Summer 2016 – Indiana, the Mid-Atlantic, and Assateague Island…
Well the description says it all. Summer 2016 had us running for sure…. With buying a new RV and taking delivery in Indiana, visiting National Parks in Southern Illinois, seeing college friends in Michigan, helping our son prepare to move to Colorado, visiting the Mid-Atlantic battlegrounds of Antietam, Maryland & Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, driving the entire Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park, and then having a family reunion at Asaateague Island State Park we were taking our Revolutionary Journey to the next level this Summerl!
7/7/16 Well the day is finally here… We have been planning, coordinating, saving, anticipating, and working for years to finally buy our first Motorhome RV. While we have camped for years going through the natural progression of tents, pop-ups, and then trailers, we are finally stepping up to a motorhome in 2016. The process of how we got to this day is an entire blog post by itself and will have to wait for another entry. Today though is the day we are leaving to drive to Nappanee, Indiana and take delivery of our new 2017 Newmar Motorhome! The plan is to drive our 2006 Mini Cooper S convertible nearly 13 hours and over 800 miles to Indiana. The Mini will be our tow vehicle (toad) for our new Motorhome.
While the Mini is a fun car to drive you have to be fairly efficient/creative to be able to pack all the necessities we will need to camp in our new RV, while in Indiana, and also have the necessary tow bar and equipment to tow the Mini behind the RV. Needless to say we (maxed out the mini) with (CC Carrying Capacity) for this trip.
7/8/16 We get an early start for the day, driving the entire way in pouring rain, arriving in Nappane, IN around 10:30 PM at Amish Acres. Amish Acres is a motel, recommended by Newmar, which was just down the street from their headquarters. The plan was to stay the evening here and then arrive at Newmar at 8:30 am to begin the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) process for our RV. We had scheduled a factory pick-up at Newmar which is a service they offer and had come highly recommended by many.
With factory pick-up Newmar assigns you a specific technician for up to 40 hours. They do a complete oreientaion, review of operations, systems, test drives, and all punch list items are discovered and addressed. Newmar really does take this service very serious and goes to great lengths to insure everything is taken care of for you. (We absolutely recommend this service to anyone buying a new RV from Newmar)
Arriving at 8:30 we are introduced to our assigned tech Dave who has been spending the last week preparing our RV for delivery. After introductions, he takes us to the building where they have been prepping the RV. Turning that hallway reveals our Motorhome completely prepped, cleaned, and set-up to begin our orientation. Joanne & I a very excited to say the least. Dave allowed us a little time to walk around the rig, inside and out, before starting the formal orientation. Dave has all the books, manuals, warranty information, and build sheets very organized so every detail is covered.
2017 Newmar Baystar 3124 -Ready for Orientation/Pick-up
We began on the inside and proceed to learn about the entire coach and systems it uses. This orientation was quite comprehensive and had us asking questions and taking notes non-stop, with Dave helping in every-way he can. Dave is also taking very specific notes, with our comments and observations, so he can address everything over the next few days.
With the first day of orientation completed Dave is very helpful in setting us up at our temporary site at Camp Newmar for the weekend. Newmar has about 30 sites with hook-ups for service appointments and orientation/pick-ups. In addition, they have a nice club-house with a lounge and facilities. This is Friday night so we will be camping here over the weekend with plans to continue the orientation and punch list Monday morning. Our thought was we would live in it over the weekend, continuing to test the systems, hopefully discovering any additional items for Dave to help with. (A mini shake-down opportunity).
Camp Newmar – Porch
Camp Newmar
7/9/16 We wake from our first night in our new RV. This is the first night we have ever camped and actually slept in a real bed. It is REAL nice! Breakfast is bacon and eggs using the new cooktop as due to space constraints in the Mini we couldn’t bring an outside grill for our time here. The porch at Camp Newmar is the congregating place for many people here for service. We meet some great other Newmar owners and while each is here for service, all are extremely happy they bought a Newmar. Their are 4 couples on the porch that are currently full-timers with no sticks & bricks homes any longer. Most say it was liberating to sell everything and get on the road. One couple said they used a company called “Everything but the House” to sell all their belongs. He said they were great to deal with. Might need to look into this company.
Most of today is spent around the RV, learning and talking about our big investment. For the evening we plan on connecting with some college friends(The Jablonski’s) from Michigan. We look for a mid point to connect and decide on the little town of Marshall, Michigan. A little over an hour for each of us. We had stopped to see them back in 2013 and were looking forward to connecting again. As couples, we were both married 36 years ago this week, after graduating from college. Where did that 36 years go???
