As we travel the country, one of the biggest challenges is finding places to stay overnight or a few days in or near the larger cities. When we find RV parks within a large metropolitan area they are costly and have small sites. During the planning for our trip to Washington, D.C. I discovered Greenbelt National Park and was able to reserve a site for two nights. As is the case with most places, you really don't know what you're getting until you eventually arrive, so my expectations were mildly reserved and somewhat dubious that this was going to work out for us. After driving the two plus hours to get just north of the US Capitol we exited Highway 495 and navigated to Greenbelt Road and the entrance to the park. My first observation was that the roads were narrow but acceptably wide enough to make our turns into site #136 in the D Loop, 2 miles inside the property. All the sites are dry camping, which of course means no hook ups (water, electricity or sewer) but we knew this and had planned to manage our resources to accommodate this fact. Once we arrived at our site we backed in and set up like we normally do. After leveling the rig and opening our three pop out slides, we ate lunch. I surveyed the area around our site and found many of them empty. There were a few small pull-through sites but they were just a wide spot on the road; the majority were back-in sites like ours which accommodated a maximum RV length of 35 feet (which we are). We are conveniently located near one of the bath houses, which is dated but clean, and also close to the garbage dumpster. However, potable water was not near our location and upon our arrival we needed to fill our fresh water tank for the duration of our stay. I pulled out one of our three 5 gallon collapsible water containers and drove to one of the water faucets to fill it up. When I returned I used a feature of our Nautilus water system to siphon the water from the container into our freshwater tank. This was a first. I had never used this feature before and it uses our onboard water pump to accomplish the task. It worked great! So I asked Karen to assist me on the next trip for water. We pulled out a portable 30 gallon water bladder we have had in the storage bay, never before used, and made a second trip to get what we needed. Again, another first for us. We backed up the truck to the water source, laid out the bladder on the truck's tailgate, connected the hose to the water spigot and started filling. Once we had what we thought was enough we drove back to our site, backed up the truck near the trailer and reversed the process. I added a water flow meter we have to the hose to measure how many gallons we were transferring into our fresh water tank. Within ten minutes we had 26.5 gallon onboard plus the 5 gallons I had transferred earlier. We now had plenty of water for the two day stay. My only real critique of our site is the lack of open sky which we would need to recharge our batteries with the solar panels on the roof, but only necessary if were staying longer. We could move to a different site with more open sky, but worst case scenario, I can always pull out our portable generator, if necessary. Other than that, this place is awesome! It's a beautiful oasis within a couple of miles to the Greenbelt Metro station for an easy 30 minute trip into Washington DC. This is a quiet, nicely set up National Park (NP) that only costs $20 per night. If you have a NP Senior Pass like we do, it's half price. Where can you stay for $10 a night? Highly recommended!

After three wet days at Martinak State Park in Maryland we pulled up stakes (so to speak) and headed back north to Sandy Cove. We were returning to pick up a special package that FedEx was dropping off back at the conference center. On the way ,we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee when we noticed our Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for the trailer indicated a low pressure in the right rear tire. Upon examination I discovered a screw head just inside the tread close to the sidewall. So, we got our coffee and used the compressor to fill the tire back up to the original pressure. We started a search for a tire shop to see if the tire could be patched. Our first stop was in Smyrna, Delaware at Mr. Tire and they informed us the tire could not be patched and we needed to purchase a new tire. Okay, thanks for that bit of crummy news. Karen got on the phone with the tire dealer back in California regarding our replacement warranty and where we might go to get the new tire. Unfortunately none of their dealers are this far east, but they will reimburse us for the cost of the tire replaced at another shop. Karen called around and we found Palumbo's Car Care Center in Newark, Delaware. The owner, Steve Palumbo had his crew order us the needed tire and was gracious enough to let us park behind the shop for the night. We disconnected the truck and drove to Sandy Cove Ministries to pick up the special package. What is it, you anxiously are wondering? Well, as we travel the country I have been considering picking up another guitar and relearning to play again. After researching the options out there I finally made my decision and ordered an Orangewood Oliver Mahogany. The Oliver features a grand concert sized body with Mahogany top, back, and sides, making for a winning combination that delivers a beautifully balanced tone. A great price too, only $214.65 and it included a nice soft, padded gig bag to carry it. Perfect for the RV lifestyle! So I am off to the YouTube guitar lesson channels to start practicing again. My fingers are a little tender after just a few minutes working the neck and playing a few chords. But I'm really looking forward to playing again. Tomorrow we get the new tire installed and then it's off to Greenbelt Park, Maryland about 95 miles from where we are right now. The Greenbelt campground is only two miles to the closest subway station called University of MD/College Park Metro station. We plan to take the subway to Washington DC on Wednesday to visit some museums.

