The next several days will be spent here at Codorus State Park. It's about 20 miles East of Gettysburg so I'll check that out tomorrow.

I have chosen a campsite with an electric hook up so I will be able to use the computer at will without worrying about having enough power. The camper's refrigerator also works well when I'm hooked into an electrical socket. I found that out the first night I plugged the van in at a campground. I left the extension cord plugged in all night, as I always do. When I woke up in the morning everything in the fridge had ice on it....the fridge controls were on full blast, I didn't even realize it. It's nice to know that it works well though.

When I arrived I set up camp and went over to talk to the Burkhart's, they're camped about 40 yards away. They are the campground "hosts". Merril and Doris Burkhart are a retired couple from Harrisburg, PA. They go to a different state park each spring for a few weeks to camp and act as the "campground hosts". The duties of the hosts seem to be waving and smiling at each car that might drive by, there's a lot of that. I always give Merril and Doris the nod and the wave as I roll by. They talk to people about stuff, nearby attractions I would imagine. I mentioned to Merril I was thinking about going into Gettysburg to see the battlefield and other sites, he encouraged me to do so...."Oh yea, Gettysburg. Gettysburg's always a big day." With that reassurance my mind was made up...tomorrow I go.

They have a campsite very close to the bathrooms, complete with a wooden plaque that reads:

"Your Campground Hosts"
The Burkhart's
Merril & Doris
Harrisburg, PA

They have an RV and a big piece of astro turf on the ground next to it...like a lawn of sorts I guess. They've also got a wood pile that could probably last them through the Winter. The place is about empty these days, but as Summer arrives things will begin to fill up.

Here's a photo of my campsite, pretty much the same as the others so far, but the woods here are more alive than any place I have ever been before. There is a deep layer of leaves on the ground, mostly Oak trees here, not too much poison ivy. When I first arrived I heard what I thought was a person walking through the woods, but it was just a squirrel, the leaves make a lot of noise when you walk through them. Things are constantly moving under the leaves too. I hear constant movement...field mice (I saw one while preparing the fire pit for a fire), chipmunks, I found some salamanders under a log I was going to put onto the fire, all sorts of little creatures....it sounds like several small furry animals in a cave grooving with a pict. At night the sound is intensified, and it became a little spooky to be perfectly honest.

The campsite at Codorus State Park, PA