Moving Day, Ohio Oasis and Mail Surprise

Location: Harrison Lake State Park; Fayette, Ohio
(click pics to enlarge)

Note: I went back and added the pictures to the last post that I was unable to do so at the time of posting due to poor internet connection.

I pulled out of Delaware State Park about 11:00 am on Thursday. Before leaving, I picked up my general delivery mail from my son. I get these mail package about every month and this is the 3rd one. The way it works is I have to figure where I'll be at about 10 days in advance. I pick a small post office near that location and text the address to my son. He puts my mail in a package and sends it to me at that address in care of general delivery. This time there was a classic miscommunication between me and the post-mistress. I blame it on her being a Yankee and not being able to speak plain ole southern English. When she brought the package from the back, she gave me a funny look. As I reached for it, she pulled it back to her. That caught me by surprise and I looked back at her and started to question what was happening. Before I could speak, she bluntly asked me, "how long have you been receiving general delivery?" I did some rough calculations in my head and said about 2 to 3 months, which is true since the first mail drop I received was back in May. She didn't like that answer at all and pulled my package even closer to her. In her best Nurse Ratched (ya'll guess the movie reference) impersonation she said, "you will have to do a change of address to get this package". The conversation quickly deteriorated at that point but of course I stayed calm and polite while she chose excited and rude. It went something like this:
me: Why?
her: Because it's more than 30 days.
me: 30 days from when to when?
her: Look, you can only received general delivery for 30 days.
me: this is my first general delivery here
her: we have post office boxes for rent
me: I don't live here
her: Why are you getting mail
me: I travel around the country and my son sends my packages to general delivery
her: I understand that, but you can only get general delivery for 30 days.
me: my next general delivery may be in South Dakota
her: I understand that, but you can only get general delivery for 30 days.
me: I'm never in one place longer than about 4 to 5 days.
her: I understand that, but you have to get a post office box to get more mail.
me: Apparently you don't understand, but if you give me my package, you will never see me here again, I promise.
her: Don't let me see you again asking for general delivery.

She gave me my package and I told her, "have a nice day, see you next time." She didn't like that at all. I guess she mistakenly thought I was being sarcastic.

After getting back to the campground, I finished hitching up and pulled out. As I was driving out, there was a loud bang. I stopped and got out to see what happened. There were some other campers that were breaking camp and I asked them if that sound was from me or them. They pointed up and said I hit a tree limb hanging down. That was strange because I didn't hit it going in to the campsite. I got back in and went to the dump site to empty my tanks. I checked the top of Liberty the best I could and the only damage I found was some scratches on the round bubble over the skylight in the shower. That is actually the highest part of Liberty and since it is off-set to the left side, I guess I missed the limb going in but got it on the way out. I later removed the cover from inside the shower to see how it looked and saw no problems. This is also the place where my spider friends had been living, so I made sure they were all gone.

OK, the post-mistress and the limb were two bad things. Since they come in three's, I was trying to figure what would be next.

Perfect Traveling weather

The trip was nice. The weather was perfect with the temperature in the mid 70's and white puffy clouds everywhere. They looked as if they were just out of reach. There were only a couple really bad bridges that bounced Liberty around. I also had to use about 30 miles of the Ohio Toll Road. The toll was $5.45. Something isn't right with all of these toll roads up here and in the Northeast. Most of them are in poor condition but still collecting tolls. Someone ought to check to see who's brother-in-law is running the tolling business.

I got to Harrison Lake State Park around 2:30. The park had been described as being an Oasis in a Desert of Farmlands. I definitely saw the farm

Typical Farmland

lands. Houses are scattered along the roads about every 3/4 of a mile with nothing but cultivated farmland in between the houses. It looked like corn and soy beans were the main crops right now. The only trees around this part of the state are next to houses or a thin line of along property lines. But in the distance there was a

Harrison Lake Campsite

large stand of trees which turned out to be Harrison Lake. It is a man-made lake, built by the state in 1941. Nine years later the state park was constructed. In the early 1800's, this part of Ohio was a swampland. Only after drainage was

Peaceful place

installed did it become some of the richest farmland in the country. It is still the most sparsely populated part of Ohio.

