We had a deadline of August 1st to arrive in Elkhart, Indiana, so after our whirlwind day of sightseeing in Maryland, the next few days were about making progress towards our final destination. We still weren’t hurrying, though – with a little over 600 miles to cover, we could still give ourselves two 2-day stops, both of them in Ohio (it’s a bigger state than you think it is!)
Tom had studied the route pretty thoroughly, especially the I-68 and I-79 stretch through the mountains. The Mountain Directory talked about multiple 6% grades – up and down – through Maryland. They didn’t sound too bad, so we determined that was the most efficient route.
Not far from Hagerstown, we got our first glimpse of “The Cut”, an area where the road cut through the mountain, rather than going over it.
Even without going over the mountain, it was a long uphill grade.
There’s a Visitor Center at the summit, and a bridge over the road where you can walk across. We didn’t stop, though.
Going down the other side was an adventure, too!
Fortunately, we didn’t need the runaway truck ramp!
From there, the mountain directory described it as a series of rolling 6% grades to the West Virginia state line . . . and they weren’t far off . . . it seemed like we were always going either up or down!
Oh, curves, too!
Great scenery, though,
good road, and hardly any traffic at all.
We made it into West Virginia and navigated our way around Morgantown without incident, and before long were in Pennsylvania.
We had a little bit of congestion where we picked up I-70, travelling back to West Virginia before crossing the Ohio River in Wheeling and finally making it to Ohio.
In Ohio, the drive got less interesting, and we only had a few miles before reaching our first stop, Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge.
We had a super long pull-thru site, but still had to disconnect the Jeep because the RV needed to be at the very back of the site in order to reach all the utilities. That was OK – we were going to church the next morning anyway, so we would need the Jeep.
We just saw a little bit of Cambridge when we drove through on the way to church, but it looked like a nice town.
Other than that, we pretty much just relaxed, and spent a little time at the pool. It’s a nice campground, with lots of seasonal campers and plenty of activities. It was their “Christmas in July” weekend while we were there, but we didn’t participate.
Pond for fishing and swimming, although I don’t think anybody swims in it.
Our next day’s drive took us from southeast Ohio to northwest Ohio, and another nice campground . . . this one out in farm country.
Woodbridge Campground, in Van Wert, OH.
It’s a very nicely maintained campground – really clean and the grounds were very neat. We were surprised to see that the majority of the sites, including probably 80% of the seasonal sites, did not have sewer hookup. Oh, and their water was HORRIBLE – lots of iron!
We were on a FHU site, but it was a bit of a challenge to get parked and leveled. The fact that it was raining really didn’t help, either!
It was cool and rainy while we were there, so we didn’t get to check out the pool – it looked nice, though. They also had a small lake, and lots of area for walking Casey.
The owners, although they were extremely nice and accommodating, had several dogs between them, and they were allowed to run loose in the campground. They were friendly dogs, but we had to be really careful when we had Casey outside or even took her for walks.
That reminds me – when we checked into the KOA back in Hagerstown, they gave us a flyer that described the “Yellow Dog Project”. It’s an effort to identify dogs with a yellow ribbon or collar to let others know that they don’t like to be approached by people or other dogs – for whatever reason – age, sickness or recovery, or just temperament. It’s a good idea – I need to get Casey a yellow ribbon!
After a couple days there, it was time for the final leg of our journey into Indiana.
We’ve had a few rainy days in Elkhart, too, with at least one pretty rainbow.
We getting things taken care of here, and it’s taking longer than we expected, but more about that later . . . and how we’re keeping busy while we wait!
Meanwhile, back in Virginia, Nicolas is getting busier at work and it was time to say good-bye to Janetta and Tessa. They’re heading back home for the schoolyear, and Bryan is back to his bachelor ways. See you guys again soon – so glad to have you as friends!
Glad you had an easy trip through the Mountains.
ReplyDeleteHope you get everything taken care of to your satisfaction.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.