2013 - Winterizing Again :-(

Another great camping season has drawn to a close here in the Northeast United States.  Well, I'm sure there are people out there camping and there are some campgrounds still open, but the majority of the area closes November 1st for the winter and will reopen next April once the temps are back up above freezing.  This year we had a lot of great trips and especially perfect weather for all of them.  Most importantly, we spent a lot of time together as a family and enjoyed the outdoors, from here in PA to Assateague Island, MD, we were able to enjoy camping with each other and friends we made along the way.

Prior to our last camping trip at Little Red Barn, we decided to move the camper from our current storage/parking location up to my MIL home.  This property is large and had ample room to make a parking pad for the camper.  After scavenging some timber beams that were on the property, we called and had 4 yards of 3/4 Modified-minus stone mix delivered.  Wow, that stuff is dense and like raking/shoveling concrete, but it made a very nice pad.  All the kids helped too, which made it even better.

Spreading the pile of Modified mix for our new parking pad

Compacting the nearly level pad using the lawn tractor

Parked, awaiting the final cleaning

The weather was nice for a good cleaning so I pulled out the checklists I made last season and and began on the interior.  Compartments were emptied and wiped out, and the kids placed the items in the van for the trip home.  Everything was done quickly and neatly, and then it was time to RV antifreeze the lines, water pump, and tank.  Took a little while, and almost 2 full gallons of the pink stuff until the water pump was able to pick up the solution and pump it thru the lines.  Everything was now done inside, and I began to close the camper back up.  A walk around the outside, completing the list of items on the checklist as I went, and it was time to put the cover on nice and secure for the winter weather and cold winter winds.

Till April my friend,....

2013 - Trip 10 - Little Red Barn Campground - Halloween Weekend!

The weeks leading up to Halloween have been extremely busy between work, home, and planning for the weekend.  Finally the weather forecast began to show the camping weekend ahead, but not as a comfortable fall weekend that we have been having but with a cold front passing thru middle of the week dropping the nightly temps into the freezing mark and daily highs struggling to break 50 degrees.  The packing list now changed to include gloves, hats, and more blankets, we began to talk about driving two cars.  This would allow the costumes to be packed safely so they didn't get bent or damaged with everyone in the car, as they are quite large this year.  If you recall, Little Red Barn is where the Lego Family had their debut,... so this year we had to come up with another good family theme.

Over the past few weeks, we began gathering cardboard, paint, and the thoughts for this years costume theme,... and finally decided on Mr and Mrs Pac-man and ghosts!  Each of the girls are a different color ghost, with their backs being painted in the color scheme of after Pac-man eats the power pill, changing the ghosts and making them run away.  Becky and I would be the love struck Mrs and Mr Pac-man, chasing after the ghosts.  I even downloaded the theme music to the arcade game onto my iPhone so we could have that play as we walked.  The costumes are made from large cardboard sheets, primed with paint to help resist curling, and then finish painted on the outside with the colors each of the girls chose.  For ease, they just slip their heads thru the costume and it rests on their shoulders.

Front of the Costumes

Back of the Costumes!

Our Campsite for the weekend, spacious and Large!

All the kids playing Washers

Craft Time at the pavilion making Trick or Treat Bags

Fall Festive Group Photo!

End of Season Photo with Becky

As you can see from the photos, we had a great weekend of fall weather camping and meeting new friends, while also running into a few other campers that we have seen at previous campgrounds through out the season.  At the costume contest, the girls took SECOND place!!!  This year they didn't have individual categories, so taking second place was even a better accomplishment!

End of Season Already? BOO!