Shaffer Way

July 27, 28 At this point we are ready to go home but we had two more nights planned at Silver Springs State Park near Ocala, FL.   We decided to cancel the second night and arrive home a day early. We arrived at Silver Springs, a huge state Park with lots of activities.   We didn’t do much there but we will be back for a longer stay soon.   The next day, Saturday, we arrived home about 1pm.   Here are the stats of the trip. 3457 miles traveled at an average of 47 mph 249 gallons of gasoline at an average of 14.3 mpg $688 for gas at an average of $2.74/gal (We averaged $2.18/gal last year) $710 for campgrounds for 17 nights 9 days at Katie and Frank’s and 5 days at Dan and Jane’s It was a good trip.   Next trip this fall to see new grandbaby and a Trend rally in Arkansas.   See Ya Out There!

July 23 thru 26 We spent the 22 nd in Warrior, AL at Caverns State Park.   It was just a stopover for us, but it looked interesting and we will probably go by there again and spend a couple days. The next day we arrived in Carrabelle, FL at the Ho Hum RV Park.   Carrabelle is located on the eastern part of the Florida panhandle near the Apalachicola Forest.   Apalachicola is noted for their oysters and seafood in general, so we have been looking forward to this visit.   We got a site facing the bay, so we could watch the sun rise and drink our coffee which we did.   There was a long pier out into the water and I tried fishing but no luck.   We took a day to go downtown to eat some seafood at Fathoms Raw Bar and Steamer.  I started with a dozen raw oysters on the half shell while Georgann ordered a pound of steamed mussels.   It was all very good, in fact so good that Georgann ordered a second pound of Mussels which I made sure I got a couple...

July 19 thru 21 We continued our travel from Beckley WV to Gatlinburg TN.   The RV park where we stayed was the nicest we have experienced yet.   And although nestled in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains, the sites were nice and level.   Just outside the entrance was a trolley stop you could use to get most anywhere including Dollywood in Pidgeon Forge, TN.   We had no interest in Dollywood, but we did use the trolley to go downtown a couple times.   Gatlinburg was more touristy than what I had imagined.   Plenty of eateries, wax museums, and fudge shops.   Lots of people too.   We walked the main street, ate a Cajun dinner looked at some shops but no wax museums or fudge. We went to a steak house one other night called The Alamo and had a very good dinner.   I suspect we will come back as there is a lot more to do in the area especially in the mountains.   When we left on Sunday morning, we paid a visit to Matt, our nephew wh...

July 17 and 18   We left Brookville, PA headed for Beckley West Virginia.   What beautiful countryside to ride through.   Originally, Beckley was a stop on our way to Gatlinburg, TN but when doing our research, we discovered there was an old coal mine and a museum that you could tour next to the RV park.   They also had a miner shanty, a small house and a church.   Next to the mining camp, there was an 1870’s log home village you could tour.   All of this we found very interesting but the highlight was the tour of the coal mine.   The tour guides were retired miners and lived locally.   Our guide, by his own admission, was a hillbilly and he certainly looked and sounded the part.   If I had a nickel for every time he said “dad gum” our tour would have been free.   He loaded us all in a railroad car and took us into the mine which had been modified from its original structure for the tourists.  He had a lot of stories and demonstra...

July 8 thru July 17 th We arrived at Dan and Janes house on Sunday the 8 th .   We set up where we did last year.   I took the opportunity to do some minor repairs and to use Dan’s expertise to help.   We spent the rest of the day on Monday getting Dan’s 2 ATV’s ready to go for a day of riding trails near Sigel, PA.   With the proper permits, you are allowed to ride on the township roads.   We spent a good part of Tuesday having a lot of fun riding. On Thursday, Georgann and I traveled to Benezette, Pa.   This was all part of the grand plan before we left home.   Benezette is well known for its Elk population.   There is a great viewing area at the top of Winslow hill and a very well done visitor center with stuffed animals and interactive displays.   It also includes a small theater with a show telling the story of the Elk in Pa.   As you may have guessed, this area is very sparsely populated.   When I saw it last year I thou...

June 29th through July 10th We arrived in Cincinnati on the 29 th .  We have such great accommodations at Katie and Franks house.   Andy and Yoko and the kids arrived on the 3 rd and we had a fun time as usual. The weather was very hot when we arrived and stayed that way the entire week.   On the 4 th of July, which is also Katie and Franks anniversary, we attended the Mount Lookout Drive annual celebration and kid’s parade followed by a great spread of hamburgers, hot dogs and a variety of other foods.   What a great community function with young and old alike. Later that day, we all went back to the house except for Frank.   He was making the most of this great opportunity to develop relationships with his neighbors.     After a while, Katie sent James, our 10 year old grandson, down the street to tell Uncle Frank it was time to come home.   Some time after that, with both Frank and James nowhere in sight, Katie, who was 7 months pregna...

June 27 th and 28 th We finally got on the road on the 27 th and spent an uneventful night at Cecil Bay RV Park where we stayed one year ago to the day.   From there we traveled to Cherokee, NC nestled at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.   We stayed at Cherokee Great Smokies KOA.   A large park with lots of amenities and full hook ups although we did not have a sewer hookup and had to use the dump station.   You would think for $61 you would get a sewer hookup.   The park as well as the town is located on the Cherokee reservation.  Signage is written both in English and Cherokee.  At the Park we paid a tribal fee and at the gas station we paid a service fee amounting to a couple dollars.  While we were there we met a couple that had a Trend, the same RV as ours only theirs was a year older.   We made contact and chatted quite a while, swapping war stories and exchanging ideas.   When we decided to stay in Ch...

Sunday, June 24, 2018 Hello everybody.   This is the kick off post for our Night Sky Riders 2018 trip.   We will be leaving on Wednesday the 27 th and heading toward the Cincinnati Buckis to celebrate the 4 th of July.   The Maryland Shaffers will be arriving for the 4th also.   We may get to see all the grandkids which we are always excited about that. From Cincinnati we travel to Brookville, Pa to park in Dan and Jane’s yard and visit Tim’s 96 year old Mother.   During that part of the visit we will spend a few days in Benezette, Pa to see some Elk.   We are hoping the sky is clear so we can gaze at some stars since there is virtually no ground light and it will be a new moon.   Hence the name of the trip “Night Sky Riders”.   The Maryland Shaffers will also be there to camp with us for a couple days.   More fun with the grandkids! Once we leave Brookville, we will head home but plan on taking our time and exploring on the...