Easy Parking --- Yeah, right!

June 12 – The weather today for travelling was the best!  No rain, no wind, no cold!  Even the PA turnpike itself was good road most of the day.  We only had to go through one tunnel and as soon as we came out the condition of the road was like night and day.  Fortunately we didn’t stay on it much longer as we got off at I-70 and took that to Hagerstown, MD where we eventually wound our way to smaller and smaller roads.  Seriously, I thought we were headed into Deliverance.

 

In our official spot

We are officially at the Antietam Campground of the C & O Canal. We arrived in front of our Camp Host space at about 1:15 and spent the next 45 minutes getting into the space.  The gravel part was really long but narrow with big trees on both sides of the entrance.  Then it’s along a public road that’s really narrow and quite a bit of traffic.  This road runs along the canal and there’s gravel parking along the opposite side from us.  The idea is to turn towards our opening then make a sharp turn left, angling the rear of the RV at the opening.  Well, there was a car parked directly where I needed the truck to be, so that was not working.  Finally the owner saw our predicament and offered to move it.  Then he stayed and watched one side by the tree while Bill took the other side.  Then the traffic was non-stop and as soon as I’d start backing more would come.  Truthfully, Bill realized he didn’t position me in the best place so with all that said, it was a long 45 minutes and I was getting super stressed.  BUT WE MADE IT IN!  You could park another RV in front of us it’s so long!

 

This is what a TastyKake looks like!

Actually the highlight of my day was we stopped for a morning break at a service plaza on the turnpike and they sold Tastykakes.  Bill had some kind of peanut butter with chocolate icing and he liked them.  Well, I’ve had some varieties at home but the selection was overwhelming.  I am not supposed to be eating them anyway but they had this Coconut Cream Pie and I instantly thought of Hubig pies from New Orleans.  I had to make the comparison and enjoyed every bite.  To my friends who I got hooked on Hubig pies, let me tell you, the Coconut Cream Tastykake had that same tender crust with lots of shortening and the filling was exactly the same, the only difference was it was smaller and did not have the sugar glaze.  So if you ever see one, try it!  They had lots of different fillings! YUM! 

 

Bridge to campsites across from our spot.  To the right is
where the car was parked that moved

Back to setting up.  Our Ranger supervisor Emily arrived promptly at 2:30 to give us shirts, hats, keys, tools, garbage bags, telephone and who knows what else was in the wheelbarrow.  We went over things and signed for what she gave us and tomorrow she leaves on vacation.  We will be taking turns volunteering 4 hours a day Wednesday thru Sunday at the Ferry Hill VC and the other one has to clean the sites that day.  There are only 20 sites and they are all along the canal.  They are only tent sites but there is a handicapped site beside us with no facilities either.  We have to check on the toilet paper but do not have to clean it, just the sites.  The phone is so people can call and ask questions, like we’re going to know the answers!  She left more literature than I will read but Bill is already into it.

 

After she left we just about finished setting up but wanted to go do some laundry in Shepardstown, WV, which is closer to us than Hagerstown where there are stores and a laundromat.  I put the laundry in and left Bill to tend it and went to the Food Lion in the same plaza.

 

Before making dinner we set up the satellite and Bill’s Sirius radio.  The only big issue is our cell service is not so good.  It seems to work pretty well as a hotspot for my internet but not so well for calling.  Guess that’s why they give us a phone.  We have a fire pit and a load of wood and a picnic table and a huge grassy area.  We could host some games if we knew anyone here.

 

I grilled enough hot links and chicken skewers for 2 meals and Bill did up the dishes.  I’m giving him a list for tomorrow while I’m slaving at the VC.  Friday is his turn.  Then we watched our season openers of shows on USA.  Now it’s time to get to bed and be well rested for my big day tomorrow.