It is finished... that is, the Sandy Cove Ministries project with Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service (RVICS). On Thursday, September 21 we all worked our last day of the assignment. My last official task was to complete the team's newsletter for RVICS headquarters. The newsletter highlighted our project's mission and is used to inform the other members of the RVICS family what was accomplished during our time at the conference center. Since I've been writing our blog, I already had much of the needed content available to cut and paste into the newsletter, so I volunteered to create it. The organization also uses the newsletters from the various projects to document the charitable history of the organization for their non-profit status. We truly enjoyed our time working this project with our team leaders, Frank and Melissa Varaso. They set the leadership bar high for the next couple! They're leaving for Talladega, Alabama on Saturday for their next RVICS project in October. God bless and safe travels to our two new friends! We used our free Thursday afternoon to visit Karen's cousins outside of Baltimore. Susan, Marjie and Lynne are 2nd cousins of Karen's father. Their grandmother is Karen's Dad's Aunt Frances who was a sister to Karen's grandfather Gebo. She has spent time together with them only a handful of times during her lifetime, but because we have kept in touch via email and through other relatives, there is a sweet cousin connection. "I'm always amazed and blessed how family connections can transcend time" said Karen. These 3 sisters are like the Golden Girls....fun and funny! We had the best time catching up on each other's lives. They served us a wonderful meal and we shared a delicious bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon. We both so appreciate the bond that cousins generate even when we don't spend much time together through the years. God is so good to knit our hearts together! The weather forecast for the Chesapeake Bay area was predicted to deteriorate due to the approach of Tropical Storm Ophelia, so we packed up the rig on Friday afternoon after having breakfast with Frank and Melissa. Our planned destination was Martinak State Park in Denton, Maryland about two hours south of the Sandy Cove conference center. It was an uneventful journey to the campground. After spending 21 days in one place I was mildly concerned about the drive, but it was like getting back on a bicycle again. We arrived just in time to see rain drops starting on the windshield of the truck. Our site #33 is a large, flat and deep gravel pad on Acorn Loop with trees all around which is a little disconcerting given the potential for some strong, gale force winds associated with the incoming storm. The campground has made the open ball field available for those that don't want to stay in the trees. We monitored the situation, and it was noisy at times, but no damage to the truck or the trailer. On Sunday morning I surveyed the loop and did find some large tree limb debris that had fallen during the heaviest rain and wind event. I thank God for His protection and grace. We had hoped to visit Washington, D.C. either Saturday or Sunday, however the weather prevented us from traveling too far from the campground. We made the best of the situation reading and napping. Sunday the weather improved so we visited the Denton Christian Church service at 10:30 AM then returned back to the campsite to relax around a campfire I made with all the wood the storm provided. Monday, September 25 we will head to back to Sandy Cove to pick up a "special" package and then Tuesday it's on to the Urban Oasis, Greenbelt Park, Maryland. We will be camping ten miles from the Washington Monument! Greenbelt Park is located in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland just ten miles from the Washington D.C. attractions. $10 for two nights with our Senior NP Pass allows us to enjoy affordable camping, peaceful surroundings in an urban forest with National Park Service hospitality. Greenbelt Park has a 172 site campground, nine miles of trails and three picnic areas.