The park is one of the best maintained parks I've seen. Trees are everywhere, but set back a ways from the campsites. The grass is mowed and

trimmed. The lake is fresh and full. It is a very peaceful place. In talking with an older couple camped next to me, they said most

everyone that camps here lives around the area. The area residents have sort of adopted the state park as theirs and take care of some of the

maintenance and up-keep. This type of local ownership really shows in the way the park looks. They have done well.

Remember the third thing I was waiting to happen? It happened as I was opening all of my mail. I have been summoned to Jury Duty in Louisiana for the 28th of July. I have applied for an exemption based on "undue hardship" and put that letter in the mail yesterday. I'm not sure what happens if the request is not approved. I guess we will see if a Sheriff's deputy starts looking for me around Desoto Parish, Louisiana.

My Mug Shot??? lol

Tomorrow is moving day and I will be going to Lakeport State Park in Michigan. It is on the banks of Lake Huron. To get there, I have a choice to go thru Detroit or to go way around it. I have not fully decided yet, but am leaning to avoiding the town completely. It's a shame, because it has a rich history going back hundreds of years. It just goes to show what happens when too many liberal policies are put in place. When you take from one group of people to give to another group of people, you have a problem when the givers get fed up and move away. What you're left with is too many people that are used to being taken care of and it will take time for them to learn how to do it on their own. Given time and the right leadership in place, Detroit could come back to its former glory, but I'll still avoid it on my way through that area.

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

Signs, Signs And Exploring a Trail in Woods

Location: Delaware State Park; Delaware, Ohio
(click pics to enlarge) No Pics in this post. Bad internet connection, sorry.

I went people watching yesterday and one of the best places for that activity is the laundromat or for some in East Texas, a wash-a-teria. I asked at the park office for the location of the nearest laundromat. She told me there were washers and dryers in the park at the wash-houses. That was strange since I hadn't seen it in other state parks. Usually they have only the barest of amenities. But I thought it was good because there was a wash-house just up from my campsite and since the campground is only about 25% full it should be available. Also, since no one would be there, I could wear some of the clothes that I usually don't wear so I could wash up everything. I reached deep into the closet and pulled out stuff from the back. I found some old "used to be white" (you will read why, later) shorts and a light blue T-shirt that was a size or two too small for me. If I kept it pulled down, technically it wouldn't be a belly shirt. I put on my sandals, without socks, so I could wash all of my socks. I rounded up my dirty clothes and put them in my laundry bags. When I started full-timing, I bought about a half dozen mesh laundry bags. These have served me well. I usually use two bags on laundry day. I have my fancy clothes like my shorts, pants and shirts in one bag and everything else in the other bag. I know some of ya'll, mostly women, are saying what about sorting white clothes and colored clothes. Nope, I don't waste my time on such stuff anymore. All my pants, shirts and shorts go in the same load. If the color bleeds a little bit, oh well, I just have a different colored outfit is all. Anyway, I bagged up my laundry and headed to the wash-house. I opened the door and everything was dusty, dirty and dead bugs everywhere. There was only one washer and one dryer which immediately told me I wouldn't be doing laundry here since I've gotten spoiled into using as many washer and dryers as I need to speed things up. But I was curious so I walked over to the dryer and noticed a sign taped to the top. The part of the sign that was left said, "Do not use this dryer, it is". Someone had ripped the last word off of the note. I assume the missing word could have been "broken", but I thought it might also could have been "electrical hazard", or "possessed". All sorts of things ran through my mind. But I took a risk and opened it up. There was a load of towels inside, so I guess the missing word was "full". I opened the washer and it was empty except for little pebbles, dirt and more dead flying bugs. I put my bags back in Liberty and went in search of a proper Laundromat. Ut oh, that meant out in public with me wearing strange clothes. I thought about, and realized I only knew one person within 50 miles of where I was, so the odds of running into that person was slim so it would be OK. About half way there, I thought, yeah it's OK as long as I don't have a wreck, breakdown, have a flat tire, etc.

