Cherry Hill Park

We stayed at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very nice resort, convenient to the DC area.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-06-09
  • Check out: 2024-06-23
  • 14 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy
  • High temps 76-96°F, lows 57-69°F
  • Little wind, gusts to 18 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise during the week; lots of noise during the weekends

Site:

  • #39, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • A little unlevel site; high on driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 45 feet long by 14 feet wide
  • About 12 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees behind site
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 50 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, very conveniently located (less than a 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 25-45 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 43 ms ping
  • AT&T: 500 Mbps down, 60 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: 20 Mpbs down, 20 Mbps up, 8 ms ping
  • Verizon: 15 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Pools
  • Onsite cafe and food delivery to site
  • Package delivery to office
  • Bus to DC mall
  • Tour buses

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Location, location, location!

If you want to visit the DC area with your motorhome, trailer, fifth-wheel, tent, or what-have-you, this is THE place to do it. It’s convenient to the Beltway and close to a Metro stop for all your sightseeing needs. They also offer tours from the campground, which is just the cherry on top. The campground is top-notch and well-kept, with all the amenities you could want (including food delivery right to your site), which is a plus on a travel day. We were in site 39, in the far corner of the park, backing onto trees. The site was a little unlevel side-to-side, but nothing our levelers couldn’t cope with. It was also plenty long enough for our 40′ motorhome with space to park our tow vehicle in front. There was some freeway noise, but it was mostly a distant hum. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We have already booked our next stay when we swing through the area next year. We camped at Cherry Hill Park – Washington, D.C. In a Motorhome.

A handy campground map for getting to our site:

Map

And on the other site, a map of campground features:

Map

Tours:

Tours

Cafe, bus, etc:

Cafe, bus, etc

Wristbands:

Wristbands

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Our site

Backed into the foliage:

Backed into the foliage

Our site at night; we don’t usually turn on our undercarriage accent lights and door light, but I did on this occasion, as Jenn was arriving back after spending a few days with her girlfriends:

Our site at night

We appreciated an onsite cafe with food delivery to the site on arrival day (and probably would have partaken on other evenings if we weren’t busy with exploring etc):

Food delivery

Park history:

History

Camp store:

Camp store

We appreciated and took much advantage of package delivery to the office:

Packages

Bus depot, where tour buses and commuter buses depart:

Bus depot

Bus depot

Pond:

Pond

Playground:

Playground

Event pavilion:

Event pavilion

Ballroom:

Ballroom

Cafe, pools, clubhouse:

Cafe, pools, clubhouse

Pools

Pools

Another playground:

Playground

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Mini golf

Splash pad:

Splash pad

Game court:

Game court

Pond:

Pond

Tent area, each with hammocks and gazebos:

Tent area, each with hammocks and gazebos

Yurt:

Yurt

Cabins:

Cabins

Cabins

Cabin

Other RV sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Pull-through sites:

Other sites

A large gathering next to us for a couple of days:

Large gathering next to us

Prevost departing:

Prevost departing

Gazebo and trash (the squirrels enjoyed investigating the trash):

Gazebo and trash

This place is so huge, they have a shuttle that roams around:

Shuttle

The evening tractor pull rides were popular:

Tractor pull ride

A very nice place. We have already booked another stay here for next year.

Travel from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland

We drove our coach just 65 miles, about 1.5 hours of driving, from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving the campground

Road outside the park:

Road outside park

Narrow curvy road:

Narrow curvy road

Barn:

Barn

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Manchester:

Manchester

Barn:

Barn

Roundabout:

Roundabout

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

I-95:

I-95

Maryland 212 West:

Maryland 212 West

Our destination, Cherry Hill Park:

Cherry Hill Park

Check-in lanes:

Check-in lanes

Entrance lanes

24-hours staffed entrance gate:

Entrance gate

Our site:

Our site

Backing in:

Backing in

NIRVC annual servicing

As previously mentioned, we went to NIRVC in DC for our annual servicing of the engine, generator, Aqua-Hot, etc.

They used synchronized jacks to raise up our coach:

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

They pointed out that the oil pan has a bit of a leak, but we decided to not doing anything about that this time; we’ll keep an eye on it:

Oil pan

They also indicated a leak in the radiator fan, which we did address by replacing it (a rather expensive operation):

Radiator fan

The bar between the front jacks was loose; the bolts on one side were broken, so they fixed that:

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

Coach raised up

They also replaced the engine air filter, as we do every year:

Coach raised up

And serviced the Aqua-Hot:

Aqua-Hot

We usually get various branches of NIRVC to do the servicing, for consistency.

Gettysburg National Military Park: memorials and cemetery

The second post about Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including the battlefield memorials and Gettysburg National Cemetery.

