2023
After a season under our belts traveling with a 5th wheel, we decided to return to the Alliance Rally and then travel more to see a few National Parks and to camp along the Mississippi River. The trip proved to be quite a nice adventure with more dutch oven cooking for rally folks and experiencing the Midwest and three National Parks. But first we had our annual "shake down" trip in April at Camping at the Battenkill to make sure everything was working after winter hibernation.
The next journey was in Vermont in July at our usual favorite places: Winhall Brook and Camping on the Battenkill.This was an extra special time as we knew our daughter would be getting engaged at Camping on the Battenkill. What we didn't plan on was a major storm system dropping 9 inches of rain on us in 48 hours causing historic and catastrophic flooding! Over 30 years of RV'ing and this was the first time we ever had to evacuate a campground. The end of the summer was much calmer and we enjoyed some local campgrounds that set us up for our new role as "seasonal campers." Read on to get more details....
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Camping on the Battenkill-April 21-26
Annual shake down trip! No leaves yet on the trees along the Battenkill River which gave us a perfect view of an eagle flying along the river!
Shenango COE, Elkhart Campground, Elkart Fairgrounds Alliance Rally- May 21st - June 4th
Met up with old friend, Donna, at Shenango Army Corps campground in PA and then off to Elkhart, IN. Cooked for close to a hundred rally parking volunteers. Also visited a cool RV Museum and went to dinner for Deb's birthday!
Grant River COE, Wisconsin - June 4th - June 8th
Traveled to Potosi, Wisconsin and spent a few days right on the Mississippi River at Grant River Army Corps Campground. Explored Potosi and found Potosi Brewing Company! What a hoot!
Thomson Causeway COE, Thomson, IL - June 8th - 10th
Following the Mississippi River, we landed in Thomson Causeway with a site right on the river.
McNair COE Campground Carlyle, IL - June 10th - June 13th
Leaving the Mississippi River it was time to head east to Illinois. Next stop was McNair Campground on Carylyle Lake.
Dog Creek, Kentucky - June 13th - June 19th
Spent time in Dog Creek Army Corps Campground on Nolin River Lake in Southern Kentucky. During that time we were able to visit Mammoth Cave National Park and tour a cave, go to a bourbon tasting and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace.
Battle Run Campground - West Virginia - June 19th - June 21st
Battle Run is a COE campground on Summersville Lake in West Virginia. It is a short distance from Royal Gorge National Park and we took a day to explore it.
Shenandoah River State Park, VA - June 21st - June 24th
The last leg of this adventure was Shenandoah National Park. We stayed at Shenandoah River State Park. Very pretty place but no cell service! The stay went downhill as rain and fog moved in and there were no views, except for one from the state park and one at the very end of Skyline Drive:-(. We attended a few ranger programs to try and salvage the visit. We will have to go back again.
Winhall Brook, South Londonderry, VT - July 1st - July 10th
This leg of our summer was quite challenging. We stayed at Winhall through 4th of July and enjoyed riding on our e-bikes and exploring. A storm system blew in the last few days and we packed up early on the 9th before the heavy rains came. At 5:30am the morning of July 10th a ranger knocked on our door....time to leave. River was rising fast and the only way out was over the river. Winhall is an Army Corps dam project so it is meant to flood to protect the valley. This flood was catastrophic. We visited it a week after the flood to see the destruction.
Camping on the Battenkill, Arlington, VT - July 10th - July 22nd
We evacuated from Winhall and were on our way to Battenkill on Monday the 10th. The weather was better in the western part of the state and the Battenkill River was not over its banks...yet. We stayed off our river site for the night and thought we were safe a few sites down from the river but overnight it rained more and the river rose. The sites were under water! It was stressful as Kara and Kelly were coming in a few days and roads were still washed out. Plus, Jordan's plan was to propose to Kelly on the river too! We had an angry river that was telling us differently! Patience was necessary and the river went back down but we had to wait for the folks with gravel and machines to fix our site. We stayed in a site a few away from ours. Our troubles continued when a beetle flew into Tom's ear! Kelly and Jordan took him to the ER and they could not get it out. A drive to an ENT in Rutland was necessary the next day. July 13th we still were not on our river site yet that Kelly loves so much, but the engagement could not wait! The river was still nearby and that is what counts! This tumultuous story did have a happy ending!
West Thompson Lake COE, CT - August 7th - August 21st
Due to some family obligations we decided the rest of the camping season would be spent in Connecticut. West Thompson Lake is about an hour from home and is a small COE nestled in the "quiet corner" of the state. We had not been there in about 15 years and we were glad we went back again.
Nickerson Park Family Campground, Chaplin CT - September 12th - 26th
We have not camped much in Connecticut mostly because we have not found a campground that lived up to our picky standards....until now. A scouting friend recommended Nickerson Park Family Campground in Chaplin so we checked it out! We spent two weeks in October to end our season but before we left made several reservations for 2024.