Sunday we rested and recovered from a very long day's baseball game adventure to Washington, D.C. We went to church with our team leaders and then out to breakfast before returning back to camp. We just hung out and relaxed while reading and napping. We received some unfortunate news over the weekend about the rest of our team. Our third couple, Jeff and Kathy, had to cancel due to health issues so we will finish the project with our team of four for the duration. Fortunately, Melissa, Frank, Karen and I all work together well and are developing a deep friendship in the process. This is our second week at our RVICS project. The women have been working with the kitchen staff cleaning and helping with meal preparation. The men have been doing exterior painting on a cabin and just finished prepping a new building to be painted. This new structure is where the camp store is located and it's a much larger building. We worked through the week separately until Thursday, September 14 when the ladies joined us on the painting project. Thanks to their help we were able to complete painting the first coat on the entire building. The work days left us all pretty exhausted, but we did manage to get in a Bible study on Tuesday, and a game of 4 Up, 4 Down on Wednesday evening. Thank God for power naps after lunch! On Friday, September 15 we had the day off and used it to visit the surrounding area. We drove into nearby Havre de Grace, Maryland to tour their Decoy Museum. Fun fact: this Maryland City is known as the Decoy Capital of the World. Havre de Grace in Harford County houses one of the finest collections of working and decorative Chesapeake Bay decoys ever assembled. Located on the banks of the historic Susquehanna Flats, the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum was established in 1986 as a private, non-profit institution existing to preserve the historical and cultural legacy of waterfowling and decoy making on the Chesapeake Bay. I had no idea how much went into making a working decoy. The exhibit was a fascinating display of artistry and craftsmanship. There many different types of waterfowl on display. The case below had a muzzleloader, percussion fowler, 7-gauge shotgun circa 1835. The photo below is a sinkbox, a specialized hunting blind used by waterfowl hunters. It consists of a weighted, partially submerged enclosure large enough to hold one or more hunters and suspended from a floating platform. It is placed into calm water so that the hunter may wait with the waterline at approximately shoulder height. By 1839, New York prohibited the use of sink boxes. From 1852 to 1897, other states such as Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey banned their use as well. Eventually they were outlawed in all of the United States under federal law. After our tour of the museum we had a seafood lunch at the Promenade Grill then walked off our meal strolling the Havre de Grace Promenade to the lighthouse park and back before driving back to the camp

My quest to visit every major league baseball park continued on Saturday, September 9th, when Karen and I traveled to see my LA Dodgers play the Washington Nationals. We left Sandy Cove at noon and drove to Washington, D.C. down the eastern side of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and past Annapolis to the Branch Avenue Metro Station just outside the District of Columbia. This is where the Metro green line started; a great place to park the truck for free and take the subway into DC to the Navy Yard/Ballpark station for only $2 each ride. The subway station was a short walk to the ballpark. The starting time for the game was originally 4:05 PM but we arrived during a light rain, so there was a weather delay. We bought two $32 tickets along the third base line at the second deck looking into shallow left field. Little did we know the weather was deteriorating and a major thunderstorm front was headed our direction. We decided to wait and see how long this delay would be. We wandered the ballpark, ate some ballpark food, tried to stay dry and waited. This was our first experience with a baseball game delayed by weather so we had no idea what to expect. By 7 PM we were just about ready to give up and leave. Karen was incredibly patient with her crazy husband. I know she wanted the team management to cancel the game, but that would have meant a Sunday double-header and neither of us wanted to drive all the way back the next day. I didn't want to waste the money we spent on the tickets and diesel fuel, so I was being just a little stubborn but hopeful. Fortunately, the public address announcer came on to tell us the game would go on, but wouldn't start until after the grounds crew finished prepping the field....one hour and fifteen minutes later. Long story short, we waited 4 hours and 10 minutes! Yep, the game finally started at 8:15 PM. That was the bad news, but the good news and major benefit was we got to sit just about anywhere we wanted in the nearly empty stadium. We ended up picking seats at field level, just 30 rows behind the Dodger dugout! The game started and we didn't get wet. Unfortunately for us the game became tied in the ninth inning and we needed to leave to start the trip back. We eventually left at 11 PM and later found out the Dodger's lost the game in the 11th inning. We returned to our truck on the subway and drove back to Sandy Cove driving around the District of Columbia and through Baltimore on Interstate 95. We got to bed at 2 AM on Sunday morning. It was an exhausting day but another great baseball adventure even with the rain delay. And I now know that I'm a fair weather baseball fan!

