart at all, they have a little museum and it shows pictures and facts about the light house.The drive to the ferry took about an hour from the campground and the ferry ride itself took about 45 min. I have never been open a ferry before and it was one of the coolest things I think we've done and it was completely free... not including the gas we burned getting there lol. Ocracoke was very small and it only took us probably 20 minutes to drive to the other side so we picked about a spot called Jasons and ate some dinner. After that we got back on the ferry and made the hour and 45 minute rip back to the campground and stopped at the dairy queen across form us and had some ice cream. when we got back to the trailer the kids kept bugging us about going to catch ghost crabs, another fact we got from our awesome neighbor Nicole and Mick, so we went to go check it out. Me and the kids went out together with our nets and a bucket. I was completely blown away by what I saw, little crabs that make holes in the sand everywhere. JP was so afraid at first he wanted to go back of course Mckenzie was a natural, as a matter of fact she was better at then I was. Paul met up with us a little later and we all had a ball. we stayed out there over 30 minutes just catching crabs and watching them and then setting them free and starting all over. One of the best days we had there I think.
Sunday unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our lovely neighbors, they really were the nicest people and I wish we lived a little closer to them because I would stalk them lol. The kids stuck around until they left and then of course they wanted to go to the arcade. So Paul took them to the arcade while I stayed back and relaxed a little.That night they had a karaoke party and Kenzie and went to check it out, she wasn't digging it so we only stayed for a little while and left.

Monday I decided I was tired of sitting around again so I took the kids to the beach, in the rain, they were ok with it until it started to pour then they wanted to bolt. After we dropped all the beach stuff off at the camper we went to the indoor pool for like 2 hours. The indoor pool is right next the the hot tub and the outdoor pool is right outside. The indoor pool went to 5 feet and the outdoor pool went to 8 feet both start at 3 feet. Everything at the pools were very clean and pretty well maintained they even had a 2 foot baby pool with its own fence. While me and the kids were at the pool Paul and his parents were at the lounge playing cards. after the kids and I left the pool i got them dressed and we went to the lounge and I dropped them off there and started dinner. That night I made a pot pie and it wasn't raining so we got to eat it outside. The kids made friends with some kids across the street and we saw a double rainbow. Mr Lee ordered us a pizza from Lisas and after we ate it Paul and Mr Lee took the kids to catch ghost crabs again.

By Tuesday I was pretty happy to get the heck out of the Outer Banks and of course it was nice and sunny that day to so at least we didn't have to pack up in the rain, unlike Nicole and Mick. I think we all had a good time anyway even though it rained most of the time we were there. I think I would be ok going back every couple of years. I'm grateful for the new friends we made and I hope to keep in touch with them and get together whether it be camping or having them over.The next stop will be to Williamsburg Virginia for 4 days, about a 3 or 4 hour drive.

Jellystone Luray 2014

We love going to Sky Line Drive, every year we take pictures in the same spot to see how much the kids have grown. This year we decided to stay at the Luray Yogi bear, its a little more expensive but worth it. They have 2 pools, a not so well maintained gold course, a little water park area with a couple of small slide and two larger slides. They also added a new laser tag area but we didn't check that out and 2 bounce pillows.
My brother and his girlfriends came with us this time and we really enjoyed the time we had with them. the only thing I really wanted to kill him over was keeping us up half the night going in and out of the trailer at 4 am because he wasn't comfortable. I like to relax when camping but now that the kids ate older they like to keep busy. We all went down together and stopped at the Walmart to get food and beer. you have to go to a liquor store top get any kind of alcohol in Maryland, you can buy it almost anywhere in Virginia. Paul made some awesome sangria out of a pink mascato and some fruit.
The first day we just set up and relaxed. It's nice to have other people camp with us because we can set up ad take down everything while they keep the kids busy for us. we went to the indoor water park after we did our drive trough sky line drive. The kids really enjoy going to the indoor water park at Massanutten resort. Jp was finally tall enough to go on all the water slides. It took some coaxing but he got on everyone of them and so did Mckenzie. I was even able to join in on the fun this year and got on all the tube slides.

