Katelyn's First Road Trip (Day 2 - August 4)

We got up around 8 the next morning. We weren’t really thrilled with this campground. Our site was not in a good location. If you picture the letter V, we were at the tip of it. So, everyone was looking at us, especially the people to the right of us. I don’t know if it was because of Sandy – maybe they had never seen anything like her before. :) Whatever it was, it creeped us out a little, especially Katelyn! But she still said she had a really fun time camping for the first time in Sandy.

After putting everything away, we left to look for some breakfast. We first stopped at a bakery/gift shop and then went to the Bird-in-Hand Market. They had lots of good food there. We decided on some pastries, K a chocolate cream filled donut, Doug an apple fritter, and I got a bear claw. We ate them in Sandy – very yummy!

Next we went down the road to Abe’s Buggy Rides. Here we got to ride in an actual Amish buggy. Katelyn sat up front, Doug and I in the back. It was a thirty minute ride. We asked the girl (who was probably about 20) lots of questions about the Amish culture. She said she started driving the buggy on her own when she was around 10 years old. The horses start training to lead the buggies when they are one. They start pulling them when they are 2-2 ½. We asked her about school – the kids go until 8th grade – they have one teacher with an aide in a one room schoolhouse. They normally have 20-30 kids in the school. The students are assigned work and mostly work on their own until the teacher comes to their group. She said most drivers on the road are respectful. It was interesting – some facts to share with my students when we study PA.










After this we drove to the small town of Lititz. We went to the Julius Sturgis Pretzel House. Here we learned how the Sturgis pretzel business started and a little about making pretzels. We also got to make a pretzel out of dough (not to keep or eat). We got a bag of pretzels and bought a soft pretzel before we left. We walked around the town for a little and then stopped at a restaurant called The Lititz Pantry. We pigged out and then walked back to Sandy. We stopped at a Cupcakery and got Chels and Katelyn a cupcake. Then we headed home!

Katelyn slept most of the way home. This was probably one of hottest rides in the Westy to date. I think Katelyn thought she’d stay coolest if she was asleep and didn’t have to think about the heat! Overall we had a fun time - Katelyn said she liked it and wanted to do a Westy trip again! ~Jess

Katelyn’s First Road Trip! (August 3, 2010)

Today we embarked on an overnight adventure with Katelyn (our 10 year old daughter). We found some factory tours we thought she might enjoy. The first stop on our road trip was the Wolfgang Factory in York, PA. This is a company that sells chocolate (a lot of schools use them as fund raisers). We had to wear hairnets and Doug had to wear a beard net! Too funny! It is a rather small business – we toured three small buildings where the candy making process took place. It’s a free tour and you get a couple samples of their candy after the tour. They also have a small area of seconds, so we got some of that, of course! :)





We were getting a little hungry, so on our way to the next destination, we stopped at a small place to eat called Collinsville Drive In. We ate outside at a picnic table with a nice mountain view in the distance. Katelyn had her first pizza burger – she loved it, we split some fries, and each had a milkshake. Good food at nice prices! When the one worker brought out our food, he asked us if Sandy was ours. He said they like to take pictures of unusual cars that come to their place. Of course, we let him take a picture – not sure what he’s going to do with it??





Next we drove to the Lancaster area – Nottingham to be exact. This is the location of the Herr’s Factory. This was a much bigger place. We got to see how they made pretzels, nachos, and chips. We got to taste chips right out of the oven – they were still warm. Very tasty! This tour was also free and we got a free bag of chips. At their little store they had all different kinds of their products (all kinds of flavors of chips). We decided to get a couple of each kind of snack and then do a taste test down at the beach next week! We thought that would be fun!
We left here and drove to the campground – Mill Bridge Village Camp Resort. We checked in and found out the pool was closing soon. We were all pretty hot so we decided to take a dip. Katelyn met some kids from New York that she played with for a little. We started to get pretty hungry, so we went back to the campsite. Doug figured out a way to make a clothesline using Sandy and the utility post so we could hang our wet towels and bathing suits. K and I got her “bed” ready. She was pretty excited to sleep up top! I finished getting the rest of the stuff situated while she went out to help Doug start the fire. He gave her some pointers and together they got a pretty good fire started! We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It was fun. We had some visitors of the animal kind. Who would have guessed there would be a family of cats hanging out with us?? The kittens were very cute, but we didn’t want to encourage them! They almost jumped into the Westy – in fact, at one point Katelyn said one was in it, but them jumped out! We had fun at the campfire, then went inside Sandy. We played Uno (Doug won), then headed for a last bathroom run before it was lights out. ~Jess

New England Trip 2010 (Days 6/7 – July 22-23)

North Truro - Chambersburg

Today was our last day in New England. We left the campground and went to a coffee shop to get some breakfast. We took it our on a small beach we heard about from the campground people – it was in North Truro by the Top Mast hotel. It was so windy and there were no shells or rocks to collect, so we left after we ate.