I pulled out my good ole cell phone and searched for a Laundromat since I wasn't going to ask the office girl again. I found one about 15 miles away and headed in that direction hoping that it would be in a good part of town. If I had more time I could have searched for one near the college since I've learned those are the best places, especially when participating in people watching. I got to the place where Elise (gps) said the Laundromat was located. There was a brand new building there but it wasn't a laundry. As I was turning around in a CVS pharmacy I pulled up next to a woman walking across the parking lot. She tried to escape, but Freedom pinned her in against an old Toyota and I rolled down the window. I hollered out, "Do you know where a Laundromat is at???" She gave me a strange look and pointed across the street. That's when I noticed the sign "Coin Laundry and Tanning". By the time I looked back to thank the lady, she was walking away quickly but I was able to yell a Thank You anyhow. She must not have heard me because she didn't acknowledge it. Maybe I shouldn't have honked the horn because that made her jump. I guess she had a guilty conscious or something.

Coin Laundry and Tanning Salon

I got lucky and it was in a nice part of town with name stores close by. It really is a combination Laundromat and Tanning Salon. I decided to only do the laundry, but it must have been a good tanning place because some women came out from the back with pretty good tans. I scouted out a couple of washers and started them going. I don't read the signs on the machines anymore since I've been using the Laundromats for the last 6 months or so. I guess I'll need to started reading them again. I started my fancy clothes and the timer came up 24 minutes, which is normal. I then started my all-other load and the timer came up with 44 minutes. I thought that ain't right, but by then there is no going back because those front load washers lock the door on you. Your stuck for however long it wants to run. It was then I saw the sign, "Be advised, this washer has an extra rinse cycle". Oh well, it wasn't as if I had anything else to do so I sat down to check text and email. There wasn't any so I looked around at the people. I quickly noticed that my clothes fit right in, I knew they would, because that is one of the Rules of the Laundromat, you wear what you got that is the cleanest or else you would have waited another day to do laundry. The typical cliental were there that is in most Laundromats. A couple of older men that seemed to be just hanging out more so that doing laundry. I'm guessing the tanning salon had something to do with them being there since the tanner had to walk through the laundry area. There were a couple middle aged women that appeared to be regulars and were probably there every week. A couple girls in their early 20's which one brought her clothes in a small paper bag and put them in one of the biggest washers. She went to her car to wait once the washer started. Maybe she was famous and didn't want the rest of us to recognize her. There was a upper middle class couple that were dressed real fancy. They used about 5 washers, probably because she did that "sorting" thing instead of using my more advanced method of washing. It took a little less than 2 hours to wash and dry everything. I folded all of the clothes and re-bagged them. The bags get washed and dried in the "everything else" load. I got back to the campground around noon.

In the afternoon I went for a walk and found a wide trail that leaves the campsite area. It looked like it headed to the lake so I decided to see where
it lead. After a couple hundred yards it was wooded so dense it was as if it

Trail to the Lake

was late in the evening. Of course walking in the woods alone like that is a bad time to think about all of the strange sounds I had been hearing near Liberty in the evenings. There are woods on 2 sides of Liberty and animals seem to come and go pretty regularly throughout the night. I followed the trail some more and it came to some steps made out of old Railroad ties. They lead down to the edge of the lake. It was a pretty sight. I tried to get a good picture but since I was standing in the dark and foreboding woods looking out into bright sunlight, they didn't turn out too good. There was a

fisherman on the bank. I asked if anything was biting and he said no. He lives near by and comes to the park to camp and fish. A guy showed up in a fancy boat and the two fishermen compared notes on what the fish were hitting on and what they weren't. I wished them luck and headed back. On the way back I
thought about a TV program that a woman I worked with used to watch. It was Joy's favorite show; The Walking Dead. Uhmmm,,, that made me look side to side a few times before I made it back to Liberty.

