Here and There

Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: Pennsylvania

2018 – Sightseeing York-Gettysburg-RV Show

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We enjoyed going to the county fair in York, PA. This fair is called America’s First Fair, originating in 1765! We drove in paid our parking and walked toward the entrance wondering where we paid our entry fee and realized later that it was Senior Day and we got in free! We went through many of the buildings. It was fun watching the pig and “Hot Dog” (Dachshunds) races. We saw large and small farm animals ranging from big bulls and beautiful horses down to rabbits and guinea pigs and various birds. In one hall they had pregnant pigs, sheep, and cattle as well as mothers with babies born this week. This was a very popular spot for all ages. One building had an impressive model trains display while another had a wide variety of hand crafted items and art work. It was a fun and tiring day.

The next day, after spending the day at the fair, we headed for the “largest RV show in the country” at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. The arena floor was filled with vendors of all kinds selling mostly RV/camping related items. The food vendors were doing a brisk business. Outside there were many acres of RVs of all makes and models. We enjoyed both the vendors and the RVs. After a day at the fair followed by the RV show we came home ready for some down-time.

I didn’t know how much food industry takes place here in this area. Many of our well known companies produce products here. We toured two of them. The first was nearby Martin’s Potato Chips at Thomasville, PA. This is mainly an east coast company. Their snacks, we were told, have been stocked on Air Force One through the last several presidencies. Our tour guide started us outside where the potatoes are brought in by huge trucks and started on their way through the factory. We then walked along the production line where the potato chips were being fried, salted, dried, inspected, and packed. The guide brought us some chips, still hot, right off the line. They were delicious, the best we’ve ever eaten. There’s a well stocked factory outlet store and, of course, we took advantage of their low prices!

From the Chip factory we drove to the Snyders of Hanover factory where our guide took us to a windowed corridor above the area where the pretzels and other items are made. It was fascinating seeing all the people keeping up with the automated line and how the items were labeled so they could be sorted by both people with scanners and automated equipment. Of course I had to buy some cookies and taste the pumpkin spice pretzels. It was a very interesting, fun, and tasty afternoon.

Our last major sightseeing trip in this area was to Gettysburg, PA. I was surprised to learn that this famous Battle was only three days long (July 1–3, 1863) yet resulted in a huge loss of life in those few days. We did the driving tour of the Battle of Gettysburg locations. We saw many monuments to the men from both the North and South who fought for what they thought was right. Our last stop was the National Cemetery. We walked to the site where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address and saw where many men and women from not only the battle of Gettysburg, but also later Wars and conflicts, are buried. Walking that hallowed ground was a humbling and sobering experience for us. It was also amazing to us to actually be at the site of such historical significance.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Hershey Thousand Trails – Lebanon, PA

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We were looking forward to this two week stop at Hershey, PA Thousand Trails and it didn’t disappoint. We enjoyed this campground when we were here a few years ago and knew this would be a good longer stop this year after several weeks of one week or less stays.

Also, here’s a 2019 review (mostly a few new photos.)

When we were at Hershey before we picked a site on the hill of Loop H. The 50 amp sites in that area don’t have the $3 a day surcharge that is charged for all the other 50 amp sites in the campground. However, I must confess we got a bit tired of the big hill. For this stay we decided to check out Loop B. We found a great spot and felt we made an excellent choice. About all but the sites in Loop A (which has some very nice spots) are full hookup. Honestly, it isn’t hard to find a nice campsite in this Thousand Trails.

Every interaction we had with the staff was positive and we appreciated their helpfulness.

My only complaint is the lack of internet connectivity. My Verizon signal was poor leaving me with only a fair data connect. Campground WiFi is only available at the Activity Center and it is even slower – think old time dial-up speeds. It isn’t that the campground hasn’t tried to supply WiFi. The area providers simply aren’t willing to come out to the campground.

My satellite TV signal was easy to dial in. There are many interesting things to see and do in the area as well as a nice pool and other facilities right on the property. Lots of shopping and restaurants are within 30 minutes.

It is easy to see why Hershey Thousand Trails is one of the most popular campgrounds in the system. We are already thinking about our next visit.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Sightseeing Hershey and Lancaster, PA and area

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We did a lot of sightseeing when we were here a few years go. This time, with near record setting heat, we made a few return visits but mostly enjoyed the campground and some downtime.

We did, though, want to revisit Bird-in-Hand, a town well known for its Amish food and shops. One of the favorite places there is the Farmers Market. On the main level we found all kinds of foods ranging from fresh baked goods, meats, cheese, candies, prepackaged mixes, and food to buy and eat on the spot. We bought fresh, hot pretzels, butter cheese, and Lebanon bologna. The market also has a variety of crafts and tourist items for sale.

