RE: 4th of July

 
Looking for suggestions for a campsite for July 4.
 
 Would like it be within a 2-3 hour travel radius of the Albany NY area.   Dry camp or hook up -- either or is fine.
 
 I need to decide soon, as the few CG s I ve checked are filling up fast.
 
 Thanks in advance for your input.
 
 
 Gia, etc, etc.

[DiW]

 Guest
I was just thinking the same thing. Saw July 4th is a Friday so thought this is a definite long weekend and I should take advantage (my DH is getting much vacation this yr since he just started a new job).
 
 I was thinking of heading to Amish Country (PA) this time though. Just called Spring Gulch and they still have some sites available. Anyone interested in doing a private " resort type"  cg for a change? Sites/areas to recommend? I read somewhere 502 was ok and I was planning to book that (but I d be willing to switch to a different area if someone has a better suggestion). There are other sites available in the 500s. I ve never been there so was just going with 502 (semi close to a bathroom and a stream).
 Di

[SheBantam]

 Guest
Spring Gulch would be over 4 hours for Gina, it is about 45 minutes for me.
 
 But I am game for Spring Gulch for the 4th.

 Guest
Paula, you re right about the 4 hrs, but I just decided today that I m going to take the following Monday off as well so I may be able to stretch my parameters.
 
 I think I ll check Maquest and see where the radius would bring me; I" m figuring 2 hrs for the 92 mile trek to N-S Lake, so I could maybe go 130 miles within approx 3 hrs.
 
 I will look on-line for Spring Gulch to check it out as well.
 
 I sat down today and figured out my vacation schedule to have mostly 3 day weekends.
 
 I m taking off June 27, July 4 & 7, July 18, Aug 1, Aug 15, Aug 29 w/Sept 1 for Labor Day.  If anyone has any specific trips planned for those dates, keep me posted as well.   I may be able to toss an extra Monday in too.
 
 Thanks.
 
 Gia, etc, etc
 

[SheBantam]

 Guest
Gina, it is 3 hours to Newburgh not towing from my house and that is all expressway.  
 Spring Gulch, the quickest and easiest way for you is probably to get to the PA turn Pike. I am coming up from the east and south I have all back roads.
 
 Always allow more time for towing. The trip to Indiana normally takes me between 11 and 12 hour, towing it is more like 14.
 
 Eagles Peak takes me about 2 hours by car. 2 1/2 towing.
 
 So is this a plan??

[missteri]

 Guest
I think we will probably stay at Greenwood Furnace State Park for the 4th.  It s not easy to get to, but it s a little gem!

 Guest
Paula
 
 I checked Mapquest, 334 miles to Spring Gulch with an estimated " DRIVE"  time of 5 hrs 43 minutes, so longer towing I m sure.
 
 I have booked into my  home  camp for the 4th (Sacandaga State Park, Wells NY site 142) -- I will try new sites on off-holiday weekends I think. I am researching, via RA, some of the campsites on the border of NY and PA -- I may make a foray sometime in late July, early August.
 
 What is Eagles  Peak?  
 
 I am further hampered by the fact my Trailblazer is a company lease vehicle with a mileage cap.   I have to try to juggle trips with the Trailblazer with swapping it out with my father s Blazer to offset the miles I rack up....it s a pain, but otherwise I d never be able to have a decent tow vehicle so I have to deal with it.
 
 So this summer, everytime I tow with the Trailblazer, when I get back I have to give the Trailblazer to my Dad (who drives like 6 miles a week, LOL) and use his  99 Blazer for my 70 mile daily round trip to work.  
 
 Sigh...I really need to hit the lotto or marry a rich guy; but since the odds for both are about even, this is the way I have go......
 []
 

[Gone-Camping]

 Guest
All these NY outings are a good five or six hours for me! Maybe July 4th should be held near Yorktown Va (remember, that place where the Brittish surrendered to George Washington...) Newport News Park is five miles from the Yorktown National Battlefield....

[tlhdoc]

 Gone-Camping

 

ORIGINAL:  Gone-Camping
 
 All these NY outings are a good five or six hours for me! Maybe July 4th should be held near Yorktown Va (remember, that place where the Brittish surrendered to George Washington...) Newport News Park is five miles from the Yorktown National Battlefield....
 

 
 It hasn t been posted yet, but I am camping with another family at Assateague Island for Easter.  Could you join us?

 Guest
LOL schitzo that I am; I ve booked Sacandaga SP (Wells NY) AND White River Junction, VT for the 4-7th........waiting to hear if my " preferred"  site is available at White River, if not, I ll keep the Sacandaga site.
 
 Nice thing about the White River site, no cancellation charge !!!!
 
 Gia, etc, etc.