I cleaned Freedom up a little bit. I finally got around to getting the sand out of the mats. That was sand from Maine. I then rearranged a few things in the basement area. Afterwards, I rewarded myself with a nice 30 minute nap in the lazy boy recliner.

Some strong storms blew through here the other night. Lightening and thunder galore with some moderate winds. The temperature is suppose to be in the lower 70's for the next couple of days. It got chilly last night. When I got up around 3:00, I checked the inside temp and it was 54. I had to use the heater to warm things up this morning before my shower.

I pull out of here tomorrow after checking to see if my mail gets here. I'll being heading about 160 miles northwest to the corner of Ohio/Indiana/Michigan. I'll be there thru the weekend before heading up into Michigan for a few days to a campground on the coast of Lake Huron, which will be my third Great Lake.

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

Travel Day (Mill Creek COE Park to Delaware State Park, Delaware, Ohio) and the Airstream Factory Tour

Location: Delaware State Park; Delaware, Ohio
(click pics to enlarge)

If anyone needs to contact me and doesn't want it posted, my email address is:
Darrell_g42@hotmail.com

The trip from Mill Creek was uneventful. I was concerned about the thunderstorms in the area but I got lucky and didn't get a drop. It was hot and humid in front of the storm. The weather is suppose to be nice here for the next few days. The landscape is relatively flat farmland.

Typical landscape for this area

I will pull out of here Thursday morning for a place in the very northeast corner of Ohio.

The park is nice and heavily wooded. The sites are asphalt and level with plenty of room between each. This is the kind of park I expected of the

Campsite # 119

Empty campsites down the street

Corps of Engineers but was disappointed. The park is only about 25% full, but they say it fills up quickly on Friday and then thru the weekend. There is a nice lake with a marina that has several very expensive boats. I assume this is one of the "water playgrounds" for the people of Columbus which is about 30 miles away.








Today I drove about 50 miles to Jackson Center, Ohio to take a tour of the Airstream factory. I was surprised by the number in the tour.


Some of my tour mates

I was expecting only a few but there must have been 30 people. Every Airstream is made in this factory located in a town with a population of 1,500. Airstream has been around since 1932 when the founder outgrew his backyard where he had been building trailers for family and friends. The first location was out in
California but by 1952 they had a couple factories working including the one I toured today.

Vintage Airstreams

The first one is a !937 Clipper. Has character, uh?

Pictures were only allowed in limited areas. The tour was interesting to see how the iconic aluminum trailer is put together. To me, one of the most interesting things about Airstream was their African caravan in 1959. The owner of the company, Wally Byam, lead 41 Airstream trailers from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. The distance was about 16,000 miles and took about 9 months to complete. It clearly showed that the trailer was well made and could be lived in easily.

On the way back to the campground, I found a nice Kroger and bought some steaks and fruit. Good eating tonight. :) It was a good day.

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

First Corps of Engineers campground

Location: Mill Creek Recreation Area Campground; Berlin Lake, Ohio

(click pics to enlarge)

I arrived here last Thursday afternoon. I choose this campground because it will be the first Corps of Engineers campground for me. I have read in other’s blogs abound how great they were in terms of layout, cleanliness and careful thought being put into every aspect of the campground. I figured they must be designed and operated logically if it is being run by Engineers.

