So apparently you can actually CAMP in these things, not just endlessly tinker with them. The Tidewater Crabs, who collect all the owners from the region together in one handy group, were meeting at the Antietam KOA and we tagged along too. It was the first time we have seen more than two of these things in one place and we noticed lots of other campers checking out our little patch of the KOA and scratching their heads over this assemblage of thirty somethings. The vehicles that is… What a nice bunch of people though and utterly helpful.  Eric looked at my dash and I pointed out the two needle gauge that has had me scratching my head since driving the GMC home. “Oh that’s a pressure gauge for your two suspension airbags” he said. of course it is – thanks Eric. The accumulated GMC wisdom was a wonder to behold. Even if one of the wives told Philippa rather wearily that she had reached her limit on GMC talk. “Do you have another hobby?” asked Philippa “OOOH yes” she said emphatically “you really have to…”

Sandra and Bob from Texas rather put our own forthcoming trip to shame when they told us they were also on their way to Nova Scotia (from Texas)  and would be driving home via Illinois to stop off at another GMC gathering. They first got their GMC in Florida and four days later were headed for Alaska in it. Now that’s confidence.

There were some more attractive paint jobs, but Harvey held up well I think and I was pleased to hear more than one person say that we had got “one of the best available”. Several people wanted a look inside and I proudly demonstrated how the DVD, er didn’t play through the screen at all. Rats. Off came the back of the dash, out came the DVD unit and in tracing back the wiring I discovered that all the speaker wires had simply been twisted together. So I put proper connectors on before going any further, and then continued my voyage of discovery, head squished against the windscreen as I peered into the electrical spaghetti behind the dash. I eventually discovered that I had stopped the DVD working by removing some redundant wiring a few days earlier which turned out to be not redundant at all, but in fact, vital. I plugged it all back in and it worked fine. Not only that (“there’s more?” I hear you gasp – why yes, read on) not only that but I showed the Tidewater Crabs the old analogue TV receiver that was also lurking in the dash and Ellie promptly gave me a new digital one which she said she didn’t need. I plugged it in, raised the aerial and we have perfect TV reception on our screen,

Philippa, wisely, had made her excuses and left with Tom and Maya and co for a tour of the Antietam civil war battlefields while I got friendly with Harvey’s innermost mechanicals, so when they all got back things looked pretty much normal again and she probably wondered what on earth I had been doing all day…

Evenings were spent either by the fire or in the back of Harvey with the kids running around until much too late and the adults talking about the kids running around until much too late, over glasses of wine. There was a great little diner on site, with an “I love Lucy” theme – lots of memorabilia and reasonable food too.

We left during a break in the heavy overnight rain the next morning – and none too soon as it turned out. I got an email from Sandra saying the access road flooded that afternoon and those who stayed, were stuck. The KOA plied them with free pizza though and it all sounded rather jolly. I felt I had spent rather too much time messing about with Harvey and not enough with the other owners, so I hope our paths cross again so we can be more sociable! Thanks to everyone for a lovely weekend.