The last trailer thrash
Our weekend at Knoebels was nicer than expected. For one, the weather was damn near perfect, if a bit on the hot side. The biggest surprise was the campgrounds. It is HUGE. There are actually two campgrounds, and between them there are over 800 individual sites. Plenty of room between the RV/trailer sites, and the tent sites have lots of room as well as platforms on many sites. Jeff and I got to thinking that we should plan a big gathering for an extended weekend if not a whole week sometime in the future. It's that good. Most of the campers had decorated their sites and the cabins in Halloween themes, and some wandered the park in costumes. Had we known, we would have brought decorations along.
As I said previously, this was the weekend of the "Covered Bridge and Arts Festival". Hundred of crafts vendors along with dozens of food sellers filled the park. Most of the rides were also operational during the weekend as well. Those two facts made for a crushing amount of people mostly milling around the crafts tents and pavillions.
Now, I am not one for huge crowds milling about. Add to it the unseasonably warm weather and that pervasive smell of cinnamon, potpourri and polyurethane that seems endemic to such venues and the result is a huge pounding headache for me. I coped with the headache, though. All told, there were eleven of us bears 'n' cubs taking in the sights, sounds, smells, food and rides along with the trinket shopping.
All was not perfect, though. The tone of the day on Saturday was set a few notches lower when Jeff and I, fresh off of riding the "Skyway" (essentially a rehabbed ski lift that takes you up and down a mountain next to the park for a scenic ride), came upon a vendor selling a huge variety of cutting boards made from a synthetic hard material similar to Corian countertops. I still had my little camera in hand from taking pictures while on the Skyway when the 'proprietress' hurried over to where we were standing. "You are not taking pictures, are you?" she loudly bellowed, holding a cutting board like a paddle seemingly ready to block my use of the camera. "There can be no pictures taken of my product. Please dont take pictures." She kept getting closer and closer and getting between me and the tables. "I am not taking any pictures, nor do I intend to. The camera is OFF, see?" She went on more and more, as if to say she does not believe me. I told this woman that she can look at everything I had taken just to be sure. She went on and on. She watched like a hawk as we looked momentarily over the overpriced cutting boards, which I was actually interested in at first before that scene played out. We wandered off, with Jeff exclaiming loudly enough and with me in agreement that we would not buy anything from that seller now if our lives depended on it. I started to stew a bit more (I dont like being called a liar) and was tempted to go back and confront the woman but decided against it. If there is one thing I have noticed regarding these 'crafts' sellers, it's that so much of it is a variant of the same old clichéd themes available from everyone. The market for $70 dollar cutting boards made from scraps of Corian will dry up rapidly once some Chinese factory starts churning them out for less than ten bux at the local Wal-Mart. No photos needed.
All of us had good fun walking around, critiquing products, buying trinkets and riding the rides later on in the day. Too much good food, lots of eye candy (Jeff really liked the guy selling bean soup with his big arms). I went back to the camper briefly to rest my sore shoulder and headache, then it was an evening of coasters and other rides in the dark. Knoebels is one of the last remaining parks that does not charge for parking or to enter the park, and you pay as you go for rides. You can also pay a flat rate and ride everything all day.
It feels kinda sad to be putting the trailer away for the winter. I cannot complain though, we had a total of five outings with it this year (Deep Creek Lake, MD, Provincetown, MA, twice to Hillside and now Knoebels). We got the thing with the thought of doing more traveling, and so far we are keeping to that promise to ourselves. Barring any problems with free time, next year we hope to get even more time on the road. I'm the type that likes to consider the journey as well as the destination as part of a whole vacation experience. And despite high fuel cost, driving around while lugging a house along behind us is still a bargain compared to flying and staying at a hotel in many cases. We are gonna do more.
Our digs for the weekend.
Unknown, big-bellied trailer trash. Note all the leaves.
We were hoping for more fall colors. The drought has been so bad,
the trees are simply dropping leaves early without changing colors.
Break time for the bears at our humble abode.
A few of the many cabins available. And more leaves.
A pic that included me for a change. Now you know why I stay behind the camera.
(Pic by rockybear02)
Bears invade the campgrounds. Hide the pic-a-nic baskets.
A view from the Skyride as the morning fog clears.
Note the vendor tents among the pavilions.
It was after this shot that all hell broke loose. That bitch can
eat a bag of dicks.
Knoebels has a all-summer Christmas Shoppe. Here the guys discover the North Pole.
The fascination here is not (mostly) because of the pole's phallic nature.