Northeast is a direction but here in Maryland it is also a quaint town near the confluences of the Northeast River and Susquehanna River which both flow into the Chesapeake Bay. The town has a rich history and is conveniently located for day trips to local points of interest. On Friday morning, Karen and I, with our RVICS team leaders, Frank and Melissa journeyed out to explore Elk Neck State Park. We started the morning out by dropping our truck off for service at 8:30 AM and proceeded to Haiden's Coffee House for a morning brew and light breakfast. Karen and I selected for our "RVICS Tour Day" a visit to Elk Neck State Park which is located south of Sandy Cove in Cecil County on a peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Elk River on the east. The park has 2,370 acres of land with varied landscapes that include marshlands, heavily wooded areas, white clay cliffs and sandy shorelines. We went for a hike out to Turkey Point Lighthouse. After parking, we began our hike out to Turkey Point Lighthouse which is located at the southern tip of the Elk Neck Peninsula. Sweeping views of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding land masses frame a beautiful backdrop for the Lighthouse. Hawks and eagles can be viewed at the Raptor Viewing Field. The Turkey Point Lighthouse was once used to project light 13 miles down the Chesapeake Bay to direct ships safely away from the shorelines. Now it stands as a reminder of the history of the area. We hiked for about an hour and covered approximately 2 miles before noon. The weather has been in the low 90's and humid so we made it a short excursion.

Our assignment with Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service (RVICS) at the Sandy Cove Ministries Camp and Conference Center in North East, Maryland would start on September 5, so we left Muddy Run Campground on Friday, September 1, during the Labor Day weekend to arrive before this scheduled project. It was a short one hour drive across the Pennsylvania border into Maryland to the campground where we will spend the next three weeks working. The Sandy Cove Ministries' mission is to help people connect with God and each other in order to be transformed into the image of Christ, through His Word, His creation, and community. Their goal is to deliver the message of hope that JESUS NEVER FAILS by providing opportunities for rest, refuge, retreat, renewal and recreation. The organization we are associated with is RVICS, a volunteer non-denominational Christian ministry with a heart to serve the Lord during the years leading up to retirement and beyond. The missionary teams provide a wide variety of maintenance, service, and construction assistance to needy non-profit Christian organizations. RVICS missionaries live in their own self-contained RV's, serving on teams typically consisting of 4-6 couples. Project hosts commit to providing RV parking sites with electricity, water, and sewer, free of charge. The project work schedule allows generous time for recreation and relaxation. Sandy Cove's History: During the Great Depression of the 1930s, God provided an unusual opportunity for Dr. George Palmer, pastor of Haddon Heights Baptist Church in Haddon Heights, NJ, to host one of the earliest Christian radio broadcasts. During this time when businesses, banks, and government were failing, the daily Morning Cheer broadcast brought good news and hope. Dr. George Palmer's biblical teaching stressed God's omniscience and control, and the show's theme song reminded all that “Jesus Never Fails.” The response was overwhelming and provided further ministry opportunities for this young visionary preacher in 1946. Property was acquired on the North East River in Cecil County, MD, for establishing a summer tent revival and camp meeting facility. Camps were built for children, numerous mission projects were accomplished around the world, and Sandy Cove Bible Conference was born. Summer after summer, guests flocked to Sandy Cove to hear some of the most prominent speakers and preachers teach the Word of God and listen to inspiring concerts performed by top Christian musicians. A new vision for Sandy Cove was cast with the addition of the majestic Chesapeake Lodge & Conference Center during the late 1980s which allowed for year-round ministry opportunities. This spacious facility continues to serve as a focal point of the ministry, offering comfort and hospitality to multitudes of men, women and children each year at one of many Sandy Cove programmed events or as part of a church retreat. On our arrival at Sandy Cove Ministries we were met by our team leaders, Frank and Melissa Varaso. They are originally from Pennsylvania but now live in the RVICS Village established in Smithville, Texas. The Village is "a place to call home" between projects, or when age or health issues make it