We made good use of the movie screen as well, I think we watched the Lego movie again. We also met a creepy little boy I felt really sorry for him though because It was like he was all alone. He was only 5 and he literally spent most of the day with us and his parents were no where to be found.I finally had to send him home because it was getting dark. I must say I get a little more lenient with my kids when we go camping and give them a little more freedom. I would never let them roam all over the campground alone without checking in on them. Furthermore if they do make friends at another site I always make it a point to meet the parents, as a matter of fact that's how Paul and I meet most of our friends these days.
We all had a really good time. I don't get to spend much time with my brother so it was nice to catch up. I'm a little behind on my blogging so I don't remember everything we did on this trip so I'm going to leave it at this and work on our most recent 17 day camping trip up the coast.

deep creek state park 2014

We arrived at deep creek after getting somewhat lost.We missed what we thought was our turn but we got lucky because the next turn took us the same place only it was a little winy.  the Deep creek site were small and not very private. the site they gave us was really hard to get in to and I had a mini panic attack trying to help Paul back up into it. I'm sure I was no help what so ever and it was probably frustrating for him to because he had to go back and forth like 12 times to get in the right position to back up straight. Paul really does amaze me with driving and backing up the trailer, sometime I really have no clue how he gets that thing in the spaces he does. I mean its 32 feet, plus however many feet his truck is and to have to maneuver it is crazy to me.
After taking what seemed like an hour getting the trailer in the spot, I'm sure it was only like 15 or 20 min, we finally started setting everything up. While we put the slides out and were getting everything put together the kids made friends with the little girls across the street from us. They were from Pennsylvania and they were staying in their grandparents and parents in there grandparents fifth wheel. After we were done I went over to check on them and make sure they weren't bothering anyone and I found my children mooching food off of them lol. I;m sure there mother, Beth, was understanding but i was embarrassed. Unfortunately the the girls ( Lily and Riley) left soon after we were done to go to the lake and as soon as we got to the lake after eating dinner they went home to eat dinner, so they didn't get to spend a lot of time together playing the first day. We invited them aver that night to watch frozen on the big screen and Beth provided half the popcorn and I the other. We had a really good time with them but they were leaving the next day.
Because the grandparents were staying till the end of the week Lily and Rileys parents didn't leave till close to 3 and all 4 of the kids got to play together until they left. We got the walkie talkies out and they played hide and seek and they rode their bikes around the camping loop most of the day.
After we said bye to them and she wrote down her email for me we went to the beach for a couple of hours and swam and played on the playground. After we left the beach we drove to the go cart track and rode doubles on the go carts. I have never drove a go cart before and since I'm only about 5 foot I didn't think I was going to able to reach the pedals but all was well and I had a great time. We raced girls against boys and watching Mckenzies and JP faces were priceless they really had a good time to. while we were there we played a round of golf and played some arcade games to. Of course when it was time to leave the kids have a fit and wanted to go to the other go cart place in town but it looked like it was going to rain so we left. We stopped at an ice cream shop and got some ice cream and went home to build a fire.
The next two days we hung out with a very nice Family Mellysa Dan and there two kids Lane and Finn. Its really nice to find a family who is down to earth and that our kids and we get along with. we exchanged information and I'm really hoping to get together again and do some camping. They both made Paul and I feel very welcome at their site and both of my kids as well. I have never invited anyones kids in my camper before but i felt very comfortable having their kids and my kids watching a movie together alone in out camper.

Rocky Gap state park 2014

Hello all you readers, Let me start by saying we went to Rockey Gap from Jellystone in Hagerstown. we decided to go to the Walmart and get some snacks because we were going to get there before check in time. As we are driving down the highway someone honks at us and points back towards our driver side tire. Paul looks in the side mirror and were smoking from the diver side trailer tire. So he pulls over to the side of the rd and looks at it. Fortunately for us we just past an RV dealer so we take the next exit and head back. Now I have been with my husband for about 14 years and we've been married for 8, so I know him pretty well. He's very calm when it comes to crisis and he was very nervous and on edge during the trek back to the dealer so I knew this must have been a pretty bad situation. It was only when we got to the dealer I could grasp the severeness of the situation thats when I snapped these pictures.

The grease that keeps the wheel lubricated flew out of the assembly. The cap flew off while driving, I'm sure the person that got hit with that was pretty unhappy. after that it was metal rubbing on metal that what was causing the smoke. The bottom picture shows the cracked assembly, Paul thought for sure we were going to have to buy a new axle and that our trip was over. Luckly after being there for over 3 hours they just had to replace the entire break assembly

The staff at OE RV were more the helpful and made us feel very welcome. They allowed us to bring the dog in to the lounge and watch TV with the kids. We even did a little RV shopping while we were there. They stayed late to make sure we were able to get back on the road and not have to stay in a hotel. The mechanic you see in the picture even dealt with my curious kids lol I'm sure the were in the way at times but he was very pleasant. Even though it was a scary thing I'm very glad with the outcome and service they provided us.

