Day 1
As mentioned in my "RV'ing-- Better Than The Movie" blog, we picked up our RV rental from Park View RV on the Wednesday before our trip. Had a superb experience at and highly recommend Park View RV.
After returning to our house with the rental, we spent a good hour cleaning and organizing the rig.
Of course the boys were all over it, like a jungle gym on wheels. First thing they wanted to do was climb the ladder on the back to get up on the roof.
Really??! Uh, no... nope. Negatory.
During the final preparations check list, just before departure, we realized we had an issue.
In order to pack the refrigerator, the generator needs to run. Check? Check.
When on the road, we were to use the coach battery to run the fridge.
Check? No Checkie.
We could not switch between the generator and the coach battery
because the button to do this no workie.
I referred back to the instruction video I took with my phone at Park View RV
See,...aren't we all really glad now that I made that video?
I did exactly what as instructed in the recording.
Still no workie.
I called the rental place to verify that I was doing things correctly.
I was.
Final deduction, button to run fridge on coach battery no checkie.
Alternatively, we turned the generator back on to run the fridge.
Apparently, it is not a problem to run the generator while driving.
It just burns more gas,... way more gas.
Important Note-To-Self,
if you get down to a 1/4 tank of gas, the generator will turn off.
Ok, cool.. got it. Let's go!
3 hours total to get the rig packed.
Kids and dog on board. Check.
Check list complete.
2pm roll out time; we are officially on our way.
First Stop:
Cunningham Falls State Park,
Western Maryland
Made it up the mountain.
RV ran great.
Backed into our spot. Plugged in.
So easy.
Hot outside, but crazy cold in the rig.
Site has electric, but no water.
Thats ok though, we have a water tank (with water heater) on the rig.
Glamping... What a concept.
Our arrival to our site was a little late, so dinner our first night was gonna be a little late.
Set up the "nimbus" camping kitchen; extended awning... then got to the burger making.
First night is always some type of burger night, simple, quick. Tonight, ranch Turkey Burgers.
Another shout out for Glamping, it was nice to eat in the AC of the rig,
instead of while sweating your butt off outside.
After dinner, sparked up the fire pit. Picked up wood from the check in area.
$5 for a bag, or $18 for 3.
Not bad, plus I had packed a few logs on the rig to bring with us.
Smores time.
Oh yeah, that hit the spot.
Arguably one of the best parts of camping-- guiltless campfire desserts.
Now we are pushing 10 o’clock.
Time to close it down for the night.
Shades down, doors locked and the good ole AC set to 60, oh yeah.
Wait, what?... Time to begin list of unforeseeable Glamping issues.
#1-There is some kind of rattle going on with the AC,
in one of the vents,...driving me crazy.
# 2-The foam pad that they call a mattress, definitely not a mattress,
not even a very good foam pad as far as foam pads go.
Note to self, next time get rig with a real mattress,
and give the mattress a try before locking-in to rental.
#3-Wood shavings coming out the vent in the back bunk,...huh, WHAT??
#4-the rig is feeling a bit tight.
Did we bring too much stuff? I don’t think so.
Maybe we just need to do some reorganizing in the morning.
Day 2
So after an uncomfortable night of no sleep; the clock hits 5 am.
Time to go for a walk and seek out the sunrise.
Good view of the valley with the sun coming up from the side and behind the trees.
Not one of the best I've seen, but a sunrise nonetheless.
The morning is my favorite time of camping.
The peace and quiet, the hint of daylight and the cool temps.
My special chill time before the rest of the clan awakens.
After an eggscellent breakfast and a little lounging around, we headed out for a hike to the falls.
Little did we know how treacherous this hike was going to be,... and we trekked the mild route.
There were some steep areas, some rocky areas and some slippery areas.
According to the placard, the Catoctin mountain range is over 500 million years old.
Wow. Crazy...
We made it to the Falls. Glad we did it. It was very cool. The Falls were awesome, and worth the hike (on the "mild" trail, anyway).
Significant Fall #1
At the Falls, there were a few spots to access the water.
I spent some time trying to entice Ollie, but he was not into it.
As I turned with Ollie to go and catch up with the others,
who had already begun walking back over the huge rocks,
Ollie caught sight of J and decided to run to her.
That didn’t pan out too well for me.
Ollie pulled me right off my feet.
He never even looked back for even a glance to see if I was alright.
Tells you everything you need to know about where Ollie's loyalty lies.
And, they certainly aren't with me as I lie on the rocks having earned
the first badge for a significant fall during our Cunningham Falls camping trip.