difficult to serve on a regular basis. Any present or former RVICS member who has served at least three projects may purchase a Village membership, and select a lot with full utility hook-ups for parking their RV or placing a more permanent home. This is the Varaso's 14th project since joining RVICS. Here's the neighboring cabin next to the one we painted for comparison. As the "newbies" we are learning the ropes; both Frank and Melissa have been awesome mentor/leaders. Karen and Melissa have been working at the dining facilities in the main building deep cleaning tables, chairs and floors. Frank and I have been painting one of the cabins in the Pioneer campground where we are parked for the duration. The temperatures have been very hot in the low 90ºF range so Frank and I take rehabilitation breaks inside the air conditioned cabin and drink water or Gatorade to stay hydrated. Our morning starts at 8:00 AM with prayer, devotions and a song before we head off to work at 8:30. The ladies finish at noon and the guys break for lunch at 12:30 until 1:30. We wrap up work around 4:00 PM. We started our painting project on Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday and have it almost completed on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday we will probably wrap up in the first two hours of the morning. Our camp supervisor has told up to take the rest of the week off, so we must have made him happy with our progress in the somewhat challenging conditions. Here's the near completed cabin we've been painting for the last two days.

After returning from Gettysburg we moved to a new campground that wasn't originally on our course. Since we were able to secure two tickets for the Sight & Sound Theater production of Moses, we decided on Tuesday to see if we could get into the Muddy Run Campground which is closer to the show's venue in Lancaster. We discovered the campground on our return trip back from Lancaster the prior day. Muddy Run had room available so we booked two nights there starting on Wednesday, August 30, one day earlier then we planned on leaving Codorus Park. On Wednesday late afternoon, we moved to Muddy Run to stay for 2 nights before driving south to North East, Maryland.. We arrived at Muddy Run Campground around 6 PM and set up for the evening before it got too dark. The campground is only 30 minutes from the theater, making it easy to get there by 10:15 AM for the 11 AM matinee. On Thursday morning we drove to the theater and parked the truck only, leaving the RV back at the campground. We had incredible seats in the eighth row, center section, theater level. We didn't know what to expect. My parents got season tickets for broadway musical shows at the Curran Theater in San Francisco while my sister and I were in high school, so I grew up with a real love for live theater. Years ago on a trip to New York City with my daughter Elisa and son Erik, I made a point of taking them to see Cats and Le Miserable so they could have the same experience I had growing up. This would be the standard I would measure any production by and my expectations were measured. Frankly, Karen and I were both blown away by the excellent quality of Moses! The musical score, the on-stage talent, the sets, live animals and special effects were no less than first rate Broadway quality. The production was throughly first class and we loved it. Throughout the show I was moved to tears because I couldn't help thinking of my mom and dad and how much they would have enjoyed this whole experience. Karen was also moved to tears with the beautiful way the story of Moses and God's faithfulness was presented. At the end of the performance I had to literally stay seated just to catch my breath. Once we left the theater complex, we drove to another Lancaster landmark for lunch. The Shady Maple Smorgasbord, Lancaster County's premiere smorgasbord buffet, is the largest in the USA and features the founder's favorite family recipes prepared fresh daily in the traditional, Pennsylvania Dutch way! It has 1,200 seats in its main dining area plus an additional 1,000 seats in a banquet room. The family opened the now-famous Shady Maple Smorgasbord and gift shop in 1983. What started as a 300-seat restaurant now seats nearly 2,000 and boasts almost 200 feet of authentically delicious Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. All you could eat for $17.95 each less the senior discount of 10% made the lunch a bargain. The food quality was quite exceptional with an amazing variety of items to select from. Don't come here unless you're prepared to chow down! We skipped breakfast and didn't arrive until 3:00 PM so we were ready to get to it. After checking out the downstairs gift shop we drove back to Muddy Run with full bellies and some wonderful memories of our time in the Amish Country of Pennsylvania..

