Pine Grove, PA

Mon., Oct. 11, 2021 thru Thurs., Oct. 14, 2021

Today we traveled 325 miles mostly on I-84 to I-81 (which was in terrible condition) heading west and a little south. It was a long travel day. We landed in Pine Grove, PA in the afternoon at Twin Grove RV Resort. We’ve stayed here before. It’s large, has some lovely views and has a lot of seasonal campers here. Once all our roadies had arrived and set up camp, we sat outside and visited until dinner hour. 

Tuesday we all decided on a hike in Swatara State Park (3,200+ acres), which is conveniently located very close to the campground. Six of us (Stacie, Johnny, Cheryl, Joe, Gary & I) headed out plus Niky. We chose the hike in the South Loop which was supposed to be 6 miles, but apparently none of us can read a map. It ended up being 8 miles… or 17,000+ steps… or almost 4 hours of walking, but who’s counting! Too much talking going on, and we missed a turn! Oops. But we came across several finds… including the Union Canal, which was built in the 1820s and used until 1885 to move coal across Pennsylvania. Remnants of the locks still remain in the state park after the collapse of the canal in the 1860s due to a dam failing. 

We also came across a beautiful rustic 1930s hand-built log cabin located next to a waterfall. It was built by a local industrial arts teacher and his students using found materials. It is truly a thing of beauty and is now owned by the state park. We were all awe-struck, and thrilled that we could wander through it at will. Since there were no windows and no electricity, perhaps the powers-that-be thought no damage could come to it. 

There were oodles of mushrooms to be seen on the trail and a couple of interesting bridges. 

We also heard gun shots. Hunting was not supposed to be allowed in the state park BUT tell that to the hunters. We came across a local woman who was wearing a fluorescent shirt and she said be careful “it’s hunting season.” Ut-oh. Guess my black shirt was not the best wardrobe choice for today. Only two of us had on bright clothing so we sent Gary (with his bright yellow shirt) and Joe (with his red shirt) up ahead to be our “flags.” Joe had his Red Sox jacket on because he was cool. Suck it up big guy. You gotta take one for the team. Take that jacket off!

 A great time was had by all despite some very tired feet! We did come across a shell casing on the walk out of the state park. Gulp. 

After recovering, we all played Uno Flip that night. 

Wednesday was a hang-out day at the campground for all of us. Gary & I did laundry in the morning. Then in the afternoon, appetizers were set up outside and all 8 of us played games… cornhole was first, followed by Mexican Train. Cheryl & Joe and Gary & I had very different rules on how to play Mexican Train. We won and played our way that day! But confusing for the others as they’d never played before and the four of us are “discussing” the rules. lol. After that we played Uno Flip. Followed by a ham dinner (thanks mostly to Pearl) with help on side dishes from Cheryl and dessert from Stacie. All was delicious! After dinner we had a campfire then played Blank Slate. Phew! A full day but very fun.

Thursday morning Gary & I did some prep for leaving the following day, which meant heading out for fuel and groceries. In the afternoon we played cornhole with the gang. 

In the evening Stacie, Johnny, Gary & I got bbq from the restaurant right at the campground, which was excellent. We also had to say our temporary goodbyes to these two as they were making their way slowly back home to North Carolina after today. But, we’ll see them again in a few weeks at their home on the coast when we camp in their driveway for several nights. Just call us the Clampetts! 

Tomorrow we head on to the Shenandoah Valley area with Cheryl & Joe. Pearl & Marti weren’t able to get a reservation at that campground so we’ll reunite with them a little further down the road…