Harrisburg, PA & Arlington, VA Oct. 14 - 18, 2009

Harrisburg, PA - Oct. 14 - 16, 2009

We left Bristol, New Hampshire the morning of October 14th, feeling like the last folks out before winter.  As we pulled out, the only person left behind at the RV park was the owner. 

We headed southwest through Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York where we spent the night at "Hotel Walmart".  The next day we crossed the Catskill Mountains, where we encountered a snowstorm, and arrived mid-afternoon at the Cummins facility in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for The Beast's annual maintenance.  We spent the night in the facility's parking lot.  The technicians rousted us out early to a very cold and rainy morning.

To entertain ourselves we visited Hershey for a tour of the Chocolate Factory.  I suppose our expectations were a bit inflated by the many articles we had read about the factory tour and what folks had told us of their experiences.  Unfortunately, visitors no longer tour the actual factory.  It is more like a child's Disney ride through 'chocolate land' - with no Willy Wonka in sight.  We were disappointed.

Hershey also has an entire theme park with over 60 rides and live entertainment that is said to be quite fun; and the highly acclaimed Hershey Gardens and Zoo.  However, the cold and rain did not encourage us to seek outdoor venues.

After Hershey, we headed for the State Capitol hoping it would measure up to its reputation.  It went beyond our expectations.  We've visited numerous capitol buildings in our travels and this one surpasses all we have seen so far. 

The building's elegant dome was inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the design of the Rotunda's grand staircase was borrowed from the Paris Opera House, and the buildings 17-foot bronze doors were inspired by Renaissance sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti's renowned Florentine doors.   Twenty-four stained glass windows edged in 24-carat gold grace the House and Senate chambers.  The chamber walls are adorned with breathtaking murals, and Moravian tile floors illustrate Pennsylvania's history, industry, agriculture, flora and fauna.  This is definitely a state house worth visiting.

After our tour we made our way back through the pouring rain to Cummins to pick up our home.   We decided we didn't want to spend another night at the maintenance facility so we pushed on to the very muddy Western Village RV Park in Carlisle, PA.  The following morning we headed south to Arlington, Virginia to visit Fran and Mike.

Arlington, VA - October 17 - 18, 2009

After a very rainy drive, we arrived at the Arlington, Virginia Elks Club in late afternoon.  We found four other rigs parked in the otherwise empty back parking lot.  This facility offers club members 30 and 50 Amp service with level parking.  After paying the bartender (I know... sounds strange doesn't it, but this is an Elks Club) for our stay we pushed out our slides and settled in.

Since leaving Arizona in spring we have experienced substantial leaking around the bedroom slide.  We usually bring the slide in during rain to minimize the amount of water flowing into the bedroom.  We had an appointment at a repair facility in Florida, but that was a month away.  And it's raining.  A lot.

Just to make life more interesting, while in Arlington the other bedroom slide decided to join the leak-fest.  Like rival siblings, they competed in which could channel the most water into the rig. 

Consequently, we awoke on Sunday morning to a very wet bedroom.  After trying to sop up the mess we gathered all our wet towels and headed for a laundry to dry them.  We then went looking for high velocity fans.  We had no luck at Lowe's and Home Depot.  We then went to Walmart and scored two deeply discounted high velocity fans.  We returned to the leaky sieve we call home, set up the fans and then drove to Fran and Mike's cozy, dry home for dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner and visit with our friends.  Since we don't know when we will be back to the East Coast, it was more difficult parting from them than it was a month before in Mystic, Connecticut.  Sometimes the departures and good-byes can be overwhelming.

We returned to our water logged home late so slept in the next morning.  When we awoke we found the heretofore-empty parking lot was filling up fast. It seems employees of a nearby hospital use the lot on weekdays. Bill quickly dressed and ran out to ask some of the workers to move their cars so we could pull our motorhome out of the parking lot.  Fortunately, they were all cooperative.  Meanwhile, Susan was busily setting up orange cones to mark out an escape route.

Without further delay, we showered, dressed and headed for Williamsburg, Virginia.