After a long hiatus, I’m trying to get enough time to post on our RV life again. Between my technical blog, technical articles and books, it’s become a bit much outside the ol’ day job, but I’m terribly disappointed at how much is missing and grateful to how much Tim is blogging out here!
The last couple weeks we spent in Clarksboro, NJ at the Philadelphia KOA, (I know, I know, it’s not in Philadelphia!) and after repairs completed, it was time to catch up on our itinerary. We spent two nights in a small, remote RV Park in Little Orleans, Maryland, which is near the town of Hancock, also the narrowest part of the state at less than 2 miles wide. If you’re not familiar with the geography of the state, it’s situated between river systems and a line of latitude separating it from most of Pennsylvania thanks to our first president, George Washington, who was a surveyor for the colonies before he became the leader of a brand, new nation.
This area is in the midst of the Appalachian mountains and surprisingly rugged for the low altitude, (so says Colorado girl). There was less than optimal work connection for the first time in 8 months, so we headed up to Hancock to work the day at the Oak Barrel Cafe, which we’d discovered the evening before. The people who run the place are wonderfully pleasant, but you also realize how little there is out here. We wished our waitress good luck on her interview that day for her dream job which happened to be at the local concrete plant- yes, opportunities for employment are lacking in this beautiful part of the US.
I had suffered a pretty severe migraine for most of the day working and searched Google Maps for a spa for a massage- Due to the slim section of the state we were in, the nearest spa was less than 20 minutes away in a small town called Berkeley Springs, WV. This small town had no less than five spas and after booking my appointment and having a lovely massage, I walked about the town until Tim could pick me up after rescuing the dogs in the RV in the evening.
I happened on the town’s Co-Op, which was filled with beautiful local works of pottery, jewelry and art. The two, lovely women attending the shop, were also in charge of running a raffle for a huge collection of elaborate, hand-made quilts by local artisans. The work was exceptional and each raffle ticket was $1 or six for $5. I asked if it was just alright to donate the $5 and not take the raffle tickets. The one woman looked at me, quite confused and said, “I’m not sure what to say- no one has ever offered to do that.” The other lady, behind the counter, quips, “Say yes and take the money!” I then explained my situation, that I wouldn’t be around for the raffle, but that I would like to just contribute to show my appreciation for the beautiful art work the quilts represented. They accepted and we chatted about the history of the town and the location of George Washington’s personal bath location from when he was a surveyor, (part of the Berkeley Springs bathhouse that is currently being remodeled).
Afterwards, Tim and I went to the local grocery store in Hancock, sat in awe of how low the prices of groceries were, as well as realizing why the prices needed to be so low in this rural area and then returned home with the dogs to enjoy the beauty of the Little Orleans RV Park.
On the Road Again
Starting out from Little Orleans in the crisp morning, we were again, faced with the journey across a one-lane bridge with the 42 foot 5th Wheel. I decided it was worth it to take video and upload it this time to YouTube:
We were on our way to Belpre, OH, but this ensured we would be traveling through a number of states for the day. One of them, no matter how impossible it would seem, would not be Pennsylvania. With all our immediate changes and logistics of where the Philadelphia KOA resides, we wouldn’t take the TRAILER into Pennsylvania. We had driven a number of times into the state, but without being hooked up. I told Tim that it seemed a crime to come all this way and not just drive a couple miles north into Pennsylvania, so I made him take a 6 mile detour and complete this trip, (so I can also add the travel sticker to the 5th wheel door map, too!)
Along with completing a trip into Pennsylvania, we started in Maryland, did enter West Virginia and finished the day in Ohio. We were supposed to stop in Belpre after a 4 hour journey, but upon entering the RV park, we were disappointed to discover the RV park didn’t match up to the photos and reviews online. This isn’t anything new, as no one is going to post less than attractive photos and reviews are often bizarre, at best. We’ve grown accustomed to people leaving 1-3 star reviews because someone didn’t wave hello to them when they entered the RV Park or it rained during their stay. This though, this was different.
RV Park Hell
The RV Park entrance was on a distinct and drastic incline. Tim sucked in his breath and slowly took the truck and 5th wheel down the steep embankment and then around the RV park. Upon entering, realization hit that the park was in quite poor condition. The guests were all long-term residents, having considerable, semi-permanent structures on their sites.
This didn’t faze us as much as the sites themselves. The guest was expected to drive over a curb to get into a site and the sites weren’t leveled with gravel correctly, showing many had bogged down in mud where the gravel wasn’t deep enough. The electric hookups looked very old and poorly maintained. Most were missing sewer hookups and then it hit us, “Where was the water hookups??” We couldn’t see a water hookup anywhere.
The idea that we might not have water or sewer was bad, but the risk that we could get a trailer as large as ours stuck in the mud threatening under the gravel wasn’t an option for us. This was the first site that we simply went online and found another site, 1 1/2 hrs down the road to drive to instead.
For the Love of Amazon
I had ordered a few things to be shipped to the Belpre location, but noted that the one that had arrived was simply in a plastic tub by the mailbox. I’d never experienced this from an RV Park, either. I promptly contacted Amazon and the other items I had were at the delivery center and I had the routed elsewhere. There was no way I wanted anything delivered to this place.
The truth is- although we use google maps, coverage maps, street view and other options to get the best feel of where we’re going, someone can put out bogus information out there. Always have a plan B, which is where we are now.
From our happy place to yours, have a great week!
