HOMEWARD BOUND. END OF TRIP #5.
We had intended to finish the Blog and post upon arriving home, but as usual, we didn’t get to it. It is now April 27 & we’ve just begun our next adventure. This is the last day of the previous trip, followed by soon, a recap of that trip & the time spent between Trip #5 and Trip #6.
Day 88 – Well, we are going home today. This is both good & bad in our minds. We have found that when you’ve been gone for awhile, you never know what you’ll find when you get home. Will the mice have taken over the house, or did the wasps find a way in from the roof? Did the boiler work, did any pipes burst, did a tree come down during a storm, will the driveway be plowed or has there been a big snowstorm recently, or if not a snowstorm is the driveway so muddy that we can’t get in? What will be broken when we “un-winterize” and begin to use things again? On the other hand, we LOVE our house and our neighborhood. We have friends we haven’t seen in months. It’s nice to have so much space to move around after months in a 30-foot RV. And spring is arriving – so many flowering trees & bushes. The Hudson Valley can be absolutely gorgeous. It is with mixed emotions that we set out on today’s journey.
108 miles, (2:35), 37740-37848
We departed Worthington State Forest Campground in the Delaware Water Gap at 10 a.m. It was 48 degrees this morning at 6:30, but by the time we left it was 57 degrees & sunny. It took us 2 hours and 35 minutes to get home with a stop for gas in the RV. (Filling the tank in the RV can take quite a bit of time, especially in NJ where you are forced to use full-service rather than self-service.) The girls posed for the last pictures of this trip. Little did they know that we’d be spending the night at home rather than in the RV at another campground.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
The trip began at the campground in NJ (on the border with PA, the two borders are separated by the Delaware River). We went south on the one-lane road, crossed the River, then headed north along the other side of the Delaware River. There are several decent-sized waterfalls that are part of the state forest/state park network. Snow was still frozen on the ground as we passed by. It was cloudy with a storm threatening, and fairly windy when we crossed into Pennsylvania. After crossing back over the Delaware River, we entered New York. Back on home ground. The temperatures were steadily dropping as a storm front moved through.
When we got home, it was cloudy and 56 degrees. We had our lunch in the RV before starting the arduous job of unpacking after a long trip. Laundry needed to be done. The RV’s refrigerator & freezer had to be emptied & tanks dumped, removing water from the hoses & pipes. All appliances and equipment needed to be turned on & the house “un-winterized”. The RV had to be winterized (we learned the hard way that if you don’t winterize the RV -OR- leave the heat on, pipes will freeze and crack. What a mess that is!) It is exhausting, but when evening comes & we order delivery from New Paltz & relax on the couch with the first TV in months, we do smile before falling asleep early. As Rob was backing the RV into its trailer pad off the driveway, he had help from the cats who had been released from their “traveling room” when we got home & made lunch. The girls adjusted well with minimal complaining, in a hurry to go inside & run around with their toys. And they do love laundry. Warm, fresh out of the dryer, nothing is more amusing than tossing a pair of underwear over a waiting cat as she walks around the bed with the laundry looking for the right place to settle in. The high today was 64 degrees.
We saved the shorter driving days till the end. There’s enough to do when we get home with the unpacking, laundry, etc. We don’t need a long driving day, too. We have our usual shopping & catching up to do during the next couple of weeks. We’ve already made our doctor, dentist, and vet appointments. And we’re looking forward to seeing our friends. Rob will be spending almost a week in CA. Then when we’re all done, we’ll head out again on our next adventure, almost definitely somewhere north to avoid the heat & humidity of summer which will come soon enough, And we certainly see a trip to our land in Maine in our future, soon.
Worthington State Forest Campground: Old Mine Road, Columbia, NJ 07832; https://njparksandforests.org/parks/worthington.html. Worthington State Forest is a state forest located within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, just above the water gap, in Warren County, New Jersey. It covers an area of 6,660 acres and stretches for more than 7 miles along the Kittatinny Ridge near Columbia. From the website: “Some of the most rugged terrain and splendid views of northern New Jersey are found in Worthington State Forest. A rocky and sometimes steep trail follows Dunnfield Creek from the Delaware River to Mount Tammany, or hikers may choose to follow the trail to Sunfish Pond, one of the most popular sites in the area. Millions of years in the making, the pond was carved out by glacial forces during the last ice age and is one of fourteen rock-basin lakes between the Delaware Water Gap and the end of Kittatinny Ridge. A trail circles the pond, with many boulders and openings for resting and observation. There are over 26 miles of trails within the park including 5 miles of canoe trails on the Delaware River and over 7 miles of the Appalachian Trail. All trails within the park are hiking only. A demanding climb to the top of Mt. Tammany at 1527 ft. above sea level rewards the park visitor with a panoramic view of the Delaware Water Gap. A new interpretive trail, the Rockcores Trail, has been developed and offers some natural and historic information to the park visitor.” While we only used the campground as a one-night stopover, it was certainly a beautiful area worthy of a longer stay & more exploration. There were no hook-ups at the campground & no dump station, but water is available. No pets allowed, according to the rules & regulations, but no one asked if we had pets – don’t ask, don’t tell. We had Site #52 on the River in a big field. There were very few people camping this time of year. We’d visit this area again since there’s so much to do here, but only off-season.