Camping in NJ with Topcat & Mrs. Topcat

[NightOwl]

Well, Toni and I have just returned from 6  fun days of camping in the  beautiful  mountains of western Jersey with Peggy and Al Parker.  My only disappointment is that contrary to what Al said, he does not have a single giant eye in the middle of his forehead which sees all and knows all.
 
Their campsite was super--alongside a pretty little stream with a lot of nice trees, and plenty of privacy.  They had opened the Taos for us and supplied it with a fridge, stocked with cold drinks,  hot water, cable tv. microwave and AAR complete with porta-potti.  All we brought was our own bedding and towels.  It was a great set up and the weather was  delightful all the time we were there with warm sunny days and cool nights.
 
Mornings found us drinking Gevalia coffee (TOOO YUMMY--sigh!) and eating breakfast provided by Al.  Not bad treatment from someone we had never met in person before.
 
Our sightseeing included a trip to the Lakota Wolf  Preserve (moved from its former home  in Colorado)  where we were able to  observe 17 wolves--grey and Arctic  (all rescued animals from  roadside zoos and idiots who had them as "pets" until they sudddenly realized they were not pets but wild animals)   These animalls were well-cared for and seemed happy considering they can never be allowed to live in the wild again.  If you are ever in the area, tickets are well worth the $15.00 per person entrance fee.  (and it includes a "visit" with 2 beautiful red foxes and 3 bobcats--also "rescue" residents of the place.)
 
The Parkers are great hosts and we loved seeing their Sunliner TT--it is really deluxe and Toni and I have to admit to being  sorely tempted by The Darkside after seeing theirs
 
PS--Al,  T and I are wondering how did you ever get that beautiful, sweet-tempered  woman to put up with you all this time?

[wiininkwe]

I have to add my two cents in to this topic!!   We had such a nice and relaxing time, and my big brother was the best host, and his sweetie pie Peg was the best hostess.  They drove us all over in the mountains of New Jersey, showing us quaint old villages, beautiful scenery and even some bear. (two cubs and a momma)  I guess I forgive you Al, for not letting me out of the car to take pics.(Maybe he really cares about me after all)   We also had a good time just sitting around in their screen tent, watching the flames in the fire pit that Al kept stocked with logs.  Peggy made sure that there was lots to eat, and Al grilled everything he could get his hands on.  Next summer they'll have to come here to MI for a vacation and let me wait on them.  I'll even bake biscuits.

T

[campingboaters]

Do you mind me asking where you camped in New Jersey?  COTC is looking for another centrally located campground instead of Hickory Run State Park in PA.

[NightOwl]

Do you mind me asking where you camped in New Jersey? COTC is looking for another centrally located campground instead of Hickory Run State Park in PA.

No, I dont mind at all, but fear what I know wont be very useful --where we stayed is called Columbia Valley, but I suspect that it wouldnt work for a group--it is an old private campground with mostly seasonal sites and we didnt see any "group area" set aside--available (empty) spaces are just scattered here and there. Logistically, it might present problems as well, since there is ONLY ONE shower house in the whole place and it has just two showers. The same is true of the toilets--they are in a separate building, and there are only two. I think this is because everyone there is a self-contained unit except for the occasional popup like we were in. In fact, the Taos was the only popup in the whole place all week long--kind of weird.
 
I dont know anything about any of the other campgrounds in that part of Jersey so I'm afraid I cant be of much help to you in that respect as we really didnt get to see any other camping areas.
 
I did notice, though, as we drove along 80 that there were a lot of signs for camping marked along the roadway in that eastern part of PA and was very impressed with how much land is apparently set aside for public forests.
 
What is wrong with Hickory Run?  It always sounded like such a nice place.

[campingboaters]

Hickory Run is fine.  Some people were just thinking about trying somewhere new for some new scenery or activities is all.  Thanks for the info!

[topcat7736]

Well, a bad start led to a good finish. We awoke Saturday morning to find the electricity off due to the remnants of Ivan. No electric = no water at the CG. We had battery power & I drove to Stephens State Park & picked up 25 gallons of water. We debated whether to call & stop you from coming but about noon all was restored.

