Our greatest adventure in the past couple of years has been trying to figure out where we were going to live. We really weren't happy with where we were. We're blessed to be able to both work from home and be very "portable", so we just wanted to find somewhere we both could be happy. And somewhere we could afford a single family home.
This took us on a three year search for just the place. We traveled to Denver, CO; Dover, NH; Portland, ME; Cary, NC (where I had such a bad allergic reaction to whatever pollen was high that day, that it immediately ruled the area out); Harrisonburg, VA; and a few other places.
In addition to our "where do we want to land?" search, we were looking for a single story house. We knew that 1) eventually my mom will be moving in with us and 2) we really don't want to sell this house for a LONG time - so we needed it to be "grow old" friendly.
We decided that we really love the Shenandoah Valley area & started to concentrate our search there. We finally found not just an area that we loved, but a floor plan that we just knew was right for us.
So, we signed the contract in Sept 2016 and our build started in Feb 2017. We just signed allllllll of the paperwork today and got the keys! We're excited to be in a single family home of our own (the last time either of us lived in a single family home was when we lived with our parents).
Because of the new house purchase, there are very few trips planned for this year. We'll be using our seasonal space for most "getaways", but mostly, we'll be getting settled in the new place.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
Gettysburg Campground - Rebs vs Yanks 2 - Sisters on the Fly Event - May 4-5, 2017
I almost feel bad writing this trip report. It was the trip that I should've just bailed out of before I went. This event was supposed to be May 4-7. And then it rained. And I got sick. And it just wasn't meant to be. Also, we had just moved into the Winnebago Brave at our seasonal. And Jon had just returned from business travel (just in time for the move). Needless to say, it just wasn't the best time for a trip.
The week of the trip, the weather was just looking bad. I was seriously contemplating canceling since I'd be in the tent, but decided to check to see if there was a cabin instead. They had one last primitive cabin, so I sucked it up & switched my reservation.
On Thursday, I drove from our seasonal spot to Gettysburg Campground. It was about a 2ish hour drive, so not too bad. I stopped on my way and picked up a Thetford Porta Potti 550P. Friends of ours raved about their porta potti for dry camping & it seemed like the perfect addition to this trip. I also completely forgot my camping chair, so I picked up one of those too.
Once at the campground, I got everything into the cabin, got the bed made, set up a few things, and wandered over to the other sisters campsites. There was a dinner that evening, so we all went & got to know each other a bit. There was also a campfire at one of the sites. It started raining during the campfire, so we all packed it up and headed back to our sites.
I had a rough night. Between the bed not being incredibly comfortable and my body not being thrilled about dinner (thank goodness for that last minute porta potti purchase!), I was up a LOT.
Friday morning, I woke up, got showered, had breakfast, and then walked over to where the other sisters sites were. Most people were up and trying to dry things off. Many of the tents were soaking wet, some people had lost their easy-ups near their trailers, and the creek waters were racing by. At this point (around 10am), the water was still inside the creek bed.
We were supposed to do a tour of Gettysburg National Park on Friday and then have lunch at a local restaurant once we were done. Because of the rain, we decided to push the tour back to Saturday.
A few of us decided to go into Gettysburg and walk around town a bit. It was still sprinkling off and on, but nothing major. I drove over & got a call from the campground around 11:30. The water was rising and they needed everyone to come back to the campground. They weren't sure if they were going to end up closing the campground or not. So, we got back to the car as quickly as we could & got back to the campground around noon.
By the time we returned, I was driving through water I probably shouldn't have been just to get into the campground and then drop the ladies off near their trailers. I packed up the cabin as quickly as I could (thankfully, there wasn't much I had unpacked) and got to a place where it was dry. I stayed long enough to figure out where we were all meeting up to decide what the plan for the rest of the weekend was.
At this point, I was starting to feel the effects of the little sleep from the night before, the head cold my husband so kindly brought home and shared, and the "excitement" of this trip.
I went to the nearby parking lot that the business let us "borrow" for a bit and joined the ongoing discussion of "what's next?". Several of the ladies were on their phones with nearby campgrounds trying to find space for the group. We had close to 50 units with us, so that was causing some issues. There were several campgrounds in the area that aren't that big to begin with (or we would've been renting out the entire campground) OR they just didn't have the availability. Little Drummer Boy ended up coming through & saving the day. At this point, I wasn't going to worry about trying to get a cabin. Given how I was feeling, I was going to do lunch (we had decided to push back the time but still go) and then head out.
As soon as we figured out the campground, one of the ladies got a call from a sister who went down a road that crossed the creek. She found herself in a situation where she couldn't back out (because she wasn't confident enough to do it), alone, and with rising water in front of her. I was the only one not attached to a trailer, so I drove & had another sister with me who could back the sister out. We literally had a road name and that was it. It was quite the time trying to find her. We eventually did find her and I figured out why she was on the road (she put the restaurant name into her GPS and blindly followed it - something so many of us do!).
