Hickory Run

9/7/2016

We were up early along with our neighbor loading up and getting ready to go. Us down the road to Nescopeck State Park and him to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland I think. He was pretty jazzed and excited to talk about it.

We got on the road around 9:30 and made good time on the interstate. Stopped at a Flying J with a traveler’s store and got a few supplies and a sandwich. The dogs and the motorhome got a short rest and we motored on. We arrived at Nescopeck around 1:30 only to find that they don’t have camping. Didn’t I do this once already? It was a beautiful park with lots of trails for hiking, but no overnighting. The ranger at the desk gave me the back road directions to get to Hickory Run State Park that has plenty of camping spots.

We drove through picturesque little Norman Rockwell villages and got jostled and bumped on some wavy and narrow roads. We came to a stop sign in Winter Haven, a tiny little burg along the Lehigh River. I assumed it was a four way because we were on a highway, but it wasn’t. As I started to pull out, the poor old folks I was about to cream freaked out and honked their horns and made evasive maneuvers. I saw them with plenty of time and stopped but they still looked a bit unsettled facing down our monstrous leviathan.

Crossed the river and wound down an even narrower little road completely shaded by the tall tunnel of trees. We came to the campground, but it was empty. It was kind of spooky being the only campers in a 381 campsite park with warnings all over the place for the bears, so we decided to look around a little more. As we were nearing the main road, we saw a few other campers around a large grass recreation area. This was the prime camping zone. The clearing provided a little relief from the massive swarms of gnats. We figured out how to get into the camping area and secured us a little spot off to the side and set up camp.

Once we were settled, we jumped on our bikes and ripped around the wide open campgrounds. We went to the front gate and paid our nights fee. We were filling out the ‘honor’ envelope when a ranger pulled up and I was able to pay her. It was a little expensive for a state park, so I was glad she showed so I could use my credit card and preserve what little cash I had on hand.

We raced down the steep hill to the dam area and had a look around, then we had to crank it back up the steep hill to get back to camp. We got a nice cadence going and huffed it up pretty easily. I was sweated out when we got back so I took a sun shower hanging the bag from the lantern hook they provided at the camp next door. Total refreshment!

Walked the dogs in between the trees keeping an eye out for bears. They loved running around smelling every rock and bush in the forest. We returned to the RV and cooked up some grilled cheese and veggie burger sandwiches and relaxed inside, totally content with a day well traveled.