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By Katrina Kane, on June 6th, 2008 I finally made it! I was supposed to catch the falls last year but ran into so much fun in Michigan that I ran out of time before I had to get down south before the snow fell or campgrounds closed in the north for the season.
   
I chose to stay at a C2C park in Holland, NY. It was a bit farther away than I liked but much cheaper than trying to stay closer and it was quiet during the day for sleeping. The park itself sucked and could hardly be called a resort. It has no sewer hookups even for their permanent residents, the electrical and water hookups are far away thus both requiring extensions, the bathhouse was marginal with showers that only work while pulling on a cord (cheapskates), to get anywhere there requires transportation because it is so decentralized with large hills to go up and down, the dump is in the middle of the grounds thus requiring you to drag your RV down and up a steep hill, the pool is toward the back on a high hill, the lakes are unattractive, my Sprint aircard did work but only marginally with 0-1 bars though it did at least get EVDO, flying bugs were all too plentiful, and the office would not accept my outgoing mail. Never has a campground not accepted my outgoing mail! This is a zero customer service park which I would not recommend for more than 1 night.
Continue reading Niagara Falls, NY
By Katrina Kane, on May 16th, 2008 Before leaving Gettysburg, I thought I should give my aunt in Pittsburgh a call as a courtesy. The last time I was at her house was 30 years ago and the phone number I had was probably equally old but what the heck. The number rang which was a good sign. The next instant a familiar voice answered. Wow! I nearly fainted. As soon as she heard I was traveling through the state, she invited or rather insisted I visit her. I have other aunts but she has always been the family favorite, probably because she is so much like our parents were, full of life and fun. I also discovered one of her daughters still lives nearby so there was no way I was going to pass on an opportunity to see both my aunt and cousin.
The drive to Pittsburgh was not uneventful. The highway goes through several tunnels which I always enjoy. At one tunnel, there was a huge sign that went on and on in print too small to read at 55 miles an hour about what is not allowed to go through. I wasn’t sure if my propane tanks on the trailer were allowed (they were apparently). There was also a long line developing to go through. I am not real good at waiting in stop and stop traffic especially with 7200 pounds behind me pushing me. I decided to opt for the over mountain route instead. Just my luck, I got stuck behind some idiot trucker who seems to believe he owns all the roads. He took the entire mountain at 20 miles an hour despite a huge line of cars behind him and numerous opportunities to turnout to let us pass which he is legally required to do, assuming of course that he is not actually God or the true owner of all roads in America. Everyone was angry as hell that night I am sure. <chanting chanting cooling down> On the plus side, the route I took passed right by the spot where flight 93 crashed on 9/11 so I got something out of that route. When they said it crashed in a field I immediately thought open flat land but it is certainly not. It is a very hilly and beautiful area.
Continue reading Pittsburgh, PA
By Katrina Kane, on May 12th, 2008 I had seen enough of bloodshed in Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville I thought but a trip to Pennsylvania just would not have been complete without a visit to Gettysburg where the war began to end after days of the bloodiest fighting ever and the South’s failure to win on northern soil. The South had hoped to humiliate the North with a solid win and thus get the North to consider ending the war and allow them to secede. I guess they did succeed in part of that but not in the way they imagined.
Gettysburg is where 10 roads meet near the Virginia border. That set it up to be destined for a fight sooner or later. Both commanding generals had selected other good spots where they wanted to fight though neither knew exactly where the other was. Scouts were sent out to find food, shoes, etc. They accidentally stumbled upon each other and the fight was on at Gettysburg. Cannons everywhere fired incessantly. Snipers in rock clutches in fields and in houses in town picked off many officers and others. Streams were undrinkable as they filled with blood. It was a horror no man should ever have to see.
Continue reading Gettysburg, PA
By Katrina Kane, on April 29th, 2008 Looking for my next stop, I spotted the Shenandoah Valley on the map. I felt a terrible ache to see it though I didn’t know why. Happily, there is a C2C campground there in Front Royal, VA so deciding to go there was very easy. I stayed at the Skyline Ranch Resort in Front Royal. I found it to be an excellent campground with full amenities and friendly staff. They have a petting zoo, stables, very large pool, jacuzzi, clubhouse with snack bar, games, putt putt golf, and fabulous adult lounge. The theme of everything in the resort is western which is fun and the country porch on the cowboy and cowgirl bathrooms is a nice touch. The “treehouse” design of all the rental cabins is certainly interesting. The only issue I had was no satellite TV there due to all the trees. Oh well. Again on the plus side is the excellent location just down the road from both Skyline Caverns and Shenandoah National Park with Skyline Drive across the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail. Luray Caverns is not far either.
   
I managed to get a lovely sunshine day to go to the north entrance of the national park and drive Skyline Drive. The views up there are stunning. I very much enjoyed the twists and turns of the drive through mountains filling up with spring color. My GPS came in pretty handy as it showed me each turn coming up. There are a lot of hikers and bicyclists there so you may want to bring some extra water to help out a fellow traveler.
Continue reading Front Royal and the Shenandoah Valley, VA
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