Rocky Gap State Park

Wow, this park rivals Maumee Bay State Park in Ohio for fanciest, although the sites here are a bit more rustic -- no paved pads and more woods. When we drove in, it was hard to imagine it was a campground! There is a golf course right at the entrance, and even a casino! We found an aviary inside the campground with rescue birds and several rangers. The bald eagles were beautiful, as were all the different owls. These are birds who were hit by cars and can no longer fly, all except for the horned owl which someone had shot. The birds were getting a health check while we were there, and the ranger talked about how they keep them eating a healthy amount and how having another of their kind to share their enclosure makes them healthier. This was all completely unexpected in a state park campground! There are biking and hiking trails, a swimming beach, kayaks and canoes. This is definitely somewhere to stay for more than a day. There are multiples campsite loops, and not all have electric. But our spot tonight does, and we are very comfortable.

The drive down to Maryland from New Jersey was one of the easiest we've had, although there was a strange spot where everyone just stopped for no apparent reason. There was no road construction and no accident...maybe an animal crossed the road too far ahead for us to see. The views were beautiful as we drove the last 50 miles or so along the top of Maryland.

Poor Chester got his claw caught in a tread on the steps to the trailer and cried out in pain. We will definitely be covering the treads with a towel on this trip and then finding a more permanent solution when we get home. Fortunately, there was no lasting damage. The campground puts all the dog sites in a couple of loops, so we have many, many dogs around us. That makes our crazy cockers even crazier, so they are mostly resting inside where they won't be bothered by outside sounds. Not all of the sites are occupied tonight, but we're pretty sure the place fills up completely on a summer weekend.

Oh, and a follow-up to the trailer tire issue. We were able to get the tire replaced and the new tire mounted at Jefferson Tire in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey. They were extremely helpful, and we'd recommend them to anyone staying at Mahlon Dickerson. The husband also enjoyed revisiting his memories at Home Depot, since we don't have any in Steamboat. He got himself a flat jack, and will now be able to change a tire in nothing flat (no pun intended). When we went to our friends' house fro dinner, the husband and our friend welded some plugs onto the hitch that made it fit better in the receptor, so it was a good day for the trailer. The only bad thing is that the dinette seat back is pretty much broken. It's a very shoddy piece of work and will need to be completely rebuilt when we return home.

We discovered that Mahlon Dickerson was the Secretary of the Navy in the 1830s when we took a walk on the trails on our full day in NJ. There's a great nature trail at the park (although we didn't have the guide so didn't know what the numbers referred to) that hooks up to miles of hiking and biking trails there. Our friends met us there for a campground brunch and then a walk, and Chester made friends with Vincent.

All in all, our NJ stay was terrific and our trip to Maryland smooth. We're off to Kentucky tomorrow morning!