Would you believe that Allan & I became KOA corporate campground models? True story.... yeah... too funny. I thought so.
OK, I'll tell you how we became the stars of KOA AND how, the next day, we gave Gertrude, our faithful land-yacht, aka RV, a terrific headache. We almost got a free sunroof.
Once upon a time, a funky couple decided to drive thru the Green Mountains National Forest of Vermont, a breathtakingly beautiful green, green, green forest and hook up in a little town called Woodstock and camp at KOA Quechee/Pine Valley. No, not the infamous Woodstock in NY, but Woodstock nevertheless! Actually the address says White River Vally Junction, but I'm claiming Woodstock! Nice spot. We even got an extra bonus - large patio area. The idea was to visit the only National Historic Park in VT, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. So the story goes...
OK, I'll tell you how we became the stars of KOA AND how, the next day, we gave Gertrude, our faithful land-yacht, aka RV, a terrific headache. We almost got a free sunroof.
Once upon a time, a funky couple decided to drive thru the Green Mountains National Forest of Vermont, a breathtakingly beautiful green, green, green forest and hook up in a little town called Woodstock and camp at KOA Quechee/Pine Valley. No, not the infamous Woodstock in NY, but Woodstock nevertheless! Actually the address says White River Vally Junction, but I'm claiming Woodstock! Nice spot. We even got an extra bonus - large patio area. The idea was to visit the only National Historic Park in VT, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. So the story goes...
As we were chill'n over some wine and cheese (yes, we travel in style), a group of people came by our site and asked if they could see our site. We thought, they must be other RV'rs jealous of our pretty site. Then, we heard them say, yes, this looks really good, I think we can make this work. Make what work? Next, they asked if they could take some pictures, we said: sure, no problem. No, they said, can we take pictures with you guys at your site? We're professional photographers and we're doing a layout for KOA corporate... Huh? No comprende senor. So they said again, we would like you two to become our models in our photoshoot for the KOA corporate marketing layout... Wha? Well, since our beautiful niece Daniellie is a model.. I said, sure - I had to give our niece some competition! But, let me change clothes first! I haven't even taken a shower yet! And for the next couple of hours, we drank (more wine), we ate (more cheese & fruit), we posed (very awkwardly), we kissed (that was simple), we danced (no music) by the fire, built and kept ablaze by the photo-shoot staff. We were treated like royalty and all we had to do was smile, look this way and look that way! Life is good! |
Now, they did promise to send us the pics. When they do, we'll share them with you. If we made the cut that is! :-O
Gertrude's headache ... bridge...bridge.. ssscrape, thud, oh no!
Here is Gertrude, she's 9 feet 10 inches tall......... But, she has all sorts of stuff on top of her roof, like an AC unit, vents, antennae etc.! Which makes her 11ft 3in tall! | Here's a RR bridge, it has 10ft 6in clearance Can we clear it? Let's see if we go real slow, maybe we can slide ever so smoothly under it..... HUH? | Here's Gretrude's AC unit (on the roof) after Allan thought (hmm).. that he could so very slowly slide under the bridge! What was he thinking! No the AC cover is not suppose to have a crease in the middle :-O |
RV medic to the rescue..
Of course we couldn't proceed to our destination, i.e., the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park, and after I stopped traffic to allow Gertrude to make a U turn in the middle of town, we went back to our campsite and asked the office where the nearest RV repair was.
RV medic to the rescue! Can you believe our luck, there was actually a mobile RV repair service who came to our campsite and came to Gertrude's rescue. After a many minutes of hammering, tinkering, bending, reworking... she was all better. Good thing Allan went slow and only dented the housing and not the AC unit itself. As luck has it, the bend was a hair above the electronics. Wow were we lucky. No more low bridges!
RV medic to the rescue! Can you believe our luck, there was actually a mobile RV repair service who came to our campsite and came to Gertrude's rescue. After a many minutes of hammering, tinkering, bending, reworking... she was all better. Good thing Allan went slow and only dented the housing and not the AC unit itself. As luck has it, the bend was a hair above the electronics. Wow were we lucky. No more low bridges!
Onward to the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Nat'l Historic Park
We had no idea who or what this National Historic Park was all about. Come to find out, the three gentlemen of whom the park was named after left a legacy of stewardship behind. You see, Vermont's Green Mountains, with their forested hills, small farms, and picturesque villages, have not always been as beautiful and as green. After the American Revolution, settlers poured into Vermont. By the mid-1800s most of Vermont's forests had been cut down, causing severe erosion and flooding. Vermonters faced their first environmental crisis.
George Perkins Marsh, on his family farm in Woodstock, became a keen observer of nature. As an American diplomat to the Mediterranean he saw first hand how the actions of humans had "brought the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon". He wrote the founding texts of the environmental movement "Man and Nature" (1864) The Marsh family farm was purchased by Frederick Billings, a Vermont native who made his fortune in CA during the gold rush. Returning to VT he found barren hills, silted rivers and a devastated countryside. Determined to promote rejuvination, in his words "many a barren hillside will once more glow with the glorious autumn foliage, and the quiet village will see itself back in its old life and power", he built a farm that would serve future generations as a model of wise stewardship. After his death, his daughter Mary married to Laurance S. Rockefeller brought together two families with a strong commitment to conservation. The rest is history. Vermont can boast and is once again a lush green beautiful resource-rich place where conservation has proven that when nature is left alone, it can heal itself. |