The interactive map again:

The battlefield has a bunch of roads, dotted with monuments from the various states and military divisions that participated in the battle:

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

GIF:

Battlefield monument

Building

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Battlefield monument

Gettysburg National Cemetery:

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Lincoln address memorial, where he gave his famous speech:

Lincoln address memorial

Lincoln address memorial

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Gettysburg National Military Park: museum and visitor center

We visited Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, including a third-party museum and visitor center.

An interactive map:

Gettysburg National Military Park

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Visitor center

Gift store:

Visitor center

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war”:

Exhibits

Exhibits:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Theater:

Theater

The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360° painting by the French artist Paul Philippoteaux depicting Pickett’s Charge, the climactic Confederate attack on the Union forces during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. It was painted in 1883, and measures 42 feet by 377 feet. The viewing of it started with a dramatization of the battle with light effects:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

After the light show, it was shown without light effects. The foreground in front of the painting is a natural-looking landscape, blending into the painting:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

An easter egg: a wounded President Lincoln is in this part, representing a wounded nation:

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Impressive stuff.

Cyclorama

Cyclorama

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

Exhibits

The Gettysburg address:

Exhibits

Exhibits

Tomorrow, the battlefield and cemetery.

Codorus State Park

We stayed at Codorus State Park in Hanover, Pennsylvania. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A last-minute booking, but not a great state park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-06-07
  • Check out: 2024-06-09
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy
  • High temps 78-79°F, lows 56-60°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 19 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • No neighbor noise

Site:

  • #102, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Very unlevel site, high on driver side and back; unable to get completely level; used air leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • 30-90 feet to neighbor passenger side
  • Driveway on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 75 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Loose sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 4-8 Mbps down, 0.1 Mbps up, 50-100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 50 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Verizon: 10-25 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Narrow, twisty roads and sloped sites

This park is not big rig-friendly. The roads are twisty and narrow, with many low trees. We were in site 102, which was incredibly sloped front-to-back, so we dealt with living on an angle for our two-night stay. You could place a marble at one end of the motorhome and it would have rolled to the front unaided, this is how bad it was. An interesting quirk of this park is that they have “pet-free” areas where you’re not allowed to camp with pets. I never did see any explanation of this policy and it didn’t make any sense to me since people were walking their dogs through the “pet-free” area anyway. So, if you’re camping with pets, be sure to double-check what the rule is for a site before you book it, because the ranger at check-in will call you out if they think they see a pet with you. We camped at Codorus State Park in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Atomic Dog Cidery near Gettysburg has good food and cider. Just be careful if you want to purchase some cans to take home, as the park has a strict “no alcohol” policy and your nosy neighbors will comment on it even if you’re not drinking it….

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The site was very unlevel; we couldn’t get level with hydraulic jacks, and this was the best that our air leveling could manage:

Unlevel

Water tank behind our site:

Water tank

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

We won’t stay here again.

Travel from Manassas, Virginia to Hanover, Pennsylvania

We drove our coach 102 miles, about two hours of driving, from Manassas, Virginia to Hanover, Pennsylvania. This was a last-minute change to our route, to avoid spending the weekend at NIRVC, and so we could pick up another state.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

I-495:

I-495

I-495

I-495

Narrow lanes:

Narrow lanes

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Fun with zoom

Exit to Damascus:

Exit to Damascus

Water tower:

Water tower

Interesting tower:

Interesting tower

Westminster, Maryland:

Westminster, Maryland

Westminster, Maryland

Some kids on the side of the road waved and signaled to blow our air horn; Jenn obliged them, and they jumped with joy (see it in the video from today):

Kids

Mason-Dixon Line:

Mason-Dixon Line

Welcome to Pennsylvania:

Welcome to Pennsylvania

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

A little narrow:

A little narrow

“Sorry your GPS is wrong”; one of our GPSes did say to go through this driveway as if it were a road, but fortunately I check our route quite carefully, so I knew about it ahead of time:

Sorry your GPS is wrong

Lots of distinctive Pennsylvania barns like this in the area:

Barn

Entering the state park, “campers next left”:

Campers next left

Camper check-in:

Camper check-in

We untoaded in the dump station:

Dump station

Following the coach to our site:

Following coach

Our site, rather unlevel:

Our site

Kenwood DNR1008RVS GPS receiver

The stereo/GPS that came with our coach had a small screen, and was no longer receiving map updates, which makes it hard to rely on it for navigation. So we purchased a replacement, the Kenwood DNR1008RVS; a newer model with a 10.1” display, wireless CarPlay to connect to our iPhones, and map updates.

Here’s the old unit, to the right of the camera display:

Camera and GPS

The old unit removed, and wires for new unit:

Old unit removed, and wires for new unit

The new unit in the dash, without its screen:

New unit in dash, without screen

The screen added:

New unit with screen

It still mirrors to the TV above the windshield:

Still mirrors to TV

Though the screen on the unit is big and clear enough that there’s no need to mirror it; I can easily see it from the passenger seat:

Both screens

New unit

Using the unit with CarPlay:

New GPS

Much better!