Oct 9th to 11th - Delaware & New Jersey

Oct 9th - Thurs - to New Castle, Delaware
A neighbor in the park suggested that we do not take Hwy 30 east as it was windy and went through a lot of small towns. But any other route looked quite a bit longer so we took Hwy 30 and it was lovely. Nothing wrong with driving through the countryside on a nice sunny day. We discovered another product of Pennsylvania grown in this area - mushrooms. Maybe due to the proximity of dairy farms for manure.
We checked into what initially looked like a scary place - a motel & RV park. But it was clean and there were other rigs there so it turned out OK.
We went for a drive to Historic New Castle. It is an old (as the name would suggest) town with very narrow streets - not great for the pickup. Stopped at a nice park right on Delaware Bay. A quick stop at a couple of stores and back to the park to enjoy the sun. We actually had to put on shorts to sit outside as the temperature reached 80.

Oct 10th - Fri - to Atlantic City area, New Jersey
Didn’t want to get going too early as it is another short drive and we didn’t want to hit rush hour traffic. Diesel was more expensive where we were in Delaware so we stopped just into New Jersey where it was $3.68 a gallon. The entrance to the service station had a large dip but we didn’t drag the back end.
Shortly before Pomona, where we had a reservation, Terry noticed that the 5th wheel seemed to be lower on the curb side. He found a wide spot on the shoulder and discovered a broken spring. We were just on the edge of nowhere so he continued to drive while I searched the GPS for a repair shop. Then I had the bright idea of calling the RV park to see if they could help. The guy said he would make a few phone calls and he found a tire & repair shop just before we drove past it - about 11 o’clock by now.
Turns out we had 2 broken springs! The only reason that Terry could think of was the dip at the service station that he took on an angle to avoid dragging when we left. I suppose age & miles had a lot to do with it. The shop had to send someone to pick up the parts once they found them so by the time it was back together it was nearly 4 o’clock. The tires were closer together on the repaired side but the axles were straight. They let all the jacks down and I noticed that the rig was noticeably higher on the repaired side. The springs (with the same part number) had one more leaf and of course more curve with no wear. What could we do but get them to replace the springs on the other side?! Monday is Columbus Day but they are open and the parts pick-up guy will get the springs first thing Monday morning. Shouldn’t take too long to replace the springs.
Wiggled our way into a tight spot in the RV park and finally got a bit of luck today when the big slide stopped ¼ inch short of the power post. I put a scotch in Terry’s hand even before he finished setting up!

Oct 11th - Sat - Atlantic City, NJ
Another beautiful, sunny day. After breakfast, we picked up a map from the RV office and headed into Atlantic City which is only about 9 miles away. We went first to the Trump Marina casino as they were offering $50 in slot machine credit (and free parking) when you signed up for a player card. At 2 o’clock we finally left with some money ahead.
The mechanic at the tire shop had recommended parking at the Quarter at the Tropicana but the parking garage that we tried did not have enough clearance for the truck. Narrow streets and lots of traffic before we finally found outside parking that we could actually get into. We were looking for something to eat and ended up at a Hard Rock Café - last time for that if the prices are as high at other locations. But we sat outside in the sun and watched people on the boardwalk - how bad is that?
Then we walked a long way down the boardwalk. It is a great idea - a long, wide “sidewalk” with no traffic to worry about except the human-powered “rickshaws”. We walked through The Quarter at the Tropicana which is a shopping area and ended up gambling a bit at the casino there. Then the long walk back down the boardwalk and back to the RV park.
We have cable TV here so it is nice to be able to watch my favorite HGTV and have a clear picture.