After we got on our way after a 4 hour delay we finally arrived at Rocky Gap state park. If you follow my blog you know that this is one of out favorite place to camp. The sites are big and private and everything is clean and maintained well. We were able to go to the lake a couple of days and the aviary to see the birds that were injured in someway. The kids and I played at the new playground and of course they made a couple friends along the way. 

We did the hike to the damn and took a couple of pictures and had a snack. We spent a lot of time at the lake the water wasn't to cold, I wont get in if its to cold, and it didn't rain the second day. Paul taught the kids how to make rapids when we were hear last year and that was the first thing JP asked to do. So Paul and the kids made a very elaborate rapid system lol. 

Unfortunately it wasn't until the day before we were suppose to leave that we made friends with the people next to us. It was a nice family who lived about 45 minute from the campground. they had 3 sites in the loop it was a mother her three girls and their kids. They were very inviting and fed Jp and Mckenzie smores. We shared stories and pictures and their kids showed my kids how to catch chipmunks. 

Paul and I love taking the kids camping because most of the people we meet during our travels are so nice and welcoming. Its good old fashion family fun and we have so many great memories from it. 

Jellystone Hagerstown June 2014

We have never stayed at Jellystone Hagerstown before. Paul and I have been wanting to go new places and though it was more expensive then the places we normally go, we thought it would be worth it.

We arrived on a Friday and registers at the gate. The nice thing I liked about the place was someone in a golf cart escorts you to your site. Some camp maps can be confusing so to have someone show you where to go is a luxury I'll take. They have nice wide roads so Paul got the trailer backed in with no problem at all and the site was nice and level.

 While we were camping in Hagerstown we met a lovely family that was staying next to us. It was nice to have someone for the kids to play with and someone who Paul and I could have some adult interaction with as well. The second night we stayed there we had a couple of kids from the near by site over for a movie on our new blow up movie screen. The neighbors next us made everyone popcorn.

Day 2 we played golf, the course was nice and well kept. We also played a game they called sniggle catching ... something like that. They give you a map and an electronic wand thing from the office. You have to fine the sniggles on the map and run around the campground and find them all. Some of them were really hard to find. To catch them you touch the wand to the circle and the best time to catch them is when they're green. I really wish I would have thought to get a picture of the process because it was the neatest thing. If anyone ever goes there and does it I would suggest walking or using a golf cart because the kids had some problems riding their bikes up the hills. That same day we discovered the laser tag. I have never played laser tag nor have my two kids. They had about twenty guns and when you played you had 15 minutes with unlimited lives and shots. If there was no one else waiting to play you could play as many times in a row as you wanted. At one point it was just Paul the kids me and a couple other kids. I had so much fun playing I think we played like 3 or 4 times in a raw.

 We spent a lot of time at the water park the last day we were there. They had the walk in pool with a little mushroom waterfall. the depth went up to 3 1/f feet I think. they also have 2 watersides that you have to climb i think 3 stories to get to. I swear Mckenzie went down them over 20 times. She was so cute carrying her tube up all those steps because it was bigger then her. Jp was really scared at first to go but we bribed him with ice cream , haha, after that he went down and loved it.
Another thing that Jellystone Hagerstown has that most campgrounds do not was a zip line. they give you two free zip rides and if you wanted to ride more after that it was 7 dollars for 1 ride and 25 dollars for 5 rides I think. Jp and Paul went first while Kenzie and I were at the pool. Paul jumped out and JP didn't follow he was to afraid to go but once Paul met him back up at the top he built up the courage and jumped and after that we owed him another ice cream haha. The zip line was right next to the pool so after Kenzie saw him go there was no waiting. She decided she wanted to go with Jp so they both suited up went back up and Kenzie jumped right off closely followed by JP.

 The kids had a lot of fun this trip and they both really didn't want to leave even though we had two more places to camp. And although in my personal opinion Jellystones are to expensive, they do have a lot to do and are very well maintained. I would most defiantly go back to this campground it"s only about and hour or so from our house and we always had something to keep us occupied.