Maiden Voyage

Our first trip in our RV was amazing, scary, fun, nail-biting… Think excitement and fear and being hysterical all at the same time.  It was an intense drive to our campsite!

We decided when we purchased the RV, spending Easter somewhere not too far away, would be amazing.  We chose to take the girls to Niagara Falls.  However, because camping season doesn’t really start until May 1, we couldn’t find a campground in Buffalo to stay.  But, I expanded my search and found a spot at Allegheny State Park, which was about 90 minutes away from Buffalo and the Falls.

We left our home, anticipating a five to six hour drive. Dennis used to drive semi-trucks OTR, so I was confident he could handle the RV.  As we entered Cleveland, it started raining. I started to get a little anxious because the roads were slick and we are in this large vehicle.  The rain continued and as we were driving on the turnpike, the drivers side windshield wiper broke (because why not?!).  We stopped at one of their service plazas hoping they would have wipers.  They do not.

The wiper was still working, mostly, it was just on it’s side.

We continued on.  When we left Ohio, the rain started getting worse.  And it was getting dark.  Our original ETA was 9:45p.  We had to slow down because the rain was so hard.  When we finally got to NY, it was a relief and the girls were getting excited.  Then came the fog…mixed with hard rains and curvy roads.  I was ready to have an anxiety attack.  

When we finally pulled into Allegheny State Park at 10:05p, I was so relieved.  But…then…the GPS told us to turn about 100 ft after we passed the entrance to the camping portion.  We were towing our van on the back and Dennis said there was no way he was going to be able to back up.  I said, that’s ok, it’s re-directing us about ½ mile up.  As we approach the road we were supposed to turn on, we see it’s a horse trail only.

We keep going…the GPS keeps demanding we u-turn.  Impossible, we are in the mountains with a RV & car on the back.  I’m starting to panic.  As we drive down the winding mountain road, going up hill, going down hill it’s starting to rain again and the fog is creeping in.  We FINALLY get to the bottom and are able to start all over again to get to the site (awesome).  So, up the mountain we go.  We pulled into our site at 11:10p. We were both so happy that to set up camp, all we had to do was unhook the van, back the RV in and plug in!  It was such a stressful drive, we were ready to lay down.

As soon as we plugged in and started setting up the beds, the skies opened and rain was pounding on the roof.  I can say, without a doubt being able to camp in the terrible weather, and only having to crawl into our bed, with the heater going, watching netflix, was an amazing feeling.

The next morning, we woke up to…rain.  We finally headed out to see the Falls around noon.  The rain had slowed down to a trickle as we piled into the van.

The Falls were breathtaking.  I had never been, Dennis went when he was a kid and didn’t remember.  It was amazing to see the the power of the water.  It was raining and 40 degrees, so we were all freezing, but it was worth every second.  The girls were in awe. 

When we left, we drove around Buffalo for a little bit, checking things out.  I met up with my cousin Rachel at Starbucks, while Dennis & the girls went to the mall across the street.  I enjoyed talking to her and spending time with her.  I hated having to leave, we were having a good time.  But, we needed to get back to the campsite to start dinner, etc.

As we were driving back to Allegheny, the sun came out, the skies were blue – it was awesome!  We were so excited, we were going to start a fire and make dinner and smores when we got back. But…per the usual, we got back, started unloading the fire wood and the rain poured from the skies.  Ugh.

Inside we went.  We made dinner on the stove top and watched movies on the tv and played games.  Sunday, the Easter Bunny stopped in our small space and hid some eggs (plastic, of course!) and left two awesome baskets full of fun stuff for the girls.

After the RV was cleaned up and everyone showered, it was time to say goodbye to our sweet campsite (that we barely got to enjoy).

Dennis had to work that night, so he left me to drive home.  Guys – this was my first time driving it on the road, let alone pulling a freaking vehicle on the back!  Dennis sat with me for the first 10 mins helping me.  As we were coming up behind a slow moving semi, he said, you’re going to have pass him.  I said, BET.  We are following him back to Toledo at his speed!  HA!

I did pass him with help and for the next hour I was white-knuckling the steering wheel.  I could feel myself sweating, but you know what?  I did it!  After that hour, I was confident and passing trucks, driving in the middle lane and handling the RV like it was a car.  I was so proud of myself!

We were all sad to leave the RV behind at storage and go home, back to real life.  Since it was Easter, my family was at my house (they had ‘borrowed’ it to have Easter dinner)…and while I love them, I was counting down the minutes until they left so I could lay down.  

We are definitely going to stay at Allegheny again.  It was so serene there.  

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