I love Lancaster Co PA We travel there quite often 3 - 4 times a year, I have family there in Columbia nd Strasburg. We purchased an RV last summer to park near our Grand Daughter and have decided to use it and I know where we are going first. Thanks Backyardmom! Sorry we can't be there when you are, would love to sit and chat! Enjoy your weekends there.....I added a link to the calendar below..............Rest, Relax and Rejuvenate! Here is a link that might be useful: Lakeinwoodcampgroundevents!!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we did, in fact, put a guardian generator next to our new house. It is a 16 kw powered by natural gas. Since we use gas for our dryer and stove the generator can basically power the rest of the house. Our electrician wired it directly into the breaker box, so when it comes on the transfer switch disconnects from the grid and you can run the circuits you want in the b-box. I have test run it and it handles the freezer, fridge, lights and the central air conditioner (3 ton unit). Our house never lost gas during Camille, Frederick, Elena, Georges or Katrina. It's always a possibility but I feel pretty confident on this score. At current prices it costs about 2-3 dollars an hour to run. Not cheap, but believe me, after Katrina I would have paid a lot more than that for a cool place to stay and some lights. Once installed you set it to test run once a week. I ran mine for several hours under no load, then light load, medium load, and full load. Once you've done that you change the oil and button her up. I will change the oil at the beginning of each hurricane season and have already purchased enough filters for 20 days worth of running. They got the power back here after 14 days in Katrina, so that should be enough. Access for changing oil is a snap and I've stored the wrenches necessary in the enclosure. It is very quiet when test running, much louder under load. I would suggest buying online--we saved quite a bit on the purchase price. It is much easier to install one of these with new construction--but a good electrician should be able to install one in an older house without too much trouble. For what its worth.......................

Bella, IMHO, either island will be a pleasant experience. As long as you're coming from a US state en route, you are blessed by our forefathers with the 2nd Amendment. A proper firearm in either your daypack, tent, or car lockbox will go a long way in ensuring good neighbors and happy camping. Our experiences in Oahu are not unlike those others on this thread, the homeless are suspiciously welcommed in Hawa'ii, but they seem to stay to themselves and not raise much of a racket (compared to our SoCal tweakers, got bless 'em!) but we sleep a lot better with the P4 between us!

A couple of years ago a close friend who was turning 60 organized such an experience. She teamed up with another friend who was also having the big six-oh day, and each invited a set of women they knew. Turned out that my friend's cohort was just me and one other woman and the other person ended up with her sister, her SIL and a group of five other friends. But we all had a fabulous time! We spent a week out west and visited Bryce Canyon and Zion National parks. The birthday girls, er, women :) organized everything including hotels, outings and a nice combination of group meals and chances for folks to split off if they wanted to. We hiked the Virgin narrows one day and a stunning slot canyon route another, we rode horseback, we zip lined. We stayed in two places, and one was a full service spa so people had the chance to do whatever pampering was desired. I was nervous about going; I'm rather a stick-in-the-mud and as mentioned I really didn't know most of the group which ended up being a total of 11. However, I am SO GLAD I went! I challenged myself to do things I never would have tried on my own and it turned out that the group included a truly amazing collection of smart, accomplished and fascinating women. We literally had a doctor, a lawyer and an indian chief (ie successful entrepreneur). There was a psychologist, a financial advisor, a botanist. Our talks over meals or during hikes were so enlightening. Since we ended up an odd-number group I was happy to 'volunteer' to stay alone rather than being assigned to double rooms which is what everyone else did. Having space of my own was ideal for me, I need alone time and at this stage of my life the extra expense to have a room to myself was well worth it. My other experience in that vein was last summer when I rented an extra week at the beach house where I always go with my daughter for our summer getaway, and invited my sisters to come for a few days before my daughter came over. That was nice too, just us with nobody responsible for spouses, kids, etc. There are five of us and although my youngest sister couldn't get away, the rest of us had a very nice time.