Sugar Rush!

We decided to take the shuttle bus to the park to check out the Chocolate World stuff (not planning to do the amusement park).  Couldn't be easier: the shuttle picks up across the street from our site - no need to drive to it, park, then walk from the parking lot.  The shuttle drops you off right in front of Chocolate World...

Chocolate World is a huge candy store... and more.  We bought tickets to do a trolley tour, a chocolate tasting, and designing our own candy bars.  Tomorrow.  This evening, we walked around, mostly gawking at the people in a buying frenzy, grabbing up candy as though it won't ever be available again.  "Um, you know you can buy a Hershey Bar at... like, every store in the free world, right?"

We followed that arrow in the sign above for the free tour.  I didn't know it would be a ride that takes you through their manufacturing process.  Sorta.  Fun for kids and adults...

Then, of course, drops you off back in the candy store...

Tough decision...

I just want one piece of candy...

They have a food court there, too; with real food.  We were thinking about going somewhere for supper, but decided to have a sandwich here.  And Joan suggested we top it off with a sundae... topped with Hershey's Chocolate, of course.  I thought about that for a nano-second... "I'm in!"

It is all nicely done.  I was fascinated by the hordes grabbing stuff like they were looting... teenage boys buying stuffed animals... people carrying big bags of candy... t-shirts, jackets, Christmas ornaments.  And workers constantly stocking and straightening candy (when kids think they're going to get it and Mom says, "No!").

Entertaining.  And, they had to funnel through the check-out lines...

We caught the shuttle bus back to the RV park.  We have our day mapped out for tomorrow.

Sweet!

;-)

What the "PA" is short for...

Most folks would say: Pennsylvania.  Well, yeah, but those folks were not driving on the Interstate in Pennsylvania today.  I think "Pain in the Ass" highways would be more accurate.  Only 170 miles to cover today... it was 11 miles of decent road, 147 miles of nasty, lumpy road, and 12 miles of road construction...

I am kidding, of course: it was only 8 miles of decent road and 15 miles of road construction; I didn't want you to think it was bad.  ;-)

Before heading to the Hershey Park Camping Resort (part of Hershey Park), we stopped at Sam's Club... saved about 25¢ per gallon on gas and picked up a few things in the store.  We knew we were early for the 3:00 check-in time at the park.  It is a warm day today (upper 80s), so we fired up the generator and left the a/c on for Iz while we went into the store.

Then, to the park.  It is on... Sweet Street.

Rolling into the park, it is apparent that they know how to move people around (like any good amusement park).  We parked in their registration area, and when I went inside, the young lady at the desk asked my name, had a packet ready for us, offered a Hershey Kiss, and asked, "Do you want the balance on the card you gave us?"  About 30 seconds later, we were headed for our site...

It is pretty much a gravel parking lot, and the sites are close together.  Not as close as the park last night, but not spacious.  It is a very nice $35 per night RV park... unfortunately, they charge a bit more than twice that amount.  We pulled into our site (pre-selected by us on-line), right across from where the shuttle bus picks up...

One of the perks of staying here in the park is being able to get into the park an hour before the general public, if you plan on doing the amusement park.  No, I plan on eating my body weight in chocolate.  Over the course of a couple days, not all at one sitting... I'm not a hog.

We pulled into our site and got set up...

Isabella was chomping at the bit to go outside.  Again, kidding - we do not use a bit on her (that's horse talk), but she was really anxious to see what this place is all about.  We walked about two sites down, when she heard a very scary noise (I think someone put out the steps on their travel trailer) and she freaked.  Trying to head her back to the coach, the people in the site two down saw a cat on a leash and said threatening things like: "Oh, what a cute kitty!"  and, "Look - she walks on a leash!"  Obviously, cat killers.

She handles fear well by moon-walking to the full length of her leash, then hunching up in a ball... much like an armadillo without a shell.  That is her proven defensive posture, guaranteed to to frighten off intended attackers.

I got her back to our site, where she pounded on the door and screamed, "Let me in!  Let me in!  They're trying to kill me!"...

That's OK, it was quite warm out and I was ready for some air conditioning.

We'll gather our info for the park (mostly the "making the chocolate" part) and join the throngs of people here.

Will it melt?

Heading next to Hershey, Pennsylvania, today, because... Hershey.  As in: chocolate.  It is on the way to our next destination of Washington, DC, so we plan to spend a few days so I can eat chocolate.  Joan got to do wine tastings earlier in our trip - I am hoping for chocolate tastings!  ;-)

The park where we have reservations is part of Heshey Park... located on Sweet Street.  Sounds like my kinda place.

The high for the day there is supposed to be 87º.  Will the chocolate be OK?  ;-)

I'll let you know.  It's only about 3 to 4 hours from where we are right now, and check-in time at the RV park isn't until 3:00... latest we've run into anywhere.  Probably keeps you in the park for an extra day, so you can go eat chocolate.  No rush to get out of this place this morning.

See you down the road.

It's a new world record!

Well, for this motorhome...a FIVE STATE DAY!!  Whoohooo!

Today would be about making miles.  We were rolling out of the campground around 9:00; the proposed destination: somewhere in Pennsylvania.

This tour will be a "through the windshield," because we only stopped to gas/eat/pee.

Two lane roads as we pulled away from Plymouth, MA, then onto the Interstate...

State Two: Rhode Island...

It doesn't count if you don't do one of the following: stay overnight, eat, pee.  Check that off!  Speaking of eating, apparently, they are concerned about my sodium intake...

We passed the highest point in Rhode Island: Jerimoth Hill, elevation 812 feet.  Checking Gas Buddy, we stopped to fill up the tank in the coach... about 40¢ per gallon less than in Connecticut.

Rhode Island is a small state - didn't take that long to roll through.  Onto State Three, Connecticut...

"Turn at the next highway."

"Nott Highway?"

"What?  Yes, it is a highway!"

It says so right on the GPS: Nott Highway.  Who's on first?  ;-)

More two lanes and Interstate...

Hartford looked nice as we passed by...

Um, I think this might be my exit...

Scenic, wooded roads...

And then, the first of the traffic back-ups...

State Number Four...

Ah, yes, we're back in the land of the Text Stops...

A nice vista...

And more traffic...

A traffic accident - nothing you can do but move along at about 5 mph.  Then, crossing the Hudson River...

A bit browner than I remember.  "Hey, if we take a left here, we can zip through New York City..."

OK, maybe not.  On to State Five...

If I had been willing to take a short detour, we could have made it a Six State Day (New Jersey is right across the river).  Nah, I'm done for the day.  We pulled into an RV park for an overnight stop - this is not a campground...

Hard-packed gravel sites.  None of those pesky trees in the way.  It is close enough to the highway that we can hear the road noise... the a/c will block that out.  This park got decent reviews on one of the RV park review sites that we use, and I get it: easy in, easy out, mostly pull-through sites (don't have to unhook the car), and decent utility hookups.

Izzy was ready for a walk; I was ready to relax.  We compromised and went for a walk.

"Where's the grass?"

"There's some grass over that way - by those pallets of bricks"...

"Interesting.  132... no, wait - 133 dogs have peed right here."  I guess she wasn't really all that interested in the grass.

We'll go for another walk later, after it cools down a bit.  Got to around 80º this afternoon.  I like air conditioning!