By Katrina, on June 19th, 2009%
I just needed a place on the way to Tennessee to rest up a while so a park in West Virginia seemed just right. The drive all the way down through the state to the bottom on I79 was remarkably easy even though it is solid mountains. The highway is laid out well without steep ups and downs. I arrived at Jim’s Campground with a choice of partial hookups with grass right down by the river or full hookups above on a gravel plateau. I checked out the cheaper river area first but quickly found there would be no hope of using my satellite dish down there. That was somewhat contradictory to the idea of resting to me and I discovered their weekly rates are very very affordable even for full hookups so I moved up to the plateau quickly. As a bonus, the plateau is closer to the wifi antenna so it gets better signal (not that it was bad down by the river). The plateau also has cement patios with tie downs built into them and some new picnic tables.
It was so hot and muggy, I put out my awning, both for me and for my refrigerator. I had used some WD40 on the roller mechanism in DC so it came out much easier than usual. I may use it more often now! The tie downs were nice to use and a great idea in a gravel area like that. There’s no pool and I didn’t see anyone in the river.
Continue reading Milton, WV
By Katrina, on June 14th, 2009%
Another trip into Pittsburgh to see my aunt before I head back west, as promised. My aunt and Pittsburgh are both like potato chips. One week was just not enough. I ended up staying 3 weeks again and still we came up with ideas for more things to do when I eventually get back. Sheesh.
It started out with me coming in wore out from Washington DC. I was exhausted. I had to stop at the welcome center/rest area at the border of Maryland and West Virginia for a 2 hour nap just to get to Pittsburgh. I love having my home and bed with me everywhere I go! We continued on and happily had no problem whipping the trailer into her driveway again. Again, I stayed in her house and ran the trailer refrigerator off propane and batteries with a plugin to recharge once.
My aunt, cousin, and I went into town to see a broadway play called Spring Awakening at Heinz Hall. It won 8 tony awards and had at least some of the broadway cast members. The play was written in 1891 and is set in Germany. It is about teenage awakening. It was so racy that it was not allowed to be performed in english on the stage for 100 years. Not only did we see naked butt and a couple sex scenes, but their best songs are “Life is a Bitch” and “Totally Fucked”. Everyone roared with laughter when they broke into the latter song. I rather enjoyed the “blah blah blah” lyrics myself which so sound like teenagers. It was both shocking and highly entertaining. We had great seats for it too. The ending of the play is not at all happy so be prepared.
Continue reading Pittsburgh, PA II
By Katrina, on June 3rd, 2009%
With the Memorial Day holiday fast approaching, it was time to make plans and reservations. Every full-timer dreads the holidays when finding a discount at a campground is impossible unless you stay somewhere for a month. Forget using Coast to Coast, Passport America, etc. The Good Sam and Escapees discounts will usually still work and if you get reservations way in advance, there are always state parks, regional parks, and Corps of Engineers campgrounds.
My cousin and I had been trying to get together for a trip all year. She came up with the bright idea to meet up near Washington, DC to camp and spend the holiday in Washington at the museums and Arlington Cemetery. Now personally that seemed a bit crazy with the obvious traffic and crowds that would be there but after thinking about it, it also seemed rather perfect and certainly smacked of adventure. To keep the cost down and get around my work schedule, I went in early.
To get to Washington DC from Pigeon Forge, I had to stay overnight in Blacksburg, VA at New River Junction Campground. Now there’s a campground I would NOT recommend even to a gopher. While it sits on the banks of a lovely river, provides tubing and canoeing, and is a Passport America park, they have no bathroom facilities at all, are surrounded on 3 sides very closely by quite active train tracks, and the person who checked me in gave me a major load of attitude. He questioned why I would come a little out of my way to stay there for one night and flat out called me lazy for not picking up a phone and calling ahead for a reservation. Since when do campgrounds, hotels, motels, etc. absolutely have to have a reservation?! Isn’t the point to be there for weary travelers as well as those who actually know they need to stay there? And with the campground nearly empty what the heck was the big deal? I hadn’t called because I was not sure how far I was going to drive that day and since it was still out of season, the risk of him being full was minimal not to mention there were other campgrounds down the road if needed. How far out of my way I go is also none of his business. I don’t know what business that guy thinks he is in but it certainly isn’t hospitality. I will NEVER EVER go there again.
Continue reading Washington DC III
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