[SheBantam]

 Guest
Cliff, I am sure that it is further/longer, you are 5 to 6 hours from me. I am 3 hours from Newburgh NY about 4 from Albany, so if you came up US 13 to the NJ Turn Pike to the Garden State to the NY Throughway, that would be a days drive, especially pulling a camper.
 
 Spring Gulch is around Lancaster PA, actually between Gap (PA 41 and US 30) and Blue Bell PA (US 322) on PA 897. This is horse and buggy country.
 
 Gina, Eagles Peak is west of Reading PA, it is a commercial campground that I went to the first year in the Jayco with MAPCE, then last year with a small group from MAPCE and the PUT Rally. Dave had catered dinner Saturday night and a catered breakfast the next AM. I went, what I thought was a bad case of allergys was actually the flu, and it broke on Sunday when I was ready to pack up. that hill to the restroom seemed so much steeper than when I was there the month before.
 Raymond brought Jeffrey up after school that Friday and left before dawn on Saturday AM, leaving Jeffrey and I to camp by ourselves. I took a friend with the outting with the MAPCE people, Raymond stayed home and Anna decided camping was not for her, too much like being a gypsy (putting out all the gadets, then packing them back up to move on/home).

[DiW]

 Guest
Cliff,
 We can t go that far (VA) for the July 4th weekend as we have just 3 days. Last April we spent spring break at Newport News and then went up to Westmoreland for the VA get together... Maybe some members south of me will take you up on your suggestion. NN is a great cg and we d be happy to return when we have more time. Maybe throw you suggestion out in the general section to make more people aware.
 
 Gia already booked closer to her home (NY) and I think others will want to stay locally as well. Holiday weekends are a bear, with trafffic and all. Even going to Spring Gulch for us may be trouble but I D like to try it. Just found out my girls  dance teacher is hosting a dance competition that weekend in CT so I need to check if we can miss it. We re not on the best terms at the moment since Courtney has missed class since Nov (she plays on her HS bball team and has practice/games 6 days a week). To make matters worse, Courtney just broke her foot so that definitely rules out dance for awhile. I hoping we can work this out. Thought maybe I could meet up with some PUT members that want to get together but don t do state parks.
 Di
 

 Guest
I keep hearing Newburgh, you folks wanna go to Newburgh/New York City North KOA?, let me know- Beer Belly :{)

[kathybrj]

 Guest
We never drive far on holidays. The traffic is just too much and the crowds can be worse.
 
 We are also looking into White River Jct., in Gaysville VT. It was nice in the fall and the kids would like to do some tubing. So Gia and I will end up there or at Wells, NY.
 
 DH is talking Maine in August sometime. I m on the fence about that. We re definitely at Letchworth before the end of the season.
 
 Most trips this year will be closer to home. We re still dealing with the house renovation and we are going to need vacation time to get things done. Long weekend closer to home will be the norm for a good portion of the summer.

[SheBantam]

 Guest
Beerbelly, I keep mentioning Newburgh because that is my only frame of reference in that general area.
 
 We flew to Hawaii a few years ago with the Reserves out of Dover DE (Raymond is retired from the Army and that is one of the few perks we have left), the plane broke our 4 day vacation turned into 9 days stranded in paradise.  We got a ride back with NY National Guard doing a quick turn at the Guard Base at Newburgh, then they went onto Niagra, their home base.
 
 I have no love for Newburgh, I almost got arrested because I took the rental car almost, in a restricted area, I was turning around at the gate and the MPs blocked me yet yelled at me to move the car. Where I got in trouble was when I informed him if he would move his vehicle that I could move mine.
 
 The rental agency did not give us a break, we had to have the car back the next day and they charged us excess mileage. That was cheaper than the alternative, $1.00 a mile each way for them to come get the car and take it back, even though one of the guys admited he went to VA Beach a couple times a month.
 
 People on the base were also nasty. We had just come from  Hawaii in early April, (April 4th to be exact) one of the women with small children still had their shorts on them and the guard had the bags put somewhere. heat was on very very low in the building, it was cold out side. One of the guys traveling Space-A with us was a retired general in the guard, he called his buddy, active general in the local guard and within minutes, that lady had her bags and there was not enough they could do for us while we waited for our transportation.
 
 thanks anyway, but if it takes a general to get locals moving and a soldier/MP does not undestand someone getting confused and trying to turn around, then I would rather not.  Also I was trying to get directions from a toll taker on the NY throughway and I got a rude response to move on I was blocking traffic  (no maps provided by the car rental company (they were the only ones that would come to the base and get me) and they were in a hurry because they closed at noon and it was noon when they picked me up and got me to the joint) I would rather not attempt to camp around there.  First impressions are important, and virtually everyone we met gave a lousy first impression.  But Newburgh is still my frame of reference since I made a one way trip one day and a round trip the next to get the car back.