Finding the best RV routes, good campgrounds, friendly people, great local "Mom & Pop" restaurants and posting our RV route maps, reviews, tips, prices & photos both here and on our website – snowbirdrvtrails.com
Marengo, OH to Indianapolis, IN – 212 miles
(Arrived on our 7th Night and 903 miles on the road) Staying the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 1st and 2nd- (Fri – Thurs)
Snowbird RV Stop #5 – Chillin’ in Indy! – 1/3 of our trip complete
Lake Haven Retreat
1951 W Edgewood Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46217-9678
317-783-5267
$174/wk (203.58 or $29.08/day with tax)
Just 2 miles from the Hwy 37 Exit off the I-465 Bypass.
We’ll be here for a week visiting family and friends in this part of Indiana where Niki grew up. We’ll have some pix of this RV park later in our stay.
Friday night we visited Grandson Christopher’s Homecoming Game and Saturday we spent the afternoon on Lake Monroe with Niki’s son Jay, wife Kathy, and their new boat. Lake Monroe is a large, man-made lake about an hour South of Indy.
Boating on Lake Monroe – Preparing to cast offLet’s go Boating on Lake MonroeBoating on Lake Monroe – Jay and KathyBoating on Lake Monroe – A beautiful, warm day!John Mellencamp’s lakeside retreat on Lake MonroeNiki and son Jay at Center Grove High Homecoming – 9/26/2014
Conneaut, OH to Marengo, OH Day 6 – Sept 25 – Thurs – 175 Miles
Cardinal Center Campground – Marengo, Ohio
Cardinal Center Campground, 616 Ohio 61, Marengo, Ohio
(419) 253-0800
$31/Night (Senior Discount), Full Hook-Up (50 Amp, water, sewer), Pull-thru, WiFi,
level gravel sites with grass, picnic table, and fire ring.
Deck and pond view – Cardinal Center Campground
Located in Central Ohio at I-71/Exit 140, just 30 miles north of Columbus.
This is a great facility for family camping surrounded by miles of open farmland.
They have an indoor heated pool, a lake for fishing, lots of outdoor activities, over 400
camp sites, with 9 standard cabins and 20 deluxe cabins available to rent. It is also
home for the Ohio State Trapshooters Association.
Large sites at Cardinal Center Campground
This is a convenient stopover for us and for anyone traveling I-71 North or South.
We stay only one night mainly because there is not much in the immediate area to
visit. It does offer close proximity for anyone wanting to visit Columbus, OH only 30
miles away. With all of the amenities and beautiful country setting this campground
is also a destination for many RVers.
There is a Pilot Truckstop at this Exit (currently $3.299/Gal).
Camp Bell, NY to Conneaut, OH 210 Miles
Day 4 and 5 – Sept 23 and 24 – Tues/Weds
Conneaut, Ohio sunset over Lake Erie
Evergreen Lake Park, 703 Center Road, Conneaut, Ohio 44030
(440) 599-8802
Located 1/2 mile from Ohio Exit 241 of I-90
Passport America: Currently $19/Night for PT, 30 Amp, and water.
This is a nice 275 site campground with 20/30/50 amp electrical
service, some sewers, pull-thrus & back-ins, shaded and level with concrete
pads, dump station, WiFi ($2 for 24hrs), picnic tables, fire rings,
store, propane, ice, RV parts, recreations room, and a fishing pond.
Extra charge to use your water heater, electric heaters, or AC.
The Conneaut area has several nice things going for it that we
appreciate including a beautiful waterfront with great sunsets on Lake
Erie. It boasts 3 “working” covered bridges that we have visited on previous occasions. It
has a nice restaurant close-by the Exit with great food called the
“Beef and Beer”. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and the
name may leave you wondering, but on the inside it offers some good
home-cooking. Sometimes it’s not just a book that you can’t judge by
its cover! We tried last night’s specials of beef stir-fry for Niki
and beef tips and noodles for me. Both were very good.
Oneonta, NY to Campbell, NY 141 Miles Day 2 & 3 – Sept 21 and 22 – Sun/Mon
Camp Bell Campground – Campbell, NY
Camp Bell Campground, 8700 State Rt. 415, Campbell, NY 14821
Reservations: (800) 587-3301
Located a mile off I-86/NY-17, Exit 41
Sunoco/Subway Service Station at this Exit: $3.559/Gal
Pull-thru sites at Camp Bell Campground in the Finger Lakes
Passport America – $44 for 2 nights. PT, 30 Amp, Cable TV, 2 Hrs free WiFi every 8 Hrs.
