Harper's Ferry KOA

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Harper's Ferry KOA

Postby VT800C » Mon May 22, 2017 11:29 am

This past weekend (May 19-21, 2017) I took my project to the KOA at Harper's Ferry. As this was it's first outing, I wanted someplace with resources nearby in case something didn't go as planned. This place was also chosen as I had a previous commitment to camp here so a few friends and I could go to see the nearby horse races (I came out $2.00 ahead at the end of the night.)

Leaving DC about 4 PM, I was in the rush hour traffic going slow for the first hour. That was fine with me as I wanted to make sure the hubs stayed cool (It's a HF 4x8 after all..) and the balance was good for towing (enough tongue weight.) my TV is an 08 RAV4 with a 4-banger. I do not have the tow package, so heat was also a concern.
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Once we got on the highways, I found the would do 65 easy, and even going up the hills, the temp gauge was dead center with no problems. ended driving through a pretty good rainstorm, so the seals got a leak check. one leaked a bit, but it is nothing that cannot be fixed with a 4' hurricane hinge. all-in-all, noting unexpected or insurmountable.

Got to the campsite (my friends were coming up the next morning) and it was fairly warm to say the least. Poor planning on my part, and I didn't know the pool would be open, or I would have gone swimming! The weather was sure warm enough. But I couldn't, so I got down to the task at hand. Once the trailer was positioned and chocked, I got busy filling the water jug and plugging into shore power. This KOA has free WiFi, so I fired up the TV and my Amazon Fire Stick, connected to iHeartRadio, and played classic rock while I finished my setup. Unpack the E-Z-Up awning (which is a chore when you're alone) and get every squared away to make a FINE dinner of oriental flavored Ramen Noodles. (A camping staple, no?) Because I knew we were going to have dinner next night at the racetrack in Charles Town, I figured I could suck it up for ONE night!
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The campground was fairly crowded (and normally I don't like being THAT close to a neighbor) but like I said, I wanted to have resources available if need be. as the night descended, I was able to get everything squared away (at least good enough..) so I could sleep well. It didn't need to be perfectly level, and it wasn't. I had the fan inside when I crawled in, because it was hot. But I was under the trees, and out CAMPING!
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The next morning, I made a hot coffee (using K-cups and the Presto press) and waited for my friends to arrive. Once they got there, I helped them set up there tent, pump up their air mattresses, and was still able to show interested on-lookers around. As a team, we performed such vital tasks as criticized the setup, Ops check the beer bottle opener, verified that cigars were still operational at the higher elevation, and overall had a good time! A hot shower, and we were off to the RACES (Literally!)

NOTE: Except for discussing where and when the next camping adventure will be this pretty much ends the camping part of the adventure. This next paragraph talks about how we did at the track.

We locked the trailer and headed out to try and have a bit of fun in the casino before time for dinner and the first post. We piled into our TV and drove the 12 miles to the casino. we were early enough to get a good parking spot in the covered garage, and took the elevator to the casino. we decided we wanted to 'eat well', and the buffet was having prime rib and seafood. some things were pretty good, like oysters on the half shell the size of your hand! the shrimp, fried clams, steamed mussels, fried oysters and CRAWFISH(!!!) ranged from 'Meh' to 'DAYUM!' just so I could say I DID eat healthy, I had a small lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing, and rounded the meal out with a hot coffee and a crème brulee. On to the ponies! we got there early that I could throw $5.00 on the Preakness, and because of my job, I chose the horse solely on the name. Starting out the evening with a winning bet was pretty good. (As I said, overall I was plus $2.00, and my friends were down $9.00 and about $100.00, respectively)
VT800C
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Re: Harper's Ferry KOA

Postby razorback » Mon May 22, 2017 7:12 pm

Harper's ferry koa is one of our favorites. the history is great the views are spectacular. when we checked in we were asked if we wanted fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.
they brought them to us at 8:00 pm. very cool that part of the campground is actually a part of the surrounding battle grounds.
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