This small hamlet in Pennsylvania is where a decisive battle of the American Civil War took place on July 1 to July 3, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War, the Union victory that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North. Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Rebellion", Gettysburg was the Civil War's bloodiest battle and was also the inspiration for President Abraham Lincoln's immortal "Gettysburg Address". Today it is a national military park that you can tour, which we did on Wednesday, August 30. In preparation, we watched the movie Gettysburg (directors cut 1993) which is 4 1/2 hours long during the three nights prior to our visit. Filmed at actual battle locations and full of authentic details, the movie plunges you into the heat of the bloodiest battle fought on American soil and gave us some context to the circumstances and characters that played a role in this famous historical event. Wednesday morning started with a 40 minute drive to the town of Gettysburg from Codorus State Park. While in town, we stopped for coffee then headed to the Gettysburg Diorama & History Center on 241 Steinwehr Avenue to experience "The Battle of Gettysburg", in a fully narrated truly unique diorama with an original light and sound experience! The diorama battlefield can be viewed for 15 minutes before the program from 360*. Gettysburg Diorama put the battle into perspective as it appeared in 1863 and illustrated the troop movements for ALL three days of battle. The actual battlefield covers 6,000 acres, an area too large to visualize without this diorama birds eye view. It appeared to be carefully researched and meticulously assembled; the Diorama contains over 20,000 hand-painted soldiers, horses, cannons and buildings. A self-guided auto tour of Gettysburg covers all areas of the battlefield in more or less chronological order, from beginning to end of the battle. So we started at the National Park Visitor Center to pick up a free map with the driving tour directions clearly marked. There are sixteen stops on the Gettysburg Auto tour. The tour works chronologically with the events of the battle. Driving through the park, after seeing the movie and the diorama, was so much more meaningful and impactful for us. Driving the 24 miles through this National Military Park was a solemn experience. It is heart breaking to realize there were over 52,000 casualties (killed and wounded) from the Union and Confederate armies during the 3 day battle of Gettysburg. Once again, we have come to appreciate the opportunity to visit many of fascinating historical places on the East Coast of our country as we travel.

Our journey to Hanover, Pennsylvania took closer to six hours to complete rather than five, but we finally arrived at Codorus State Park, site #145 on the edge of the tree line bordering a large open field. The space was a challenge because the back-in paved site was not level. We had to raise the front of the RV over 5% to clear the hitching ball so it was imperative we have our tire's chocked correctly. The auto leveling system in the RV didn't like the angle we went to, but we managed to get the trailer off the ball, the truck out and Trinity leveled. The site is quite spacious and we have very few neighbors. Just look at how low the goose-neck hitch is to the ground relative to the truck. After arriving in the late afternoon on Saturday, we stayed close to home for the evening. Our plans for Sunday, August 27 included attending a local gathering of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the morning with the rest of the day spending time with Karen's second cousin Kristyn and her husband Lloyd. They were driving from their home in Greencastle, PA a hour and half away to visit us at our campground. We enjoyed meeting Lloyd, hearing their story about how they met, their passion for Christian missions and their trips to the Dominican Republic and Jordan. Our time together lasted from lunch to the evening after dinner and "parting was sweet sorrow". We have all of the appropriate contact information now so we can keep in touch with this delightful couple. Monday, August 28 we spent exploring the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland just 16 miles south of our location. Diesel fuel was 40 cents cheaper in Maryland so we got fuel at Sunoco and groceries at the Walmart in Maryland before driving back into Pennsylvania to stop at the Camping World. For dinner at camp, Karen had made a casserole with the leftover rotisserie chicken and Penne pasta that turned out marvelous. We spent the remainder of the evening watching half of the 4 plus hour Director's Cut of the movie, Gettysburg. Tuesday was our day to explore Amish country in York and Lancaster Counties. We drove to the city of Lancaster and visited the Central Market in the downtown. There I met a Amish farmer selling fresh vegetables and we had a wonderful conversation talking about his farm and our travels. We then drove some of the back roads through the corn and soybean farmland looking for signs of the Amish inhabitants. The farmlands of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country are among the most productive in the