RV

Posts featuring the coach.

Little Beaver State Park

We stayed at Little Beaver State Park in Beaver, West Virginia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park near New River Gorge National Park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-06-23
  • Check out: 2024-06-30
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, some rain
  • High temps 77-88°F, lows 55-64°F
  • Little wind wind, gusts to 21 MPH, sheltered by trees

Noise:

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

Site:

  • #19, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind and in front of coach
  • Somewhat unlevel site, high in front and driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 100 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • 20 feet to neighbor on front/passenger side; 30 feet to road on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
  • 80 PSI water, conveniently located
  • No sewer

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 6 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • AT&T: 1 Mbps down, 0.1 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
  • Verizon: 15 Mbps down, 4-6 Mbps up, 38 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Dump station

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Good base for New River Gorge

This is a nice state park conveniently located near New River Gorge National Park and not far from the freeway. A word of caution, however: the road to get to the park and the roads in the park are not for the faint of heart, whether you have a small or big rig. The way in from the north is slightly less heart-stopping but still not ideal. Site 19 was a pull-through with a steep driveway and a relatively flat area about halfway, which was just perfect for our 40′ motorhome and tons of room to park our tow vehicle either in front or behind. We camped at Little Beaver State Park in a Motorhome.

Park campground and trail map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Completed another row of National Park stickers:

National Park stickers

A lightning storm during our stay:

Lightning map

This site didn’t have any sewer connection. After a week, our gray tank was at 71%, and black tank at 63%:

71% gray and 63% black tanks

Squirrel:

Squirrel

Squirrel

White-Marked Tussock Moth caterpillar:

Catapiller

Catapiller

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Office:

Office

Registered campers only:

Registered campers only

Playground:

Playground

Cabin:

Cabin

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from College Park, Maryland to Beaver, West Virginia

We drove our coach 314 miles, about five hours of driving, from College Park, Maryland to Beaver, West Virginia. The beginning of our westward migration, heading towards our home base in Washington state.

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

Route

An interactive map:

Toading up:

Toading up

I-495:

I-495

Church

I-495

Welcome to Virginia:

Welcome to Virginia

Paladin in his high place:

Paladin in his high place

I-64:

I-64

I-66:

I-66

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

Tiffin Phaeton motorhome:

Tiffin Phaeton motorhome

Apples on water tower:

Apples on water tower

We were going to park and have lunch at the fuel stop, but there wasn’t any parking that would work for us, so we continued on. There wasn’t any room at the next rest area either:

Rest area

So I made lunch on the road:

Lunch

A later rest area:

Rest area

Rest area

I-64:

I-64

I-64

I-64

Welcome to West Virginia:

Welcome to West Virginia

Of course, we had to play John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” while entering the state:

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Rest area:

Rest area

Rest area

I-64 hill:

I-64 hill

I-64

7% grade:

7% grade

Sandstone Mountain elevation 2,765 feet:

Sandstone Mountain elevation 2765 feet

Little Beaver State Park:

Little Beaver State Park

Narrow sloping curve:

Narrow sloping curve

Little Beaver State Park

Narrow entrance:

Narrow entrance

Lake:

Lake overflow

Lake

Very narrow road to campground:

Narrow road to campground

Narrow curvy road

Campground office:

Check-in office

Guided to our site:

Guided to our site

Custom desk

Our motorhome came with a couple of couches opposite each other, which we removed before even moving into the coach.

We replaced the passenger-side couch with a cheap desk in 2021, then in 2022 we replaced the desk with IKEA drawers and cupboards. and Jenn used a height-adjustable platform on the end of the dining table.

While in Red Bay earlier in 2024, we had Cody Poores of Cody’s Custom Cabinets build a custom desk for us, based on my design. We wanted a built-in desk that matched the existing cabinetry, didn’t take up too much space on travel days, but expanded when in use. Plus included a space for Paladin’s litter box. Here’s my design:

Desk design sketch

A timelapse video of drawing the design using Linea Sketch on my iPad Pro with Pencil:

The empty space after removing the IKEA cabinet; the main TV is on a televator, inside that cabinet below the window:

Empty space

A nice thing about Cody’s service is that he comes to you at your campsite in Red Bay. Here’s the new desk arriving at the end of the week:

Desk arriving

Being brought inside:

Being brought inside

Desk

My design included a TV lift for the computer monitor. We supplied the lift mechanism. Here it’s being mounted:

Mounting monitor lift

Back of the new cabinet, with the monitor lift area and cupboards on the left, drawers in the middle, and the cat litter area on the right:

Backside

Backside

The desk in place, without desktops (and with the main TV raised):

Desk in place

Desk in place

A closer look at the cupboard and monitor lift area without the desktops:

Cupboard without desktop

The right-hand pull-out desktop installed:

Desktop in place

The left desktop also in place:

Left desktop in place

Desk

The new computer monitor (Apple Studio Display) raised, still wrapped:

Monitor raised

The completed desk with the coach slide-outs in for travel:

Desk with slides in

We store the desk chair by the dining table for travel, and stack the dining chairs:

Desk with slides in

Looking down the back at the monitor lift and cables:

Monitor lift

A couple of grommets for wires:

Grommets for wires

Wires behind the drawers between the two grommets:

Wires behind drawers

A side view of the monitor lift:

Monitor lift

Cupboards:

Cupboards

Cat litter bin and litter box on a drawer slide, so it can be easily pulled out for cleaning:

Cat litter bin and box on slide

Jenn’s typical work setup:

Work setup

Work setup

Work setup

When work is done, the monitor can be lowered and desktop closed, and the main TV raised:

TV

There are a couple of Velcro patches inside the desk, and corresponding patches on Jenn’s work and personal laptops, so they can be stored on travel days without sliding around:

Monitor down

Laptops stored

Travel mode:

Travel mode

A huge improvement.

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.

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.