Tuesday, July 2, 2019

GrandCamp #1

Bob and I got back yesterday from our first week of GrandCamp, bringing back happy children and lots of good memories. This year we have split it up into two one-week sessions, with two groups taking turns in a week. As a bonus, each group gets to either ride to GrandCamp in the motorhome or else ride home from camp in it. For some of them, this was a first, since we tend to park our home and use a car to transport the children.

The campground was one we have been to a couple of times in the past with young Rob, but it seems there were a lot of improvements made in the years since we were there last. We were in a different (50 amp) section of the park, too, since we have switched from the travel trailer to the motorhome.

Lancaster County is a lovely place, filled with rolling hills and beautiful farmland. It’s not so much fun to get there from NJ, through the bumper to bumper traffic around Philadelphia and then along the narrow country roads with a large RV, but it’s worth the trip.
Amish buggies and walking families share the road so it’s important to stay alert when driving around Lancaster.

Adam and Alex were our first set of GrandCampers, and our first order of business was to try out the pool.
We were very fortunate to have good weather all week and were able to swim every day. After the swim the boys enjoyed a cookout ending (of course) with S’mores. Giant marshmallows added to the fun.

We had S’mores in one form or another every night. One evening we made mini-S’mores pizzas!
On Tuesday we went to an Amish farmhouse tour, which was located pretty much in the parking lot of a Target store! Very strange. But once inside we forgot about Target and “went back in time” to an Amish community. We learned all about this interesting culture and then got to explore a little. At the woodcarver’s barn the boys were introduced to the game of checkers and we saw an old fashioned country weather station 😆
We visited some goats...

And the boys got to sit in a real buggy. They even got to try out Amish scooters.

On Wednesday we went miniature golfing in one of the nicest mini golf places we’ve ever found. It was set in the woods along a brook with waterfalls, ponds, and lots of flowers.


Afterwards we visited Shady Maple Market and Smorgasbord for lunch. This place is a real destination! It boasts the largest buffet in the USA, a huge farm market and grocery store, plus a large dry goods store.

On Thursday morning the boys and Bob went fishing. I was sure they’d be right back but instead they were out for two hours, and they both caught fish. What a great experience!
Friday was the last day. After a final swim we drove into Exton to meet up with Catherine who brought us two more campers and we said goodbye to Adam and Alex. Next time I’ll tell you all about that session.


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