nation. Many of the farmers here are different from most Americans – different by choice. They are Amish and Mennonites, also known as the Plain People. Amish people have been using horses since the days when only horses made horsepower. In comparison to our fast-paced society, the simpler, family-centered Amish culture holds a special fascination for many of us. The Amish trace their heritage back hundreds of years, and yet, despite all the time that has passed and the many changes that have taken place in society, they still live and work much as their forefathers did. For the Amish people, family, farm and faith are top priorities. The Amish are devout in their faith, believing in a literal interpretation and application of Scripture as the Word of God. They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life. Today, there are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, all holding to slightly different traditions and their own interpretations of the Bible. The more traditional groups are called ‘old-order Amish.’ They do not permit electricity or telephones in their homes. Every now and then we'd spot the classic black Amish horse drawn carriage traveling down the road with yellow flashers. Near the end of the day we drove to a large farmers market facility called the Brown Cow where we met a larger group of Amish shopping and speaking their Pennsylvanian Dutch language. I picked out some unique grocery items like Cheddar Horseradish cream cheese spread, Molasses cookies and a carrot roll cake. We paid with a check because they don't use credit cards. We also stopped to see if we could get some last minute tickets at the Sight and Sound Theater near Lancaster where, nearly 50 years ago in rural Pennsylvania, a dairy farmer went from producing milk to producing live entertainment with a purpose. Now with two state-of-the-art theater locations, an online streaming platform and a film studio, Sight & Sound brings powerful stories from the pages of Scripture and history to life on stage and screen. Each year, their locations in Lancaster, PA and Branson, MO draw nearly 1.5 million audience members to experience the Bible coming to life on stage with massive sets, live animals, and spectacular special effects. Still family-owned, the heart of Sight & Sound is to see loved ones come together for a shared experience that leaves them with a lifetime memory. We were fortunate to secure two tickets for the 11 AM production of Moses on Thursday, August 31.

Traveling in a RV of any size can be a real adventure when you have to traverse a major metropolitan region. Heavy traffic made up of semi-trucks and automobiles, complex highway interchanges, bridges and tunnels make for a potentially stressful driving day. On Friday, August 25 we needed to leave Battle Row Campground on Long Island around 10 AM to allow enough time to cross the George Washington Bridge from the Bronx to New Jersey. We got our campsite broken down in a light rain and hit the road on our scheduled departure time. We crossed the "island" via the northern expressway from Nassau County into Queens to the Bronx. The added rain variable to the already heavy traffic made vehicle travel slow which was a blessing in disguise. I had more time to react to the route on our Trip Wizard Navigation System. It took two hours to go 35 miles, but we made it to New Jersey unscathed; thank you Jesus! The highway road surface conditions in both New York and New Jersey are the worst we've experienced since starting our journey. We have made it a habit of opening cabinets in the RV slowly after traveling these types of roads. These types of road conditions can loosen your dental fillings! The remaining 30 miles to Randolph, NJ were thankfully uneventful and we arrived at our friends, Bob and Jeffri Dumas's home after taking a lunch break enroute. Bob and Jeffri moved from Santa Rosa, CA in 2019 to be closer to their married son Nathan who lives and works in the region. We spent the afternoon reconnecting with these dear friends whom we have shared life with back in California. They live with Jeffri's sister, Lisa in a two-story home in a beautiful suburban neighborhood. We had received permission to park on the street by their property for the night, so we left the rig attached to the truck and we manually leveled the passenger side with some shoring boards we carry with us in the storage compartment of the trailer. We enjoyed a barbecued Salmon dinner with fresh corn on the cob and kale/quinoa salad. Dessert finished off the meal with a fresh fruit pie and vanilla ice cream. We spent the evening telling stories about our RV adventures and learning about their experiences living in New Jersey. Even though we hadn't seen each other in 4 years, we picked up right where we left off like it was yesterday. We are so blessed to have such good friends! Saturday morning, after a good night sleeping in our RV, we shared breakfast together before getting back on the road around 11 AM on our way to Codorus State Park in Hanover, Pennsylvania, about 190 miles to the west and 5 hours of driving. It was great spending time with the Dumas's and ned and look forward to a longer visit next time we get together.

