Wally World!

September 28-30, 2019

Wally World Riverside Resort

Londonville, Ohio

Day 106-108

Before leaving The Mothership, my Airstream service tech came on board and did the walk thru on all the items completed. We discovered a new problem though, the bottom shower seal has ripped. Not sure how that happened at the bottom of the door (turns out to be a bigger problem later)? Tech was nice enough to give me two extra rubber seals, just in case.

Took all backroads to Wally World in central Ohio. Yes, I booked it because of the name. I programed the car GPS for no highways or toll roads. For the most part, it took me on beautiful farm roads, some of them very hilly, some absolutely straight and others windy. The hills are fun at first, but after about an hour of ups and downs, it got old and tiring. I wonder how many looks I am getting and how many are wishing they could be doing this too? I can just image how beautiful and peaceful we look gliding thru all this pretty farmland.

Almost there, but now the turns are more frequent. Will they continue to be easy? No. The road now becomes dirt. OMG, crap. I am literally crossing over a paved road to a dirt road and stop. Fortunately, I am right outside the entrance of the remote Landoll’s Mohican Castle, a few miles from camp. I see a car leaving and flag them down. They said all the Township roads are dirt, but I should be ok…but they're not sure. Another car comes from the dirt road and is filled with 5 middle-aged upper class locals. They confirm I can probably do the road just fine. Turning around would be extremely hard, so I go forward. The hilly, windy, dirt road goes on for what seems like 15 minutes but it's only about 4 miles. I stop and take a picture of the rig and the road. Fortunately, the road is pretty well compacted, but I am so relieved when I get back to pavement. I am lucky this turned out ok. I had no cell reception; this could have been a disaster. The truck and Airstream are champs!

Wally World is packed. It's along the Mohican River, which is one of the most popular camping locations in all of Ohio. There are so many campgrounds around here, and they were full like this too. I don’t think I have ever seen so many campgrounds and campers in one area.

My camp is filled with a wide variety of rigs from high-end motor homes to affordable trailers, and me, the lonely Airstream. I park and am immediately greeted by some of my neighbors. I am here just for two nights and looking forward to driving thru Amish country tomorrow.

My other neighbors across from me, in the nice motorhome, are traveling full-time too. They're retired and love exploring the US. We talk about the escaped convicts that are at large and rumored to be in Ohio (national news). He’s a marine and carries and baseball bat (no gun); he’s not concerned. One of my sisters, however, is texting me to be careful and reminding me that convicts might like to hideout in trailer parks. And that maybe, I should reconsider arming myself just in case. She’s right, a trailer park is probably a great place to hide out, but I don’t think they would get far at this one. I can honestly say, this is a red neck park. I wouldn’t be surprised if some campers had guns, so I don’t think they would get far. Surprisingly, people are so nice here, and they all seem to be having a great time. Basically, I feel safe.

Did laundry only after I found out they have cold water only. It’ll do. The camp host is now driving around in her golf cart telling everyone that the beans with ham, and cornbread are done - come and get it! I guess they do things like this all the time, during the season. They have a huge cast iron caldron and basically simmer it all day. It was pretty good too - the beans were perfectly cooked and the ham was tasty. The only thing that I would change was the commodity baby carrots. They made a homemade stew look like a school lunch reject.

And, if the beans weren't enough, they have entertainment too! They'll have a country band playing in the rec room later. While my clothes are in the drier, I hang out with Sparky on the porch of the store/reception desk. I talk to two older couples. We are all in rocking chairs. They can’t believe I am traveling by myself. I try and stay away from politics and just talk about them. (My mantra…when in doubt, always let someone talk about themselves. It can get you out of a jam by pivoting the conversation plus, hopefully, I learn more about these real people and places too.)

The rec room is about 4000 s/f with screen doors, pin ball machines, a big tv playing sports and pool tables. It’s warm outside and the music can be heard all over the camp. The band is really good. I’m able to bring Sparky with me but it’s too loud to stay in the room. There can’t be more than 30 people in the hall. I wonder how the band stays motivated, but they do.

Day 2 - Drove into the quaint little town of Loudonville, thru Amish territory, on my way to Wooster and Sugarcreek. This drive was even more hilly than yesterday because we are getting closer to the Appalachian Mountains. Glad I was just driving the truck today; this mini roller coaster trip would have been too much with the RV. I loved driving thru so many small charming towns. Because it’s Sunday, almost all the stores are closed. That’s fine because it’s not like I need to buy anything. I’m in this for the drive; and, because the stores are closed, there's less traffic. We passed a lot of Amish, including several schoolgirls on their cell phones!!!! I had to stop and say hello. I guess there are different dialects of Amish where they can have technology. Who knew? Stopped at the World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock” in Sugar Creek. Classic marketing of how to get people to your town. Build something that is the largest, greatest, smallest... It’s a pretty big draw in these parts, so I guess that worked.

On the way back to camp, I stopped twice to play ball with Sparky – anything to keep him happy. Since I just had the rig's wheels rotated, I picked up an extender wrench from auto parts store and checked the torque the wheels. I cleaned the interior, first time since leaving SF; that felt nice. My sister texts me about the 4 convicts again. I'm safe.