Blog #16
GREETINGS FROM EASTHAM, MASSACHUTES
We left Georgia Veterans State Park on April 11th. 18 days later we landed at Atlantic Oaks RV Resort, in Eastham, MA, on Cape Cod. We traveled approximately 1600 miles.
At our first stop, Elijah Clark State Park, which is right on the Georgia, South Carolina border, we met up with our two other Camp Host couples, from Georgia Veterans State Park, Ralph and Kim, Nick, Kendra and Cannon. We had 4 fun days of potlucks, card games and site seeing.
Having a pizza party. Toby, Kim and Ralphs schnauzer looks like he would like a piece of Cannons pizza.
Brian and Cannon with their flashlights at story telling time.
Kim and Toby Ralph Ruth and Teddy
Sitting on the porch of Elijah Clarks cabin whom this Georgia state Park is named for.
The cabin is a replica of Clarks cabin circa 1780. Elijah Clark was was a Georgian hero of the American Revolutionary war.
Clark and his actions served as one of the sources for the fictional character Benjamin Martin in the movie, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson.
We 3 ladies had a small road trip to Abbeville. We window shopped, bought pastries, (they even had gluten free selections!!) Toured the Opera house. And went out to lunch at a very nice hip restaurant called Indigenous Underground. Where Kim and I had, Black Eyed Pea Gumbo, with Sweet Tea. And Kendra had Shrimp and Grits. All delicious!😍
Abbeville, whose town Motto is, "Pretty. Near. Perfect."
Charming small southern town.
Opera House circa 1904
Ruth, Kim and Kendra on a ladys day out.
Teddy modeling the big pink crocheted afghan I bought at a antique store.
Its Huge! I SCORED! $28!
Our time with our friends ended all too soon, but we were ready to get on our next adventure. We said our Goodbyes and headed up to Paris Mountain State Park outside of Greenville, South Carolina. Paris Mountain is one of my favorite State Parks. Last time we were there was a year ago in our 22 ft Lance TT. This time coming in with a 32 ft. Arctic Fox was a little hairy. But we made it, and had a lovely, private spot facing the forest.
We love the Greenville, SC area with its close proximity to the mountains, yet big city amenities. Not too big though. Greenville has a population of 70,635, at an elevation of 965ft. It has a 20 mile walking, biking trail that runs thru it along the Reedy river. There's a beautiful park downtown that runs both sides of the river. We did not see one homeless person, not one tent. No garbage. The city was beautiful and immaculate. Its everything Portland, Oregon wishes it could be😓
We enjoyed our 5 day stay at Paris mountain SP, we went on the Turtle trail hike every day. Played lots of Gin Rummy. Ate good food. Visited small towns surrounding Greenville, read books and took naps. Perfect. But we had places to go and things to see. Like Mayberry.
After Paris Mountain we drove the 3 hour drive northeast to Mt.Airy to stay at Mayberry campground. Mt. Airy is the boyhood home to Andy Griffith, star and creator of the Andy Griffith show. You know, the one with Aunt Bea , Opie, Barney, Gomer, Floyd, ect... Andy modeled the TV shows town Mayberry, after Mt. Airy, NC. The town was bigger than I envisioned it would be. Its cute, lots of tchotchke shops, like most tourist towns. Though when you live in an RV you dont really but souvenirs because there is no place to put them.
We spent 2 nights and 1 day at Mt. Airy, NC. It was time to head out to Ohiopyle State Park, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania a 5 1/2 hour drive NW.
On my(Ruth) bucket list has been a visit to Frank Lloyd Wrights, Fallingwater. It was a long 6 hour drive up to Ohiopyle State park in Ohiopyle Pennsylvania, just south of Pittsburg. It was an OK Campground, not real dog friendly. Lots of rules about where you could camp with your dog and walk with your dog.
Falling water was built in 1935 as a summer house for the Kaufman family, by
Frank Lloyd Wright. It is in the woods, built into the side of a rocky slope, over a waterfall.
Falling Water was amazing!
The RV road trip from hell.
On April 24, we headed to Gettysburg for a 3 night stay at the Gettysburg KOA.
