GA - Country Oaks Campground

In the past we've stayed at the KOA at the same exit just north of the GA/FL border, but the Good Sam trip planning program showed me Country Oaks as another option and the rate was a bit lower with a Good Sam membership so we decided to try it. I called while we were on the road and the owner I spoke with couldn't have been nicer.  We arrived after the office was closed and left before it opened in the morning so we never met.

The campground is small and nice, and great for an overnight since it isn't very far off of I-95.  A little older so the interior turn on the loop might be tough with a big rig, but we made it just fine.  No dog park, but plenty of space to walk the puppies, with lots of spanish moss and palmetto plants for that cool southern ambiance that I like :)

It would be a toss up next time between this campground and the KOA.  If it is pool season and we were getting in early enough, I'd choose the KOA for the pool.  But in the cooler season and later arrival, I'd choose this one because they are so nice and I like to support the indy guy when I can...plus they are about $5-10 less than the KOA and have a little more ambiance.

Visit: Meadows Village Restaurant - Benson, NC

The Meadows Village is a great classic southern buffet restaurant.  Literally the best fried chicken I've ever had!  And save room for the dessert buffet with gorgeous made-from-scratch cakes and pies!

We had a great Sunday lunch with Kevin's sister and brother in law, and Yoda too :)  I love our crazy family :)

NC - RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads

The RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads is such an ideal stopover spot on our way down to Florida. They have an "express" program where you pull in after 6pm and pay $30 in an envelope and pull into one of the designated spots with full hook ups (sans cable, but whatever).  They have a really nice bathroom and showers and a fenced dog park.  Since we remembered that their showers are so nice we didn't bother firing up the water heater...they are that clean and nice!

The boys enjoying the dog park:

One of the standard showers, very nice and clean: 

And the really nice handicap access shower: 

They also have a nice looking pool for summer stops: 

NY - Corning area - Camp Bell Campground

It was my turn this year to run the Wineglass Half Marathon, so off we went to Corning, NY.  Beautiful drive on the way out - the leaves were spectacular, not quite peak but beautiful!

Look at this happy driver ;)

Last year we stayed at a campground in Bath, about 25 miles west of Corning - nice campground but a little far for convenience of back and forth to Corning.  So this year we tried Camp Bell Campground in Campbell, which is around 10 miles west of Corning.  It was much more convenient for hopping back and forth!  Nice little campground that is at least half seasonal and really packed in, but we weren't there to sit around and relax.  We had a pull through site right near the entrance and facing the playground:

And someone is still not too old to enjoy a playground: 

There was also a great little hiking trail on site.  A lot of times when a small private campground says it has a "hiking trail" or "nature trail" it is maybe a 1/4 mile tops...I think this one is a good mile loop :)

Corning is such an great little town:

Trying to get a nice picture by the clock tower with my goofball proved to be pretty fruitless, but funny. 

There is a great pedestrian bridge that just (re?) opened from the Corning Museum of Glass area to the downtown Market Street/Gaffer District - it has a maze on it and I think we maybe saw only one or two people NOT do the maze on the several times we walked over it!

And Theo made a glass sculpture at Corning Museum of Glass: 

Check out this race swag: 

Theo and Kevin volunteered at the finish line - they got assigned the mylar blankets like T and I did last year: 

And I had a great race, a little chilly, but a great course and a great day!

I finished before the boys finished their shift, so I went back to the Winnie that was parked in the ample parking at CMOG and took my shower and walked the puppy boys - so nice to have the Winnie and be able to have the boys along on trips like this with us...and nice to have a nice hot shower waiting after the race!

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?