RV East Coast Trip - Pennsylvania to New York

RV East Coast Trip - Pennsylvania to New York

Written by Nancy Carter, Making My Own Lane

Scotrun RV Campground Pennsylvania

After spending a few days in New Jersey with one sister parked in her driveway, a day with my dad , and a night with my high school friends parked in another driveway, (5 days with no hookups), I moved to a Thousand Trails campground in the Pocono Mountains, Scotrun RV Campground. It was very close to Great Wolf Lodge, if you are looking for an indoor water park, and there were plenty of grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants close by.

Scotrun Campground has a large pool/kid’s water park as well mini golf and a small mountainside water slide. There was a really nice camp store and a pretty lake with fishing and friendly ducks, a DJ on the weekends with poolside movies, and full hookups!  

There were a lot of places to walk, and I really got a workout in walking up a down large hills, including walking uphill to do laundry.

I also discovered where Santa keeps his sleigh in the summer!  It's amazing what you can find when you take the time to explore.

Making New Friends on the Road in an RV

It was here that I really began to understand the camaraderie of Thousand Trails members. I was beginning to see people again that I had met earlier in my travels, or was meeting people with similar plans and some of the same stops I was doing along the rest of my trip.

Someone told me this would happen, but until it happens, you just can’t get how nice this is. Especially when you travel solo in an unknown world amongst strangers.

Sometimes you recognize a rig, or a dog, you’ve seen before, or they recognize your rig or dogs, and a conversation or maybe even a friendship starts. After all, you have a lot in common!

Just be sure to ask them if they are on Facebook. Most people are. Have them invite you to be their friend, or you invite them. I love seeing where they go next, and meeting up with them when you stay at the same campground again.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of this as I continue to travel and stay in Thousand Trails parks.

I met some other full-timers in Scotrun who were on the same East Coast path I was.  I saw them again in Maine, and we spent a couple of nights playing Hand and Foot.  Have you ever played this card game?  I played it almost every week before I sold my house.  Game nights with friends is definitely something I miss.

Driving an RV in the Mountains

The thing about the Poconos is … it’s up in the mountains. Up until this point, my journey had been relatively flat. Driving in the mountains is an entirely different experience. A tiny, windy roads with 55 mph speed limits (that suddenly decrease to 10!) and no- shoulder-to-speak-of experience.

But I had decided on this trip to experience and learn everything I could on my “maiden voyage”. Rv’ing with training wheels, if you will. Beaches and bridges and mountains, oh my.

My trip to Maine was a trip I was already very familiar with, at least the part between New Jersey and Maine. I grew up in New Jersey and spent a lot of time in Maine and New England growing up. I had spent some time at soccer summer camp in the Poconos and skiing in the Catskills, and that is exactly the aura this trip was taking on. I felt like a kid in summer camp. It was amazing and getting better every day.

Summer camp always includes field trips, and my “summer camp” experience this year was no different. I found a place I had never been to in my 40 years of living in New Jersey.

Bushkill Falls - The Niagara of Pennsylvania

Nine waterfalls. 1267 stairs of fun -  accessible using boardwalks, bridges, and well-groomed trails. I'm sure I did more than 1267 stairs, because I had to backtrack a couple of times. I did not bring the dogs on this hike, because I wasn’t even sure if I could do it. But I did. And I learned that I may be in better shape than I thought!

There were definitely too many stairs for the dogs, but the "back area" through the woods was an area they could have easily done.

It was at Bushkill Falls I also appreciated starting my RV journey while I am still young and healthy enough to do the things that I want to do.

I enjoyed learning about the history of these privately-owned falls that were first opened in 1904 and is still owned by the originally family. Click here to learn more.

There was plenty of parking for my RV, Daisy, in the back parking lot. After my hike, I went back to the RV and had lunch before I headed back to the campground. I was going to eat at the restaurant at Bushkill Falls, but it was busy. One of the nice things about always having your home with you is that you always have your kitchen and your refrigerator with you! I also felt better knowing that Rufus, Willie and Katie were close by, and I was able to take them out for a walk at Bushkill Falls instead of them having to wait another hour until I got back to the campground.

After nine days in the Poconos campground, I stayed with my other sister in her driveway for a few days.

When I stay on “borrowed” land, I have to provide my own power. On sunny days, this is not a problem. But on endless rainy days in the summer when it’s hot and I want to use my air conditioner, it becomes a challenge. I can go about 3 days without sun before it starts to into a lot of work to find enough power for everything I want to run, including my Keurig.

Bethlehem Music Festival

We went to the Bethlehem Music Festival, which is always fun. While we didn’t have time to watch any of the bands, we did enjoy walking around and seeing all the unique vendors, food and art exhibits.

When in Bethlehem, I really like to eat at one of my favorite Irish restaurants, McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub. I have a thing for Irish restaurants and fish and chips and Magner's Pear Ale, which many of them carry. It’s almost like drinking champagne.

Every day I got to visit the farm where my sister keeps her horse. I used to own a horse, and I still love being around horses. I just don’t want my own again. I got to make friends with the other horses in the barn, too.

I have become the best house guest. I bring my own bed, shower, and food. If you’re lucky I might even cook dinner for you!

From my sister’s, I hit the grocery store and gas station one more time, and I moved on to my next Harvest Host,

Spruce Ridge Reindeer Farm

a Harvest Host stop where I slept next to a field of friendly herd of reindeer.  And from there to another Harvest Host,

All Family Farm in New York.

A pig farm where they make their own pork products. I was able to visit with the sow pigs and some babies, and buy the best Italian sausage ever in their farm store. I just wish I had bought more!

Not having power or hookups for another seven days, I was excited to reach my next campground and plug back in, even though I got to the campground fully charged from the sun while I was driving.  

Also, right about the time I got to the Poconos, the weather turned colder. 53 degrees at night in August. Cold for a Florida girl, but much more enjoyable than the HOT weather that plagued Florida last summer.

And the weather was so nice throughout the rest of my trip, until Hurricane Lee. But that’s not for another month or so.

Rondout Valley Campground New York

After the pig farm, I went to Rondout Valley, another Thousand Trails campground in Accord, New York in the Catskill Mountains. I made some more new friends here, including a friendly neighbor. She took me to a place with a good egg and bacon sandwich, and even invited me over for breakfast one morning. I so appreciated the companionship. If you are reading this, you know who you are, and thank you.

She also introduced me to some of her friends.

There are so many full-time RVers out here in the wild!

The campground had some nice hiking trails along a river, a bounce pad, a snack shack, and a large pool.  It also had a nice dog park, which Rufus and Willie have on their wish list for a campground.

Walk Over the Hudson State Park

In New York, my field trip was to Walk Over the Hudson State Park, the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge between Highland, New York and Poughkeepsie, New York.

I started on the Highland, New York side, and was able to easily park my RV in the parking lot there.

This was originally a double-tracked railroad bridge build in 1889, closed after a fire in 1974, and reopened as a walkway in 2009. Briefly, you walk across a 1.28 mile span of the Hudson River, 212 feet above the river.

The views are spectacular, and you can walk or ride your bicycle. It is also dog friendly, but I didn’t bring Rufus or Willie. It was a sunny, hot day and 2 ½ miles round trip was probably a bit much for my small dogs. So they were better off staying in the air- conditioned RV.

You can read more about the history of the bridge here.

There was a lot to do near Accord, New York, and I’m looking forward to going back and doing some more of them.

Thanks for joining me as I continue my journey up the East Coast from Florida to Maine!

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