Goodbye Amish Country/Hello New York

Amish Country -

In reflecting back on our time in Amish country, Mark and I discussed our overall favorite places since our journey began March 14, 2009, and we both concur that our time in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Amish area has been our absolute favorite to date. Who would've thought? The area is just so beautiful and breathtaking that words and pictures just simply can't do it justice. We were actually in a tiny little suburb of Lancaster PA called Intercourse PA...(I know, hard to believe the name and apparently came about when established in 1752 since it was the first city in the area where two roads met, hence the name). There were countless wonderful little shops, boutiques and restaurants that made the town feel like you were home. And sitting outside in the evenings, listening to the Amish horse-drawn buggies trotting through the streets was just awesome.

We noticed the entire Pennsylvania countryside, lined with farms and older homes, were kept immaculate. What's amazing is we didn't see a single farm or home that wasn't kept neat and immaculate. Yards were freshly mowed with flowers prominently displayed. Amish buggies could be seen prominently displayed in their driveway or barns. Many of these Amish farms sold their home-grown goods, i.e., eggs, fruits, vegetables and pies, right off of their front porches.

Moving on to New York

We took our time getting packed up this morning as we only had a couple hundred miles to drive today. We pulled out of our RV Park around 10:00 a.m. this morning, heading to Flordia, New York. We've discovered the further East we go, the fewer RV Parks there are. There are only 3 RV Parks within 100 miles of New York City and one of those, is Blackbear Campground, about 60 miles from New York, NY.

We discovered it costs a Whopping $55.00 a "Day" to just park in New York city! In addition, almost all of the roads leading into and out of New York are Toll roads. So, we've decided it's most cost effective to take an actual Tour of New York. One of the reasons we chose this RV campground is that they have a New York tour company that comes directly to the campground and will pick us up and return us directly back to the RV Park here in Florida, NY. We had hoped on taking the New York tour leaving here Monday morning...unfortunately, we discovered when we arrived that Monday's tour is all booked up. So, looks like we'll be here a few days longer than we had initially anticipated as the first available New York tour from our campground is this coming Thursday. Hmmmmmm, that means we have 4 days to hang around or chill before getting to see New York. The tour includes all the key things we'd like to see including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The 911 location and many others...so we're really looking forward to it.

I'd wanted to go to Coney Island/Boardwalk area and though it's only 70 miles from our location, due to parking and toll road costs, it's ridiculously expensive and I can't see spending $60.00+ the cost of diesel, just driving there and parking! Uhhhhhhhhh, think we'll have to pass on the Coney Island/Boardwalk option. But, I've no doubt we'll find other things to do and explore. Our campground is in a very nice secluded area, way off the beaten path...a terrific place to just kick back and relax a bit--especially after the last few hectic weeks in Washington DC and Philly.

Oh yea, the Weather here is just awesome! The highs for the upcoming week are in the low-mid 70's and the low's in the 50's!! After the heat we've had the last several weeks, I'm really looking forward to some weather with a little 'nip' in the air! Well, that about wraps up the latest on where we are and what we've been up to. Check back Friday or Saturday and I should have our New York trip update and pictures. Stay tuned...!~