It was time to start heading home. Since I hadn’t driven yet, I told Doug I’d like to drive off the Cape, so I did. It’s lots of fun driving Sandy – I’m not big on driving the major interstates, so this was perfect. We drove until we got to Clinton, CT – we ate at a restaurant called Aqua. It was nice – we sat at a table overlooking the Clinton Harbor.

We left and drove some more, looking for a campground to spend the night. After unsuccessfully trying to find a campground while it was still light out, we decided we would drive to Hamburg, PA, to Cabela’s and spend the night in their parking lot, which is allowed! :)



We got there around 11 and set up camp! HA! When we woke up in the morning, we thought we should at least go in and take a look at the store. There is lots of cool stuff in there! We ate at Dunkin Donuts, which is right in front of Cabela’s and then drove home!

1,700 miles and lots of fun later, we pulled into our driveway at 11:30AM on July 23rd and ended our first road trip in Sandy! We had so much fun traveling this way and can’t wait for our next adventure! ~Jess

New England Trip 2010 – (Day 5 – July 21)

North Truro, MA

We slept in today – we are amazed at how well we sleep in Sandy – both by the comfort and the quietness in the campgrounds! It might be the fact that we are surrounded by small homes :) on both sides of us and the people just stay inside in the coolness!

We drove into Provincetown (the end of Cape Cod) and went into some of the shops (they have a ton)! It was very hot today! As we drove back toward the campground, we wanted to stop at a couple beaches to do some beachcombing. Unfortunately, you have to have parking permits for most of the beaches on the cape – we didn’t have one and the problem was we really didn’t have time to just chill on the beach, we just wanted to check for shells, rocks, and beach glass. So, we didn’t end up stopping. :(

We wanted to have lobster for dinner...the campground told us about a place down the street where they would steam it for you, so we went there to get some lobsters. Well, when we got there we found out that you had to order them earlier in the day! We knew we probably wouldn’t be able to have it tomorrow, because we would be on our way home, so Doug decided to buy them live and cook them at the campsite! We did bring along everything we needed to do this, we just didn’t really think we would have to. So we got two 1 ½ lobsters and two ears of corn. Doug’s mom had given us an old Coleman type stove – we hadn’t tried it out yet. What a great way to christen it!! It took Doug a while to get it started – I don’t even know the last time it was used. Finally...success! He got a flame! We put water in the big kettle and cooked the corn first. Then it came time to put in the lobsters – I wasn’t really into putting in live lobsters, so Doug did it. Poor little things – of course, I was all about eating them! The guy at the lobster place told us to let the water boil and then cook them for 12 minutes (if it’s 1 ½ pounds). Well, they turned out perfect!! :) What a delicious meal! It’s just like at home – I love just cooking in – and it especially helps when you have a great cook for a husband!












Doug had heard there was good striper fishing on the cape. So, he packed his fishing poles and tackle box in Sandy. He devised a way to pack the poles so they wouldn’t be in our way! The campground has a path to the beach, so we got our stuff and started walking. It was a path through the woods that seemed never ending! We found out later it was a mile (we weren’t really expecting this, so it seemed much longer!) We didn’t have much daylight time to fish because I certainly wasn’t walking back a wooded path in the dark! He fished for about an hour – no luck, so we headed back.









We got showers and then were going to play Backgammon – I remember playing that a lot with my parents when I was a kid. Unfortunately I couldn’t remember the rules so we’ll save that for another time when I have the energy to read and explain all the rules to Doug! We ended up playing War and then off to sleep!

~Jess

New England Trip 2010 – (Day 4 – July 20)

Old Orchard Beach, ME - North Truro, MA Today we headed to Cape Cod for the second reason we came to the northeast – to see Donovan Frankenreiter! So we packed up – we are already getting quick after the second time putting everything away! Doug has figured out a way to put down the top without my help, so I put the other stuff away while he did that. We stopped along the way in Scituate, MA – that was a cute little harbor town with a few shops. We stopped at a bakery and got some goodies then we headed to a little town down the road called Humarock - we got some chowder and sat on the beach to eat it. I picked up some rocks for Katelyn and for our collection. After we left there we also stopped at Plymouth to see “the rock.”









We finally made it to the cape and stopped at a Buddha store (for Doug!) then found a campground called Adventure Bound Camping Resort in North Truro. It was pretty nice – we decided to stay here for two nights – maybe we can relax a bit – we have been doing a lot of driving! We got our bedding ready for the night and then headed for the Beachcomber for dinner and the concert!

Well when we got there we tried to get in but they were closing it until 9:00 to clean up and prepare for the concert. So, we went back to Rt 6 and got a lobster roll at PJ’s Dairy (Duff from Ace of Cakes said this was the best lobster roll he ever ate – you know that show on Food Network?). We took it back to the Beachcomber and tailgated in the parking lot! We got in line when people started coming…it was an awesome concert! Donovan was great and so was the rest of the band – it was a fun time (except for the other people there being rude and spilling drinks on us). We didn’t get home until 1:40 – thank goodness we had our bedding ready! ~Jess

New England Trip 2010 (Day 3 – July 19)

Salisbury, MA to Old Orchard Beach, ME

We both slept very soundly tonight – the “bed” is very comfortable! We are trying to figure out a good way to store everything while we sleep. I’m sure it will come with a little practice and trial and error.

