Hersheypark Camping Resort was a wonderful stop to make- thank you to all that came out to check out The Mobile Observatory. Wonderful conversations, truly great people... we would love to come back in the future! Sad to leave, and it was such a shame that the downpour interrupted what would have been a very pleasant evening of discussion and grilling (burgers and s'mores)! 

Driving into Philadelphia was not easy... but we made it safely and were able to get a delicious lunch with Christopher (hand drawn noodles in Chinatown!) and had the opportunity to get some photos taken (Christopher Kadish Photography). The photo on the homepage turned out amazing! He is a great guy with some serious photography skills and passion for his work. 

Original afternoon plans: get into the Drexel Hill/Swarthmore area to meet up with family, have some dinner and plan for our Chapterhouse Cafe & Gallery event. Navigating through the area (during rush hour) almost induced a heart attack for the both of us as we got lost, and everywhere we tried to go was not RV friendly (low hanging wires, tight roads with tree branches, one way roads with nowhere to turn around). We burned quite a bit of gas trying to get our bearings straight and after adding a small RV issue, we needed to move on. I could feel my blood pressure going down as we got out of the city, and yet, we both hope to return to the City of Brotherly Love at some point in the future. 

We made it to Ringing Rocks Family Campground in Upper Black Eddy, PA late in the evening and will be here until we head to Hellertown on Saturday... time to go find a hammer to go ring some rocks!

It has been a bittersweet day for us. Empty house, belongings in storage... officially on the road for good!

Going to miss the comforts of home, and remember all the wonderful memories we've shared together - but the next chapter begins, and many new adventures await. 

No turning back now, this is real! 

Squaw Valley Park tomorrow, Hershey through the middle of the week (hooray for all things chocolate!), and Philadelphia and Hellertown Saturday. Very busy week ahead of us (the RV is in a state of what I call organized chaos); another update soon! 

Great kickoff in our wonderful town! 
Wish we were able to take more pictures of other people that came by... Rule 3 was the perfect setting, with sand volleyball, bowling, games for kids, and of course...food and drinks! 

Thank you to Ed of Ed Winters Photography for coming to support and take some lovely pictures for us. Congratulations to our friend John for advancing in the next round of the Karaoke World Championship - you rock!

Spent the evening at the Dayton KOA to rest up and make sure everything is in working order. So far so good... just very time consuming as we learn. Grateful to have very helpful neighbors!

Very nice campground; lots of amenities and attractions and friendly people to chat with. Looking forward to many more stops like this through the year- give me good weather, company, conversations... add a few brews and it is a perfect night!

Wish we could have stayed longer to enjoy the rest of the day's events at The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery and share the Mobile Observatory with others. Ben was so happy to meet a longtime supporter and sponsor for the project, Garry - a true pleasure to chat with! Hope to cross paths again someday with you! 

I will be taking more shots of sponsor names to post under Photos in just a few days. Some sponsors have had very interesting names to put on the Mobile Observatory instead of their own or business name (to whoever had Manbearpig and Kobayashi Maru- thanks for giving us a good laugh!). 

We are excited to add equipment/souvenirs along the journey to add to the Mobile Observatory. By spring 2015 she'll have quite the eclectic collection of items!

Next week: Rule 3 is in our neck of the woods, then off to Pittsburgh! THE JOURNEY HAS BEGUN! 

We've been patiently waiting but the glorious day has finally come! 

Looks better than we could have imagined... Thank you so much to Ken and his team at Farber - it has been a wonderful experience! We were just shocked at how everything turned out - Ben is pleased the All Sky Camera works perfectly! 

The past week has been insane... insanely awesome. Between moving things into storage, getting our home ready to rent, dealing with a gigantic ornamental oak going down on us,  etc... it has been fun. But all wonderful experience nevertheless, bringing us closer to the start of the journey! It has been wonderful conversing with very nice folks around the country, and seeing their names on the RV. 

Check the Photos section for updated pictures... we'll be adding close up shots with sponsor names tomorrow! To Dayton on Saturday!

Thank you to Lisa and Bruce of Fox Hollow Farms for hosting us this weekend! 

We had a great time, despite discovering a broken filter and having internet issues with the news the next morning... we hope to be able to come back again; it was a lovely experience. The dogs explored their little hearts out, and we learned about this wonderful family owned and operated farm. 280+ acres of awesome, with grass fed beef, cows, chickens and so much more! Check them out - click on the picture! 

We hope to have a couple more trial runs down before we head out...so far she's running beautifully! The Mobile Observatory will HAVE to remain close to major cities during the journey, as having a connection is crucial. 
Names of sponsors  and decals going on this week!!