Where are we?
Somewhere between - YAY! We are finally on the road! - and what on earth are we doing?!
As some of you know, we had a delayed start, as we unexpectedly lost our rental of the last few years. Moving is always a trial, but when you had been focused on trip planning and RV renovations, having to pack everything you own up and find a place to store it, with a week's notice, is draining. Luckily, spring arrived just then, too, and even the mud wasn't enough to slow us down.
We finally hit the road on Tuesday, heading out Rte 32, down through Kingston. (Adam - we made it further than Kingston!) We hopped on 212 all the way to Pennsylvania, passing stone houses and prisons, Walmarts and sprawl. We were lucky enough to come across the Delaware Water Gap, a national recreation area, which was, till then, only a blue smear on a map. (Thanks to Freddie, who suggested we take his trusty maps even though I insisted we had a navigational device!) Next time, we think, we'll plan not to cross the 20 mile span when it is gloomy, drizzling and dark.
We camped out in a Walmart parking lot, as I had been unsuccessful at finding a boondocking location with real people. In a bizarre kind of way, we found the ambiance fascinating - this might be what freedom feels like. We woke to find that another RV had pulled in after us, a massive bus of a beast, towing a car behind. We wondered what they were having for breakfast, then discovered a cool little bagel spot down the road.
Our plan was to hit Allentown by our first night, then head on to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unfortunately, we have realized that in addition to be less gas efficient than we were hoping, we also take a lot more time getting anywhere. So we got into Allentown this morning, and found the Da Vinci Science Center. As it goes with us, Garmin or not, we managed to pass the turnoff and accidentally discovered an amazing playground. So between the science museum (which would have been cool if we weren't already science museum groupies!), and the playground, drizzle be damned, we didn't actually get back on the road till 3pm. And even though google maps claimed it was a 4.5 hour jaunt to Waynesboro, we've snuck our little 76er in alongside several great big rigs here in our second Walmart parking lot, happy to have managed to get as far as West Virginia.
A few discoveries so far? Pennsylvania seems to have a remarkable ability to support their little cities while attempting to not convert all of their farmland to suburbs. (Incidentally, why are do many new developments look more like upscale barracks than places where people live and grow? It's eerie.) Every little city we've traveled through this afternoon also seems to have a college or university (or a Department of Defense installation, in the case of Carlisle, which is probably also handy), which means that even if there are quite a number of empty store fronts, even at this end of the recession, business seems to be bustling.
If you are following along to see what happens when you put six kids in a small RV with two harried parents, well so far, everyone is still smiling. While we are wishing for a little more sunshine, and maybe a day or two at a beach, our adventurous crew can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Stay tuned - and a prayer every so often can't hurt either!
Lots of love,
April
Somewhere between - YAY! We are finally on the road! - and what on earth are we doing?!
As some of you know, we had a delayed start, as we unexpectedly lost our rental of the last few years. Moving is always a trial, but when you had been focused on trip planning and RV renovations, having to pack everything you own up and find a place to store it, with a week's notice, is draining. Luckily, spring arrived just then, too, and even the mud wasn't enough to slow us down.
We camped out in a Walmart parking lot, as I had been unsuccessful at finding a boondocking location with real people. In a bizarre kind of way, we found the ambiance fascinating - this might be what freedom feels like. We woke to find that another RV had pulled in after us, a massive bus of a beast, towing a car behind. We wondered what they were having for breakfast, then discovered a cool little bagel spot down the road.
A few discoveries so far? Pennsylvania seems to have a remarkable ability to support their little cities while attempting to not convert all of their farmland to suburbs. (Incidentally, why are do many new developments look more like upscale barracks than places where people live and grow? It's eerie.) Every little city we've traveled through this afternoon also seems to have a college or university (or a Department of Defense installation, in the case of Carlisle, which is probably also handy), which means that even if there are quite a number of empty store fronts, even at this end of the recession, business seems to be bustling.
Stay tuned - and a prayer every so often can't hurt either!
Lots of love,
April
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