Rocky Gap 2015

Finally the camping season has started for us. I'm all packed and everyone is rearing to go. It took me a good week to pack everything but I did it. We're starting our camping season at one of my favorite places and we'er at our favorite site, number 10 on the Ash loop.
The ride to Rocky Gap is always a smooth one its just short enough for a movie with the kids but long enough to feel like we're getting somewhere. The scenery is breath taking after you get past Hagerstown and keeps me occupied with out getting to boring. It's about a two hour drive and I know we're getting close when we hit the cut in the mountain. After we got to the campground we get everything set up before we do anything else. That means getting the camper level and unhitched. Site number 10 is a start shot so its no problem at all for Paul to get it backed in. After we get everything level it's my turn to get the slides out while Paul hooks up the electric, no water or sewer hook ups at this site. The smaller things include the awning, the rug, table clothes, clothes line, awning lights and getting everything off the beds. one more reason I love site number 10 it's less to do, what we call dry camping. The only problem we encountered was filling up our water tank before we left and that was a somewhat quick fix.

Monday we woke up got dressed and headed for Lake Habeeb the lake was great not to crowded and the water was nice to. I got in and usually don't get in the water. We had great weather and stayed there most of the day. We went back to the tailer after we got the toys and umbrella cleaned up and got dressed to go to the playground. We all played and hide and seek and went to the store when we were done and got an ice cream to cool down. After we ate dinner we went to visit the birds at the aviary where they keep the birds for scales and tails. Most of the birds they keep there are injured in some way or another. I think I read they were hit by cars and are unable to be released back into the wild due to there injuries. We played a little while and headed back to the camper  to get ready for showers. Unfortunately a couple weeks before we arrived the shower house on the Ash loop was struck by lightning and the girls bathroom was out of order and they didn't have power or hot water to any of the bathrooms on Ash so we had to drive to another loop to shower not a huge deal though.

Tuesday we took Elle to the other side of the lake to go swimming and JP slipped on the boat ramp and got soaked which wouldn't be a big deal but I only brought enough outfits to get us through the trip. We had lunch and went back to the lake with the easy up and enjoyed the weather. that night we played the movie Home on the blow up screen.

Wednesday we went to the playground where JP and Kenzie made some new friends and we finally got the go to the Nature Center, it was closed Monday and Tuesday. I was a little disappointed that they really didn't have to much to offer as far as activities. we went home ate some lunch and went back to the lake with the easy up. This trip to the lake we decided to sit on the other side of the beach and discovered they have a new dog beach area, an older lady and her yellow lab occupied it pretty much the whole time we were there and he was searching for minnows most of the time.After we left the lake we went to the Walmart we can't go a trip with out going there for some reason, I'm not even sure what we needed, I'm pretty sure we got snacks a couple of movies and some other crap that we probably didn't need.

Thursday was the most eventful day for us. We drove into Cumberland and surprised the kids with a train ride on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. As many times as we been to Rocky Gap we've been on it. Its about an hour ride to Frostburg then they turn the train around and go back. The kids were very excited on the ride to Frostburg. Paul took them both out between cars so they could stand and watch everything go by. At one point the train goes through a tunnel and its drark. When we got to the station in Frostburg we decided not to watch the engine on the turn table and opted for something to eat in town instead. We ate a little diner that has been open for 75 years called the Princess Cafe. they had so so food great prices and friendly service and we made it back to the train with 10 minutes to spare. The ride back was uninteresting to the kids I guess because they saw all the sites already and they were a little rowdy. The train lost power not to long after we left so it was dark and the AC didn't work but it never got to hot. It was a very enjoyable experience and I think the kids really liked it as well. I'm pretty sure we took a trip back to the Walmart before we went home for a couple small things and me and the kids stayed in the truck

Friday was the last day at Rocky Gap and none of us really wanted to leave but we were headed to Deep Creek lake state park for more dry camping. My parents will be meeting us there later in the day.

Starting of 2015 Camping

It's now July 16th and we have yet to go on a camping trip in the year 2015, I know crazy right. My husband and I have been working so we haven't really had any time until now, but we're going to really make it count with 10 straight days of camping and only going to 2 different places.Were starting the trip off at Rocky Gap state park in western Maryland and then headed to Deep creek lake where my parents will meet up with. we are all very excited to get going. We come home for 5 days I think, basically just to regroup and repack and then head back out for another 10 days and two different places, this time Cherrystone campground in Virginia and Frontier town in Marylands eastern shore.

I think I've already wrote about how getting ready for a long camping trip kind of stresses me out and how I really do hate doing it. It's just so much to get prepared. I pack for 4 people for 10 days and they don't have any laundry mats at state parks so it 10 outfits each. that's 80 pieces of clothes 40 shirts 40 shorts I pack 20 pares of pajamas 40 pares of socks, and underwear, the list goes on and on. I do all the grocery shopping and meal planning and RV packing. I almost always forget something even though I keep a draft hard copy on my computer of literally everything that goes in the camper and the first trip is always harder because we take everything out of the camper at the end of the season. Needless to say I don't sleep much the week before because I'm constantly going over things in my head.
We leave July 26th so have about a week and a half to get everything that I need together and I've already started packing the kids stuff because my in-laws are taking them to Ocean City Maryland for 5 days sunday so I wont have to clothes them for a week.
I'm looking forward to getting this camping season started and I hope I'm able to keep up with my blogging mostly because I like to look back and remember

Fort Whaly Ocean City 2014

Hello fellow campers/readers Fort Whaly is a very nice campground about 20 minutes from Ocean City Maryland. We usually stay in Frontier town when we go to Ocean City but they were already booked for the week we wanted to go and since we vowed to never return to Castaways Fort Whaly was the next option. We've stayed there once before and liked it but we didn't do much because Mckenzie was only a baby. This year we had a 4 and 6 year old to keep us busy and use all  the amenities they had to offer. Its not a huge campground which is nice because we had plenty of space and a huge site all to ourselves. The campground itself has plenty to do but most of the activities dont start until take to  4 or 5. They have a shuttle that will take you to Assutegue national park, Frontier Town, and Ocean city its free until 4 o'clock and after that it only costs a dollar. We only took the bus one time because it took us an hour to get into ocean city after all the stops. They also have mini golf, a fenced in dog park, laundry room and a pretty well stocked camp store.
We had a really awesome camp site on a corner with lots of room for the kids and dog to play.

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.