After she was rescued, we all headed to the restaurant and had lunch. Several sisters offered their extra spaces in their trailers or motorhomes, but since I had started coughing quite a bit the night before (but was fine during the day), I declined and headed home. I felt bad about declining since they were just trying to be nice and I wasn't giving them all of the details of why I was bailing on my first sister trip.
I headed home & was outrunning rain storms all of the way home. I was happy to be "home" at the Brave and back with Jon, doggie David, and kitty Wendy.
Notes:
* The campground refunded all nights that we weren't there since they were closing. They really didn't have to do that, but I was happy they did.
* I felt HORRIBLE about leaving, but I would've felt worse if someone else got sick because I took them up on their offer. As it was, the cough that came with that cold lasted me a good 8 weeks.
* The Sisters on the Fly are serious about helping each other out!
The week of the trip, the weather was just looking bad. I was seriously contemplating canceling since I'd be in the tent, but decided to check to see if there was a cabin instead. They had one last primitive cabin, so I sucked it up & switched my reservation.
On Thursday, I drove from our seasonal spot to Gettysburg Campground. It was about a 2ish hour drive, so not too bad. I stopped on my way and picked up a Thetford Porta Potti 550P. Friends of ours raved about their porta potti for dry camping & it seemed like the perfect addition to this trip. I also completely forgot my camping chair, so I picked up one of those too.
Once at the campground, I got everything into the cabin, got the bed made, set up a few things, and wandered over to the other sisters campsites. There was a dinner that evening, so we all went & got to know each other a bit. There was also a campfire at one of the sites. It started raining during the campfire, so we all packed it up and headed back to our sites.
 |
| Best last minute purchase EVER! |
Friday morning, I woke up, got showered, had breakfast, and then walked over to where the other sisters sites were. Most people were up and trying to dry things off. Many of the tents were soaking wet, some people had lost their easy-ups near their trailers, and the creek waters were racing by. At this point (around 10am), the water was still inside the creek bed.
 |
| Just a bit of standing water around the cabin |
A few of us decided to go into Gettysburg and walk around town a bit. It was still sprinkling off and on, but nothing major. I drove over & got a call from the campground around 11:30. The water was rising and they needed everyone to come back to the campground. They weren't sure if they were going to end up closing the campground or not. So, we got back to the car as quickly as we could & got back to the campground around noon.
By the time we returned, I was driving through water I probably shouldn't have been just to get into the campground and then drop the ladies off near their trailers. I packed up the cabin as quickly as I could (thankfully, there wasn't much I had unpacked) and got to a place where it was dry. I stayed long enough to figure out where we were all meeting up to decide what the plan for the rest of the weekend was.
At this point, I was starting to feel the effects of the little sleep from the night before, the head cold my husband so kindly brought home and shared, and the "excitement" of this trip.
I went to the nearby parking lot that the business let us "borrow" for a bit and joined the ongoing discussion of "what's next?". Several of the ladies were on their phones with nearby campgrounds trying to find space for the group. We had close to 50 units with us, so that was causing some issues. There were several campgrounds in the area that aren't that big to begin with (or we would've been renting out the entire campground) OR they just didn't have the availability. Little Drummer Boy ended up coming through & saving the day. At this point, I wasn't going to worry about trying to get a cabin. Given how I was feeling, I was going to do lunch (we had decided to push back the time but still go) and then head out.
As soon as we figured out the campground, one of the ladies got a call from a sister who went down a road that crossed the creek. She found herself in a situation where she couldn't back out (because she wasn't confident enough to do it), alone, and with rising water in front of her. I was the only one not attached to a trailer, so I drove & had another sister with me who could back the sister out. We literally had a road name and that was it. It was quite the time trying to find her. We eventually did find her and I figured out why she was on the road (she put the restaurant name into her GPS and blindly followed it - something so many of us do!).
After she was rescued, we all headed to the restaurant and had lunch. Several sisters offered their extra spaces in their trailers or motorhomes, but since I had started coughing quite a bit the night before (but was fine during the day), I declined and headed home. I felt bad about declining since they were just trying to be nice and I wasn't giving them all of the details of why I was bailing on my first sister trip.
I headed home & was outrunning rain storms all of the way home. I was happy to be "home" at the Brave and back with Jon, doggie David, and kitty Wendy.
Notes:
* The campground refunded all nights that we weren't there since they were closing. They really didn't have to do that, but I was happy they did.
* I felt HORRIBLE about leaving, but I would've felt worse if someone else got sick because I took them up on their offer. As it was, the cough that came with that cold lasted me a good 8 weeks.
* The Sisters on the Fly are serious about helping each other out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)