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.

Granite Hill September 2013

I really enjoy going to Granite Hill. This campground is huge, but unlike a lot of campgrounds we go to its really spread out and you definitely have some privacy when you stay here. Our drive there was pretty uneventful it doesn't take to long to get there from Baltimore, about 2 hours.  The campground is in Gettysburg Pennsylvania right outside down town. It also has a little bed and breakfast in an old house at the entrance. This campground and four playgrounds, a stage, a fire pit, a cafe', a rec room where they have dances and do crafts, two ponds, a very large mini gold course, and a pool that I'm going to assume is heated because it was open and steaming. Like most campgrounds they also have a small camp store.
We had a beautiful site that was right next to a farmers field and there was no one around us. no sites on the right side four on the left but like i said they were all empty. We were literally parked in the middle of a field so Elle (our dog) and the kids had plenty of room to run around. The picture that I''m adding doesn't even begin to do it justice. at the end of the four empty sites was a wooded area that was for tents, that to was empty so the kids got to go in there with the dog and "explore". They made sure to call it "their woods". It was really nice and quiet and we had our own little fire pit. I'm including the website to look at the campground map just to see how big this place is. If you do look at the map we were on site P23.

http://www.granitehillcampingresort.com/facilities/resort-map.asp

 I thought it was really neat the first night we were there they had free make your own smores by the fire pit, so friday night we went to the playground and had some smores. After we left there we sat by the camp fire for a while and laid on our cots.

Saturday morning we had breakfast I made bacon and eggs, it was another beautiful day. After that we sat around for a while and decided we need to make a trip to Walmart. It was really dewy out and Kenzie had canvas shoes so we got her a new pair. Then we had lunch at Mcdonalds and waited there for what seemed like forever waiting on our food. Why a bus load of Asians would pick Gettysburg and a vacation is beyond me but there must have been 30 of them at Mcdonalds. After we ate we were doing to go home but decided to stop in the park and I'm glad we did. We went to Devils den and 

After we left the park paul made fried chicken for dinner and then we went to a dance party at the rec center at the campground lots of fun.

We really did have a good time and Granite Hill and I hated to leave sunday because it was such a nice day and such a nice site. I uploaded a better picture of the site we were in. This picture really puts in perspective how alone we were.

Frontier town August 2013

Frontier town is a good place to go if you want to stay busy. Not only are there things to do in the campground but going in to Ocean City is always fun.
We left on thursday around 1 got there around 4 I think we stopped in cambridge to have lunch. The god had diarrhea that day so she road in the bed of the truck till we stopped for lunch. She pooped in the bed of the truck but we felt bad and she was making me a nervous wreck so we moved her to the trailer. I don't like riding around with her in the bed she looks like she's going to fall over the sides. when we got to the campground she had a big old surprise waiting for us, she threw up the size of a large plate twice. Of course that was the trip I forgot to pack paper towels , so I had to go to the camp store right away and buy them. after that I had to figure out how I was going to clean it all up, I thought for sure it was going to stain and smell but it didn't.
The first day the water park was closed, not that I cared it was freezing in my book, so we went to the playground. for some reason this trip our kids were terrible so there were a lot of broken promises. We were suppose to play games at the board walk that night but we didn't because of attitudes.
The next day was Friday I took the kids to the playground in the morning then the pool. I was very surprised they were in as long as they were. After that we had lunch and I can't remember what we did all day. I want to say we did rides at the indoor boardwalk then we let the kids play in the sand.

Saturday we went to the water park thinking we wouldn't be there to long and planned to go on the beach. The kids had other plans I think we were there for like 3 hours or something. They were so independent that they were going down the slides and floating down the lazy river by themselves. At one point they were trying to get out of the lazy river and the cute little things drug their double tube all the way to the edge and put it away. They were to cute that day.

