Rambling Beast

Rambling Beast ‘23 we went East Coast to West & back. 16 states!

‘24 we had a bump in the road with 3 cancer surgeries for Grandpap.

He’s cancer free & we’re on the road again…shorter trips

‘25 we are headed West to Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas!

Today we headed south towards Chambersburg, PA. We will be camping with Tim’s family over the Labor Day weekend for the...
09/02/2026

Today we headed south towards Chambersburg, PA. We will be camping with Tim’s family over the Labor Day weekend for the 3rd year.

Here’s a few pics from our travels today.

We enjoyed our circle around the Finger Lakes and Catskills of NY. People in NY were so nice. We were getting gas in t...
09/01/2026

We enjoyed our circle around the Finger Lakes and Catskills of NY. People in NY were so nice. We were getting gas in the SUV in a small town and the employee came out and pumped our gas. And at a grocery store a customer leaving the store grabbed my single bag and put it in the car for us.

Tonight finds us back in PA. We are at another Army Corps of Engineers campground, on Hammond Lake. It’s a beautiful park with 200+ campsites, and most are occupied.

We drove in to the town of Wellsboro for dinner. A very cute town dating back to the 1800’s.

Today we visited Oneonta and Cooperstown NY, and the CCC museum at the campground.Oneonta was the birthplace of my broth...
08/31/2026

Today we visited Oneonta and Cooperstown NY, and the CCC museum at the campground.

Oneonta was the birthplace of my brother Nick’s mother-in-law and home to Hartwick College and an SUNY campus.

Cooperstown is famous for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The town was founded by Judge Cooper, father of novelist James Fenimore Cooper.

I am always in awe of how the CCC built our national campgrounds almost 100 years ago. We are remote here by todays standards. In this park there was a pond that they used a huge saw to cut blocks of ice for the camp.

History all around us.

So we’ve seen three of the Finger Lakes…Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake and Skaneateles Lake. The area is so pretty with char...
08/29/2026

So we’ve seen three of the Finger Lakes…Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake and Skaneateles Lake. The area is so pretty with charming towns like Waterloo, Seneca Falls, Auburn, and Skaneateles. We spent time in all of them today, and had lunch and walked the downtown in Skaneateles. Absolutely gorgeous day here today! I enjoyed the late afternoon sun back at camp and Grandpap watched some of the Little League World Series.

Tonight we are in Waterloo, NY at a KOA campground along Seneca Lake. No weekend sites available in the state parks in t...
08/28/2026

Tonight we are in Waterloo, NY at a KOA campground along Seneca Lake. No weekend sites available in the state parks in the Finger Lakes region.

Driving here we commented that the countryside looked a lot like Virginia with all the farms and vineyards. But there are miles and miles of vineyards here!

We are on a canal off Seneca Lake, driving through Watkins Glen and Geneva to get here. Looking forward to exploring tomorrow.

Tonight we are in PA right on the border of NY. We had to stop this am and get a power problem fixed. When we are driv...
08/28/2026

Tonight we are in PA right on the border of NY. We had to stop this am and get a power problem fixed. When we are driving, we have power to the fridge and lights from “house or coach” batteries. When we are camped we hook up to “shore” power. This morning when we unhooked from shore power, we lost power to the coach…so no fridge driving down the road. We stopped and he got the wiring issue fixed quickly.

We travelled north through PA and stopped in Williamsport at the Little League World Series. We were here as a family 35 years ago to watch the games when Jason played Little League. It was a fun family vacation. So much has changed and facilities added. Today’s games were played at 9am instead of this afternoon due to expected storms. We pulled out of Williamsport and headed through the mountains in a torrential downpour.

We are at a US Army Corps of Engineers campground. This one has full hookups which is not common. Usually there’s electric hook-ups, and sometimes water hook-up, but this one also has sewer hook-ups.

Pretty park. We saw an eagle’s nest but no eagle today.

We hit the road yesterday and made it to PA after crossing the Potomac at Point of Rocks. Gorgeous camping weather!!!! ...
08/26/2026

We hit the road yesterday and made it to PA after crossing the Potomac at Point of Rocks. Gorgeous camping weather!!!! Near 80 during the day and 50’s overnight!

We are at Caledonia State Park. It’s a lovely state park, only a few tent campers, more RV campers in the Full Hook Up sites, all of which are on quite a slope!

Our travel day was good yesterday, until it wasn’t. We had multiple tasks to take care of yesterday before we left and didn’t hit the road until noon.

We made it safely to camp, unhooked, and I drove to the park office after we unhooked to pay for our site. After a few minutes passed back at camp, Grandpap saw the rear tire going flat on the SUV. At least it didn’t happen on the road. And this morning he was able to get it fixed.

Today’s adventures included Gettysburg, Mr. Ed’s Candy Emporium and Museum, our OMAD in Chambersburg, and a stop at a country market.

I spent the late afternoon soaking up the sun in my rocker and Grandpap watched a Little League World Series game on TV.

Tomorrow we head North!

Life is good today!!!

We had an amazing 4 night camping trip with Tim’s family at Stoney Creek Campground. Yes it was hot, and we had a quick ...
07/06/2026

We had an amazing 4 night camping trip with Tim’s family at Stoney Creek Campground. Yes it was hot, and we had a quick rainstorm on the 4th at dinner time, but we still enjoyed every minute!!!

We swam in both pools, and the lake, and Addy and Brynlee went night swimming in one pool, and after dinner swimming in the lake. Tim, Miranda, Addy and Brynlee paddled their way to the other side of the lake and back one afternoon. Addy’s float lost air and she swam part of the way back.

Addy and Brynlee sold bracelets and lemonade at a stand at the campsite. They did well!!!

Golf carts were a great way to get around and both girls learned how to drive them. We were in the golf cart parade through the campground which was fun!

R***r and Ryder relaxed in the AC in Tim’s RV. R***r doesn’t mind the heat, but Ryder does. He did well as a puppy on his first camping trip.

We played Bingo Friday night and Miranda had a bingo!

Our friend Peggy from Lexington came to visit on the 4th and had dinner with us.

The campground put on an amazing fireworks display! But first the girls had sparklers at the campsite.

We’re safely home and unpacked but looking forward to our next trip!

Great day today even with the heat. We went to the pool in the morning and floated in the lake after lunch. And now Bi...
07/03/2026

Great day today even with the heat. We went to the pool in the morning and floated in the lake after lunch. And now Bingo!!!

Good morning from the campground!! My weather app says it’s 70 but feels cool. Humidity didn’t fog up my glasses this ...
07/03/2026

Good morning from the campground!! My weather app says it’s 70 but feels cool. Humidity didn’t fog up my glasses this morning. This clam shell canopy was this years addition to our camp gear. It pops up in about 2 minutes. We added a fan in there while eating dinner last night and it was pleasant even at 95+ degrees.

Address

608 East Randolph Street
McLeansboro, IL
62859

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Rambling Beast posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Rambling Beast:

Shortcuts

Share

Category