I have to be honest, as much as I love rides, I’m not of big fan of amusement parks (mainly cause my kids aren’t). But this place is just cool and so worth the stop. Knoebel’s rides work with tickets so the fact that I didn’t have to pay an admission fee was great. Staying at the campground is great because you can walk back and forth to your campsite for lunch/dinner or just a break.
They all watched but none would partake in The Twister.
I happen to like this ride, the Italian Trapeze. This ride reminds of the day my late grandfather took me to Coney Island for the first time. This was the only ride I would go on.
This house is in the middle of the park. And if you are rushing you will miss it. When I pointed out the house to the kids, Korben said, “If I lived there I would make a lot of money at a garage sale.” (He only made $4 at the garage sale we had a few weeks ago.)
Because there is no admission fee and we stayed at the campground we were able to roam around the park before it opened at 11am. I think my kids enjoyed the hustle and bustle of watching the staff set up just as much as they enjoyed the park when it was open. We scoped out all the rides we wanted to go on and then went back to camp and planned out our day. It worked beautifully to have a written plan of what was important for each of us. I have one child in particular who likes to have a very clear plan so the fact that we were able to see the entire park first and then write a plan was perfect.
And I have to mention the staff. These people are the friendliest staff I have ever encountered. I know, I come from New Jersey so it doesn’t take much. Really though, we must have looked lost because a staff member approached us and asked us if we needed some assistance. After asking for directions to the bumper cars, he then preceded to escort us to them.
We didn't get on the road until around 1pm today. We thought this would have given us plenty of time to get to our campsite and still have much of the afternoon/evening to explore and play at the amusement park, Knoebels. The only problem was we didn't factor in traffic on Rt 80 in NJ, smoking brakes, and heavy thunderstorms.
However, it was a beautiful scenic drive through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. And we did manage to make it to Knoebels Campground and even did a few rides tonight in between heavy downpours.
The RV will be serviced tomorrow to see why it smelled like we were burning rubber while we road the country roads here in PA.
It has been an emotional roller coaster… moments of excitement and moments of shear fear and terror. I often need to remind myself (or my husband and kids remind me) that we are living a dream I’ve had for a long, long time… RV’ing across the U.S.A while homeschooling (aka roadschooling) my 4 children.
We had an ETA of 1pm which quickly was switched to 3pm which in reality was 6pm. We left our Jersey Shore home and headed to North Jersey for a quick stop at the in-laws, who live in the suburbs of New York City (the greatest city in the world… in my opinion). On the way we hit a bird and killed it (well really it hit us), realized cabinets should not be opened while the vehicle is in motion, and that driving an RV towing a mini van in the dark in the tri-state area is kind of a drag.
On the plus side, we scored this bike from my in-laws for Kenzie, who was in desperate need of a bike. A 1976 Schwinn with a banana seat. She is in heaven.
But if there is one take away from today it is this: Our culture, always rushing. Rushing, scheduling, rushing, planning, rushing, organizing, rushing coordinating. I’m not saying these things are always wrong. It is just that this RV life style is drastically different. When I start rushing around because that is what is engrained in me to do, I stop a moment and ask myself, why/what am I rushing for and/or toward? I want to embrace this slow and steady journey as each day brings a new light and a new adventure, not always knowing what city or state we will rest our heads.