First off, Elise (gps) took me to an entrance that was fenced, gated and no signs. It appeared to have been closed for some time since grass was growing tall in the cracks of the pavement. I figured I must be in the wrong place because engineers would surely have placed a sign here saying what was going on and where the campground entrance was located. I was able to stop on the small country road because no one seemed to be using the road and I hadn’t seen a car in a while. The country around here is flat with farms everywhere. The road system layout for this part of Ohio is about a 5 mile square grid with the roads being generally straight as an arrow and running either due north/south or due east/west. Lucky for me the roads were flat because about a mile up the road I saw what looked like a big pontoon boat making a turn. There wasn’t a place to turn Freedom and Liberty around, so I drove forward and sure enough, there was the entrance to Mill Creek. The waiting line was about 6 deep of cars, RV’s and a couple pick-ups full of firewood. The road curved and narrowed between curbs to a width that only gave an extra 6 inches or so on either side of Liberty’s tires. I do not know why they would do such a thing. As I walked up to the check-in station to stand in line I discovered why there was a line. There was only one woman working in the building. She was checking in campers, giving day use passes and checking vehicles for permits as they passed through. I mentioned to one of the guys in line that she needed help, he said there was another guy but he left as the line got longer. After about 30 minutes I got checked in and received all my paperwork (one permit for the rearview mirror another one to put on a post at the campsite.

 

Before going to the campsite, I had to take on fresh water because the sites are electric only. That’s fine with me, I have gotten used to that and sort of prefer it that way. I found the fresh water spigot but it was in a bad location unless you were coming from the other direction. I couldn’t see anything as far as I could see down the road and

since I didn’t trust the layout already, I decided to back Liberty into a driveway and turn her around right there. Once I was turned around, I had to back up about 40 yards to the water spigot. Maybe these Ohio engineers are different, because so far they haven’t made anything easy or logical. I found the campsite. It went slightly up hill and half of the driveway is made of rounded rock and the other half is compacted dirt. Each campsite has a driveway pipe and roadside ditch. If you don’t center your RV as you’re backing in, you may have a big problem. If you drop a tire off the edge of the pipe you may be buying a new tire. Oh, and there are trees on each side of the campsite. I stopped in the one-way road to get out of Freedom

to have look at the campsite to see how best to back in and get set up. I knew I had to make room for the slide out so it wouldn’t hit the tree. The pipe and ditch worried me as well. As I was looking over the site, two RV’s pulled up behind Liberty. So now I was blocking traffic and would have an audience as I backed into a tough campsite. I jumped back in Freedom and got lined up the best I could while still avoiding a wooden post, a dumpster, a sign and another campsite. I jacked Liberty over as much as I could and as quick as I could. I knew from the beginning I was going to have to pull forward and straighten up to get lined up better and to keep Liberty from jackknifing into Freedom’s cab. Then in my side mirror I saw a guy waving at me. He was from one of the waiting RV’s and he is telling me “come on back”. I hollered back that I was going to pull forward first. He looked disgusted and hollered back sarcastically, “if you THINK you need to, go ahead”. This guy is already violating one of the rules of campground etiquette by helping without being asked or without offering first. I ignored him and pulled forward as far as I could and then started backing again. I was keeping my eyes on the mirrors and a wooden post that I thought may be in the way on my right side. The guy is waving wildly again and telling me to “turn this way, then turn that way”. Each direction was opposite of what I needed to do. I’m not sure if he was doing it on purpose or not. I saw the post out of the corner of my eye as it was getting closer and closer. I stopped, put the emergency brake on and got out of Freedom to take a look at the situation. I have become a big believer in what the truckers call, GOAL (Get Out And Look). As I stepped down from Freedom, the guy hollered, “what are you doing now? You have plenty of room back here.” That fired me up and I began to see red. I was about to have some words with this guy and educate him about a few things. Instead, I politely said, “I want to make sure I have enough room by this post”. His response, “What post? I don’t see any post. Keep on coming back”. I ignored him again and walked around in front to take a quick look. Sure enough, I needed to pull forward just a little bit then I would have it made all the way back into the site. By then the guy had walked to the other side of Liberty and saw how close the post was to Freedom. He realized that if I had continued to follow his directions, the post and Freedom would have met. Did he apologize? Did he come up and shake my hand? Nope and nope. He just said, “Looks like you have it now” and walked back to his RV. I finished backing into the tight spot and he drove off. I haven’t seen him since, which is good news.