Near Bird-in-Hand is Good and Plenty Restaurant. We very much enjoyed a meal there. The fried chicken and apple pie was terrific. Also, near our campground at Mt Gretna is a well known ice cream and burger restaurant called the Jigger Shop. We tried their trademark concoction – a million calorie sundae called “a jigger.”

Of course, I wanted to return to Hershey Chocolate World. The oversized candy bars made great photo opportunities and the shopping in the store was fun. I enjoyed the free ride through a chocolate factory, singing candy bars and singing cows and all. The highlight of our entire say was that on our way toward the door a lady asked Scott if he would take a picture of her and her husband. He recognized them as friends we hadn’t seen in years! They now make their home in Missouri and have been in the area for just a week. Seeing Pat and Donna after nearly 20 years was one of those “small world” experiences and an unexpected blessing.


See individual photos and captions here.

2018 – Bonus Review: Timothy Lake North, Marshalls Creek, PA

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This Thousand Trails Campground is located about a mile from Timothy Lake South, where we are staying for the second time in just a few weeks. Since I did a review of Timothy Lake South at that time I thought we could do a drive through of Timothy Lake North and post a few photos. We didn’t camp there so I won’t attempt a review. I can say that we didn’t see many campsites as most of the campground has been given over to permanent units. What campsites we did see were on the smaller, more cramped side. There is, though, a nice pool and playground. On future trips to the area, I think we’ll stay with Timothy Lake South.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Sightseeing the Poconos of PA

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We are spent a week in the Pocono’s of Pennsylvania; an area I’ve heard of all my life. We especially enjoy exploring areas that are new to us and this was new territory for both of us. Near our campground was Bushkill Falls. It’s advertised as the Niagara of Pennsylvania. This is a commercial park with other things to do but we came for the main attraction: the waterfalls. There are four trails and hiking these trails takes from 15 minutes for the easiest one to two and a half hours for the longest. We took the 2nd level trail that focuses on the main falls. Our path was well kept and included several steps and viewing platforms. The falls are quite impressive and well worth the effort and expense to see them. There are many other activities available for families including a Native American exhibit, a wildlife exhibit, gift and snack bar, a fudge kitchen, and ice cream bar. Near the entrance is a pond with paddle boats and fishing gear, a playground with picnic tables, and a mini golf course.

We also enjoyed touring Grey Towers National Historic Site. This palatial summer home was planned and built by James Pinchot who was not only the first Chief of the National Forest Service but also was twice elected governor of Pennsylvania. Grey Towers was also used by his son Gifford and his wife Cornelia and her touch is evident throughout the home and across the property. The home was modeled after the Marquis de LaFayette’s home. The grounds are open and free of charge. We paid to take the guided tour and saw several rooms on the main floor. The rooms are filled with family heirlooms and items brought home from their vast travels. Our guide also talked about the landscaping and the gardens created by Cornelia. There is a long narrow pool built in such a way as to make it seem longer than it really is. The one area I found especially interesting was “The Finger Bowl.” This outdoor dining area is beautifully shaded by a wisteria covered arbor. The “bowl” is a raised pool surrounded by a flat ledge that served as a sort of counter or table top. People were seated around the pool on comfortable chairs and food was served from wooden bowls floating on the water. The diners would “pass” the food by floating it across to one another. The entire property is a beautiful, quiet place with many benches and gazebos where a person can enjoy the landscaping and scenery.

We ate at a couple of good places, but no place with a “finger bowl.” Our favorite was Philly Steaks in Stroudsburg. We split a cheesesteak and fries and were glad we did! The portions were huge.

There’s enjoyed driving around this area, seeing the beautiful Pocono’s and lush forests. It is easy to see why this area has drawn people from the nearby big cities for many decades.


See individual photos and captions here.

2018 – Timothy Lake South Thousand Trails – Marshalls Creek, PA

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We enjoyed our time at Timothy Lake South Thousand Trails, near Stroudsburg, PA. This is a large campground with plenty of nice, full-hookup, 50 amp sites. The roads are all paved and wide enough for RVs. There are many pull-through spots as well as a great number of back-in sites around the parameter. Generally speaking, the campsites are plenty long enough for even the biggest rigs. While they aren’t exactly on top of each other, the sites are pretty close side to side.

Many big rigs head for the “top” where there is plenty maneuvering room and no trees to block rooftop satellite dish usage. If you pay attention many of the shady pull-through sites will also work just fine.

The pool is a nice one and well used, especially on the weekends. While the restrooms in the Activity/Store building are nice and well-kept I was disappointed in the condition of the others. They were worn and often in need of cleaning.

