The RV park was nice enough - very well maintained and well laid out. We were lucky to find a spot at all as it was Memorial Day weekend and the 5 other parks I called prior to OMS were completely booked! An Amish family rode through the park in a horse drawn wagon a couple of times each day selling preserves. I wanted to buy something but the one time I spotted them as they neared our site I was sitting outside with Travis. He was getting a little too excited about the approaching equine and I didn't want him spooking the poor creature so I had to stay with him, maintaining a calm and submissive demeanor throughout (yes, I've watched the Dog Whisperer).
We had a late lunch/early dinner one afternoon at Good 'N Plenty , a family style authentic Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant in Lancaster. Sharing our table was a family visiting the area in their two motorhomes - grandparents in one, their son and his wife and their two young daughters in the other. Needless to say, conversation centered around motor coaches, experiences on the road, where to stay, where not to stay, where not to go for repairs etc. It was an enjoyable meal.
In my last blog I wrote about the somewhat precarious nature of the site we were in and how it caused the coach to list pretty severely to the driver's side when I entered. I was a little concerned about backing out. At a certain point, while entering the site, gravity took over and I just allowed the coach to kind of coast into position. Backing out was going to require a bit of velocity to avoid spinning the tires and just the right angle to avoid bottoming out. After wiggling around a little to position the coach at the proper angle, we were up and out without incident.
Our next destination was Scotrun (which we referred to as Scrotum), PA. A little town in the Poconos, just off I-80 and a couple miles northwest of Stroudsburg, it seemed like a good spot to spend a few days on our way to the Berkshires.
In short, it was a disappointment.
Being a Passport America park, at $21/night the price was right. However, the park was run down with many full-time residents and many old, tarp covered trailers (presumably covering leaky roofs). We had no sewer hookup and only 30 amp electrical service. With a 105 gallon gray water tank and a 53 gallon black water tank, the lack of a sewer connection wasn't really an issue. We only had to run the a/c for a couple hours after arrival so the 30 amp service wasn't really an issue either (I can run one of the two a/c zones on 30 amps). But we've gotten used to having both sewer and 50 amp electric - and accustomed to taking leisurely showers and not worrying about electrical consumption. In addition, our Verizon signal was abysmal, there was no cable hookup and the only over-the-air TV channels I was able to pull in were three 'come to Jesus' stations. With my phone placed in the right orientation we had just enough Verizon signal to stream Netflix and binge watch Mad Men.
We were anxious to leave.
We did, however, have a couple very good meals. One at Smuggler's Cove where I had crab stuffed cod and Suzanne had some sort of beef special (who has beef at a place called 'Smuggler's Cove'?) and another at Pocono Brewery Co. where I sampled two of their brews (a stout and a strawberry ale) and Suzanne had two glasses of Chardonnay (again, who drinks Chardonnay at a brewery? She's a little different).
We departed Scotrun on Friday a little past 11:00 am, stopping at one point somewhere along Rt.7 in Massachusetts for an hour so Suzanne could participate in an important conference call she had scheduled, and arriving at Bonnie Brae Campground in Pittsfield, Ma. at 6:15 pm.
Bonnie Brae is a charming little campground on a hill on the eastern shore of Pontoosuc Lake. It's a small campground and it was a bit of a challenge getting our 43' coach into our site. In fact, I had to have Suzanne stand outside and push back on a big branch that otherwise would have scratched along the side of the coach. As was the case in Scotrun, we only have a 30 amp electric service but the weather has been such that we haven't had to run the a/c. We do, however, have sewer.
On Saturday we visited Herman Melville's Arrowhead, his home from 1850 to 1863. We had a very interesting tour of the house and grounds and I even got to sit at the very desk where Herman Melville penned his greatest novel, Moby Dick!
Melville's upstairs study...
Though you can't see it in the photo, the window affords a perfect view of Mount Greylock, the highest point in the state of Massachusetts and the shape of which reminded Melville of a great whale! He used the mountain as inspiration while writing his epic novel.
Kind of cool, right?
Sunday we visited Hancock Shaker Village, a former Shaker village established in 1791. It was a beautiful day for this fascinating walking tour. My favorite thing was the water powered wood working shop and the water turbine demonstration.
While in Scotrun I decided to buy a Black Card membership at Planet Fitness which, for $21.99/month gives me access to all their facilities nationwide. Quite often, during our travels, it seems like there is a Planet Fitness not far from where we're staying. Though it's my least favorite form of cardio vascular exercise, I often jog while we're on the road. I much prefer going to the gym and for a $1.00 membership fee and $21.99 a month, it seemed like a pretty good deal. There's one here in Pittsfield where I worked out yesterday and will head there again after finishing this entry.
We'll be here at Bonnie Brae until Thursday morning when we will haul anchor and head for Colbrook RV Resort in Barre, Ma. and look forward to my nephew Nick's wedding on Saturday.
Thanks for reading the Blog!
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