John recommends we meet and eat at “Schuler’s Restaurant & Pub”. This place was perfect. The food, staff, service were great and they also treated us to some gifts for our anniversaries. I would highly recommend anyone to stop there for a meal or beverage, if close by.
7/10/16 We decide today we need to take a hike. Joanne plans out the day and decides we will drive to “Indiana Dunes National Seashore”. We arrive at the park and find it very crowded with the weekend traffic. We opt to hike on one of the trails not on the shore to circumvent some of the traffic. We choose a 5 mile hike, through the woods and meadows, which is perfect. This trail wasn’t well marked and we found ourselves off trail several times. Nonetheless, it wall worked out. We decide to take the scenic drive back to Nappanee, rather than the highway and spend several hours meadering through the small towns and farm country that is everywhere’s in this part of Indiana. With the sun shining brightly and the top down on the Mini it was a beautiful day for this Sunday ride.
Indiana Dunes National Seashore
7/11/16 It’s Monday morning and we are raring to go with the continuation of our orientation. If you don’t know, Newmar is a company that is owned by an Amish family and their is a large population of Amish is this area. Each morning in Nappanee we hear the clackity clack of horses pulling small buggies down the road taking their owners to work. The historic craftsmanship of the Amish is very evident in the Newmar production process. The Newmar workers arrive by 5:00 am each weekday to begin and are usually does by 3:00 pm. Everyone parked in Camp Newmar is fully aware that they need to be ready for someone to take their coach at 6:00 am for service each day. It’s a busy place at 6:00am and all of us find ourselves on “Homeless Porch” for coffee & tea by 6:15 am, once our coaches are taken by the techs.. We met some of the greatest people on this porch during our stay at Camp Newmar.
Over the next 3 days we spend considerable time with Dave learning, driving, inspecting and then waiting for our rig to have the punch list items completed. Dave is organized, responsive and willing to help in every way possible.
7/14/16 We depart Newmar for an appointment at Dan’s Service Center “Hitch Specialists” in Elkhart, IN. Dan’s Hitch has come highly recommended and although we have a tow-bar system already we need to have some modifications made to complete the set-up with our new coach. Arriving at Dan’s Hitch we quickly realize we have come to the experts. They examine our Mini (tow car) and then take several measurements. It’s decided that given the drop between the RV’s hitch and the Mini’s Base plate we need a custom 12″drop fabricated. Dans Hitch is full service and after taking the measurements they disappear into the shop for several hours only to emerge with a custom welded drop system for our set-up. In addition, they added the necessary brackets to allow us to also mount our bike rack as well. Dan’s Hitch was professional, knowledgable, quick, and made sure we were set for the ride home, towing the Mini behind our new RV.
Dan’s Hitch – Ready to get back on the road…
Dan’s Hitch – Custom Set-up
We get on the road after 3:30 PM and begin the journey to Connecticut. Our hope is we can arrive on Friday before our son Sean leaves for his new home, job, and relocation to Basalt, Colorado. Sean graduated with a Masters, this past May, in Athletic Administration and has accepted a job as the Athletic Director for a High School about 10 minutes from Aspen. He had spent a gap year between undergrad and grad school in Estes Park, CO and now can’t wait to get back to the mountains. We made very good time until we get to Connecticut and then come to a complete stand-still. What should only take about 1.5 hours turns into 6 hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic the rest of the way home. Friday traffic in the summer,heading to the New England Shoreline and Cape Cod, is always a challenge this time of the year. We definitely got to experience many aspects of the road, with the new RV set-up, on this trip home.
We arrive with only a couple of hours to spare before Sean heads West. Between the RV, Tow car, Sean’s truck, and the loaded U-Haul, our driveway is a busy place this evening. It’s been a big summer already, between getting a tow car, a new Motorhome, and now officially becoming empty nesters…
A busy driveway – Sean heading to Colorado…
7/17/16 Well we are now packed for our real first adventure on the road with the new camper. Our plans are to head towards Western Maryland and do some camping & sightseeing over the next week with hopes of arriving at Assateague Island State Park, for a Family reunion, on Friday 7/22/16.
