At last, the waiting is over: the soap had been rinsed, the sheets were made on the beds, the fridge was loaded and we had every conceivable widget needed to hitch up and head down the road. I took a couple days off so we could leave late morning on Wednesday and drive a couple hours north into Pennsylvania to a campground just outside Gettysburg for our first ever RV camping experience.
Gettysburg Farm RV Campground proved to be a wonderful first destination and was an easy two hour drive away. When we arrived the camp ranger pointed us to a perfect site for the maiden setup with an easy back in, nearly level long gravel pad and fire pit ready for s’mores. I was happy with the practice and prep that I’ve made as it took me only about an hour from the time I put the truck in park to the moment we poured our celebratory cocktails. The grounds provided lots of exploration on foot or on bikes, a mini golf course (which we didn’t get to use) and a large swimming pool that we visited frequently to cool off on the hot final days of summer. They had a working farm with animals to feed and pet as well as frequent visits from a gang of roosters early in the morning (directly under the trailer under Ryder’s bunk… ha!).
The dogs were thrilled to be along for the ride and were amply comfortable in the truck bed in their own space under the shell. In fact, Ms. Anxious herself, Luna seemed quite comfortable during the drive up and made herself at home on her bed sniffing the Pennsylvania air as it passed by her open window.
Finally, as their name implies, the campground is close to the National Battlegrounds at Gettysburg which is a place I have wanted to explore for many years and its a perfect getaway during the pandemic since most of the locations are self guided auto tours. Kris stayed in the truck with Ethan while Ryder and I explored some of the locations and envisioned advancing soldiers across rocky fields and treacherous climbs at Devil’s Den and Little Round Top amid cannon fire, muskets and otherwise inhuman chaos.
We enjoyed our stay so much that we extended a day returning on Saturday. With our trip wrapped up and successful, we quickly jumped on to the calendar to add dates for the next destination which will likely be another Pennsylvania locale and possibly a bit further out early in October.
The only missing component for our RV has been an identity. The RV was christened Talley in honor of the best explorer companion we’ve ever known. She was a quiet, confident and curious friend who was along side me for thousands of miles of travel in the back seat of my Honda Accord, led the way for me on hundreds of miles of hiking and backpacking the mountain trails of Colorado and scouted out the best fly fishing holes in the southwest. Her name will carry with us now as we explore our world. The trailer is even about the same color as she was.
