Ephrata, PA — September 29 — October 1st

We decided to head up to Ephrata for the weekend to camp by Middle Creek Wildlife Reserve and catch some of the Ephrata Fair. The Starlite Campground is on top of a mountain right by the Middle Creek reserve just north of Ephrata. There was a fabulous vista of the entire Ephrata region right from our site.

Saturday morning, we went to the reserve and hiked the conservation trail. Matthew had a great time talking about all of the scenery and looking for wildlife. He was surprised that there were no Kangaroos in the woods. Since it was lightly raining during the hike, Emily thought it was a trek through a rain forest.

The kids spent some time trying to find some birds…

In the afternoon, we stopped by Terri’s new house in Ephrata to park and walk down to the fair. Met up with Mark, Sue and Devin along the way. Matt and Emily rode on some rides and ate some fries.

Saturday evening, Kathy and I sat around the fire while the kids enjoyed a movie in the warmth of the camper. My smoke for the night was a 5 Vegas Gold Churchill. It was a pleasant smoke — although I had to work hard to keep it lit. I now know without doubt that my humidor is running too high. I’ll fix that up when I get home.

Overall, it was quite cold this weekend. We figured out how to work the furnace (it was tough pushing that button) — and it stayed on the whole weekend.

The weather cleared right before we left and we realized how nice the campground was…

Beachcombers

We were finally able to make the reservations which utilized our free weekend that came with the camper.  There were quite a few restrictions, so it took us a while to figure out the best time.  We convinced the Mennellas to join us on this excursion.  They rented a camper for the weekend from Beachcombers.  It was pretty nice, a 38-foot camper with slide-outs, neat and clean.  Maybe not the best location in the park, but a pretty quiet section overall.

The campground was laid out nicely and had plenty of activities.  I would say that it is predominantly a seasonal campground (more than half the sites were seasonal).  They had many different park models and the layout ensured that everything was pretty close to the action.

The first night was dinner followed by a hayride followed by a smoke by the fire (after the kids were put to bed).

 

Saturday there was a craft show/flea market from 10:00 to 2:00, both Kathy and Denise had setups for their wares.  The kids went nuts on the playground and painting pumpkins for most of the morning.

 

Saturday afternoon we went to the Cape May Lighthouse and Sunset beach.  We tried to get Maggie to go into the water, but she was extremely afraid of the waves.  At Sunset Beach, the kids were searching for “Cape May Diamonds“.

Saturday evening was dinner at the Mennella’s camper.  Burgers and dogs followed by s’mores by the fire.  All were in bed early (including the adults)… although rumor has it that the Mennella kids didn’t stay in bed.

The trip was originally scheduled for Friday through Monday; however, due to the wild weather, we decided to wait until Saturday to head down.  It turned out to be a very good decision.  Tropical Storm Ernesto was moving through the area and thankfully, it moved quickly.

We headed down Saturday with no real plans, we were just going to get away for the weekend.  I had to hook up in the rain and wind before heading down, but we were dry upon arrival.  We camped at Jellystone Park in Mays Landing, it’s a nice little campground.  It has a large percentage of seasonal sites.  We were right next to the playground and close to the miniature golf course (which pleased Matt).

We were greeted by the tremendous hospitality of a group of families from Long Island.  Chris and Michelle, Tim and Kathy, Tim, Mike and Joe were wonderful neighbors and were not shy with the beverages and food.  We watched the Notre Dame game on Saturday night while smoking some nice Ashton cigars and partaking in some cold Budweiser.  I ended up having a little more than I’m used to, but we had a great time.

Chris, our immediate neighbor, invented a game somewhat similar to horseshoes, just with a wooden box and some washers.  It was fun, and I was able to pick up on it pretty quickly.  We played for a while Sunday afternoon while having just a few more cold ones.  Matt and I went miniature golfing on Sunday night… we each had a hole in one.

Sunday morning, we drove down to Cape May to take Maggie out to the beach and have a little picnic.  We found out when we got there that pets aren’t allowed on the beach until September 15th, so it was a short-lived walk.  Emily and Kathy enjoyed a presentation of some animals while Matt found some coral on the beach.  In the afternoon, we took a hay ride through the campground.

August 19 to 26, 2006

We had a wonderful week in Ocean City.  We tried to get out of the weekly lease when we purchased the camper; however, there were too many limitations on the lease — we would have had to pay, but not go.  We decided to go and have fun.

On Monday the Mennellas and the Skinners came by and spent the day.  We all had quite a ball.

The weather was pleasant the whole week, it was quite cool for most of the week — especially for the end of August.  We went to the boards practically every night and the kids did the rides and snacks.  Emily loved the rides, she just couldn’t get enough of the “Sizzler” (the Scrambler).  Andrew took her on that, the “Tilt-a-Whirl” and “Music Express”.

Matt really enjoys the beach, he loves playing in the sand and finding shells.  He could sit on the beach playing the whole week (only breaking to eat ice cream).

While Andrew spent the week in trouble, he did have some moments of fun.

Emily had the pleasure of riding in the wagon on the boards… one night, she almost fell asleep while “riding” the boards.

 

Memom and Pop-pop visited on Saturday through Sunday, we walked the boards and had fun.

August 4 — August 6

Stayed at Mountain Vista Campground in the Poconos.  We were within 5 miles of Bushkill falls and other great Pocono attractions.  A wonderful campground tucked in the woods (with pull-through spots).  It was nice, cool and fun.

Matt had such a great time on the hiking trail.  They had a map with punch-card stops along the way.  He was running from spot to spot to ensure that he had as many of the holes punched as possible.  He wanted to do the red trail, but Emily would not have been able to make it — I think Matt would have though.