USA 2009 - New Jersey

From New York to Jackson state of New Jersey 170 km.

Awake early, we are still sleepy. Perhaps because of the time zone we had a day six hours longer. For the collection of the vehicles we will split into two groups. One for: Moturis RV – 3401B tremule point Rd – Linden – New Jersey 07036 And the other at: El Monte RV – 11 Rockland Park Avenue (Off Oak Tree Road) – Tappan – New Jersey 10983 The bus arrives that will take us to the Moturis RV & Camping World in Tappan, a place about 70 km away, to the north. We leave Manhattan and take Route 9W northbound. We arrive after about 45 minutes. The handover of the campers is quite chaotic, bureaucratic and long. We chose one of the longest campers.

Unfortunately the condition of the campers is terrible, some are dirty and haven't been cleaned since the last rental, caught up in the excitement of the moment we neglect to check them carefully in every tiny detail, a detail that we will pay dearly for at the handback and many troubles along the way. The interior layout of the vehicle is very different from ours, in 9.30 m. of space and 90 quintals of weight you can fit anything and more. We get ready to begin our journey that will wind from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, for a total of about 9,000 km.

For navigation we almost all have satellite navigators, from the internet I downloaded the topography of the United States and Canada, PL or whoever for him, did a good job, for each day he listed the road to take with the various stopping points and the coordinates of the various sites to visit and the campsites where to spend the night, should anyone fall behind he cannot get lost. It is very late when we manage to do the fuel supplies and at a supermarket food and many other objects missing in the camper such as a simple broom, the toilet brush and many other necessary things that we thought were already provided, among the groceries we notice that here the packages are bigger than ours, both the flour and the sugar are sacks of about two kg.

The pasta, Barilla, De Cecco and Voiello, are packages of about 450 gr, we took too much and brought it home with us, the mineral water is in one-gallon jugs, or in small bottles, at the checkout we found that the shopping is less than ours, I didn't check item by item, but on the total we spent less than in Italy. The other group had many more problems than us, their vehicles are even more beaten up than ours. We rejoin at the supermarket and then all to the Indian Rock Campground very late.

We come across, for the first time, an American campsite, much nicer than ours, better equipped and with more space: each pitch is equipped with dump and fill, first of all you connect a hose, provided for the dump, first the gray water and then the clear water, then the water hose that fills the tank with an electric pump, then the electricity, all the connections will remain until it's time to leave, so that you continue to dump and fill up with water without using that from the tank. We have dinner and seek a well-deserved sleep in a nice double bed, individually inflatable. Indian Rock Campground Campsite – N 40 05 53 W 74 24 57.

From Jackson state of New Jersey to Harrisburg state of Pennsylvania 260 km

8 o'clock departure, today we will truly begin traveling as a group. The group leader, Pierluigi, gives us many recommendations, urges us to be cautious, maximum and active cooperation from everyone, how and when to communicate among the group while traveling; for the occasion we have purchased Walkie Talkies, our CBs are not permitted in the United States. He will set off at the head of the caravan and we in 14th position. These are the established positions, but later they will be updated based on the ability and practice of the new vehicles that not everyone is used to driving. Today's journey will be about 250 km toward Lancaster, crossing the land of the Amish, and arriving in Harrisburg by evening. We immediately notice the landscape changing color. Soft, very green hills frame this delightful place where this singular community with a very robust social fabric lives.

Here the scenery is made of fields, a gentle rolling landscape, broken only by sparse traditional houses. The farms, however, are countless. The Amish faith is based on strong family ties and even stronger religious identity. They live in the countryside as artisans and farmers, keeping their places free from any intrusion that could undermine their natural way of life. For example, electricity is not allowed, but the energy of wind, sun, and water is welcome. Cars are not allowed because they pollute. To get around they use black carriages (called buggies) which have become their symbol. They are therefore good breeders of horses, essential for pulling the carriages. They are humble people, dressing in an extravagant way. The men wear loose garments with dark trousers that are wide and high at the bottom, without buttons or zippers.

Once married they grow a beard that they will never cut, leaving it untrimmed. The women wear no type of jewelry. Their dresses are in pastel colors, with long sleeves, aprons, and little caps covering their long hair. Unmarried girls wear black caps, married women white ones. The community often steps in economically to support the difficulties of each individual family, especially helping young couples build their house or simply with work in the fields. Their dialect is predominantly Germanic but, in fact, they are trilingual. They speak, in the family, a German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch. They use the German language in their religious services, but they learn English at school and use it with those who are not Amish. We leave this place, encountering very frequently their black buggies traveling peacefully.

We head toward Harrisburg, stopping for lunch at an outlet recommended to us from Italy; the women have literally gone crazy, they let themselves loose in the various shops and bought everything and more. Stop at the Landys Valley Museum (N 40 05 33 W 76 16 50), old houses transported from various parts of the state and rebuilt for the tourist, nothing exceptional. Today's problem was diesel, three RVs don't run on gasoline; unfortunately not all gas stations have a diesel pump and throughout the whole trip finding this fuel has been an unknown. East Campground campsite – N 40 13 53 W 76 47 54.

Conclusion

So much effort and so much fatigue for this trip that gave us emotions difficult to describe. Every day was unique, unmissable, extraordinary, thanks also to the commitment and determination of all our adventure companions. What do we remember most? Hard to say. Every place, in its own way, was marvelous. This trip will be memorable.

Our thoughts go, in order, to the impetuous charm of Niagara Falls; to the badlands of the Badlands; to the faces of the Presidents carved into the mountain; to the magnificent Devil's Tower, to the moving Old Faithful and the whole Yellowstone Park (even though we didn't see Yogi Bear and Boo Boo), to Monument Valley, and its delicate arches and spires; to the light filtering through Antelope Canyon; to the legendary Lake Powell with the Glen Canyon Dam; to the superb, great, beautiful, breathtaking Grand Canyon; to the lights and sounds of Las Vegas; to the very hot Badwater in Death Valley; to the very old and very big General Sherman and the unexpected snowfall in Sequoia National Park; to the wonderful Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline seen from romantic Sausalito; and finally, to the great big New York, its skyscrapers, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of

Liberty (seen from afar). There would have been so many other things to tell that we haven't included in this text. Others that we could have mentioned but that are found in all the tourist guides. Still others, like the most intimate feelings and emotions….that can never be described but that will remain prisoners forever within us. Now it's really all over. It's time to return home, see friends again, continue our usual life, while waiting for another wonderful trip to savor together.