We had so much fun at the water park watching them and they had a lot of fun to. I didn't get in the water at all poor Paul went in with them most of the day and it was so cold. That night we went back to the board walk and did outside rides. I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch of things out but we just really did so much its hard to remember everything 

Rockey Gap Aug 2013

Lets start by saying this was one of the most disastrous relaxing camping trips we've had in a while. Now let me explain, Thursday started with us bringing the camper to the house to load it up. Rockey Gap is a state park right outside of cumberland Maryland so we had no sewage or water hook up, therefore we had to fill our fresh water tank. What normally would go off with out a hitch for some reason this time the water leaked out of the top of the tank and flooded the trailer. So before we even got on the rd we were already frustrated and had to dry the floors and carpet. After we left the house Paul realized he forgot something so we turned around. After we left the house the second time I realized I forgot something, but it was just Mayo so we just kept going. On the way we stopped at the cut in the mountain to use the restroom and walk over the bridge and see the sentiment rock.
We arrived at Rockey Gap state park after an uneventful ride. Just the usual are we there yets and this is taking forevers. We got all set up we had an awesome site with an empty campsite on the right and a common trail to the left there was a site right behind us but no one was in it the whole weekend. other then some campers walking the trail to get to the lake it was pretty private.

After we got everything set up and settled in I started making Tacos for dinner I browned the ground beef and went to put the seasoning on the beef only to realize I had everything but the taco kit for the tacos. And if you ever bought a taco kit you know that the shells the seasoning and the sauce are in it. I had an oh shit moment. how the hell am i going to make these damn taocs. luckily Paul bought and extra pack of seasoning and I had the bright idea to go to the camp store and buy Dorittos to crush up as the shells. I made it work and it really didn't taste all that bad to be honest. After a near dinner disaster I took the kids to the lake while Paul took a nap on his new fold out camping cot. We were there about an hour and then came back and did a fire.

Its now friday we decided today was going to be an all day lake day we got there after eating breakfast a putting around at 1:15. Its a beautiful day the sun is shining theres a nice breeze we get the umbrella up, the blanket out, and proceed into the lake. After like 2 min the lifeguard comes over to us and say the lake is closed because they heard thunder on the other side of the lake some 2 miles away... awesome. She also tells us they close the lake for 30 min after they hear thunder and the lake would reopen at 1:30. Not to bad considering its 1:15. So what else can we do but wait, 1:30 arrives ok everyone back in the lake... 10 minutes later we hear thunder. Out of the lake for another half hour. May I also mention that there is not a cloud in the sky at this point, I don't know where this thunder was coming from but it was no where near us. So before we left home paul bought the kids fishing rod and worm and a fishing license for himself, so we decide while we wait we should past the time with some good old fashion fishing. We go to the pier open up the worms we got from Walmart that say one dozen on them only to find 2 yes 2 worms inside. I couldn't believe it so I cut them up into 3 and just made the best of it. The only thing we caught was seaweed and we saw some pretty big snapping turtles. An hour and a half later we can finally get in the lake and we didn't leave until like 5 when we saw big storm clouds and heard big thunder. We ate dinner and went for a night walk with the kids we had a lot of fun.

We woke up the next day, now saturday, had a good breakfast and went to the beach. Dinner was going to take about 2 and a half hours to make so I left Paul and the kids at the lake to start dinner. I chopped all the veggies and put everything together and cook it for two hours checking it every so often and stir it. Paul bring the kids back they change and go to the playground. They come back just as its about to be ready. I go in to get it off the stove and hit a cloud of smoke as soon as I enter the trailer... Shit I burned it 15 min before it was done, awesome. It just one thing after another I can't win at this point. we all eat it anyway it tastes like its burned a little but were starving. We take a ride to the other side of the lake after dinner and take a hike to the dame. After that we came back and saw the aviary they had barn owls, screech owls, horned owls, a bald eagle, a hawk of some kind, brown hawks, and a one winged chicken hawk. All the birds have been injured in some way and are used for the scales and tails program. it was dark so we couldn't see them really well but they were all beautiful birds. 

Sunday we woke up to rain and Paul had to put everything away wet. of course as soon as we were done and ready to make the drive home the rain stopped. All in all even after everything that went wrong we had an awesome three days. We love Rockey Gap, it's always clean and well maintained and its just a really pretty place to go.