2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 178

Day 178, Tuesday, April 14, 2026 - Lakewood Park Campground, Barnesville, PA , Day 2 - 0 Miles, 7,436.2 Miles for the Trip.

51°F overnight, 65°F for my morning walk, 75°F at noon, and the high for the day was 82°F.

It rained off & on (mostly off) throughout last night. Woke up to clear skies. I sat outside for a bit after my morning walk.

After breakfast I paid some bills, read some journals & forums, then did some reading on the Kindle. Current book is B. B. Griffith's Follow the Crow. This is the first in a Native American series "Vanished". I enjoy Native American stories, and this is the first of 7 in the series, all available for free with Kindle Unlimited. I don't think anyone can beat Tony Hillerman, but in addition to some of my favorites such as Kathleen O'Neal Gear; W. Michael Gear, Jean Auel & James Doss, I'm sure there are many others; I keep looking.

Around 2:00 the inside oft the trailer hit 80°F so i closed the windows, shut off the MAXX fan & fired up the AC. I sat outside in the shade of the trailer reading. B. B. Griffith's Follow the Crow is different from the James Doss & Tony Hillerman Navajo cop stories, but so far I've enjoyed it.

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Black Beans. Not the usual bowl - I picked up a double enchilada without the fixings by mistake.

Until Tomorrow - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 177

Day 177, Monday, April 13, 2026 - Lakewood Park Campground, Barnesville, PA - 156 Miles, 7,436.2 Miles for the Trip.

54°F overnight, 58°F for my morning walk, 66°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 74°F.

Another reason for doing some of your hook up the evening before - it might be raining when it is time to go. A light rain started around 10:00 this morning and continued for the first quarter of the drive to Lakewood Park. A stalled truck in the right lane created a 15 minute stop & go on I 81. Saw a Escape 19 heading south around mile marker 34 in PA.

I arrived at Lakewood Park Campground around 1:30. A bit confusing since there is also a State Park with the same name 4 miles away but the coordinates from Trip Wizard got me to the right place. They have a camp cafe that has sandwiches & snacks.

Site 12 & the Bathrooms & Laundry

I'm in site 12, a full hookup site on a concrete pad level side to side with a picnic table and combined grill/fire ring. I had to drop the tongue 1". Close to the bathroom & showers (individual rooms) and the laundry. After setting up I started two loads. $2.75 to wash in large front loaders (an additional $.50 for heavy loads) and $1.75 to dry.

While the clothes were in the dryers, I headed for a shower. There are 3 bathrooms in the building, one without a shower, and 2 with showers, one disabled. I used the non disabled room. A sink, toilet & shower. 2 double hooks and a bench near the shower. A large shower with a shelf & a shower head hanging basket. A medium flow 3" shower head with adjustable water. While the floor is flat between the shower & drying area, a cloth shower curtain & good slope keeps the drying area floor dry. The only fault I could find was it was a bit too cold in the room. A solid A.

I checked Verizon & AT&T - Verizon shows 319.38Mbps down & 10.93Mbps up. AT&T shows 123.49Mbps down & 15.06Mbps up.

Yesterday I finished Nick Jones's The Quantum Chain and started The Whisper of Stars. It is Nick Jones first book, and it shows. My favorite oops is where the main character of the book gets bullet holes & gas leaks in the gas tank of her electric motorcycle. Still, an interesting story line.

A little before 5:00 I headed to the Cafe for a Yuengling battered Haddock sandwich on a Ciabatta bun. Alas, it wasn't to be. Seems the cafe is only a cafe Thursday through Sunday. They do have a few snacks available, but nothing that would make a dinner. To top it off, on the walk back to the trailer it started to pour. As soon as I got into the trailer it stopped, but it did start again 10 minutes later. So, it will be a damp microwaved dinner. Well, the dinner wasn't damp, just me.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala Bowl.

Until Tomorrow - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 176

Day 176, Sunday, April 12, 2026 - Greenbriar State Park, Boonsboro, MD, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 7,280.2 Miles for the Trip.

47°F overnight, 50°F for my morning walk, 59°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 70°F.

Other than some dogs on the other end of the loop, a quiet night & morning. Since there doesn't seem to be any heat in the bathroom, I'll be putting off a shower until tomorrow. 

Still cool at noon so I'm sitting inside. I probably should walk over to the ALiner in the next site and let her know I'm alive. Yesterday I got back from a walk and the campground hosts & a neighbor were standing outside my trailer. She had not seen me outside the trailer all morning and decided I must have died inside. Maybe folks in ALiners spend more time outside, but yesterday was cool enough that I spent most of the morning inside reading and listening to bluegrass music on WNCW on internet radio. In any case, we had a good laugh, and talked about camping in Arizona.

It did warm up enough by 2:00 to sit outside. I finished The Observer Effect and started the last in the series, The Quantum Chain. Around 4:00 I hooked up the trailer to save a little time in the morning. Not a long drive at 155 miles, but I won't have to rush. After hooking up I trimmed my beard, then headed in for dinner.

Dinner was a Scott & Jon's Shrimp Alfredo bowl.

Until Next Time - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 175

Day 175, Saturday, April 11, 2026 - Greenbriar State Park, Boonsboro, MD, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 7,280.2 Miles for the Trip.

52°F overnight, 54°F for my morning walk, 57°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 63°F.

Walking the campground loop is one mile, half of it uphill. I never found any dumpsters, at least in the loop. 

Back at the trailer I checked internet speeds - AT&T 285.34Mbps down & 21.68 Mbps up. Verizon was 69.20Mbps down & 22.18Mbps up.

It is not quite nice enough to sit outside so I'm in the trailer reading.

Eventually it warmed up enough to sit outside. 

Dinner was a Healthy Choice Sweet & Sour Chicken Bowl.

Until Next Time - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 174

Day 174, Friday, April 10, 2026 - Greenbriar State Park, Boonsboro, MD - 68 Miles, 7,280.2 Miles for the Trip.

44°F overnight, 54°F for my morning walk, 60°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 71°F.

I waited as long as possible since I only had 68 miles to drive to Greenbriar State Park. I left the site at 11:00, and stopped at the air station next to the cabins. Set all the tires at 51PSI although they went up to 56PSI or so on the drive. I arrived at the park around 12:30, checked in and headed to my site. I'm in site 69, an electric only back in site on fine gravel. I needed 1 1/2" side to side & 1" drop on the tongue to level. $31.25 per night for 3 nights. The bathroom is a long walk if you follow the road, but there is a path that makes a shortcut starting from a few sites up the road.

Site 69

After setting up I headed to the nearest grocery store, a Weis about 7 miles from the campground. Fairly narrow 30 & 25 MPH roads for most of the trip. I got gas at Weis for $3.89 per gallon.

Back at the trailer i started today's journal, then sat outside enjoying the warmer weather. I finished he Shadows of London by Nick Jones and started #3 in the series, The Observer Effect.

Dinner was an Amy's Chile Relleno Bowl.

Until Next Time -