We head out mid-day and drive all the way to Western PA. We are scheduled to camp neat Antietam Battlefield on the night of 7/18/16 for a few days though tonight we are just going to boondock on the way. As we are driving and discussing options and I remember a Cabelas is not far from where we are in Western PA., and they are very boondocking friendly. We pull into Cabelelas in Tilden. PA and they have a specific area for RV’s. The view, facilities, and location are perfect for this one night stay.
Cabelas Boondocking – Tilden, PA
7/19/16 We depart Tilden, PA for our campground near Antietam Battlefield. A few years ago we had visited Gettysburg and had been planning a visit to Antietam since then. We decided to camp at Greenbrier State Park in Boonsboro, MD. for 3 nights. When we visited Gettysburg we had purchased a self directed Tour CD that was outstanding and we hoped to do the same for Antietam. We were in luck, the visitors center gift shop had one copy left. Over the next 5 hours we followed the tour through the Antietam Battlefields, monuments, and historic sights and had the same exceptional experience we had in Gettysburgh. The Antietam museum was also very good.
For dinner I was able to connect with one of my oldest friends. Rick and his wife Deb live only about 5 minutes form Antietam Battlefield. Rick and I have been friends since we were 5 years old. Although we try to touch base every year by phone we really haven’t seen much of each other and our wife’s have never met. It was such a treat to connect with he and his wife for dinner, while in this area. The one thing we have found as Campers and now Rver’s this lifestyle affords you the opportunity to reach out and see friends and relatives very easily while on the road. This is something we really look forward to doign when we go full time.
7/20/16 we decide to head to Harper’s Ferry. Harper’s Ferry is at the vortex of Virginia, West Virgia and Maryland. It has a strategic and important place in American History. It is where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers converge. We tour the museum and the town of Harpers Ferry and then decide to do a couple of hikes in the park.
Harper’s Ferry
Hike one is called Bolivar Heights/School House Ridge North Map . It is not difficult and has some great views of where the battles were fought.
Hike Two is called Maryland Heights Map . This is a much steeper trail and takes 3-4 hours roundtrip. Some areas are also very rocky. While the trail was challenging it was the 95 degree heat that really had us sweating on our ascent. Our climbing effort paid off when we did get to the look-out from the cliff. There we have an incredible view of Harpers Ferry and the convergence of the 2 rivers.
7/21/16 Our goal today is to put the Mini’s top down and spend the day driving the Skyline Drive and through Shenandoah National Park. The trip from our campground is 100+ miles south down the highway until we turn-in to start the the trek North on the Skyline. We will enter where the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway meet. Although we get a picture of both the Blue Ridge Parkway and points South will have to wait for another future trip. The weather today could’t be better. We spend over 8 hours driving with the top down in the Mini today. This is why we bought this car to tow…An incredible day we both wont’ ever forget!
7/22/16 We leave our campsite at Greenbrier today very early and begin the drive towards our family reunion at Assateague State Park. The drive takes us across parts of Virginia then back into Maryland and over the Chesapeake and finally to the southern part of the Del Marva Peninsula.
We arrive around 10:00 am just outside of Ocean City, Maryland. We will get groceries, propane, gas, do laundry, fill the fresh-water tank, and dump our black & grey tanks before setting up on our campsite for the next 2 weeks camping by the beach. Note: Assateague Island State Park is nearly entirely dry camping.
We traditionally camp on the “I” Loop which is the largest loop. Only one loop had electric and that is “H” Loop. Fortunately they have bathhouses on each loop, with facilities and hot showers. Joanne’s parents have been visiting here for over 40 years. Everyone on her side of the family comes here nearly every year for a reunion at the beach. Our kids literally have grown up vacationing each summer at Assateague Beach. I would be remiss, if I didn’t say, early on I was not enamored to dry camp every summer vacation here given the potential for mosquitos, weather, intense summer heat, and the challenge of tent camping in our earlier camping days. At Assateague their are no trees for shade and the weather can change very quickly. On top of that, while the wild horses are fun they can be rather challenging given their precocious nature to get into everything you have and leave presents (horse apples) around your campsite each day. Nonetheless, like everyone else in the family we have grown to love this place for all the memories we have shared here.
When the weather is nice, Assateague’s magic can’t be denied. Between the spectacular beaches, unbelievable sunsets, roaring camp fires, and the simplicity that living in the outdoors enriches our lives with, we look forward to our time here every year as part of this Revolutionary Journey….
