Gettysburg Battlefields & Shawnee State Park, PA

We decided to join the Liberty Bell Tearjerkers (Pennsylvania chapter) for our first outing of 2016.  Prior to meeting up with them at Shawnee State Park we went to Gettysburg and visited the battlefields.  We discovered it really takes more than a couple of days to see it all! 

Mark & President Lincoln outside the Visitor Center

I don't know where you go to get into this little car tour, but next time
we go to Gettysburg I am going to find out!

Not sure why, but I was fascinated with the cannons. They are pretty
much in the same position as during the battle.

The view from Little Round Top

Moon over camp fire - Shawnee State Park

The moon was really beautiful that night. 

From Shawnee State Park we ventured out to do a tour of the covered bridges of Bedford.  The following are just a few that we visited.

Outing #8

Adventure Dates: July 14-18, 2016
Trip Miles: 1134
Trip Nights: 4

Total Miles: 13,715
Total Nights: 28

Upstate New York

Our last outing of the 2015 teardropping season was to upstate New York where we got to spend some time with family.  First was a visit to my brother and his wife in Canastota. We stayed in the teardrop as their guest room was not set up for visitors, which was fine with us as we try to add up those nights in the teardrop.  

David & Maryclare's chickens. A friendly bunch. 

We visited an apple farm/winery. Very picturesque!

David & Maryclare and a whole lotta pumpkins!

Our next stop was camping with our nephew and his wife near Ithaca
at Robert Treman state park. Mark at the gate. 

It was our coldest camp out of the season and probably the coldest to date,
as of October 2017. There is a teardrop among all the canopies.

The colors in upstate New York in autumn are phenomenal!

Some of the colors along our trail as we hiked

This tree appeared to be lit from within when the sun hit it!

Our hike up and back down the river. 

The trail was beautiful and well maintained,

with long stretches of stairs...

which proved to be too much for our old Bailey,
so Mark carried her. 

The pools and falls all along the river were spectacular!

The very young and the very old, cuddled up for warmth!

Near the trail's end, where it loops back down
the other side of the river.

Falls at the swimming area.

Through a box canyon, just breathtaking!

The women and dogs waiting for the men to come to the top end of the trail
with the car. We just couldn't ask Bailey to go any further.

Beer stops were mandatory with the nephew & wife.

We went to Cooperstown and drank beer but didn't see the
baseball hall of fame?

Beer flights.  Probably pretty tasty for those that like beer.

Jasmine & Wander-Inn

We followed Dan & Athena to their home after camping.
The moon was awesome that night.

Athena & Dan, (and Princess WinterSpringSummerFall)
home sweet home. Our last night out
before heading home ourselves. 

Outing #7

Adventure Dates: October 22-26, 2015
Trip Miles: 1638
Trip Nights: 4

Total Miles:12581
Total Nights: 24

Amana Colonies & LeClair, Iowa

I wanted to share our new Wander-Inn adventuring with my daughter, Alyssa.  We decided on a trip north/east to the Amana Colonies.  My brief visit earlier in the summer was calling me back.  The down side of this trip was it was a long road trip with too much to see for the short time we had available. 

Still on the road at sunset, accented by bug schmear

Our campsite. The canopy blew over (and away) at night and we couldn't fold the
side tent back up. We were pretty lame campers!

We must be elegant!  Wander-Inn's theme colors and the amazing
Princess WinterSpringSummerFall aka "Winnie"

The very entertaining owner of this quaint little coffee shop in Le Clair, IA.
Sad that I don't have more photos of Le Clair from this trip.

Flowers in the Amana Colonies

Interestingly there are a lot of wineries or tasting rooms
in the Amana Colonies. Nice!

Some of our favorites for around the campfire.

We built the fire, but I pooped out before wine time.  

Wander-Inn Stats:

Adventure Dates: August 21-23, 2015
Trip Miles: 1059
Trip Nights 2

Total Miles: 9650
Total Nights: 18

Our First Adventure with Wander-Inn

We bought a trailer. A tear drop trailer.  It's a pretty awesome little unit and just perfect for us.  

We named her Wander-Inn

My husband is a little younger than I am which means he is not going to be retiring as soon as I wish he was. So I refer to our trailer as our weekend retirement vehicle. It's my way of starting our retirement one day at a time. 

Our teardrop was built by Camp-Inn in Necedah, Wisconsin. June 5th was our adoption day.  Of course we were super excited to see our little camper for the first time.  We spent the day getting acquainted with our new silver baby before heading back to Madison to spend the weekend with some old friends. 

Phil & Catherine, friends from church, in the old days before kids.

A couple of days later we were on the road again heading home from Madison.  Once out of the city it became my turn to tow the trailer and begin my "training" for my upcoming long solo trip. The wind kicked up as we approached Champagne, Illinois and then

something 
strange 
happened.

Our two month old tow vehicle developed a very serious sounding noise. We pulled off the freeway, examined under the chassis, under the hood and anywhere else we could think of, and found nothing. So we googled the closest Honda dealership and slowly and carefully limped our way to it. 

Yes, we pirated some power for the night.

Husband found a power outlet in a protected area between two buildings so we set up camp.  First night in our camper and we had power, which meant AC and a defense against the sweltering humidity. We had planned to drive all the way home that day and this is not how we expected to spend our first night in our teardrop. Not only were we squatting at the Honda Dealership, we endured an awesome thunder and lightning storm. Between the flashing and booming, rain coming down in buckets, and fear of a police officer tapping his flashlight on the door, little sleep was to be had that night. 

Looking out toward our "camp spot" from the dealership lobby.

Monday morning we introduced ourselves to the very kind and accommodating staff at the dealership. They gave us coffee! And then they proceeded to inspect our car. It went up on the rack, was driven with and without the trailer, and finally the serviceman came to give me the "good news:" they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. 

Not My Idea Of Good News

Good news would be, "We found the problem and fixed it."

Sigh.  

So we paid our bill, headed out to find some breakfast (aka Starbucks) and got on our way. Of course smooth sailing the rest of the way home just wasn't in the cards. Not yet. About 15 minutes down the freeway Husband turned the radio off and cocked his head. "No!" I said. "I don't hear anything!" But just like before it was starting out softly and building to a horrible noise.  I knew they should have found something at the dealership! I needed to get off the freeway and quickly jabbed the brakes. Then the horrible awful no-good noise stopped. Just like that. Gone. 

The rest of the journey home was uneventful. 

Thank goodness. 

Adventure dates: June 4-8, 2015
Miles: 604  
Nights: 1