Tag Archives: vacation

Day 7 site seeing at Plymouth MA

On day 7 which was our first full day in Plymouth MA.? We slept in a bit since the drive was so long and tiring yesterday from Harrisburg.? We got up to a balmy 54 degrees outside, and Norma amazed me with another home cooked breakfast for us and it was delicious.? We washed a load of laundry as well.

MayflowerAbout 11:00 or so we decided to head out for a relaxing site seeing day.? We figured we would start with the Monument to the Forefathers which is hardly known even in this area, but is a huge and very reverent monument with a posting of verbiage on each side to reflect on the values that were the foundation to the life and faith of our founding fathers.? It is just sitting in a couple of empty lots in a neighborhood.? We met 3 very nice ladies from Cape Cod that were there when we arrived, and they were very friendly and acted shocked that we would offer to take a photo of them together.? We got to know them a little and found they are faithful believers, and they asked for prayer for our country, and we discussed our concerns for the future of this great nation.

We also wanted to see Plymouth Rock up close, and take better photos of that and the Mayflower II.?? After that we wanted to drive down to Plimoth Plantation which was a very enlightening and eye opening tour of a real life farm and village that uses techniques for cooking, farming, and living in authentic buildings like the original settlers would have used.

We ate lunch at a small restaurant named Cafe’ Nicole on the sidewalk across from Plymouth Rock, and although it was good, it wasn’t up to the standards established at Isaac’s last night.

Enjoy the photos below to see a tiny bit of what we experienced today.? If you attempt this on your next RVing adventure, or other type vacation to this area,? BRING GOOD WALKING SHOES !!!!

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3rd day in Harrisburg

Hershey-Gift-ShopBy now we have pretty much mapped the place out and at least know how to get to Walmart and a few restaurants.? We spent the morning getting ready for the day at Hershey which also has a nice Tanger Outlet shopping center nearby.

We don’t do roller coasters, slingshot rides, and bungee jumping any more so the theme park is out for us until the grandkids get older anyway.? We wanted a quiet tour around the factory and grounds and to learn a bit about how an individual can change the world with his vision of factory made and mass produced chocolate using local milk from dairy farmers and cocoa beans from all over the world.? This guy was a genius and his legacy lives on today with a lot of interest world wide.? There were a lot of non english speaking people at the museum and gift shop.

We made it to Hershey in about 15 minutes of leaving the campgrounds with no traffic delays, and only a couple of traffic lights.? We entered the town of Hershey and noticed that the lamp posts held up a Hershey Kiss shaped light cover on every pole.? The entire town seemed to benefit from the product and marketing genius of this Hershey guy.

We arrived at the parking lot and although it was not empty, it certainly was not full either.? We were able to get a front row spot next to the walkway that was covered by a canopy and walked right into the factory tour and gift shop building.

The tour was a simulated factory with real equipment in motion, but videos and animatronics did all the talking and most of the imagery of product was produced with video overlaying the real conveyors to give the sense of seeing working factory.? The process was described in detail, but the recipe of how much ingredient was somehow left out of the tour.? OH YEA, and the nice thing was that the tour was given while riding through in rotating carts like tea-cups.? It was definitely worth the trip, and there were lots of other events that we could have done, but cost money and seemed to be directed towards families with children.

The gift shop was amazing, and had items that I had never seen before.? They also had a “build your own” candy bar room that was similar to a build-a-bear system except with candy.?? We also were shown an area where you could learn how to taste and discern chocolates like a wine?connoisseur except with exquisite chocolates.? That’s all I need is for Norma to become a chocolate?connoisseur from the choc-o-holic she is now.

When we left the Hershey World building, we found next to the theme park was a Tanger Outlet shopping center.? Well Heaven help me if we don’t stop and get something else for the grand kids.?? That would break their little hearts to not have a new pair of Frozen flip flops or a new Mickey Mouse plate to eat out of.? 😉

We had a great day and the weather was perfect, not hot, a little breeze.? We stopped and purchased fresh “ripe on the vine” strawberries as a recommendation from our friends Jim and Barb, and they are sweet, and delicious.? There was a little pop up summer shower just as we returned to the camp ground but just made for good relaxing nap.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early to head around NY City to reach Plymouth and Cape Cod area to see all the historical items of interest in that area.?? We Might also find a restaurant or two that serves sea food.

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Monument Valley to Home

Well, our last post will just describe how we got home from Monument Valley.

We drove as long as we could each day and stayed where ever we could until we got to the KOA in Little Rock Arkansas.?? If it had not been for the Firemen stopping us just before we got to the KOA at Little Rock, we would have ripped off everything on top of our RV.?? Someone had just hit a communications line and it was hanging about 10 feet off the ground and I was looking for the KOA sign and didn’t even see the line hanging there.? They saved the motor home, and I was able to drive around it by detouring through someones front yard.

That was all great, until we got to the KOA and they couldn’t sell us anything or check us in because their computers couldn’t connect to the internet and run credit cards.?? They wouldn’t take cash either and we had prepaid when we registered, but they didn’t know that because their internet was down.?? We have forgotten how to use pencil and paper as a society.

Thanks to my wonderful wife and best friend for planning and budgeting for this trip for over a year.? We had no real issues to deal with.? Everything worked out pretty much as planned.?? We also made sure the RV was freshly serviced, along with the Honda Civic tow vehicle.? We bought new batteries, and new tires for both vehicles, and updated some of the equipment in the RV for safety.

The only minor things that I can think of was:
The RV overheating in Yosemite ( but it cooled down quickly ),
No internet at Yosemite and Mt Rushmore,
The sewer water cut-off valve apparently didn’t get closed somewhere, and the dumping process got messy,
The car A/C completely went out, but only after our last tour through Monument Valley – so perfect timing,
Some NICE gentleman flagged us down at Corn Palace SD, our car was in park and was dragging the tires !!!
( this would have been catastrophic had he not caught us just as we were starting to leave the parking lot )

 

See below for a map indicating our stops and what they were.? Read previous posts to find out details about each stop.

Thanks for going on our trip with us.?? Until next time……

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