(Price includes $4/day for 30 Amp electric and $3/day for Cable.)
Specify Passport America Membership at the time of making a reservation.
We are not big TV watchers but we have to watch our Broncos play on
Sunday and we can’t miss the first night of the new “Blacklist”
Season on Monday night. We admit it, we are hooked on both!
We like Camp Bell Campground for a nice 2-night stopover anytime we
are heading West. It is located within a few miles of Corning Glass
Center & Museum to the East and Hammondsport and the beginning of
the Keuka Lake Wine Trail to the West. We have toured the Corning
Glass Museum in the past and recommend it highly for the whole family.
Very educational and a lot of fun.
We always find time for a visit to the Wine Trail which circles the
picturesque grape growing hillsides above Keuka Lake.
Some wineries on the Keuka Lake Wine Trails
There are 7 wineries listed on the self-guided tour as well as several not listed. By stopping at any of the listed wineries you can purchase a
“Keuka Wine Trail Passport” for $15 which entitles a couple to enjoy a
wine tasting at all of the member wineries.
Bully Hill Vineyards – Hammondsport, NY
A winery that is not on the list but a must for us on each visit is
the “Bully Hill Vineyards” just outside of Hammondsport. The wine is
okay, the view of Keuka Lake is beautiful, but it’s the food prepared
in their restaurant that makes this visit great. A lunch at Bully Hill
is always a must for us. A little pricey but oh-so-good!
Today Niki had the “House Special” that we both usually order. It’s a
large crabcake on a Portabella mushroom bed, topped with giant
scallops, with sides of a tossed salad, french fries, and
marinated cucumbers. I decided to try their BBQ Sampler Platter with
wings, pulled pork, brisket, cabbage salad, and mac and cheese. We each tried a glass of Bully Hill wine – Estate Red for me and Growers
Riesling for Niki. We shared a “Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble” for
dessert.
Bountiful harvests mean great wine from the Finger Lakes Region
Absolutely no complaints about the meal but we bought our wine farther up the Lake at a winery called Hunt Country. Hunt Country is always
a favorite stop for us and Niki has the Tee’s to prove it.
It was a chilly and mostly overcast day but we had a great time anyway.
Tomorrow we hit the trail for Conneaut, Ohio on Lake Erie.
tains to Oneonta, NY – 166 Miles Day 1 – Sept 20th, 2014 – SaturdaySusquehanna Trail Campground Oneonta, NY
Susquehanna Trail Campground, 4292 Hwy 7, Oneonta, NY 13820
Reservations: (607) 432-1122
Passport America: $22.50/Night
Located less than 1 mile from I-88, Exit 13, Easy off/on
This is our usual first (or last) overnight stop when we are coming to
(or leaving from) the Adirondacks. Dean and Joanne Tribe were the
hardworking owner/managers. Sadly, Dean passed away this past Winter
leaving Joanne to run the place by herself. She told me it’s just too
much for one person and she does have the campground up for sale.
Susquehanna Trail Campground Office
The campground offers Full Hook-Ups (FHU), free cable TV, limited
WIFI, and both pull-thru and back-in campsites. They also have a large
field for tenters, a pool, children’s play area, and a stage where
they featured musical groups during the Season. It’s located 27 miles
from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown and only 5 miles from Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta.
We do not unhitch the trailer from the truck for one night stops and dine in.
Tomorrow we head for the Finger Lakes Wine Country.
Fuel Stop: Best at the next Exit South on I-88, NY Exit 12, 8 miles
after, easy on/off
SUBWAY® / Mirabito #73 Truck Stop, 195 County Road 48, Otego, NY
Lunch Cruise on the Lac du Saint SacrementThe 32 mile long Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains
Good food, great service and spectacular sceneryViews along the shoreline of Lake George in the AdirondacksHidden along the shoreline of Lake GeorgeThe Sagamore on Lake GeorgeA cove on Lake GeorgeLake George and the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of Northern New York StateThe cruise begins and ends near the “Million Dollar Beach” on the South end of Lake George
