Postcard from Pennsylvania- 1

6-7 June 2012

Erie, PA

High-end pool if you like that sort of thing

After 2 nites with limited facilities, we were ready for a change. And that's what we got after the drive to Erie, PA. I'd made reservations at the KOA which has been our least favorite chain of campgrounds. Well, now I have to eat my words cuz Erie KOA is a wonderful park.

Pavilion for special events

Admittedly we had a very classy (and $$$) site with patio, lawn furniture, Weber BBQ (the same Spirit model I bought in Santa Fe). But the rest of the campground (or kampground as KOA likes to say) is really amazing. We took the dogs for a walk after we arrived and wandered around thru the dense trees at the back of the park. Even found a small dog run (20'x30'?) which Kelly loved. She pretended it was an open field and ran about 3-4 long strides in each direction till she'd burned off some of the stored up energy!

Catch & release in the lake

Apparently they have a lot of call for their cabins as they've built a lot of them. And there's a very large swimming pool with a pavilion beside, plus a catch & release fishing lake. And they have the usual toys to rent to kids (pedal trikes, etc.).

And there's no freeway noise... it's miles away from the Interstate. The park is right on a state highway, but that was very quiet after about 9 PM so there was no broken sleep. Of course you have to keep in mind that we both sleep like the dead, so your mileage may vary!

 

 

Side trip

Celia read thru a booklet prepared by the Pennsylvania state department of saomething or other which I'd picked up somewhere in Indiana. She spotted a mention of Daffin's Chocolate Kingdom in Erie County. Well, if it has anything to do with chocolate, we're there!

Order two, not one

So off we went to Sharon, PA, about 50+ miles south. We found our way to the Sharon town center, walked the dogs, and then the Admiral spotted the Sharon Hot Dog Shop across the street. Life is good.

Daffin's Chocolate Kingdom

Fortified with a couple chile-cheese dogs, I was ready for whatever. Celia asked our waitress if she knew of any large candy stores in the area and she immediately told is about Daffin's just up the street a few blocks.

So off we went to a huge candy store which was in fact the place we had come to see. In the back of Daffin's enormous showroom was a display of huge chocolate figures plus a chocolate village all crafted from the elixir of life. Out in the sales area they had a display of various kinds of chocolate so large it puts See's (big in California) to shame. We of course wanted to help the local economy and bought way more than we should have (gotta have gifts for the kids, right?!), then headed back to the RV park 60 miles away.

So we had a good outing and saw incredible countryside that is resisting the change to urbanization... there are still farms with large open fields bounded with dense tree growth. Looked like a lot of corn, but we're city-folk and our ID is suspect for plants just emerging.

Our stop in PA was too short and we both thought we'd like to come back. If you like driving low traffic, small country roads thru lush farm land as we do, you will have lots to explore here.

Next we're off to New York. Later...