My Verizon data was slow but usable most of the time. However, we opted to pay for campground WiFi for the week. It was fast and reliable. Also, I was able to get my Dish satellite signal with no problem.

While there are plenty of campsites, it should be noted that a lot of sites have been taken by seasonal campers, especially around the outside roads of the campground. The area just to the southeast of the office has many park models, although if you look through that area you will find a few campsites scattered among them. I wouldn’t bother looking for a spot there unless the campground was especially full.

The drive in (and up) from Hwy 209 merits a mention. The roads, Winona Falls and then Timothy Lake are narrow and pretty steep. When coming in pay particular attention when turning off of Winona Falls onto Timothy Lake. Oncoming traffic on Winona Falls isn’t visible until you are right at the the left hand turn. That traffic doesn’t have a stop sign. When leaving the campground that same intersection puts you at the bottom of a steep hill, requiring a full stop before turning right onto Winona Falls. In other words, keep your transmission in a low gear and keep your speed way down. Then, be sure you can see traffic coming from your left before committing to the right hand turn. Having said all that, I don’t want to scare anyone about coming to this campground. The route in from Hwy 209 is only 3 miles and literally thousands of RV’s have made the trip in.

We really like Timothy Lake South. In fact, we’ll stop off at this campground again in a bit over a month as we head south again.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Woodland, PA Campground

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Our stay at Woodland Campground, near Clearfield, PA, was for just four nights. Really, the area has enough to offer to make a longer stay tempting. However, for us, this is a bit more pricey stay than we are used to. No doubt, Thousand Trails has spoiled our bank account!

The campground is a former KOA and is close to I80 but I don’t think we could hear the traffic at all. There are several pull-through sites tiered on a hill as well as a number of longer term back in sites plus many seasonal spots in the trees on the north side of the campground. Our pull-through site was level and utilities convenient. The WiFi was good. I have to admit that the higher price, in this case, resulted in a superior campground.

The primary feature is a small, but pretty lake that is filled with bluegill. We watched several fishermen catching and releasing small fish as fast as they could reel them in, re-bait, and cast. We got a kick out of watching one little guy, about three years old, catch his first fish. The campground has fishing gear to loan to anyone who wants to get in of the fun.

On Saturday the campground was full and there were activities for campers of all ages with wagon rides, a corn-hole contest, and other events. Then, since we were still close to Independence Day there was a fireworks show over the lake.

I had no problem getting my satellite TV signal and my Verizon data was good.


See individual photos with captions here.

2018 – Sightseeing the Pennsylvania Wilds

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The northwestern part of Pennsylvania is called the “Wilds” and we enjoyed touring a portion of this beautiful, mountainous country. We took a driving tour through Pennsylvania’s Elk Country. Our first stop was the Elk Country Visitor Center. To get there we drove State route 555. Although the highway was steep and twisty it was a pleasant day for a drive and we enjoyed seeing the many farms, houses and cabins along the way. Scott said he didn’t mind the mountain driving as long as he wasn’t towing the 5th wheel! We didn’t see any elk until we turned into the Visitors Center and we saw one in the trees along the road. The center itself has wide sidewalks bordering a viewing area. Inside the building there are interactive games and hands-on items that teach about the area and wildlife. Several dioramas display scenes from the wild. There’s a gift shop with many souvenirs and gift items. Outside we walked down a wide path to an overlook for elk viewing.

Another fun stop was Parker Dam State Park. We enjoyed seeing the swimming beach and the water running over the dam. Civilian Conservation Corps played a large part in building this park. Although the Lew and Helen Adams CCC Museum wasn’t open we enjoyed seeing a road grader and caterpillar that was used by the Corps.

We also visited Bilger’s Rocks. This unique area of huge rocks and trees has trails winding through them. We had a surprise. As we were walking Scott suddenly stepped backwards. I knew immediately there was a snake somewhere. Thankfully the snake just wanted to move on which was just fine with me.

This area has so much to offer. A few years ago we visited the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We thoroughly enjoyed the “Wilds” and will look forward to exploring more in the future.


See individual photos with captions here.

Hershey, Lancaster, and Philadelphia

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We had heard much about this area and were excited to arrive at our Thousand Trails campground near Hershey.

Our first excursion took us to the area east of Lancaster. This is Amish country and there are mile after mile of beautiful farms. The town of Intercourse is surrounded by those farms and is filled with nice commercial shops. We listened to a three piece band and checked out the shops. I especially enjoyed the Candle Barn there. Scott liked the pickle factory with all the free samples of everything from pickles (of course) to apple butter.

