Two moving days (yeah, playing catch up)

Location: Kooser State Park, near Donegal, Pennsylvania
(click pics to enlarge)

This is my second post for the day and I'm using it to get everything caught up. If I say something I've already said in another post, "oh well". If I say something different than I've said before, flip a coin.

I left the KOA in Newburgh, NY on Sunday the 29th. As I said in one of the older posts, I had a slow leak in one of the tires on Liberty. I looked and looked to try to find a nail or something in the tire but couldn't see anything. I used the video function on my cell phone to help me look. I could move it all around the tire then play it back. If something looked funny, I could zoom in and check it out. I found nothing but did see what looked like an open seam. It was too big to check with water so I used some white hand cream and sure enough, that was the leak.

split seam

Liberty is a Forest River product and with all of their RV's they provide one free year of Roadside Assistance thru Coach-net. That may be why they don't provide a jack or lug wrench. I checked to see if the Freedom's lug wrench would fit, but it didn't. So I called Coach-net and they asked me a few questions with the first one being "are you in a safe location". That made me feel good to know that I was in a campground and not on the side of the road. I told them I needed a new tire and they said they would find one and send someone out to put it on, but I would have to pay for the tire. I was OK with that. After thinking about it, I decided I just needed the spare tire put on and I would get a new tire. That would save having to have someone get a new tire, mount it on the rim and put it on Liberty all on a Saturday afternoon. I called them back and they said no problem, someone will be there within an hour to put the spare tire on, free of charge. They showed up on time, changed the tire and left. I now had four good tires on the ground but no spare and I was looking at pulling out the next morning for a 240 mile tow. I didn't sleep too well that night with that on my mind. Luckily, I had finally figured out how to work the pressure/temperature monitoring system for Liberty. I bought it before leaving Louisiana but had difficulty making it work. I'm still not sure what the problem was, probably a poorly worded operating manual.

After getting the tire changed, I went into town to gas up Freedom for the next days tow. While in town I saw the office of Orange County Choppers from the American Choppers TV show.

On the way back to the campground after filling up, who do I see ahead of me but the old man from the TV show, Paul Teutul, Sr. He was riding with a younger woman. Right place, right time, I guess.

I left the campground about 10:00 and it was a pretty day for traveling with light traffic. The tire pressure and temperature did fine.

This is the campsite at Gifford-Pinchot State Park near Lewisberry, PA. I couldn't find anyone to mention the mistake they made when they put up those posts right were you have to pull out. Luckily, the site across from me was empty which gave me plenty of room. I thought about using my saw and cutting it down, but remembered, they had all my contact information. The campground is located about 30 miles south of Harrisburg, PA. Lots of road construction through Harrisburg. I arrived early Sunday afternoon. The park was about 3/4 empty so it was quiet and peaceful. I spent the afternoon searching for a place to buy a new tire and get it mounted on the rim. I finally found what I was looking for at a Walmart in Shrewsberry, PA which was about 40 miles away. When I talked to them on the phone, I asked them if they mounted tire directly on an RV. If so, I was interested in buying 4 new ones. They said walmart stopped doing that a year or so ago. Something about liability and stuff. So on Monday
morning about 10:00, I was at the walmart asking for a tire. They had it in stock, just like they told me on the phone. They mounted it on the old rim and we looked at the inside of the old tire and didn't see the split, but it was still leaking. I drove back to the campground and stopped to get a little groceries on the way back. I mistakenly picked up some cheap steaks that were tough as the old tire. I won't do that again.

I left Gifford-Pinchot about 10:00 with a 150 mile tow to the next campground. I was heading to the campground I'm in now, which is Kooser State Park, near Donegal, PA. It is a small park with only about 30 or so campsites. When I got here, there were about 15 campers, but most pulled out this morning (Tuesday).

A Short-cut thru the mountain

Inside the short-cut

I went through 3 of those tunnels on the way here and yes, that is moisture on the windshield and no, it was not raining outside. Hope someone did their homework in school and they have good tunnel inspectors.

It was another beautiful day to be traveling. The two pictures above were taken at a Service Center on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I had the time, so I ate lunch there and enjoyed the day. Surprisingly, there was a Popeye's. Their chicken is still good in PA. In the first picture you can see Freedom and Liberty waiting in the parking lot. In the second picture you can see the Turnpike and see it curving to the left so it can pass through the gap in the mountains. You can see the gap/saddles for miles before you get to them.

The three pictures above is what awaited me on the other side of the mountain. Each time you cross one of these mountains, the geology changes. It won't be long and I'll have these mountains in my side mirror. I'm sure I will miss them, but am somewhat looking forward to easy towing in the flatlands beyond. Some of the mountains I've crossed put Freedom in 2nd and 3rd gear just to climb and to help slow her down on the down-grade.

I arrived around 2:00 at Kooser State Park. Most of the state parks in PA only have electricity at the campsite. You have to take on water somewhere in the park, which is what Liberty is doing in the first picture. The narrow road behind her is the road we came up to get to the water on our way to the campsites. That is also near the place where I will dump the holding tanks on the way out tomorrow. The second picture is the road that leads to the campsites. No, I didn't hear an banjo's playing, although it did cross my mind.

The three pictures above are of the campground. The first two I took on my walk today and the last one I took after setting up yesterday. Like I said, it is a small peaceful campground. They said it will be full for this weekend and start filling up tomorrow.

I found an old road to explore today. Apparently it had been closed for a while because every drainage pipe was new and looked to have been recently installed. I found a nice place to pull over and walked through the woods a little piece and found a grassy area. It is for day picnics or tent camping. It was a nice place next to the dam and spillway. By the way, the CCC built a lot of the stuff at this campground. There was a larger CCC campground located in the area of the campsites. It was a nice peaceful location.

I couldn't find a 'thinking bench', so this picnic table will just have to do at this campground.

Tomorrow is moving day. I made reservations last week for the KOA just south of Pittsburgh (maybe time for some Iron City beer again?). It was one of the only places that had vacancies for the holiday. This is twice I almost waited too late to make reservations on an upcoming holiday. I guess I'll learn eventually. I will be there thru Saturday and pull out Sunday morning heading for the state of Ohio. I hope to find a place to switch my new tire and spare around before leaving the KOA. If not, I'll call Coach-net again. I guess my northeast touring is over. I've made reservations for a state park about 45 minutes from Columbus. I have two places I want to see and that state park is in a good central location for both of them.

Whew, I'm up to date now.

Ya'll take care of each other. Cya down the road.