Instead, the pole is refrigerated and becomes covered in ice. Dont apply tongue.
A shot of the guys on the Giant Wheel. The wheel is made from steel.
This makes it a ferrous wheel.
Some of Knoebels at knight. Note more vendor tents and closed food stands.
The day ended with playing games at the arcade.
.
As I said previously, this was the weekend of the "Covered Bridge and Arts Festival". Hundred of crafts vendors along with dozens of food sellers filled the park. Most of the rides were also operational during the weekend as well. Those two facts made for a crushing amount of people mostly milling around the crafts tents and pavillions.
Now, I am not one for huge crowds milling about. Add to it the unseasonably warm weather and that pervasive smell of cinnamon, potpourri and polyurethane that seems endemic to such venues and the result is a huge pounding headache for me. I coped with the headache, though. All told, there were eleven of us bears 'n' cubs taking in the sights, sounds, smells, food and rides along with the trinket shopping.
All was not perfect, though. The tone of the day on Saturday was set a few notches lower when Jeff and I, fresh off of riding the "Skyway" (essentially a rehabbed ski lift that takes you up and down a mountain next to the park for a scenic ride), came upon a vendor selling a huge variety of cutting boards made from a synthetic hard material similar to Corian countertops. I still had my little camera in hand from taking pictures while on the Skyway when the 'proprietress' hurried over to where we were standing. "You are not taking pictures, are you?" she loudly bellowed, holding a cutting board like a paddle seemingly ready to block my use of the camera. "There can be no pictures taken of my product. Please dont take pictures." She kept getting closer and closer and getting between me and the tables. "I am not taking any pictures, nor do I intend to. The camera is OFF, see?" She went on more and more, as if to say she does not believe me. I told this woman that she can look at everything I had taken just to be sure. She went on and on. She watched like a hawk as we looked momentarily over the overpriced cutting boards, which I was actually interested in at first before that scene played out. We wandered off, with Jeff exclaiming loudly enough and with me in agreement that we would not buy anything from that seller now if our lives depended on it. I started to stew a bit more (I dont like being called a liar) and was tempted to go back and confront the woman but decided against it. If there is one thing I have noticed regarding these 'crafts' sellers, it's that so much of it is a variant of the same old clichéd themes available from everyone. The market for $70 dollar cutting boards made from scraps of Corian will dry up rapidly once some Chinese factory starts churning them out for less than ten bux at the local Wal-Mart. No photos needed.
All of us had good fun walking around, critiquing products, buying trinkets and riding the rides later on in the day. Too much good food, lots of eye candy (Jeff really liked the guy selling bean soup with his big arms). I went back to the camper briefly to rest my sore shoulder and headache, then it was an evening of coasters and other rides in the dark. Knoebels is one of the last remaining parks that does not charge for parking or to enter the park, and you pay as you go for rides. You can also pay a flat rate and ride everything all day.
It feels kinda sad to be putting the trailer away for the winter. I cannot complain though, we had a total of five outings with it this year (Deep Creek Lake, MD, Provincetown, MA, twice to Hillside and now Knoebels). We got the thing with the thought of doing more traveling, and so far we are keeping to that promise to ourselves. Barring any problems with free time, next year we hope to get even more time on the road. I'm the type that likes to consider the journey as well as the destination as part of a whole vacation experience. And despite high fuel cost, driving around while lugging a house along behind us is still a bargain compared to flying and staying at a hotel in many cases. We are gonna do more.
Our digs for the weekend.
Unknown, big-bellied trailer trash. Note all the leaves.
We were hoping for more fall colors. The drought has been so bad,
the trees are simply dropping leaves early without changing colors.
Break time for the bears at our humble abode.
A few of the many cabins available. And more leaves.
A pic that included me for a change. Now you know why I stay behind the camera.
(Pic by rockybear02)
Bears invade the campgrounds. Hide the pic-a-nic baskets.
A view from the Skyride as the morning fog clears.
Note the vendor tents among the pavilions.
It was after this shot that all hell broke loose. That bitch can
eat a bag of dicks.
Knoebels has a all-summer Christmas Shoppe. Here the guys discover the North Pole.
The fascination here is not (mostly) because of the pole's phallic nature.
Instead, the pole is refrigerated and becomes covered in ice. Dont apply tongue.
A shot of the guys on the Giant Wheel. The wheel is made from steel.
This makes it a ferrous wheel.
Some of Knoebels at knight. Note more vendor tents and closed food stands.
The day ended with playing games at the arcade.
.