What a fantastic weekend!!  I should start by saying that it isn’t really the first time we have stayed in a cabin.  Lee and I did a weekend back in 1993 but it was more of a resort cabin and I lived in a cabin in the woods for a month once while we were relocating, but this was definitely the first time we have stayed in one of those small campground cabins.    We had a really tough week..seeing our daughter Kay off to Air Force basic training was a very emotional experience,  plus  there was absolutely no movement on our house , and both of our jobs were insane last week.  So we both desperately needed a break and we set off early Monday morning to go to the Mountain Vista Campground in the Poconos to meet our friends.  Because our camper was professionally placed into the site we are in, we knew it would cost too much to take it so we decided to rent a cabin.  The cost was pretty outrageous ($138 a night), but I was grateful to our organizer Kelly for finding a campground that had an open cabin.  Since check in time for the cabin wasn’t until 3pm we had lots of time, but both of us really wanted to start the long weekend,  so we took off early.  Lee asked if there was anything I wanted to do along the way, and  I broke out the Roadside America app for the first time this summer  to see if there was anything cool along the way.  The app styles itself as Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions and it definitely does not disappoint.  I love goofy stuff and was tickled to see that Giant Hot Dog man was along our route and really not that far from our current campground.  The directions were a little vague but we found it and it made me smile.    If I could wander around the country with Lee looking at goofy stuff like this I would be perfectly content 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also stopped along the way and saw an ATM machine that is designed as a giant tree.  Funny thing, I have stopped near this at least 20 times in the last 5 years and never knew it was there.  Love this app

 

So between the side trips, restroom breaks, and construction on 84 it took us awhile, but we got to the campground at 3:10pm ..just in time for check in.  I was so excited about seeing everyone.  For the last several months Kelly, Jo, and Cori have been an amazing support system.  We all have new rigs, are all selling our houses, and all are dealing with major life changes at the same time.  They have been so supportive…taking texts or phone calls at all hours of the day and night and the support and encouragement has been unwavering.  I have not had this many good women friends in a really long time and never this many friends in a non-work environment since college. The gift of these relationships  at this stage of my life is really a blessing and one of the best things our camping adventures have  brought it to me.

After the check-in we went to the cabin which was right around the corner from the camp store.  Mountain Vista has a nice camp store and although my experience with them over the phone wasn’t so great,  in person they were much nicer.  We weren’t planning on spending much time in the cabin as Jo and Ben, Kelly and Bill, and Cori and Greg were all on the other side of the campground but right across from each other, but we did want to take a moment to drop our stuff off.   The cabin was a bit of a shock…no a big shock.  It looked nice in the pictures and was a “large” cabin but when we went in it was one room and pretty small.  The floors were clean but all the mattresses had a thick plastic on them and it looked like a bargain hotel room.  I’m not a snob or anything, but for that price the small kitchen area should have been cleaner and they provided absolutely nothing.  We had to bring plates, pots and pans, lined, towels.  The only thing it had in it was a coffee machine (no filters or coffee) and 2 ratty old blankets.  Cori had offered us the couches in her rig and I was seriously thinking about packing back up and taking her up on it.  I won’t say anything more about the cabin because the only thing we did was sleep in it, but the bathroom was the best part of it.  The shower was very clean and had plenty of hot water and the toilet was relatively new.  Let’s just say though I really really missed my camper and we won’t be staying in any cabins anytime soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked down to see everyone and the rest of the campground was pretty nice.  It was full, but the sites were on a mountain so they were tiered and all had some greenery for separation between the sites.  When we hit the campground we saw Kelly and Bill and Jo and Ben and tons of hugs were given…well the girls hugged…the guys shook hands.  I hadn’t seen Kelly for months but with phone calls, Facebook, and texting it didn’t feel that long but it was so great to see her in person.  She completely opened her rig to us which was VERY nice…insisting we felt free to use the bathroom and refrigerator and in no time at all I did just that.  Kelly is the kind of person who means it when she says make yourself at home and her home on wheels is awesome.   Kelly and Bill are in the final stages of selling their house and just moved into their rig full-time.  Considering everything that’s been on her plate, she was amazingly organized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were all talking and catching up when Cori and Greg arrived.  They have a super nice Class A and were parked right next to Kelly and Bill.  I haven’t seen Cori either since the rally and there were more hugs and everyone shared their excitement over finally being together.  Jo, Ben, Lee and I had spent some time together and Cori, Greg, Kelly, and Bill had gotten together but we all had not been in the same place since April.  It’s no small thing to coordinate everyone’s schedules, especially because everyone has jobs, but Kelly did an awesome job of pulling us all together.   Greg setup the Class A (which compared to a fifth wheel takes no time) and we all hung out well into the night.  Greg cooked some amazing crab cakes and corn and Cori brought a beautiful cheesecake for everyone.   Plus Jo bought me a bottle of my favorite wine for my birthday so everyone was having a really good time.  Everyone but us has dogs and although there was some initial fuss the puppies soon settled down and got along just fine.  We had Peyton and Annubis  (Jo and Ben’s Malamute and Shepard mix), Hobi (Cori and Greg’s bichon/cavalier mix) and Poco (Bill and Kelly’s =Autralian Shephard mix).  Aunt Tracy brought her dog treats with her and Lee and I spoiled the dogs shamelessly the entire weekend.