From the falls, we headed to the lake, another mild mile trek; at least this trek actually was mild. The lake is picturesque, with the mountain in the background. The boys waste no time. Water is clean and refreshing.
Ollie and I kept toward the back of the lake area at a picnic table. Ollie did not like seeing his family away from him; yelping, crying, whimpering, please come back.
There were a few people around. None were wearing a mask, but we were outside and we were able to keep a sufficient and safe distance from one others.
After an hour at the lake, time to get back to campsite-- read hike back up the mountain.
Ollie did great. With no J in sight, he kept a good eye on us all. Kept looking back to make sure everyone was accounted for and keeping up.
Oooh... gigantic boulder. Perfect photo op for us 4 Moyer boys.
Significant Fall #2
This is the spot W decided to earn the trips 2nd badge for a significant fall.
Not sure exactly if it was a slip or a trip, but down W went, and pretty hard too.
He took on a few scapes and a nice bruise to go with his badge. Had to admit, his was better than mine.
So, we also got lost on the way back. Apparently "wrong direction" is a thing even on a mild trek.
Back tracked to a previous junction point and figured out our error. Then, up, up, up more hill and finally back camp, a welcome sight.
Ollie's face here says it all.
Oh, man, there may have been a few times on the hike back to camp where we all thought we were done for...but we endured.
It was a great day, and we were all feeling quite accomplished... and tired,...and hungry.
After a little rest, to catch our breath, it was definitely time for dinner.
Sausage Cavatapi Pasta with Smoked Gouda Cream Sauce... Oh yeah, sounds sooo good. Of course,...
It ended up being served as Grilled Kielbasa, Mac n Cheese and Grilled Corn.
Turns out, we forgot the heavy cream to make the Gouda sauce.
No biggie.
We forgot the pot to cook the Cavatapi pasta.
Okay, no biggie.
So, macaroni cooked in a stainless steel bowl it is.
Worked out just fine.
The corn, I left in the husk, scorched the outside to loosen up the outer layers.
Then, soaked it in water for 30 mins.
Then, placed it on the grill rack to cook for half hour or so.
As I was cooking the macaroni, I noticed the pasta water thickening up a bit.
Voila! THAT'S IT. I will use the pasta water as a base for the smoked gouda sauce.
Strained the mac over another ss bowl
put the pasta water on the stove.
Added some seasoning and the smoked gouda cheese, boom, smoked gouda cheese sauce.
Split the pasta between the two bowls.
The sausage was awesome.
The corn came out perfectly.
The Mac n Chees was surprisingly good.
Dessert?! Campfire chocolate chip cookies,... right on!
Bed time...
Back to the thing they call a mattress.
Thinking, however, after a full day of hiking, I should be able to sleep on a rock.
Well, yeah, maybe,... maybe if the rock wasn't so crowded.
Ollie, who was supposed to be sleeping with Q,
decides to snuggle with J, meaning
he squeezed his way right into the middle of my rock,
where he snored between J and me the whole night.
Me,... squished up against the wall, discovered
I may have tendencies toward Claustrophobia.
And, the damb AC starts making that noise. Ugh.
Restless, I decided to turn around in the bed.
So I put my feet up to where J's head was;
like the grandparents on Willy Wonka, which makes total sense to me now.
And, it must have worked because I actually fell asleep.
Until, W started complaining that he was awake and couldn't sleep.
Oh geez..
He was up in the loft bunk above the front cab of the rig.
He made a move to the booth/dining area.
Seemingly pathetic and funny at the same time.
So, I told him to swap out. He can sleep with his mom, and Ollie.
I would check out the "foam pad" in the loft bunk.
Turned out to be a decent trade.
Both W and I finally got some Zs in.
Day 3
Another early morning opportunity; 5:30 a.m.
Some over cast this morning, so not much of a sunrise.
Nice cup of tea though, and some therapeutic quietness.
Heading to Gambrill State park today. So, I got a jump on getting our site cleaned up.
Identified another issue with the RV.
The refrigerator was not cold.
The back of the unit was freezing up.
This isn’t good.
I am thinking that in the hustle of trying to leave the house on Day 1,
we may have over packed the fridge.
Pulled a few things out to try and get some air flow. Tried to get the ice out.
It was a few hours; but I think it worked.
In the process, I discovered a cool Facebook group, RV for Newbies.
A good source for finding solutions for RV issues (ie: refrigerator woes).
I also noticed that we were getting low on water.
There was a water spigot across from us so I filled the tank before we left.
[remember this]
So after reorganizing, cleaning and packing-up, we got on our way.
Next stop, Gambrill.
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