 

I got set up and the site turned out to be pretty level side to side. My slide out comes to within about 6 inches of the tree. The two trees provide plenty of shade and it is a comfortable site once you’re in it. I’ll worry about pulling Liberty out tomorrow. The lake is a very pretty lake. In talking to some of the people, the lake and campground is a local weekend attraction for this area. A lot of the people come here about every other weekend during the summer months. Many of the people know each other. This campground has been a rest stop for me with nothing planned in this area.

 

Tomorrow is moving day and I’ll be heading to a state park north of Columbus called Delaware State Park. There are a couple of things I want to see in Columbus before heading north.

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

The Good and Bad about Bridges AND another old home place

Location: Dillon State Park; Zanesville, Ohio
(click pic to enlarge)

One of the reason why I chose this campground was to be close enough to visit another town that I lived in when I was a child. I'm guessing I would have been about 11 or 12 years of age, but not exactly sure. Since we moved around about every year or two, the places, dates and things get blurry. Of course 50 years may contribute some to that blurriness. 

The year; 1967. The date; Friday, December 15th. Ten days before Christmas. Location: An Ohio River bridge crossing between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga, Ohio. The bridge was named the Silver Bridge because it was the first bridge in the country to be painted with aluminum paint. Everyone from that area and most Civil Engineers are familiar with the story. The suspension bridge was built in 1928 using new technology at that time. It was the first bridge that used large quantities of "heat treated carbon steel". It made the steel stronger and designers used it to cast the "eye bars" that made up the steel chains that served as the suspenders for the bridge. Before this "new steel", designers would simply add more structural things to the bridge to compensate for any miscalculations or faulty assumptions. Designers thought they had all the answer now and could design the bridge without any extra members. They thought they knew exactly what load the material could handle and submitted their design. They also had to figure how much traffic loading the bridge needed to carry so they used the car in use at that time; the Model "T". The Model "T' weighed in at about 1,500 pounds. In contrast, the cars in 1967 weighed about 4,000 pounds. An increase of about 3 times the original amount. But the increased load just speeded up the inevitable. A defect was cast into one of the "eye bars" as it was being made. It was a very small crack, so small, that it could have only been detected by using modern technology. The people that cast it and inspected it could not have seen it. Once the bridge was assembled, the crack was hidden. Like a festering wound, it grew a little bit every year as the weather fluctuated between one hundred degrees in the summer to below zero in the winter. The two extremes pulled and pushed on the crack. The weight of the vehicles increase every year and the maximum hauling loads of trucks went from 10,000 pounds to 60,000 pounds. Even after decades of weather changes, increased traffic loads on the bridge, snow, rain and vehicle exhaust your human eye could not have seen the crack.

Just like bending a paper clip back and forth, eventually, it will break. The paper clip was the "eye bar" with the crack and the last bend happened on that fateful day of December 15, 1967. The bridge was full of holiday shoppers and workers on their way home. Everyone was probably looking forward to the weekend. But in less than a minute, the bridge and 31vehicles were in the cold Ohio River. Forty six people died and the country was in shock. The TV news reported the bridge collapse and everyone wondered about the bridges they crossed every day. The Federal government looked into the collapse. The bridge was pulled out of the river and layed on the bank with each piece in the place it was in before the collapse. This detailed investigation is what lead to the discovery of the crack and highlighted such things as fatigue cracking, corrosion cracking and using redundant members. The country was outraged that there wasn't an inspection program of all bridges to help prevent such tragedies. The Federal government set up protocols and inspection standards for all of the states to follow in the inspection of their bridges. That program is still going on today with every bridge being inspected on a regular basis to help ensure the safety of all bridges. You can still hear of a bridge that collapses like the one in Minneapolis, but those are rare. Today's bridges are the safest and strongest.

