Saturday, May 08, 2010

Weekend in Lickdale

Had a great day by the waters of the Swatara today. We’re at Lickdale Campground in Jonestown PA, just above the Hershey area off of exit 90 or Route 81. We discovered this campground at a RV show we attended back in March. After talking with the owners, we were impressed by their easygoing natures and the description of the campground. We decided to give the campground a try and made a reservation that afternoon. We’re glad we did!
We left home after work on Friday, so with getting RoadAbode, loaded up, hooked up, and pulled out, it was after 8:30pm before we pulled in our site at the campground. It didn’t help that we got into a few traffic backups along the way. Fortunately, our site was pretty level, so we could hookup and setup easily. This is the first time we’ve been in a pull-through site that is parallel to the campground road. We are positioned next to the Swatara Creek, which is a short flight of steps below our site. We have a nice cement pad for our patio – this is a great setup for our weekend.
In the morning, we were able to see how beautiful our view was from inside RoadAbode. Sitting at our dinette, we could watch the water pass by, along with a few geese and the occasional kayak. Am and I headed out for the morning walk with Molly and stopped by the camp store. The camp store is really well stocked, like a store should be – a little of everything you might just need, plus some things you never knew you needed. Once back at our site, we sat out on our patio and enjoyed the morning, listening to the bird songs and bubbling of the passing water. With fresh-brewed coffee in hand, the morning couldn’t have been much better!
Once we roused the girls, we had a breakfast of egg sandwiches, and planned out the day. We stayed close to camp and the girls had fun creating sailboats from paper plates, tying to our fishing poles and floating them from our site and reeling them back in until noon, when we had a lasagna lunch offered by the campground. After our filling lunch, we headed out to explore Indian Echo Caverns. Our family is full of self-proclaimed “cave geeks", enjoying to learn about local caverns wherever we travel. The grounds above the caves were beautifully kept, and the tour, lead by Ryan, was informative, with fun history and stories about the various formations and rooms within the caverns. My favorite Lore was about the "Mysterious Black Box" found by some adventurous kids back in the early 1900's; and the story of the "Cave Hermit", William Wilson, the hermit who lived on a ledge for 19 years, after the tragic death by hanging of his only sister in 1785. The best part of the whole trip was before we came - when we found out from Indian Echo’s website that pets are allowed to come along, so Am carried Molly thru the tour. She was well behaved, and I think enjoyed the scents and watching the other people on the tour. After the tour, I walked the grounds with Molly, as the girls checked out the wares of the gift and souvenir shop. Now happy with their parting gifts, headed to an old favorite - Chocolate World - Hershey’s ride thru a mockup of their chocolate factory. I stayed with Molly while the girls went through.
The paper plate sailboats
After a few scenic detours, we headed back to camp where I enjoyed a little nap and some cable TV, while the girls continued working on their sailboat projects. As the day progressed, the wind picked up and was blowing around the trees hard enough to knock a few medium size branches off around camp. The creek had a lot of green leaves floating past, knocked off by the strong gusts.

Dinner was a quick trip to Wendy’s, with a follow up of ice cream at the camp store. No fire tonight, I just thought it was too windy, plus the temp is dropping – it’s just too cozy to sit in RoadAbode and watch some interesting TV. As I type, everyone is dozing, and a slight rain is starting to come down – time to put away the chairs outside.


Update 2015 - Lickdale is now Jonestown KOA, and they are better than ever! love to visit this friendly park. They have upgraded their playground, and their shower house. The also host unique events like carnivals and car shows. Well staffed and great place to relax in Pennsylvania! Check them out!

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