It was supposed to be a 3 hour tour.
Our 2021 Chevy 3/4 ton is a very smart truck. It told Brian that the trailer cord wasn't connected anymore. Consequently, the electric brakes on the trailer were not working. The trailer, weighs 10,000 pounds. The pickup cannot stop it safely by it's self. We pulled over at a little shopping mall in the middle of nowhere.
Brian got out to check it, and the wires were on fire going up under the trailer!!! All Brian could do was grab the red hot wire with his bare hand and pull it to break the circuit. This stopped the fire.
Brian went into the auto parts store, conviently located in the strip mall where we broke down and bought two new breakers to replace the ones that were melted and some wire. He repaired the system and the brakes were now working.
Trailer break-a-way
Bummer drag.
Down the road we go. We typically drive 65mph even when the speed limit is 70. About an hour later. We run into road work. We slow down for the closure and a car next to us says "Are you aware your trailer tire is missing?"!!
We had a Tire Pressure Monitoring System that quit working 2 days prior.
The Pennsylvania State Police were very nice. They parked behind us until Brian got the spare installed. He was dog tired, when we finally got to Gettysburg Campground.
When I got out to get us checked in. I noticed the brakes smelled. The brakes on the left side were smoking. The brakes on the right were cold. Brian found the source of the fire the next day. He and I totally rewired the electrical system to the trailer brakes in that campground.
Usually campgrounds get grumpy about working on your trailer in the campground. They did not say a word. Thank you Gettysburg campground.
We found the smoking gun. Well, Brian did.
We didnt get to see as much of Gettysburg area as we hoped because of being stressed and worn out. And having to figure out, and rewire the trailer brakes. But we did get to the Gettysburg Visitors center and museum. There was an excellent presentation film describing the area and battle which took 3 days, July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863. There was close to 60,000 casualties and losses!
After viewing the film we were escorted into a room that held a painting depicting the battle. The painting was a Cyclorama. ( a Cyclorama is a circular picture of a 360 degree scene viewed from inside )
Painted in 1882-1883 Cycloramas were popular in the 1800's. The Gettysburg Cyclodrama is 377 feet long, 42 feet high, and weighs 12.5 tons. It was painted by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, a professional cyclorama painter. Who went to Gettysburg, studied the battlefield, hired a professional Gettysburg photographer to take panoramic photographs of the fields and mountain tops. Philippoteaux was also able to interview veterans of the Civil War. The painting took a year and a half to finish, with the help of many artists. Its first showing was in Chicago, 1883. It was kind of like the IMAX theater of the 1800's.
Battle of Gettysburg 1863
The scene is 3 dimensional as the foreground that the bottom of the painting sits on is a stage completing the scene.
The presentation of the painting also includes audio describing the battle, as well as screams and gun and cannon fire and visual blasts of gunpower. Brian and I left the museum and visitors center in awe of mans inhumanity to his fellow man.
After we left Gettysburg we headed up to Newburgh, New York, across Pennsylvania and Maryland, the scenery was beautiful, spring had sprung and all the light green leaf tips were unfurling, redbuds and apples in bloom. Not much to report about Newburgh, just an overnite stop before the last stretch in our 1600 mile journey.
We've been here 2 days, it was sunny and 50's when we arrived on Friday, April 28th, Saturday was nice. Today its 50's rainy and windy. Feels like home. We had an outing to a dog park, Teddy made a friend, Zinny. And weve gone to the closest real grocery store 5 miles away. Shaws, and it was so civilized and wonderful.
Well I'm sorry if this Blog was so long, but alot has happened in18 days. Love and miss you all very much.
Till we meet again, Happy Trails to you!
XOX Ruth, Brian and Teddy
We loved this! The only thing..... we miss y'all even more now but super excited to be headed soon in the same general direction : ) I read some of this to Cannon, and he is more pumped than ever to visit Gettysburg. And, oh my! The Long Long Trailer!! I hope we can see it in Mayberry! You two have pushed through some incredibly difficult times together lately but all mixed in with taking in a lot of beauty along the way. I hope you are enjoying and resting a lot now. We love you!! See you both real soon!
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