When it came time to rebuild the Silver Bridge, the company my father worked with got the project. My father was chosen as the Project Superintendent and we again moved to a new

The New Silver Bridge

town. Housing must have been hard to come by because we had to stay in a motel for nearly a month until we found a place. The new temporary hometown was named New Haven, West Virginia and the house was on top of a mountain. My older sister must have been 16 because for some reason the state gave her a driver's license which she used to nearly kill me. We were coming off the mountain which was always a little exciting. Well, this time, my sister was driving and I was riding when the next thing I heard was "I wonder how far we can coast if I turn the key off". Even at my younger age, I knew that without the key on, there would be no power steering and no power brakes. She turned off the key before I had a chance to tell her anything or before I could jump out of the car. Sure enough, she got a surprise real quick. Proof that she turned the key back on is that she and I survived that ride.

I found the old home place, or at least I think I did. Everything looked different. The house had been remodeled and they did a good job of it. I stopped long enough to take a picture, then left. The public swimming pool is still there after nearly 50 years and looked exactly the same. The old pool hall that marked the place where we turned off the highway to go up the mountain looks to have been gone a long time.

The old public pool still looks the same.

 

The pool hall used to be on the right, the hill straight ahead

Of course go right and UP!

higher

Curves, of course

The house? Maybe, maybe not.

This is the second old home place that I've found and I'm reconsidering finding any more. Some things are best left in the past with the memories we have from that time. I am reminded of a line from a movie. Ya'll will have to guess which movie. The line goes something like,"when the legend becomes fact, print the legend". I'll decide before I get to the next old homeplace area.

As I was driving around today getting my prescription refilled at Walmart, I found the most interesting office building. We need more like this. This company definitely has a good sense of humor and doesn't care what others think. Thumbs up to them.

An Office building. The dark spots are windows

 
 Tomorrow is moving day. I have a planned stop on the way to the campground to get three new Goodyear tires. After reading more and more about failures from the foreign made tires that came on Liberty, I have decided to replace them with Goodyear Marthon tires. I will also go up a level in load range to a "D" instead of "C". This is all good and should restore my confidence as I tow down the road. The next campground will be the first Corp of Engineers campground I've stayed at and I'm interested in comparing it to some of the state parks.

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

Moving day (Madison, PA to Zanesville, OH) and Thoughts and Things

Location: Dillon State Park; Zanesville, Ohio
(click pics to enlarge)

I thought I had posted this the other day, but apparently it didn't post. So I'm doing it now, two days later. I'll be making another post in a couple of hours.

I pulled out of the Madison KOA around 10:00 a.m. and it was an easy tow of only 150 miles. There were no gas stops and three rest area stops. The rest areas included two Welcome Centers; one for West Virginia and another for Ohio. It was good interstate for most of the trip with smooth roads and only a few bad bridges. The weather was great, sky clear and temps in the mid 70's. I

West Virginia/Pennsylvania state line

crossed West Virginia at Wheeling. West Virginia is less that 10 miles wide at that point. It would almost be better if they gave that part to Pennsylvania.

As I crossed the Ohio River I thought of the pioneers from the 1800's as they were traveling west. Ohio marked the beginning of the wilderness; the relatively unexplored area. There should have been a big sigh of relief as they left the mountains behind. On the flatter area of Ohio they would be able to travel faster and easier. I could picture celebration suppers, dancing and partying. Little did they know the troubles that faced them ahead, but right then it didn't matter. For the ones going to California, they had more than 2,000 miles to go which would take them more that 6 months. Always in the back of their mind they knew that if they didn't make it fast enough, they ran the risk of getting caught in the Rocky Mountains in the winter.

