A nice morning at Hillsborough, moving to Camp Lemora

Some other 2-legged visitors at the campground

 While chatting with a fellow camper here at Hillsborough park (he was from Manitoulin Island, near where we live in Ontario) I mentioned that we had to find a site for the weekend. He told me about a private camp not far away. We had noticed it on our way to Hillsborough, but it looked like a park for large seasonal trailers. At the back they had an area for us transients though. 

When we left Hillsborough it was just a 5 minute drive to Camp Lemora (now called River Palms RV Resort I think, in 2024). Pleasant people there, and a good atmosphere. We signed up for 4 nights, to carry us through the weekend. Sites are just in an open field, but large with full hookups. 

En route to Camp Lemora

After we set up our trailer, the 4 of us headed to a Camping World store, where I was able to get the part I needed to repair our awning bracket that I had broken at home (got a bit too close with the snowblower, getting the trailer out of a snowdrift). Of course we got a few other "necessities" too. Then we all went to a Bob Evans for good lunch. 

After lunch A&R headed in to Zephyrhills for the weekend while we did some grocery and wine shopping. Back at camp the Sandhill Cranes put on a show:

Tonight we were invited to supper at A&R's friends Jerry and Ellen in Zephyrhills, a nice chicken dinner. Jerry gave us a bag of oranges and another of grapefruit that he had picked the day before. The fruit looked dirty, but Alan had warned us that this is normal. It cleaned up great, and was some of the nicest oranges and grapefruits that we've ever had. I don't normally care for grapefruit, but these were lovely, not too acidic like we get at home.

Note: A search in Google Maps now (2024) finds Camp Lemora quite a ways away from here. It looks like the camp we stayed at is called River Palms RV Resort now. The address shown on this map is where we stayed though.

A night at Hillsborough State Park FL

We got away from New Green Acres in good time today, about 8:30, as we wanted to get to Hillsborough State Park in good time. We could only get one night reserved at this park, due to reservations for the weekend and the State Fair. A park ranger wasn't too optimistic about finding another site nearby, so we wondered about tomorrow.

Luckily Alan and Ruth were mooch-docking at some friends in nearby Zephyrhills through the weekend, so it was just our problem for the weekend. It's easier to find a spot for just one camper sometimes. Meanwhile we had a nice site with water/electric hookups, and lots of vegetation different than home.

 

We're not in Kansas (or Ontario) any more

 

  

 

 

Further south, getting out of the cold and snow today

Getting fueled up in the morning

 Cool morning at -4C (about 25F). A nice sunny day but still snow around, especially at the higher elevations of this part of the route, about 3,000 ft. 

The runaway truck lane looks pretty snowy ahead

 There were lots of hills along the route today. Alan's 3/4 ton diesel truck didn't really notice the hills, but our Tahoe with the 5.3 gas engine did. We needed to go faster than Alan down the hills, to make up for the slower uphills.  

 As we approached the northern border of South Carolina we dropped below 2,000 ft elevation, and the snow disappeared for good this trip, at least until we returned north again going home. Temperature got up to 12C by 3pm, a really nice change!

 We were camped by 4pm at New Green Acres campground, just off I95 about 60 miles west of Charleston SC. Sunny and mild, we finally had some daylight to start organizing the trailer and car contents. The first camping night always needs some organizing for us.

 

 

 

 

 

It was 1C (about 33F) for our 8:30 departure from Cranbury. Luckily it stayed above freezing until about noon, as the wet snow got thicker as the day wore on. We had a good lunch stop at a Cracker Barrel about 2pm. It's pretty country through here, hilly with deep gullies, and deer on the hillsides. I'm not sure why we didn't get any pictures so far, but some will start tomorrow. 

Because of the snow we stopped in good time again, this time at a Hampton Inn near Wytheville VA. They had a nice lounge where they offered complimentary tea or hot chocolate, cookies and fruit. The 4 of us met up there before supper for a relax.

 

 

New Dundee to Cranberry PA

Another driving day with no pictures. We left New Dundee about 7:15, to meet up with my cousin Alan and his wife Ruth in Brantford. We'll be travelling together for most of this trip. Alan and Ruth are familiar with the route we'll be taking and we were grateful to have them as guides.

After rendezvousing at a Brantford Tim Horton's we set off to the US border crossing at Fort Erie. At the border crossing the agent demanded proof we weren't planning to stay in the US. He said we had so much stuff with us we must be planning to move. We thought he was kidding at first, but nope, he was seriously giving us a hard time. He did the same thing to Alan and Ruth behind us with their truck camper. We were allowed in eventually though. 

(Note from the future, 2023: there must have been something going on in those years. We've had very little problems at the border in more recent years, thank goodness). 

After a few shopping stops for things like US cell phone service we headed further south. At a rest stop we found a coupon book for accommodation discounts, and used them at a Comfort Inn at Cranbury, just north of Pittsburgh, for an early stop. A good clean room, free wifi, breakfast for $63 for each of our 2 rooms.

We had wanted to get past Pittsburgh this first night, to avoid morning rush hour tomorrow, but were all tired, and with the temperature dropping were concerned about slippery roads too. A good decision.