Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'll post pics on my return but am very excited to be leaving tomorrow for the Life Is Good td's next adventure . In the morning I drop off Ocoee at our favorite kennel....................no dogs allowed in either of the two Pa parks we are staying in.

Then Rose and I leave and head to Black Moshannon State Park. We've never stayed here before but it's about half way to Ricketts Glen where we will check in on Tuesday. We're excited to be stopping at a new state park.........plus they offer electric !!!!!!!!!!! Whoppie I get to stay up late and watch as many movies as possible(just kidding). My electric bin is all packed and ready.

Tuesday we move onto Ricketts Glen. Have two kayaks to take, my river boat to play in and a sit-on-top for the little nieces and my nephew. They even invited their cousin Emily along. They are also bringing their skimboards that Aunt Barb made them.

The weather looks a little threatening for the week with thunderstorms predicted but I've got the 10 x 20 canopy packed so all of us can be comfortable under a shelter if needed. With the twins now 3 1/2 and their little sister who's 2 years old my sister and her husband are opting at renting a RV just outrside the state park. In a few years when the kids are a little older they'll move back to camoing in thier huge Eureka two room tent.

My little nephew can' t wait to catch up to Aunt Barb and Aunt Rose and he wants to spend his first night in the teardrop....................!!!

I'll post pics on my return!

Take care everyone,
Barb

Barb and Rose,

Y'all have great trip!

I'll be looking for your post trip report. Make sure to take lot's of picture for us!!

Have Fun!

Mk

Barb and Rose have a safe and fun trip. I'll be looking forward to seeing your photos of your trip. take care Peg

I'm jealous, I wanna go too! LOL!
Travel safe, have a GREAT time, and take lots-o-pics for those of us trapped at home...

Thanks gals..............the camera is packed. The first picture will be of my truck hooked up to the td. It's loaded to bring extra stuff for my sister's family. What I'm learning is the my td never really changes. The way it's set up is constant, like having the stove always loaded in the galley.

What changes is the tow vehicle: Is this an overnighter, or for a few days out? OK my three week road trip was interesting, and now meeting the family. Kayaks, a monster shelter, my new Coleman grill and new Coleman Oven. Extra tarps!!!!!!!!!!!!! A girl can't have enough extra tarps. Two coolers and two food bins. Four chairs, my skimboard. Yikes!

But I'm happy to bring all the extras because I appreciate the effort it takes for my sister's young family to join me. When I went away to college my sisters were just 5 and 7...............lots of space between the oldest and the youngest. Buying my first Eureka tent at 18 and paying for it on lay- away was a great way to get my family interested in camping and meeting me in a different campground for a family vacation. I'm 53 now and the youngest sister is almost 40 and the only time we missed camping was when baby number three surprised them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be posting again then in about a week......................
Barb

Have a great time, Barb! You're not far from me at Black Moshannon. It's on the northern edge of Centre County, where I live. It's a nice park. I've been there for some picnics, but never camped there. Enjoy!
Sam

My family vacation was a blast............................we've been to Ricketts Glen many times and always enjoyed the variety of things in the campground and area for us all. Before my brother and sisters started having kids we'd meet here and sometimes all hang out together and sometimes we split into separate activities throughout the day. We were always back at the picnic table to share stories over mealtime and for campfires. This trip was all about hanging out with the young Quigley kids......twins Aidan and Grace, their baby sister Madelyn and their older cousin Emily.

Here are some pics from the trip.
Even though Rose and I traveled together we actually packed for the Quigley's so they could just concentrate on getting their rental RV and themselves to camp. The td packing didn't change....just the extra stuff in the bed of the truck!


First stop Black Moshannon for a night. Cool place. Had a pull through site that made it convenient getting in later in the eveing plus electric to enjoy two fans and the dvd player. Muggy day but comfortable evening with no rain.


Ricketts Glen camp setup. We had one night to ourselves and it poured, plus lightening and thunder, from 11pm to 4am. The lightening provided a neat light show!


The kids enjoyed a nice day at the beach for swimming and then another day at the beach for kayaking.
The girls swimming.

Madelyn loves the water............


The youngest kids enjoying roasting marshmallows and making smores for the first time.
Gracie looks like she's having a great time with her marshmallow experience.

Aidan had a hard time saying "cheese" while polishing off his first smore.

Older cousin Emily is a pro at this............


Aunt Barb created coloring book pages with my Kodak program. You can take a photo and change it into a cool coloring book look. I found some pics from the twins first Ricketts Glen campout when they were 4 months old and then added some td pictures. Let me tell you this came in real handy on our rainy day.
Couple of new boxes of crayons + coloring book pages= Plenty of fun at the RV kitchen table.


Aunt Rose cooked some mighty fine meals for us in camp. One of my sister's favorites is pasta with chicken and breaded cauliflower. MMMM...MMMM GOOD!



Aunt Barb cooked some great breakfasts plus surprised everyone with her newest purchase: the new Coleman Oven. Cooked everything in it 25 degrees less and it was the bomb!!!!!!! We had choc chip cookies, cinnamon rolls from scratch, and I even found "bear" shaped silicone cake pans that each one of the kids could have. I wanted them to understand that we were in a park that had a lot of black bear and we had to be good neighbors to the bears so in honor of them we baked choc bear cakes with white frosting.


We took advantage of another nice day and split it up between an easy hike along a creek and then an afternoon of swimming and kayaking. Once the kids saw Aunt Rose with her hiking stick they quickly found their own for their morning hike. Here the kids pause at the first bridge. We kept the hike easy................and flat. Once it started to climb and had cliffs to worry about we turned back.


The Quigley's left late Saturday after a full day of activities and dinner. While mom and dad packed the van Aunt Barb and Aunt Rose made them cheese quesadillas for dinner. We used Saturday as a leftover night. Rose and I had tacos and Kevin and Lynn had the pasta! Before they pulled out we walked the shelter out in the open and after they left Rose and I had it taken apart in 10 minutes. The last night was clear skies so we didn't feel we needed it. All we had left in the morning was to hitch the td and go!

When the Quigley's left it was too quiet but this was the first time I put my feet up since they arrived.


Passing by Lake Jean on the way out of the park.


I hate to say it but I leave Wed night for a 4 day kayaking trip.............it's turning out to be an awesome td summer!
Barb

nice pictures.Looks like everyone had a great time. thanks for sharing. This country is so beautiful.
We had our 3000 mile trip in June but I am ready to go again.
Eunice

It looks like everyone had a blast!! That's a great way to make happy family memories for those lucky young'uns!

Can't wait to hear about your kayaking adventure!

Great shots Barb. Those kids are so lucky to have an Aunt who spends time with them in the outdoors. It is special and different than when parents do it.