 

 

Sleeping in the cabin that night wasn’t that bad.  Kelly had loaned us a blanket to put between the plastic cover and our sheets and the alcohol helped 🙂  We did wake up pretty early though and the total lack of coffee was a problem.  We are early risers, but knew others weren’t so we popped out into East Stroudsburg and got some Dunkin Donuts.   I have to say the town was pretty depressing.  There are lots of activities available such as zip lining and sky diving plus a huge park with hiking trails and waterfalls but the economy of the area was obviously depressed.  We picked up our coffee and I bought some bagels and donuts and we headed to the campsites.  Only Jo and Ben were up and moving and it was still pretty chilly so I laid the donuts out and ran up to the camp store for some wood. Bill had brought some wood in his truck, but I wanted to contribute something so I got some extra and we had the campfire going by the time everyone was up and moving around.  Eventually Greg and Cori fixed eggs and sausage for breakfast.  They have this cool small Weber grill that fits on the picnic table but it holds quite a bit and the eggs and sausage were yummy.  After breakfast Lee, Jo, and I left and made a liquor store/grocery store run and got some deli meat and veggies for lunch.  PA has weird liquor laws..wine and spirits are sold in a state-run store and beer is only sold in Beer stores or in bars.  We got back in time for lunch and laid everything out and right after we finished eating Eileen and Gene came.  Eileen and Gene just retired and starting full-timing in their RV not that long after the RV-Dreams rally.  They have been on the road for two months and have gone on quite the tour visiting their 5 kids and traveling from Denver to Boston.  We were all really curious about how things were going with them and loved talking about the realities of being full-time on the road.  Plus they are really nice and funny people and their dog Max (another bichon-cavalier mix) was a total cutie pie.  so there was a lot of talking and eating and drinking and talking.  What a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls really went out of their way to make me feel special for my birthday.   They kept walking up and giving me hugs and wishing me happy birthday.  Jo bought me another bottle of my favorite wine( which isn’t cheap) and they kept me fed and happy throughout the day.  I kept hoping Kay might be able to call but apparently the drill sergeants don’t let the recruits call their mommies on their birthdays.   I think I would have been really sad if my other daughters hadn’t called and my friends hadn’t made such a fuss.  Kelly made seafood enchiladas which I LOVE and they were fantastic.  She’s sending the recipe soon and I’ll list it in my recipes when it comes.   Cori had called Lee and found out what my favorite cake was and got me a yellow cake with chocolate icing and my name on it.  They all sang happy birthday and I was really really touched.  Everyone likes a bit of a fuss on their birthday but Cori, Kelly, and Jo amped it up to 10 and it really meant a lot to me.

 

 

 

 

The weather was beautiful all weekend.  It only rained Saturday night after we went to bed and it cleared up for breakfast on Sunday.  Bill made some outstanding pancakes…I’m not kidding these taste like the kind you get in a really good restaurant.   We also had  pork rolls, bacon, sausage links and sausage patties.  Lee who is a big fan of the breakfast was in heaven.  We were all sad to leave but hope to see each other over the winter in Florida and I know even if we can’t see each other all the time we will remain really strong friends.  I have run out of adjectives to use so I’ll just say  I love, love, love my girls… and their guys aren’t  so bad either 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly’s Shrimp and Crab  Enchiladas

Filling

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups raw shrimp, medium size cut in half (Kelly used 31 – 40 count)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 ounces imitation crab meat, chopped (Kelly used equal portion of claw meat)
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk (low-fat or skim works great – save the calories)
• 1 cup sour cream (light (not no-fat) works great)

• 2 cups Mexican style shredded cheese (divided)
• 8 medium size flour tortilla

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and add shrimp and garlic.

3. Saute for 2 minutes then add crab and parsley.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Saute for 3 more minutes and remove from heat.

6. Set aside and stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese.

7. In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

8. Once butter is melted, add the flour.

9. Cook for one minute stirring constantly until mixture is combined.

10. Add the milk and sour cream.

11. Whisk the mixture together and heat for 2-3 minutes until it starts to

    thicken.

12. Add 1 cup of the sauce to the shrimp and crab mixture and stir.
13. Add 1/2 cup sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish and spread tocover the bottom. (9 x 13 pan won’t fit in RV ovens, Kelly used an 8 x 11(can fit 5 tortillas and 8 x 8 (the other 3 tortillas) – worked out great)
14. Place shrimp and crab mixture across each tortilla and roll up.  (try to portion it out somehow before you start filling – so the filling is evenly distributed)
15. Place seam side down in the baking dish and repeat until finished.
16. Pour remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas, spread to cover if needed, then sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheese over the top.
17. Sprinkled with a little paprika for color
18. Bake for 15-20 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.
19. Serve with green onions sprinkled on top

 

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 Campground Review

Mountain Vista Campground 415 Taylor Drive East Stroudsburg, PA 18301   2 out of 5 pine cones – 2014

The campground has good WiFi throughout with sites on the larger side that are staggered on a hill to give additional separation.   The camp store was moderately well stocked and the people who ran it were friendly in person.  They were not however friendly on the phone and the campground only takes cash or checks and doesn’t even have a Pay Pal site.   We stayed in a cabin which was very expensive and although clean had no amenities ($138 per night).  Basically the campsite was overpriced and I didn’t see much that would justify the expense or inconvenience of booking it.  It is packed though with seasonal’s and there are things to do in the area such as sky dive, zip line, and numerous hiking trails and waterfalls.   The nearby towns however are very depressed and don’t have the ambiance that I like when traveling to an area.  Essentially, it would be ok for a couple of nights in a pinch, but I would not choose to travel here for a long weekend.

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