PA - Hershey Thousand Trails

We aren't Thousand Trails members, but have received plenty of marketing for this membership camping club over the years, so it is a familiar name.  When we decided to go to Hershey for the RV show, the Hershey campground was full and Thousand Trails seemed like the next closest campground, so we booked it on a cash basis.

The first thing that struck us was that you check in and just drive around to find yourself an open spot.  Kind of odd for folks like us who are used to booking specific sites, or at the very least booking a certain level of site.  We had booked for my parents as well and they arrived before us - and happened to get a full hook up site, but ours was just W&E.  Just kinda odd that it is the same price and no guarantee of a site with certain services.  And at $50+ a night we had anticipated cable and wifi, but no such luck.  Not a huge deal, but we don't have cable at home, so when we go "fancy camping" at camp resorts it is kind of a treat with HGTV, Food Network, and the Disney Channel :)

Anyway, the property is a lovely piece of land and is pretty well kept, though we both thought there could be a little more TLC here and there given the members pay dues.

I didn't take many pics, but they had a really nice camp store and a decent arcade (according to Theo's approval scale).  Too late in the season for swimming and too much rain to try the mini golf course!  Very hilly area that was, um, great for morning runs...some really good hill work (not that we had a lot of choice!)  But those hills make the property really pretty :)

So off we went to the show and had a great time poking around new rigs big and small, looking at accoutraments (!), and having snacks.  The good news (to the old pocketbook) is that we didn't see anything that we slobbered over.  Honestly, the quality of our older Winnie just feels more sturdy than the new rigs, even much higher end!  And the ones that we were impressed on quality (Nexus RV) had really small kitchen areas, and since we truly cook and prepare food in our RV, that's a big deal to us.  However, we did buy what we went for....a big awning mat!  Here are the boys modeling it:

Of course it wasn't all RV show...there is CHOCOLATE in Hershey!!!  We had been to Hershey last year for the Half Marathon (stayed in a hotel, thus not blogged), so we knew that we wanted to make our own chocolate bars again, and this time drag Grandma and Grandpa into the mix!

And we also did a chocolate tasting class - we even got diplomas after we were done!

Mod: Ceramic Bowl Toilet

Yes!  A "real" potty :)  I just have never been nuts about the plastic toilets and our valve was sticking on the OEM one, so we took the opportunity to get a ceramic bowl.  The base is still plastic to save weight, but the bowl is ceramic and the seat is residential style.  Since we are on a riser, it is a short model - Dometic model 321  (302321781 ) with a sprayer.

Old potty:

First new potty as delivered: 

As Kevin said "how many pieces should your new toilet come in???"

And the second new potty, after installation:

Kevin had a tricky time with some of the plumbing, including making sure that the vacuum breaker valve was perfectly level and pressurized.  The first few flushes it spittled a little bit.  Other than that, installation was easy.  In that small space it is a one person job though!  No team effort, other than moral support from outside of the bathroom!

So far so good, we like it a lot :)

VT - Emerald Lake State Park

Another great weekend in Vermont!  This time at Emerald Lake State Park near Manchester, VT.  We chose it to be near to Manchester for the Maple Leaf Half Marathon that I ran on September 6th.  We've come to expect nothing but a beautiful setting and a well kept park when staying at Vermont State Parks, and Emerald Lake held up that expectation!

We were on site 38.  Not a very busy weekend, so we were able to switch from the site I had chosen from the map (20) that didn't seem as easy for in and out since we were driving the Winnie to the race.

The name Emerald Lake is totally true, the lake is beautiful, clear, and emerald green when you look at it from above!  It was warm enough on Saturday after the race to hit the beach (not good for running, but good for swimming!)

Theo has been honing his fire building skills.

This one is 100% Theo built, including splitting the larger logs to make kindling.  A pretty proud boy!

And a couple of pics from the race: 

And my glass medal, cool huh?