Just down the road from Intercourse is Bird-in-hand. There’s a very nice farmer’s market there that we enjoyed very much. There were jams, jellies, sweets, meats, cheeses, baked goods, postcards, knick knacks, and leather goods. We bought some sausage sticks, Amish butter cheese and dried tomato bread and had an impromptu and delicious picnic.

The Amish farms feature impressive barns and often the road runs within just a couple of feet of the front door of the barn. I wasn’t aware that so much corn is grown in Pennsylvania but it is everywhere. As we drove through the area we saw many Amish families working, including a man a boy and a young man cutting and staking tobacco. There were also several girls/ young women using manual push mowers to mow their lawns.

Later in our stay we went out to eat at a highly recommended Amish restaurant in Ronks PA called Dienner’s for buffet lunch. It was really good — especially the desserts. On the way home we drove to Lititz, PA and toured the Julius Sturgis pretzel bakery. They gave lessons teaching us how to hand twist pretzels. We also learned a bit of pretzel history. At first the only pretzels were soft pretzels. Then, because of some batches being accidentally baked twice hard pretzels were created. Julius liked the taste so he started making them commercially. We saw original equipment and ovens and one of automated pretzel twisting machines. At the end of the tour everyone was given a free bag of hard pretzels. We also purchased some hand made soft pretzels that were made right there. It was a nice stop and we thought it was well worth the $3.00 for the tour.

Of course, a highlight of this stay was our visit to Hershey Chocolate World. The free tour/ride was cute and it explained how chocolate is picked, processed and made into Hershey candy. There’s even a free snack size bar at end of the ride! We purchased tickets for the trolley tour and a chocolate tasting experience. The trolley took us on an entertaining and informative history of Milton Hershey: his factory and school. We were sitting near the back of the trolley and had a bit of trouble hearing and understanding the skits.

The Tasting Experience was nice. We learned the history of the use of chocolate and how cocoa beans draw flavor from plants and flowers nearby. We tasted 5 different snack bars and learned how they were different. Then we got a free regular size Hershey bar as we left. Hershey’s Chocolate World features a large gift shop filled with all things chocolate! It was fun and very tempting!

The other highlight of our stay was our visit to Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia. It’s hard to express how it felt to actually see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We learned the history of the Liberty Bell as we waited in line to see it. This bell symbolizes a great deal to our nation and to those who love liberty around the world. After seeing the liberty bell we went back to the visitors center and watched two excellent free movies before touring Independence Hall. One film is based on the journals of several young adults who lived through the American Revolution. It told how their lives were shaped and often changed by their decisions at that time. The other movie used quotes of our founding Fathers and told some of what they went through to write and proclaim our Independence.

Seeing Independence Hall and knowing the founding Fathers and citizens of that day actually sat in those rooms, discussing, debating, and signing the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution is amazing. I’m so glad I was able to experience this and hope our grandchildren get the opportunity visit this inspirational place soon.

Scott’s sister, Susan spent a week of our stay at Hershey with us and we enjoyed her company very much. Her and I tried to visit the Thousand Trails campground mini-golf course every day. It was fun but I don’t think either of us has a future as professional golfers! Seriously, we’re so glad Susan came to see us. Having her to share all our fun here made it all even more enjoyable.

Campground Review: Hershey, PA Thousand Trails

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Our drive down PA Hwy 15 from the New York State Line south was very pretty.  The mountains are green and impressive.  I admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have because I was anxiously watching the heat gauge on the F350.  The grades aren’t as steep as they are long and long pulls have been the trigger for some overheating.  However, the repairs done in western New York did the trick.  The temperature gauge never wiggled above normal.  I think I can declare victory on that one.

Later in the journey we drove for many miles along the Susquehanna River.  Again, it was a gorgeous drive.  I highly recommend the route we took for it’s scenic beauty.

The campground has a large outside pool and an inside adults-only spa.  There’s a well stocked camp store, a nifty (and challenging) mini-golf course, horseshoe pits, and tennis courts.  Several people meet at the courts each morning to play pickleball – a game that’s a cross between tennis and ping pong.  It looks like a lot of fun but I haven’t tried it out.

Hershey, PA is famous for, of course, chocolate.  We enjoyed a visit to the chocolate-related attractions there as well as to Amish country and much more.  Jackie will blog about these things shortly.

We’ve enjoyed having my sister, Susan, come in for a week’s visit.  She’s good company for us and I think she’s had a good time checking out the area with us.  Our stay at Hershey is our longest scheduled stop of summer 2013.  We’re here a full two weeks.  We’ve been in other places that were good for about a week’s stay, but Hershey Thousand Trails is well worth the full two weeks.