Hello again! We have been neglecting our blog ever since we got the dog and it is time to get back into the groove. Our “return post” is about one of our RV trips. I drafted it last fall but never got around to posting so in an effort to start catching up… here goes.
Last August/September the RV was in the shop for over 7 weeks for some repairs and once we got it back we decided to maximize our use as much as possible before winter.
Karen asked me “what state would you like to head towards?” I said “Ohio”, we hadn’t been there in a while so why not. Trying to find a weekend campsite in the fall is a challenge because of all the Halloween themed activities, but she somehow found one for us near Erie PA. I said “book it” and we would plan the rest later.
When I looked up our campground on the map a few days later I quickly learned that there were a lot of negative reviews about the place. Almost all were about quiet time and the strict policy this campground had around noise after 11. Didn’t seem like that would be a big deal for us and in the end it was not. We enjoyed our site and were very thankful it was available on such short notice.
The first day Karen let me pick out our itinerary. I cheated and jumped on the Bring Fido app (not a sponsor) and started mapping out dog friendly spots in the area. I made the list, we got in the jeep and off we went.
Our first stop was Schaefer’s Auto Art (not a sponsor). We are a sucker for these “Roadside America” type attractions. This is not the first VW we have seen with spider legs! Karen’s favorite was the cement mixer bumblebee. The parking was a little confusing but we took a chance and drove up the driveway that said “no turn around”… Turned out to be a nice way to start our day.
Next we arrived at Black Monk Brewery (not a sponsor). We ordered a flight to get a good sample of their line. Nice place and all of the beers were very “drinkable” (Ole Mother Flecher was my favorite). That isn’t always the case so this was a pleasant surprise. One particular beer called “Hot Pickle” caught our eye. It tasted like a dill pickle and was surprisingly good. Not sure we could drink more than one but glad we tried it.
Next stop, Presque Isle State Park. This had been on our to-do list for a while. It was an overcast day and a bit windy so we both had about 5 layers on to keep warm. We started with a drive around the park and stopped when we arrived at the lighthouse. After a few picture opportunities we started a short hike around the marsh. We took the Sidewalk Trail to Marsh, then Ridge back to the beach. We had planned to circle back on Fox trail but didn’t find the entrance, and once we were on the beach decided why not just stay near the water till we got back to our car (near the lighthouse). Well worth it and highly recommended if you don’t mind walking the rocky sand (which was a great workout).
After our hike we were off to the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park. Very nice park with paved and gravel trails. My favorite spot in the park was the Labyrinth (well was watching Karen navigate the Labyrinth).
All that walking made us hungry so our next stop was Lucky Louie’s Beer & Wieners (not a sponsor). I’m a sucker for these creative hot dog joints (another favorite is The Wienery in the Finger Lakes). The hotdogs were great but the winner was the Booty Fries with pulled pork and slaw. It was amazing! Their Halloween decorations included Beetlejuice (one of our favorite movies) begging for selfies (even found a copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased).
It was getting late but we decided to fit one more hike in. We headed over to The Wintergreen Gorge which borders Penn State’s Erie campus. It is about 3 miles total in and back. It is a good climb to the gorge overlook with one spot neither of us were willing to walk out to the edge. We expected to see a waterfall but it appears that it is not visible from the trail and to see it you need to hike the gorge itself.
On Sunday we decided to head back to Presque Isle to find the other lighthouse and hike a different part of the park. After a stop at the the Perry Monument we headed to the North Pier Light, then off to the Gull Point Trail. We were fortunate that the trail entrance was detoured to the beach and we ended up walking the beach the whole way to the protected part of the beach (where the observation platform is located). We took the regular trail back and it put us back on the beach about half way back (a trail marker we missed on the way out).
We decided that was enough for the day since we had a 6 hour ride home and still needed to pack up the RV. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend and got to see so many new things. Next on the agenda, figuring out our next park to explore!