We started today driving north to Maine – it was finally lobster day!! (our first of two reasons for coming to the northeast!) We stopped in Portsmouth, NH, to look at a shop we had liked last time we were in the area. Then we stopped in Dover, NH. I had read about it being a cool small town, but we weren’t impressed. We did find a bakery so got a little something to eat. This is where Sandy comes in handy! It’s fun just eating in her at the little table. We didn’t stay long. Our next stop was in Kittery, ME. We stopped at the Kittery Trading Post for just a little. (It’s a big store kind of like Cabela's).

Next we are off to our favorite place in the world to eat lobsters! It’s called The Lobster Shack at Two Lights. We get there at a perfect time – it’s not very busy! We ordered our lobsters and then immensely enjoyed eating them in a very picturesque location! After that we hung out and took some pics.









So, now we are ready to find a campground for the evening. We find one in Old Orchard Beach, ME, called Hid’N Pines Campground. We get oriented and get our camp set up – pop the top and set up the bed – it doesn’t really take long! :) Then we decide to walk into the town – again not really our kind of beach town. It again reminded us of Ocean City, MD, boardwalk. Huge lightning started appearing so we decide to walk back. It was the biggest lightning I have ever seen – there were streaks across the whole sky! We got back to the campground and climbed into Sandy – we put the pop top down because it started raining. We sat (I must admit, a little freaked out) until the storm was over. I always remember hearing a car is the safest place in a storm – but a car in the middle of the woods with lots of lighting?? Probably not!! Thank goodness it stopped after a while, it was starting to get a little warm inside. We opened the windows back up and popped the top. We wrote out some postcards and went to sleep! ~Jess

New England Trip 2010 (Day 2 – July 18)

Somewhere near White Plains, NY – Salisbury, MA
Well, we woke up around 7:30 – a whole three hours of sleep! We didn’t want to stay at the park-n-ride too long. We went to the nearest Starbucks… not for breakfast, but to wash up and use their wifi (still trying to figure out why a light would just stay on!). Then we went out to the parking lot and had breakfast in Sandy! :)

Our first stop was in Concord and Lexington, MA. I usually like to include some historical adventures on our trips. I love the history and I use the pictures and what I learn to make my teaching more interesting! It was pretty cool. We saw the Old North Bridge where the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired to begin the Revolutionary War. We also looked at the battlefield and saw a presentation on how the war started (Paul Revere and the minutemen information). Before we toured the battlefield, I was expecting something like Gettysburg, but it’s much more low key. Still interesting. We got a pineapple chicken curry wrap for lunch at the Main Streets Market and Café – they also had some amazing looking pastries and desserts, but we were good and just had the wrap.

Our next stop was Salisbury, MA. We found a campground called Black Bear Campground. This would be our first night at a campsite sleeping in Sandy! We found the site they assigned us to which was between two RVs.
Because we wanted to use electric, they put us in the RV area of the campground. We checked out our site, but then needed some food, so we headed to Salisbury Beach. Let’s just say we weren’t impressed! Imagine Ocean City, Maryland, boardwalk all condensed into about two blocks. Yea, massive amounts of interesting people and glowing neon. Not our kind of beach town! :( We decided to hightail it out of there except got caught in a line of traffic leaving the beach (Sunday night). Oh no, flashbacks to the night before…. We can’t do this to Sandy again! We find a little shortcut road that some people are taking. It does dump us back out into the traffic, but the end is in sight, so we tough it out and so does Sandy. (Did I mention that we haven’t used the A/C all day today? Sandy definitely likes fresh air better!)

We drive south to an area called Newburyport, MA. This was a very cool harbor town, but it was Sunday night so all the shops were closed. There were restaurants open, but we weren’t really in any condition to eat in a nice restaurant! We decided to definitely put this town on our itinerary for another time and headed back to the campground.

We had bought hot dogs and marshmallows with intentions of having a campfire some night. Looks like this was it! We were pretty exhausted but Doug managed to start the fire while I got all the stuff ready. It was dark by now, but we finally got a bite to eat. Then it was off to take a shower – first one of our trip – I know, pretty gross!

We got Sandy ready for a much needed full night of sleep. Doug put the top up for some extra breezes. We have screens for both of the side windows, so it’s pretty comfortable. We got a screen for the back, but we have to put the snaps on ourselves, so we’ll have to save that for the next trip. We sleep on the lower bed, which is very comfortable. After reading the Samba, we bought memory foam to put on top of the seat before putting down the sheets. As soon as our heads hit the pillows, we are out! Good night!