We couldn't have received a more perfect week to be in the outdoors. Sunny, cool not cold, and NO RAIN!

We enjoyed the visit too. The grill was almost wore out from all the activity. Hey, I'm an eater not a cooker. You know, I was on vacation too!  

Our new camera works great. If you gals hadn't come, we probably wouldn't have ever bought one. Playing with Divas the first night set the stage for getting one. We've added the charging station/platform & some more batteries so we can take lots more pix. Posted a few on webshots & will get some more soon.

The trees have thinned their leaves a lot since last week. The ground is carpeted with yellow, orange and brown. Only a few trees have begun to change colors. Most are still green but that should be over by next weekend. The temperature today is 54.

Next weekend is our last in the TT for the season as the CG closes on the 15th. After you guys left on Sat, we spent the rest of Sat & Sun prepping the popup & separating our camping stuff so we can use it until the weather becomes too cold to go out. We're removing lots of things from the TT this weekend and the screenroom will be coming down too. It's hard to believe that this is the 25th weekend this year we spent in the TT. The time has really passed quickly. I hope the next six months go by twice as fast so we can be back in it.

It was good meeting my much older and a little bit younger sisters. Peggy & Nanook send their hello's too. Hope to see everyone again soon!

[wiininkwe]

That was very tactful of you to not mention who was how much older or younger, thank you.     Our B-days are not that far apart either.  

I hope that you have as much fun with your camera as I've had with mine, even tho mine is much simpler, not as fancy as yours.  But then, I'm not the tech wizard you are.   I'm willing to bet that once you start posting pics of all your neat things, like that battery switch, and some of the other things you showed me, you'll soon be the one that everyone looks to for "how to" demonstrations.  I just throw out general pics of everything, let people wonder what they are, Haha.   Later I'm going to post some of the pics I took while visiting you on my webshots page, too.  But, can I post that really cute one of you and Peg?  
 
I talked to NightOwl a while ago, she's probably home in Georgia today.  She spent an extra week in Ann Arbor, MI.  
 
And, I did end up going up north to spend a night with Rick at our place.  Home from camping with you and Peg for one day, and then a day of camping here in MI.  Rick said that he forgot to take some things up with him, needed me to bring them, but when I got there, every frying pan was dirty, and dishes stacked up all over the place, with dirty clothes laying all around.  We know why he needed me there, don't we?  As soon as I got it cleaned up for him, he said I could leave, LOL.  (My DH, Rick, is working at a construction site not too far from our property, so has decided to spend the month in the camper to be near by. )   Actually, he did seem to be pretty glad to see me, in spite of the dishes.   heheheh.  
 
While I was there, we were treated to a large Eagle flying overhead at treetop height, circled around and came back over a second time.  I felt as tho I could reach out and touch it.  A real thrill.
 
BTW TC, I actually got to use 2 of those knots you showed me.  I forgot what you called them, but did remember the basics of how to do them, and you were right, they really do hold tight!
T

[NightOwl]

Yep, I am back home in Ga as of today about noon after two very busy weeks--one of them camping  in  western Jersey with Peggy and Al and one in Ann Arbor helping my darling SIL with a garden project (hey, this guy really knows how to live--we worked hard every morning and then he treated me to lunch every day at some really gooood eateries.)  (He also took me to HARBOR FREIGHT where we both went nuts and  then on Fri we went to  a huge  truckload sale of tools and other good stuff down at the Ann Arbor farm center.  MY car was SO LOADED when I headed home yesterday and I made haste to unpack so Billy wouldnt groan--OH NO when he saw the stuff I got.

Al and Peggy have converted me.  I am throwing out my MR Coffee and investing in an honest-to-God  percolator.  They provided the best coffee I EVER tasted--every night at  bedtime,  Al brought us the percolator all ready to go for the next AM and when Toni woke up, she'd turn on the stove and in a few minutes, the air would have the heavenly perfume of The Real Thing!   And I would open my eyes to see Toni kindly bringing me my eye-opener.  What a sis! :# What a bro! :#