I'm camped in Dillon State Park near the town of Zanesville, Ohio. I arrived just as most of the campers were leaving. The dump station had RV stacked up in line to where it would take a couple

Dillon Lake and Dam

hours just to dump your tanks. It won't be like that when I leave here Thursday because the park is less than half full now. The park has asphalt pads and plenty of shade trees. I

Campsite at Dillon State Park

have been running the A/C because of the higher than expected humidity. I have not experienced any flying bugs at all. I'm not sure if they spray or if they just don't live here.

Today was a drive around town day and see what I could see. One of the "famous" things in town is the "Y" bridge. It is the "bridge that you can cross and still be on the same side of the river". Apparently, this type of Y bridge goes way back although the current one is only a few decades old. It is build at the junction of two rivers so I guess they figure the Y type of bridge would be better than 3 separate bridges. It looks good and functions well.

The Zanesville "Y" Bridge

I found a very nice park next to the river that is used to honor the military from the local Muskingum County (Parish).

Iraq memorial

The first memorial is the traditional "boots, gun and helmet" in honor those who gave it all in Iraq. I was surprised at the number of dead from the Iraqi conflicts. There were 7 from this county. Of course, our current administration is in the process of giving the hard won victory over to some very bad and evil people.  As he said, "there are consequences to elections". We are paying those consequences now and for a very long time to come.

Vietnam Memorial

The second memorial is depicted by a soldier in battle gear. This memorial is to the Vietnam War. There were 24 people from this county that lost their lives in that war.

County Medal of Honor recipients

The final memorial is an eternal flame to honor all of the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from this county. I counted them, but didn't write it down. I believe it was 13, but not sure. It was a surprisingly large number, even considering that some was from Indian conflicts. The three memorials have a peaceful and respectful tone. This town/county did a good job. These types of memorials help us remember so we don't forget the price of freedom.

Bench near the war memorials

Benches overlooking the city

As I'm finishing this post it has started to storm. There are a few tent campers around me who are creating memories. It should be a passing storm with more to come tonight. One has about 5 kids of stair-stepped ages. Another one is a young couple with two dogs. They all seem to have sturdy tents and should make it through the night. 

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

Pictures of all Campsites thru Week 12

Location: Madison KOA; Madison, Pennsylvania
(click pics to enlarge)

Yesterday marked 12 weeks on the road. I thought it would be interesting to see all of the places, in order, where I've camped. Not many words in this post, just a lot of pictures.

The saying goes, "small home, but big backyard"

So here goes:

This is day one when I picked up Liberty

Bossier South Marina; Bossier City, Louisiana

Poverty Point State Park; Delhi, Louisiana

Ameristar Casino Campground; Vicksburg, Mississippi

Rivertown Rv Park; Vicksburg, Mississippi

Jennings Ferry Campground; Eutaw, Alabama

Hamilton County Campground; Hixson, Tennessee

Flaming Arrow Campground; Cherokee, North Carolina

Midway Campground; Statesville, North Carolina

Kampers Lodge Campground; Wilson, North Carolina

North River Campground; Shawboro, North Carolina

Parkview RV Park; Appomattox, Virginia

Shenandoah Valley Campground; Mount Jackson, Virginia

Cherry Hill Park; College Park, Maryland

Hickory Hollow Campground; Rockwood, Pennsylvania

Gaslight Campground; Elmenton, Pennsylvania

Lampe Marina and Campground; Erie, Pennsylvania

Four Mile Creek State Park; Youngstown, New York

Junius Ponds Campground; West Junius, New York

Chenango State Park; Chenango Forks, New York

Susquehanna Trails Campground; Oneonta, New York

Brattleboro KOA; Brattleboro, Vermont

Wild Acres Campground; Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Bar Harbor KOA; Bar Harbor, Maine

Wilderness Lake Campground; Willington, Connecticut

Newburgh KOA, Newburgh, New York

Gifford-Pinchot State Park; Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

Kooser State Park; Donegal, Pennsylvania

Madison KOA; Madison, Pennsylvania

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