Friday, May 6, 2016

Delaware Campground, New Jersey Campground

"So green!" is what Craig and I said to each other as we settled into our spot at Killens Pond State Park in Delaware. The leaves were all the very bright light green of spring, and because it had been raining, many of the trunks were quite dark. Very pretty.



When we pulled into this lovely wooded campground on Tuesday we were the only ones there. We had hoped to take a few walks on a couple of the nice trails, but rain kept us in. Actually our only outing in three days was to drive to Dover for a pizza!

Delaware was one of our "new" states to check off on our national map. The next one was New Jersey, and our stop there on Friday was only a 90 mile drive away. I'm glad it wasn't much further, because the drive was through some very heavy rain. 

We arrived safely at Old Cedar Family Campground near Monroeville, New Jersey by early afternoon. When I made the reservation I had asked if there were any spots that had a clear sky view. Craig has convinced me that it doesn't hurt to ask, because getting satellite reception is important to us. I was told they had just opened a new row of sites that had 50 amp power and no trees. Yippee!


But then, nothing is ever perfect, and we almost got the Alfa stuck in the mud. When they installed the new 50 amp power they dug a trench, laid the wires and then just refilled it. Ten days of heavy rain had turned the trench into a soft gummy clay. We were told it was a drive-through space. When we park the Alfa we have a system in which I drive and Craig gives me directions on the walkie-talkie from outside. As I turned off the little road and headed into the space the Alfa's front wheels sunk into the mud and I was almost stuck. 

Craig yelled: "Back up! Back up!"

Fortunately the rear tires were still on the gravel road and I had enough traction to pull out. 



We assessed the situation, and although the grassy area where we were to park was also somewhat soft, we decided to try driving around and backing in. This worked.  Craig put our wooden pads under the leveler feet so they don't sink too deeply into the ground. We will be here for five nights, so hopefully things will dry out a bit by the time we leave and we won't be stuck!

Another camper a few spaces to the right of us had also had problems, and there were some pretty deep ruts in the muck in the empty space to the left of our spot. We called the office and they sent a guy down to look at the situation. He just shrugged it off, but we noticed the two rigs, that came in later, came in on the front-side road and backed in. 

Except for that, it is very peaceful here. We are not far from Philadelphia and plan to drive over on Saturday to see the Liberty Bell and possibly go on a walking tour if the weather clears a bit.


Oh, these fine fellows are in the pasture about twenty feet from the back of our coach. They watched the "almost stuck" show with great interest. The campground has only been open for a week or so, so I guess all the commotion caused by these big white things and strange people are their spring entertainment. I have never seen such attentive cattle. 

As I keep saying, you see something new every day.

RV life is good, when you don't get stuck in the mud!

10 comments:

  1. those wet, muddy spots can be a challenge.

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  2. I highly recommend visiting Eastern State Penitentiary. Quite a fascinating tour that was the highlight of our visit to Philly.

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  3. If you ever go through Northern Illinois, Starved Rock State Park has that neon green forest look in late May.

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  4. I am so bummed because Blogger didn't show your recent comment on my blog. I got just a snippet; it left off at "...but having a nine year old diesel keeps us from..." and then it dropped off my email. If you'll repeat it, I may be able to sleep tonight!

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  5. That looks like the ruts we made at Escapade in Missouri. Glad you were able to back 'er up and get out.

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  6. We are very leery of parking our motorhome on grass. We had to be towed out of the grass (mud) at the Puyallup State Fairgrounds early in December one year. Of course, that was in rainy Washington--we should have known better!

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  7. Been there, done that! Not a good situation. Have fun exploring Philly.

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  8. Yup we have been stuck a few times, not fun but we did manage to get unstuck eventually.
    Enjoy the area as I know you will.

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  9. I agree Sandie about the Escapade Rally in Sedalia. A week of rain on soft grass had the tow trucks working overtime.

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  10. I know all too well what it's like getting stuck. :) Good job on avoiding it!

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