Our Pennsylvania RV Trip – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It can't all be wine and roses.

Photo by Sven Fischer on Unsplash

Don't you hate it when someone tells you that they have good and bad news and ask you which you want to hear first? I always opt to get the bad news out of the way, and that's what I'm going to do in this post.

The Ugly – Pennsylvania roads SUCK! 

When we left California in our rearview mirror almost a year ago, I knew that one thing we wouldn't miss was the roads. My husband and I are born and bred Californians. Thankfully, we made our exodus from our not-so-golden state in July of 2021. If we had a dollar for every time we complained about the roadways when we lived there; we could have afforded to retire in our birth state. But Pennsylvania roads are the worst we've experienced. We've been across the country four times and driven in 38 states, so that's saying a lot. 

Between the narrow, curvy roads with tree limbs hanging so low that you fear one might take out your air-conditioning unit to the potholes so big that ducks can go for a swim after a rain, they make for a very unpleasant trip. I won't even get started on the GPS miseries, accidents, and road closures we experienced. You can read that story here: RV travel can put pressure on your marriage

The Bad – People are pigs!

I don't know if it's visitors or the locals, but I have never seen so much garbage in places that should be pristine in my life. We went to the Bushkill Waterfalls in the Poconos, and there was trash along the entire trail. We took the shortest hike and paid $14.00 each with our senior discount to experience the falls. Plastic water and soda bottles were left on the ground every 20 feet. 

How does someone go to a beautiful park with waterfalls and feel it's okay to toss trash on the ground and walk away? It's mind-boggling! This is a picture of the falls minus the litter.

There is also more trash in Timothy Lake North Thousand Trails Park than I can believe. As with every other industry in the United States, RV parks find it hard to hire help. It's as if no one wants to work, and it's sad. I understand garbage around the bins after the busy 4th of July weekend, but it's strewn all over the park. What is wrong with people? 

The Good – Beautiful places and visiting with friends

There is a lot of beauty in Pennsylvania and many great people. We extended our visit in the state when friends from our old hometown of Hollister, CA, reached out after seeing one of my posts about being in the area. Our friends, the Herseys, have a log cabin they are restoring in Knobsville. I booked a four-night stay at Ye Olde Mill Campground in Burnt Cabins, PA, about six miles from their house. It doesn't seem to matter if you only have a two-mile trip. It takes 30-minutes to get just about anywhere. It's tough enough in a car, but it's excruciating in a 45-foot motorhome with a car towed behind it. 

It was worth the trouble to enjoy our friends. We went to a Civil War Festival where all kinds of cool stuff from the era were displayed, and we watched them blow off a cannon. We took a train ride together and joined them for church and a great brunch on Sunday. We had them over for Tommy tacos our last night there and enjoyed their company. 

We had a few days without definite plans before we were supposed to begin our stay at Timothy Lake and decided to spend some time in Hersey at the Thousand Trails. After spending a few days with our friends and Rick sharing so much history about his family and the area, we just had to check it out. Rick's great, great grandfather was Milton Hersey. If you've ever watched The Food That Built America on the History channel, you'll know what a big part Hersey played in building the town and his amazing company. They don't tell you on the show that 80% of sales from Hersey products go to help orphans. Rick said that the trust that Milton left for his family ensured that the company would always support the needy kids. I thought that was cool. 

Our visit to Hersey didn't pan out. That story is here: Red-headed temper got the best of me

After our Hersey nightmare, we stayed one night at the Shady Grove Campgrounds in Denver, PA. It was a nice little park. We had to unhook the car, which was a pain for one night's stay, but at least we had a nice place to stay. We had full hook-ups, and it was $59.00 for the night. The park is on a small lake, and many ducks were enjoying it. They had a nice pool, and the lovely lady in the office was a pleasure. 

We've stayed in many Thousand Trails campgrounds with our Elite membership, which are all over the spectrum. Timothy Lake parks, both the North and the South, are not the best ones we've experienced. With the only way in being small windy roads with low-hanging trees, we wouldn't make an effort to come here again if the park was pristine. It is far from that, so this will be our only visit. 

The pool was clean but quite a way from the camping area. An annual camper told me the park originally had a water slide from the office area down to the pool. They did a terrible job installing them, and the dangerous slides had to be removed. The recreation center is closed, the bathrooms look like they were installed in the 50s, and we had to take our blower to the mini-golf course before playing on it. Neglected is the way I would describe this park. 

I was sharing the good, and I wandered back into the bad. Sorry about that. 🙄 Back on course, our campsite is large. The weather is nice enough that I can sit outside and write this post, undisturbed by the TV set. A friend we met in Florida when we spent four months there last year is at the park up the road. I loved taking his dog Oreo for walks there and missed him terribly. He gave me so many kisses when he saw me, which made me happier than I could say. 

I'm sitting in my chair next to Paddy's playhouse. I'm listening to the birds chirp, watching the squirrels and chipmunks frolic, and soaking in the beauty of the blue sky and green trees. We are going out to dinner with our pal Mylin after visiting him and Oreo at their campsite. Life is good. 

Tomorrow we are off to New York. We are staying at an Encore resort and hooking up with friends we made at the Thousand Trails in Belvedere, IL. My new pal, Betsy, sent me their itinerary, and there was an empty spot in ours that needed to be filled. It's another one of those God-incidences. He has blessed us with the nicest people. We have friends in more states than I could count now. The full-time RV life is one we are truly enjoying. Thanks for coming along for the ride. 

I’m posting my photos on our Facebook page RV Life with Tom, Cat and Paddy. Be sure to check them out.