Cross-Country Camping Trip, Part 7

Still with me? OK, here we go on several days of mostly traveling, starting with Connecticut to Philadelphia on Friday (9/8/06).



My sister and her boyfriend live in Philly, and despite the fact that we only gave them a few hours notice and they were leaving for vacation the next day, we spent a nice evening and morning with them at their new house. Sorry for the short notice, sis! Next time we’ll coordinate our plans better, and try not to visit the city with a trailer in tow…. I was a bit shell-shocked from being in the city at all, and glad it was Shaun and not me driving. Have I mentioned that I. Am. Not. A. City. Person? I literally feel like I’m starting to suffocate when I get around that many people and cars and buildings and narrow streets.

Saturday (9/9/06) we headed east to Lancaster, PA, to visit some friends from grad school. They have two kids now (and one on the way!), so it was good to see them and get all the kids together. We had dinner with them, then got back on the road and went a couple more hours that evening. We ended up staying in Burnt Cabins, PA at a little campground (Ye Olde Mill Campground) near a historic mill. I read on a historic marker sign on the way out the next morning that the town got its name from the burning of settler’s cabins by Provincial forces, in an attempt to placate the Native Americans in the area who were understandably upset at the white people’s ever-expanding western frontier. Strange to think of central Pennsylvania being uncharted wilderness frontier territory.

Sunday (9/10/06) was spent in traveling from Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania to Jamestown, Indiana. We camped at another small campground, the Overnight Campground. Such original campground names! Nothing much to say about this place, except that it was the third night we slept in the new camper, and we are really enjoying it.

Monday (9/11/06) we traveled from central Indiana to Grand Island, Nebraska. We crossed both the Mississippi River and Missouri River this day. Here’s the Mississippi:



We saw lots of corn, cows, and trains on this leg of the journey, and Emma helpfully pointed out nearly every one. Do you have any idea how many cornfields, cows, and trains there are in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska???!!! She and Shaun were "Mooing Buddies" every time we saw cows.

We spent the night at the Mormon Island Campground, a Nebraska State Recreation Area and another very nice campground. It was within sight of the highway, but we heard an owl in the trees behind the campsite. Emma and I saw a toad on the path to the restroom, after which she refused to walk on her own. She wanted to be carried so she wouldn't step on the "little scary dinosaur."

Up (semi-) early the next morning and on to Colorado!