Trail Riders

Well, we made it to our next destination! Dad and Annie joined us last night just before midnight. We took a ride after breakfast today up through the first few miles of Skyline Drive while Benj stayed back and took care of the camper. We left around 9:30 and got to the campground in Williamsburg around lunch. Just as we got the camper leveled, the rest of the family pulled it. What a surprise! We spend the afternoon trying to cool off and hanging around the pool and camper. Visited Aunt Florence this evening and enjoyed dinner at her place. When we got back to the camper, we found that it was a pleasant 78 degrees...much better than the 88 when we pulled in. I think the outside temp actually reached 107 today. Headed to watch ... read more

Well, we're back at it again! So far, we've whitewater rafted (River levels were extremely low, plus the dam is broken, so they're not letting any water out) at Ohiopyle, PA. Our raft was overloaded for the river conditions, so we constantly were getting hung up on rocks. We'd be going along and suddenly come to a complete stop. One time we stopped so abruptly that Benj actually fell out! He's okay, although I believe he'll be sore in the morning. On one of the final rapids, our raft actually got stuck and we all had to 'abandon ship'. It took two guides a good 5 minutes to pull it out. Other than that, it was a good day. Tomorrow, off to Skyline Drive and Front Royal, VA. Talk to ya then!... read more

Well, the first leg of our trip is complete. We left New Martinsville at 7AM and arrived in Point South (Yemassee), South Carolina around 6 and were greeted with a hail storm. Hail was about as big as a dime. Benji was freaking out about his truck getting hailed on, and Mandie was mad because her camera was in the truck and she was missing out on good pictures! Found out that sometime between Jambo 07 and this trip 08, the syrup leaked and dirtied our plates, so we had to do dishes twice! There is also a warning on our little camp map that says "CAUTION: Alligators at lake could attack dogs!" We're going to take a walk down there when the storm passes. NOAA only shows a small little patch of red, then nothing ... read more

Finally! We're home! The trip was wonderful. On our last day, we stopped at Tom Raper's RV Super Store. They're the biggest in the mid-west. Used to be biggest in the US until a manufacturer opened a store in Florida. Anyway, they had everything you could want...except one our size and price range. 5000 miles later, we're sitting at home in our living room. Feel free to leave any comments and we'll see you on our next trip! The Trail Riders Mandie and Benji Visited US States Map ... read more

Day 18 Camping wasn’t bad last night. The ground is that red clay and it was easy to get everywhere! Mandie just left her shoes outside. Mosquitoes are back. The bathrooms were a little scary. Mandie had a spider hanging from the sink and a cockroach on the floor. We’re traveling on Route 66 for a while. Mandie keeps singing the song. Looks like we’re in for a 4:00 arrival at our next destination. We pulled in late yesterday, and Benji was not happy. Just before the Arch, Benji decided he wanted to drive longer, so we moved our campsite a little beyond where we were going to stay. We’re still in Illinois, but a lot closer to home. The camp is really nice, but it seems that it’s set up for much larger campers. ... read more

Day 16 On the road again. Left Arizona and are into New Mexico. There are signs cautioning us of dust storms. It sounds like it would be neat, but we really don’t want to be in one. Headed to Roswell. Town is closed, but we’ll get to see some stuff tomorrow. Can’t forget about Scott’s shirt! ... read more

Day 10 On our way to Vegas! The interstate through Arizona is gorgeous! Just passed by a van for Robot Rooter “We’re #1 in the #2 business” Whoo hoo! Nevada! And, we just gained an hour! We’ll get to our campsite at 9:30. As soon as we crossed the border, there was a casino. Kind of like Wheeling.  Mandie : “Look at their state route signs. They look like thought bubbles!” Benji: “Hun, that’s the shape of their state..” VIVA LAS VEGAS! We decided to park at the campsite and ride the bus downtown. $2.50 for an all day pass. Thank you to the locals who told us how to get passes. They were very nice. We also saw the Vegas version of Moon Dog. Anyway, we got on the bus and headed to ... read more