Crazy to Quiet

It was time to say good-bye to Steve, Angela and our granddaughters and turn the truck to the southeast to head for the mountains. We weren't real sure about spending the Labor Day weekend in the Poconos, but it was a "free" member park and it had us heading in the right direction for our planned stay in New Jersey, so that's where we went.

And it was indeed crazy on the two lane mountain roads in the tourist area near East Stroudsburg. Traffic was bumper to bumper as everyone was apparently left work early to head to the mountains. We finally pulled into our site in the late afternoon (a whole story in itself in the tight turns and confines of this heavily treed and narrow laned campground) and sat down gratefully with a refreshingly tart alcoholic beverage. Not long after we arrived a tent city sprang up next to us, full of happy campers--it was a joyful noise. The folks were loud, boisterous and happy and we enjoyed their company, but we enjoyed it even more when everyone had left by early Monday evening and we had the entire upper tier of the campground to ourselves.

As you can see, the tree cover was heavy so we were unable to put up our satellite dishes for our Internet and TV services. Luckily the campground provided basic cable TV so we were able to catch the local news and Denny could watch football. I was able to catch up on my journal which I had sadly but understandably neglected over the past few months. It was relaxing to look out our large living room window at the rear of the rig to see the woods and large patches of graceful ferns.


We used the time for chores, as we had been in the area in 1999, visiting Bushkill Falls. Denny had to replace a roof vent that got knocked off by low hanging branches at the campground in Brunswick, Ohio but we also took some time to donate our money to the local economy by visiting the Mount Airy Casino. Alas, our attempts to win enough money to buy a new trailer were in vain, but we had fun.


Patches enjoyed herself once everyone left, having the entire upper section of the campground to explore without fear of strange dogs and noisy children. The mosquitoes didn't bother her with her thick coat of fur and for the most part, my SkinSoSoft oil and water mixture kept the little buggers off me for the length of a medium long walk.

What I discovered on our walks was if I walked carefully enough and slowly enough on the gravel driveway I could get within a couple hundred feet of the area of the woods where three yearling (?) does slept and grazed, which allowed me to use the zoom lens at its maximum to get a shot. The trees were so thick, however, that only one picture came out as the camera had a tendency to focus on the trees rather than the deer. That's something I still have to figure out.

Before we left we checked out another of our member parks in the area and discovered that that one was much more spacious, had full hook ups and fewer trees so if we need to pass by this way again, we'll stay there. But it was a good week all in all.

And now we're in New Joisey, although Denny's cousin who lives here said people don't really talk that way. I got news for ya--some of the ones we've heard so far do!