We have enjoyed a busy and wonderful week on Long Island. Our activities have included a beach day on Tuesday, August 22 with our nephew Kevin sunbathing and surf fishing. Gilgo Beach was Kevin's beach of choice. Gilgo State Park is located on a barrier island on the south shore of Long Island, with Atlantic Ocean and Great South Bay frontage. Access to the park is via 4 wheel drive only and requires a permit. Even on a day of near-record summer heat and humidity, Gilgo Beach is sparsely populated – a few sunbathers, swimmers and surfers here and there but certainly not as crowded as Jones Beach to the west or the posh Hampton beaches farther east. After a day at the beach we returned to Kevin's house so he could pick up his kids from camp. Later that evening, along with Nicole and the kids, he came to our campsite for barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers. This was the first time Kevin and Nicole had seen our home on wheels. My sister and Kyle were committed to an appointment, so they had to pass on dinner out at Battle Row Campground, but our brother-in-law Jeff came out to hang with the gang. Wednesday morning we drove out to watch Dillon's hockey practice along with Kevin helping out with the coaching. From the ice rink Karen and I headed for lunch at Ben's Kosher Deli and Restaurant for a "legitimate" Pastrami with mustard on Jewish Rye sandwich and pickles on the side. It was delicious! Our last stop that afternoon was at an amazing German butcher shop in Huntington Station called Forest Pork Store. Kevin told us about it's selection of German delicacies, including many different kinds of wurst, We walked out with the evening's dinner and then some! We had dinner that evening with Karen's cousin Lynn. The German dinner theme was a way to honor the memory of their grandfather Karl Saur. He was a German immigrant who lived and owned a butcher shop in Greenlawn on Long Island, New York. We caught up with cousin Lynn and shared happy memories celebrating family who we miss having around. Thursday morning we drove to my sister's house but had to stop along the way for a New York classic... an onion bagel with scallion cream cheese and coffee. Karen stayed to visit with Susie, but Brendan, Jeff and I got on the Long Island Railroad headed to Yankee Stadium for an afternoon baseball game. We arrived at Grand Central Station in Manhattan and took the Hudson Line up to 152nd Street station in the Bronx. We walked to Yankee Stadium where I purchased a ticket in the same section with Brendan and Jeff. Unfortunately the Yankees lost the game but it was a great opportunity to visit another ballpark and hang out with my nephew and brother-in-law. Following the game, we returned to Rockville Centre just in time for dinner. My sister Susan had ordered 4 New York style pizzas to feed the whole family. We had most of the gang there, including all 6 grandkids! It was the perfect way to end our last day on Long Island. Many thanks to all the Sheehan clan for their hospitality! We would have liked to stay longer but had to check out of Battle Row Campground the next morning. We plan on returning and will allow more time during our next visit; tentatively, September/October 2025 so we can experience the changing Fall colors. From Long Island, we are on our way to visit good friends in New Jersey.