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| Gettysburg/Battlefield KOA Campground |
Our first full day in Gettysburg! We had a much more peaceful night’s sleep after Rich figured out that we could, in fact, turn the heat on inside the RV once we were connected to power at the campground. Waking up to the sounds of birds chirping and the wind rustling through the trees and nothing else is amazingly peaceful and a great way to slowly wake up and get started for the day. The Gettysburg/ Battlefield KOA campground is clean, big, and won my vote for best campground during our entire trip. Each of the other campgrounds had so much to offer, but there was something special about this one that really won me over.
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| My kitchen in our Cruise America RV |
After getting up and showering, I prepared breakfast for the guys on my little camper stove inside the RV we rented from Cruise America. It has two burners and runs on propane, but does a pretty decent job. I made cheese omelets for them and I was glad that I had packed some seasonings and picked up some shredded cheese at the store. Hot beverages again were coffee and hot chocolate as well as orange juice that we had picked up in the store. As long as they had a hot breakfast, the days seemed to start out alright despite cold nights and hard beds.
Then it came time to set up our plans for the day. When we had driven through Gettysburg on the way to the campground, we saw a tour on Segways and I made the comment that I only ever see old people on them. Rich and Cristian said that they thought it looked like fun and I kept saying it was an old people activity. When it came time to decide what we were going to do, somehow the Segway tour came back up again. I looked online to see when the tours were and there was a 12:30 pm tour and it was already after 12 noon. Yikes! I reserved our spots online and we inadvertently drove to the Visitor Center in Gettysburg as the person in the KOA office had said that all of the tours start here. This absolutely does NOT apply to the Segway tours, called SegTours, which start in their office in the Gettysburg Shopping Center near the Dollar General store in Gettysburg.
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| Watching the safety video at Segtours, Gettysburg, PA |
Driving over we were nervous that we would be late and we arrived just in time, but only to see that there were others in our group who had already started watching the safety video. Before we could do that, we had to sign release forms. Then we sat down and watched the video, about 15 minutes in length, which I have to admit made me feel overwhelmed. Here I had thought you just jump on the Segway and go, but oh no – it’s a little more complicated than that. The Segway works with you balancing your weight on it, but not like a bike or anything else you’ve ever done.
Before exiting the office, we had to go through a small course inside the SegTours office. Set up with small cones and obstacles to help us adapt to the outside world, I felt like I had a grip on the Segway and was ready to head outside. Andrew, who was helping me, was extremely patient and had me run through the course until I felt confident enough to go outside. Then I realized I only had a faint idea of what it was that I was doing.
This 3-hour tour and approximately 9 miles of riding on a Segway was fun, but I definitely would have had more fun if I had relaxed and stopped trying to control the Segway with my hands. About halfway through the Western (main) Battlefield tour I finally got the hang of it by balancing using my body and not my hands and it was at that point that I started to have fun.
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| Route Map of the Segway tours available from SegTours |
Gary, who worked for SegTours and was also an EMT who is studying to become a paramedic, accompanied us on our tour and directed traffic for us. Les, a certified National Tour Guide, was with us for our tour. We rode wearing an audio pack with an earpiece so we could hear Les and Gary speak to us as needed.
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| Les, our Segtours certified National Tour Guide |
If I haven’t mentioned this in the past, I only have hearing in one of my ears as a result of surgery to remove a tumor in my ear. I’m fine, but as a result my balance is questionable and I work hard on that as well as not letting anyone know about my hearing loss. Yes, you can call it pride if you like. I bring this up because I think the Segway was definitely harder for me than others because of my balance issues, but not impossible. If you have a balance issue, vertigo issues, etc., realize that this might be hard for you before you get on a Segway as I would not have guessed beforehand how this would affect me. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, but I’m giving you a head’s up so you can prepare yourself accordingly before you attempt this type of a tour. I’m going to do a separate post entirely on what we saw on the tour, so make sure you come back for that.
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| Relaxing in our spot (#4) at the Gettysburg/Battlefield KOA campground |
After the Segway tour, we headed back to the KOA campground for a late lunch, which I once again prepared on the little stove while the guys hung outside. If for nothing else, an RV trip forces everyone to have to talk, except for when they can’t put down their iPhones, iPod, computers, etc. When it started to get dark, Cristian was quick to light another fire as tonight we were all about smores.
The Gettysburg/Battlefield KOA campground is a really clean and well maintained campground. It is well laid out, spacious, and relaxing. In addition to a camp store, they have a couple of shower and bathroom areas, including one that has private showers with bathrooms. In addition to RV spots, they also have cottages and cabins and tent sites. They also have bikes that were a cross between go-karts and bicycles that you can rent for $5 for ½ hour or $8 for the hour and yes, we did those, too, although I suspect from the smiles on the employees’ faces that they might have been meant exclusively for children. Hey – I’m still a kid on the inside!
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| Gettysburg/Battlefield KOA Mighty Bone dog area |
In addition to the playground area for kids, there is also a Meaty Bone sponsored dog area with lots of fun things for dogs to play on, in, under, and around. I give a lot of credit to KOA as they definitely provide more than a place to park your RV. Some other games and activities include carpet ball, shuffleboard, and a huge Connect Four game. I could totally see younger kids loving these activities and the area is safe enough that parents could allow their children to run free and not worry that they are getting into any trouble. In the warmer months, the pool must be an extremely popular spot for everyone. Even if the weather turned for the worse and you have to keep the kids inside the RV, they’d probably still be occupied watching different YouTube videos. There are some channels on there that can even help them with their learning development. Whatever they’re doing, they’re sure to have fun being in an RV!
When you think of Gettysburg, don’t let your mind wander directly to Abraham Lincoln as there is so much to do if you visit. Next time we have a spooky adventure on top so you’ll want to come back to read about that!
SegTours
22 Springs Avenue
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Phone: 717-253-7987
Gettysburg/Battlefield KOA
20 Knox Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Phone: 800-562-1869
I’ve never done the Segway thing, but I want to. My puppy would love that doggie play area!
Segways were fun for sure! The dog area was a hit at all of the campgrounds we went to. Had I known that dogs were allowed, we might have considered this years ago.
I’ve never been on a segway either, looks like so much fun!
Segways are so much fun! If you ever have the chance to take one for a spin do so!