Took our week long shakedown over the last week or so. We left Wednesday August 12. I had some work to do in Richmond Va. for a couple days before heading out to the Mid Atlantic Overland Festival in Pennsylvania. Battery set up charged like a dream, I am very happy about that, since this was my first effort at any of this 12v stuff. Trailer towed great and we had no issues.
We left Richmond on Friday morning and headed to PA. Our route took us along side highways, no interstates. Once in PA we wound up on some very small side roads, including hwy 655 and some very small non numbered roads.... so curvy and hilly Joe called them "roller coaster roads"... among lots of giggles.
The MAOF was enjoyable, spending time with friends and meeting some new ones as well. The field was less that flat and this exposed some issues with our "not so expo" pop up. More on that later. We really enjoyed the company more than anything the event offered. We spent a few hours poking around Huntingdon, which turned out to be a great little down town. Ann loves digging through the second hand shops and I love finding good local places to eat. In Huntingdon that place was Boxers
http://raystown.org/locations/boxers-cafe/boxers-cafe.html Very friendly, great food, nice beer selection. We stopped at the river outside of town to plunder and chase crawfish. Ann was able to do some plant collection there as well. Joe had a great time meeting several new friends and playing endlessly. Needless to say, he slept well every night.
We left on Sunday morning. Initially we were headed home to NC so Ann could sell her soaps and other items at the Monday farmers market. Much to my surprise Ann agreed to alter those plans. After a quick stop at Mickey D's to access free wifi and email the operators of the farmers market, we headed off across southern PA and into VA. Destination, Shenandoah National Park. Beautiful drive through PA, many small towns and cool things to see.
Arriving at Big Meadows Campground in SNP... we were tremendously underwhelmed. It had been 20+ years since I had been there and Ann had never been. Let's just say, not our kind of place. As we got out of the jeep to check out the sites we were directed to, there we generators running and campers packed in so tight with zero privacy. We turned around and left. We went to Lewis campground, took the last available site, and after a good night of sleep, spent the early morning listening to the adjoining campers argue and fight. We packed up, headed west on Hwy 33 towards George Washington National Forest.
The way we figured it we would take the dirt roads we came across until we found a spot we liked and spend a couple days. We did poke around quite a bit on Westside road, past the shooting range. We found a couple great spots, but Ann was not comfortable. She could not put her finger on it, but I honor her instincts, so we headed back to the tarmac. After a quick conversation with a fellow at the shooting range, we checked out Brandywine Recreation Area, just a mile or so west.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/f...+National+Forest+-+Brandywine+Recreation+Area
Wow. What a find this turned out to be. Out of the 30 or so sites there were only 3 other sites taken. There was a great swimming lake, great trail (sawmill trail) and plenty of shade. Best of all there is absolutely NO cell coverage in the area. We relaxed, swam and hiked for the next couple days. I believe we will head back at some point.
Trailer and jeep performance was good. Towing MPG ranged from 12.2 in the steep twisty mountains and 14.5 on the interstate. I held it in 5th gear and rand about 57 mph on the interstate. I was happy with the gas numbers. I installed Mac's Cold Air Intake this spring and I think that is a key to these numbers.
http://www.macscoldairintake.com/ Towing the camper pre Macs CAI was regularly 12 mpg.
Indel B fridge was outstanding. Will likely never go back to cooler. Not much more to be said about it. It is that good.
Battery system set up worked well. Charged up during travel, topped up with our Harbor Freight 45w solar while at MAOF. While camping elsewhere there was too much shade for solar to work, but battery held well, never dropping into the "red" on my meter over the 2.5 days camping without solar.
OK, now to the issue with the pop up. We camped on a hill. The camper was leaning and when we popped down the slides stuck a bit. It sounds like less than it was, but my impression is that this system is perfect for organized camping locations but will struggle in the role I have envisioned for it. So all in all, we will be keeping the pop up, but I will be nosing around for other options at the same time.
John
