#atozchallenge...A New Adventure..F- French Creek State Park Pennsylvania

Friday morning was beautiful, with a crisp clear sky.  I arose and had breakfast and that all important cup of Joe, got Izzy ship shaped for the journey ahead, fed and walked the dogs, did a walk-around Izzy, started the engine which purred to life. Released the brake, lifted the jacks and slowly rolled out of the site to a space where I could hook up Libby to go dump my tanks. By the time I pulled out of the campground it was 10:30 a.m.  I headed north to Fredrick, yes I know there's a more direct route to French Creek State Park outside of Douglassville, PA, but being me I wanted to see the countryside and take the longer route. I had several stops along the way to walk the dogs and charge Libby and run her through her gears. 

The Pennsylvania countryside is beautiful. I remember just bits and pieces of it from when I was six.  To see it again was like a time warp. We arrived at French Creek State Park around 3:00 p.m. after traveling down a very narrow winding road once we left the Turnpike. 

I managed to find a decent site in Loop B-site 7, however I was going to have to back Izzy in without help.  Getting Libby unhooked was fun (NOT) and not one person offered any help at all. Had I been here in Oklahoma I would have been approached and offered help in getting the car unhooked from the coach.  I did finally get Libby unhooked and moved out of the way and backed Izzy into the site after the second attempt.  I finally got her leveled, the slides out and for the first time the refrigerator on and going full-time. It is nice to be out of the boondocking mode and have full power. 

French Creek State Park is located just south of Douglassville, PA in a beautiful hardwood forest. Besides camping sites, yurts are available for rent. There is a beautiful Lake to do some fishing from and not far is

Hopewell Furnace National Historic site.  The area is so full of history it makes ones head spin!

I decided explore my surroundings by programming in the closest town, Douglassville, and headed off to find some food for dinner. Along the way I called my cousin Jill to let her know I had arrived and did she want to meet up the next morning and have breakfast? YES, YES,YES! We agreed to meet at the McDonald's in Douglasville.  

I found the WAWA gas and food mart and grabbed myself some cream, milk, eggs, ice and a pot pie for dinner and headed back to the rig.  It was the beginning of the weekend and the park was filling up fast. I was luck to have reserved a spot for 4 days.  It was interesting though, for all the people and dogs that were there you wouldn't have known there was anyone there at all. The only dogs that barked were mine! Of course!  The people camped next to me were from Boston but they were originally from Oklahoma. He had been a professor at Oklahoma State University(small world). They were traveling with a big mild-mannered dog, a large parrot and being former Okies, were willing to carry on a conversation.

With dinner done, dogs fed and dog duty done, I settled back to watch some TV and looked forward to seeing my cousin the next day as I had not seen her for sixty years. Time to call it a day. Thankful to have arrived at my destination safely.