Reflections of PA Dutch Country

We had to move to another campground for the Holiday weekend ~ We almost got caught with no place to stay since the holiday crept up on me and I didn't have any reservations made for it.  We called around to many RV parks and finally found one and without hesitation we gave them our credit card and made reservations at Country Haven Campground. (Click here for my review) They said they had 2 sites left and because it was a holiday weekend we had to stay minimum of 4 nights @ $53.00 per night (no refunds). OK we'll do that!  Then we went to RVparkreviews.com & read the reviews for it ~ which usually we do first.  Almost everyone said the park was really nice but the woman who owned it was VERY quirky.  They had a lot of GREAT sites but ours had only 30 amp which we can live with but it was bad voltage.  We couldn't run anything... and unlevel is putting it mildly ~ we used 3 thick boards to level out and still it wasn't perfect.  But it was a very beautiful campground and the sites up on the ridge were really nice.

OK we finally got set up and as always we enjoyed the 4 days completely and all my worrying was for naught.  We didn't  have any problems with the owners and we had fun exploring more of the countryside. We enjoyed finding Amish Farms that sold baked goods, home made Ice cream, butter & milk, quilts and wood crafts & furniture!  It was great riding around seeing the Amish proceed with their everyday chores and living ~ especially seeing the kids playing and enjoying fun times.

Here is a slide show of things we have seen during our 3 weeks here in PA Dutch Country

Tuesday we leave for Cape Cod and will be boondocking the first night at Exit 2 on I-84 in Connecticut, then continuing the next day towards Bourne, Mass.  We'll be staying at the Bay View Campground and visiting my old stomping grounds and surrounding areas.

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

I Smell Chocolate ~ YUM!

We arrived at Lebanon, Pennsylvania (Hershey) and checked into Hershey Thousand Trails Park on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to find what I consider to be one of the nicest Thousand Trail Parks around.  We have been to a lot of them across the USA and by far this one rates very high... see my review on the park by clicking the park name above.  Saturday & Sunday was pretty nice weather ~ however Sunday night it started to rain and did so for a little over 2 days.  That was OK since we've been busy sightseeing and the rest was very much appreciated ~ plus Ralph had caught a cold and needed the rest which helped!  Sunday we were surprised by a visit from one of my Facebook friends Nancy Savage ~ Nancy & her husband Neil are just beginning their Full Time Adventures and you can go visit their new blog at  Rock & Roll With Us ~ please go over and welcome them to our community. We will be getting together to go to lunch hopefully one day while we are here.

Fried Chicken, Ribs, Lima Beans, Creamed Onions,
Cheese poppers, Some twice fried fries and Pepper rolls.

Our first day out had us riding through PA Dutch Country ~ seeing all the Amish Farms and Horse & buggies were a thrill for us.  It is definitely a whole different world.  We also wanted to go eat at Shady Maple Smorgasbord.  Our friends in Gettysburg, Linda & Roger, had told us how wonderful it was.  Well it more then exceeded our expectations... for around $20 dollars we had one of the biggest buffet we have ever seen and not to mention the drink was included.  It was packed and you could surely see why.  Over 200 items on the buffet including 4 specialty grill areas where they had beef, ham, burgers, stir fry, spaetzle, sauerkraut & sausage and so much more.

I didn't even get a photo of them.
I can not even begin to tell you about the dessert bar ~ it was loaded with everything including Whoopie Pies and a make your own Sundae bar... I mean really they even had one of my favorites Apple Dumplings... If you love food and are in this area make sure you come to Shady Maple ~ it is outstanding...
There is a huge crowd there but it goes very smoothly and we didn't wait for anything after we got seated ~ which took about 15 minutes.

This is just a small sampling of the buffet

 PA Dutch Country♥ What a beautiful place to be ~ with all the uhmmmm strange name towns...which are all very real names and we went to many of them today.  One of my very favorite things was seeing the horse & buggy's driving down the road.  Of course I had to take photos of all the firehouses with the names on it for my son-in-law.  The Amish really live a simple & different life from the rest of us and as I observed them I wondered how it would be to live and work without electric and many of the modern conveniences we take for granted today.  Children who have no TV or video games look incredibly happy as they play outside and enjoy old fashion toys... somehow I think that may be a good thing. They are not subjected to the violence, swearing and just lousy programing on today's TV. They are just Innocent children.




Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!